WARRANTED HOT MIXASPHALT PAVEMENTS:
Development,Benefits and Risks
What Warranties Are Not
• Guarantee of defect free pavement
• Throwing away the spec book
• A way to get rid of DOT employees
What Warranties Are
• Guarantee of good performance
• Incentive for quality construction
• Incentive for innovation
Incentive for Good Performance
• Current Specifications written to push the contractor towards “good performance”
• Warranty Specifications define what good performance is
“The Contract Specifications Were Met”
Definition of Success
BENEFIT OF WARRANTY
• Success = Performance
• Non-Confrontational Construction
• Innovation Rewarded
Assigning Risk
• “Who has control of an item?”• Contractor?
then contractor assumes risk of poor performance.
• Agency?then agency maintains risk of poor performance.
DOT Responsibilities
Structure
Quantities
Time Unit Cost
Condition Survey
Contractor Responsibilities
Materials
Mix Design
Process Control
Remediation Plans
Industry Benefits
• Liability
• “Raises the bar”
• Improves competition with pcc
• Builder sets own specs
• No approvals required
Agency Benefits
• People loss
• Improves probability of good performance
• Less confrontation
Friction
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Ave
rage
Fri
ctio
n N
umbe
r
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
EBWB
FN = 24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60Macrotexture Depth, mm
Fri
cti
on
Nu
mb
er
Correlation of Friction Number to Macro-texture Depth
HURDLES
PEOPLE#1 is
HURDLES
• Agency– “What I want is a guarantee of
performance – “. . . And by the way, I want to keep the
specifications we have because they are a good set of specs. We have tuned them to cover all situations.
– “. . . besides, I need a hammer to control poor (out-of-state) contractors.”
HURDLES
• Contractor– “What I want is for the agency to get
out of my hair
– “. . . don’t shut me down
– “. . . and I want to get paid for every ton I put down.”
WHAT’S IN IT
• For the Agency– Performance
WHAT’S IN IT
• For the Contractor– Freedom in exchange for
performance
BENEFITS
• Success = Performance
• Risk Balanced
• Innovation Rewarded
• Non-Confrontational Construction
SHORT TERM
• 3 to 5 years• Focuses attention on
manufacturing and placement details
• Minimal opportunity for innovation
LONG TERM
• Shifts focus from construction
• Innovative materials
• Maintenance techniques
WARRANTIES
• Improve performance
• Require change
Worth it?
You Decide
SURE LOOKS GOOD TO ME!