NCHRP: Optimizing Materials QA

Optimizing Materials QA
Client: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)
Audience: NCHRP managers and staff; state DOT research staff

This NCHRP’s Ready Results publication examines NCHRP Research Report 838: Guidelines for Optimizing the Risk and Cost of Materials QA Programs. Implementing quality assurance practices is important because materials that don’t meet specifications may increase the risk of failures in the facilities where they are used. These failures may increase maintenance costs, hamper mobility, or create safety hazards. But with reduction in transportation budgets, states need a tool to reduce QA costs while maintaining quality in construction.