This report includes three parts: (1) Final Report for Quality Assurance Specifications Review dated May 2000; (2) Addendum to the Final Report dated December 2000; and (3) Draft Construction Manual and Inspection Guidelines dated May 2000. The study tasks included a detailed analysis of the quality assurance (QA) special provision, evaluation of Department and Contractors risks, examination of practice of using Contractors tests results for acceptance, guidelines for effective use of QA specifications by field inspection staff, need for adjustments to material specification limits, interviews with Department and Contractor personnel and the impact of recommended changes to the Contractors.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is presently using a quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) specification for hot-mix asphalt concrete pavement. There is a strong interest in determining if other construction items can be converted to this type of specification. The purpose of this report is to (1) review the experiences of a large number of key states believed to be using these types of specifications, (2) review the TxDOT standard specifications in order to recommend candidates for development, and (3) develop a recommended QC/QA specification for flexible base. Of the 23 states contacted, 19 cooperated in the survey, the majority of which were willing to provide copies of their specifications. Fifteen specifications have been received. Based on the information obtained from these reviews, nine items have been recommended for consideration by TxDOT.

This report along with its companion report, Implementation Manual for Quality Assurance include quality control requirements for the contractor and or supplier and quality assurance requirements for the agency. These reports consider the all encompassing concept of quality control, quality acceptance, independent assurance (I.A.) laboratory accreditation, technician training and certification, and contractor quality control plans.

This purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of the hot mix asphalt concrete produced under quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) specification item 3063. During the first phase of this project, conducted between September 1996 and February 1997, an extensive amount of technical information and numerical information was gathered and analyzed. During the second phase of this project, various other activities were carried out, including a survey of other states to assess their approach in developing and implementing QC/QA specifications, a physical survey of QC/QA and non-QC/QA specification projects in Texas, and a limited evaluation of the cost of the projects. This report presents the results, findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on the collected information and on the work performed during the course of this research program.