Quality Control of Hot mix Asphalt Production and Placement Processes to Extend Pavement Service Life (Case Study: Selected Projects in Mazandaran Province)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Sava.C., Islamic Azad University, Savadkooh, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, Behshahr, Iran.
Abstract
The failure of pavement is one of the main issues impacting the service life and durability of pavements. Quality control and assurance processes serve as preventive measures. In this process, activities such as inspections, sampling, testing, and in-service quality control enable the monitoring of constructed pavement quality and, upon acceptance, ensure its standards. In this research,, the quality control program is based on statistical methods, including classification of asphalt properties and evaluation of defective items percentage through Pareto charts. For the acceptance evaluation program, initially, the percentage within specifications is determined using a normal distribution, followed by calculating the payment coefficients for each property based on their within-limit percentages. Ultimately, a composite payment coefficient is calculated for all evaluated asphalt properties. The results of applying the quality control program to the case study observations show that the outcomes from different methods used within the quality control framework are similar. Additionally, these methods facilitate the identification of factors that reduce the quality of the constructed asphalt. This study found that, regarding the hot mix asphalt production quality control program, the proportion of samples within the control limits exceeded 75%, making the asphalt suitable for acceptance within those limits. Furthermore, the comparative analysis of the evaluation and acceptance program indicates that its composite payment coefficient is lower than those of other current evaluation systems used by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development.
Keywords

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