Highway agencies have intuitively known for years about the need for high-quality data in their pavement management systems. Until now, however, it has been difficult to arrive at the value of good data. In Virginia, pavement condition data for a large network of roads have been obtained from digital continuous videos and interpreted by using a semiautomated software process. A detailed quality assurance process has been developed and applied to achieve the desired high-quality data. The project includes quality assurance that has been carried out since the inception of the project, including the application of necessary adjustments in the data collection process, to ensure that quality data conforming to predefined standards are obtained. Further, during production the data are continually monitored with the goal of attaining high-quality data. When the volume of data is large as in the present case, continual application of a quality assurance process is vital not only to prevent major changes at any stage but also to provide data that are usable as they are available. The effects of a complete and comprehensive quality monitoring plan, including quality control, quality assurance, and an independent validation and verification, on pavement management data and the resulting budgetary estimates are quantified. Pre- and postindependent validation and verification results were analyzed to determine the effects of a comprehensive quality monitoring plan on pavement distress data collection.

The results and methodology used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using harder aggregate in Alaska in an effort to reduce the wear caused by studded tires are presented. Scandinavian countries have studied the relationship between aggregate hardness, as measured by the Nordic abrasion value, and studded tire wear and have shown that harder aggregates have resulted in improved pavement performance. High-quality aggregates are not readily available throughout Alaska; therefore, a cost-effectiveness study of improved aggregate hardness was needed. Performance models based on the existing wear rates within the Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau regions were developed. On the basis of existing performance data, studded tire wear is not a problem in the Fairbanks region, although this cannot be explained by aggregate hardness. Areas of greatest concern are the Anchorage and Juneau regions. Performance models relating pavement wear to the Nordic abrasion value of aggregates were developed. A methodology for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of transporting improved aggregates is provided. On the basis of the cost and performance data gathered, pavement wear caused by studded tires can be reduced and result in improved performance of the pavement in a cost-effective manner. Through the use of harder aggregates conforming to the Nordic abrasion specification, pavement performance can be increased by 1.4 to 1.9 times that currently experienced in the Anchorage and Juneau regions, respectively.