Continuous Quality Improvement Techniques for Data Collection in Asset Management Systems
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 140, Issue 4
Abstract
Transportation infrastructure assets are among the largest investments made by governmental agencies. These agencies use data on asset conditions to make decisions regarding the timing of maintenance activities, the type of treatment, and the resources to employ. To collect and record these data, agencies often utilize trained evaluators who assess the asset either on site or by analyzing photos and/or videos. These visual assessments are widely used to evaluate conditions of various assets, including pavement surface distresses. This paper describes a Data Quality Assessment & Improvement Framework (DQAIF) to measure and improve the performance of multiple evaluators of pavement distresses by controlling for subjective judgment by the individual evaluators. The DQAIF is based on a continuous quality improvement cyclic process that is based on the following main components: (1) assessment of the consistency over time—performed using linear regression analysis; (2) assessment of the agreement between evaluators—performed using inter-rater agreement analysis; and (3) implementation of management practices to improve the results shown by the assessments. A large and comprehensive case study was employed to describe, refine, and validate the framework. When the DQAIF is applied to pavement distress data collected on site by different evaluators, the results show that it is an effective method for quickly identifying and solving data collection issues. The benefit of this framework is that the analyses employed produce performance measures during the data collection process, thus minimizing the risk of subjectivity and suggesting timely corrective actions. The DQAIF can be used as part of an asset management program, or in any engineering program in which the data collected are subjected to the judgment of the individuals performing the evaluation. The process could also be adapted for assessing performance of automated distress data acquisition systems.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors want to thank the financial support by the NMDOT to conduct this research. In particular, they want to acknowledge Mr. Robert Young and Mr. Tito Medina from the NMDOT for their vast support during the data collection that took place in the summers of 2007, 2008, and 2009.
References
AASTHO. (1990). Guidelines for pavement management systems, Washington, DC, 45.
Bogus, S. M., Migliaccio, G. C., and Cordova, A. (2010a). “Assessment of data quality for evaluations of manual pavement distress.”, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 1–8.
Bogus, S. M., Song, J., Waggerman, R., and Lenke, L. R. (2010b). “Rank correlation method for evaluating manual pavement distress data variability.” J. Infrastruct. Syst., 66.
Burke, M. J., Finkelstein, L. M., and Dusig, M. S. (1999). “On average deviation indices for estimating interrater agreement.” Organ. Res. Meth., 2(1), 49–68.
Cordova, A. A. (2010). “A framework for assessing and improving quality of data from visual evaluation of asset conditions.” Unpublished Master Thesis, Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
Cronbach, L. J. (1990). Essentials of psychological testing, Harper and Row, New York.
Epps, J. A., Monismith, C. L., and Dunn, K. H. (1986). Equipment for obtaining pavement condition and traffic loading data, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, DC.
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (2008). HPMS reassessment 2010+, Washington, DC, 98.
Flintsch, G. W., and McGhee, K. K. (2009). NCHRP synthesis 401: Quality management of pavement condition data collection, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 152.
Gramling, W. (1994). NCHRP synthesis 203: Current practices in determining pavement condition, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 63.
Haas, R., and Hutchinson, B. G. (1970). “A management system for highway pavements.” Proc., Australian Road Research Board, Melbourne, Australia.
Haas, R., Hudson, W. R., and Zaniewski, J. P. (1994). Modern pavement management, Krieger, Malabar, FL.
Hadfield, C. (1986). World canals: Inland navigation past and present, David and Charles, Devon, U.K.
Hudson, W., Finn, F., McCullough, B., and Nalr, K. (1968). NCHRP Project 1–10: Systems approach to pavement design: System formulation, performance definition, and material characterization, Materials Research and Development, Washington, DC.
James, L. R., Demaree, R. G., and Wolf, G. (1984). “Estimating within-group interrater reliability with and without response bias.” J. Appl. Psychol., 69(1), 85–98.
Kaplan, R. M., and Saccuzzo, D. P. (2008). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues, Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove, CA, 709.
Lay, M. G., and Vance, J. E. (1992). Ways of the world: A history of the world’s roads and of the vehicles that used them, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.
Lindell, M. K., Brandt, C. J., and Whitney, D. J. (1999). “A revised index of interrater agreement for multi-item ratings of a single target.” Appl. Psychol. Meas., 23(2), 127–135.
Lytton, R., Rauhut, J., and Darter, M. (1985). Long term pavement monitoring data collection guide, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC.
McGhee, K. H. (2004). Automated pavement distress collection techniques, Transportation Research Board National Research, Washington, DC.
Miller, J., and Bellinger, W. (2003). “Distress identification manual for the long-term pavement performance program.”, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC, 169.
Miller, J. S., Rada, G., and Rogers, R. (1993). “Distress identification manual for the long-term pavement performance project.”, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC.
Needham, J., Ling, W., Gwei-Djen, L., Wang, L., and Lu, G. D. (1971). Science and civilisation in China: Physics and physical technology: Civil engineering and nautics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Netherly, P. J. (1984). “The management of late Andean irrigation systems on the north coast of Peru.” Am. Antiq., JSTOR, 49(2), 227–254.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory, McGraw-Hill, New York, 701.
Papagiannakis, A., Gharaibeh, N., Weissmann, J., and Wimsatt, A. (2009). Pavement scores synthesis, Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M Univ. System, College Station, TX, 152.
Peterson, D. (1987). NCHRP synthesis 135: Pavement management practices, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Rodda, J. C., and Ubertini, L. (2004). The basis of civilization–water science? International Association of Hydrological Science, Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
Schexnayder, C., Celaya, M., Chang-Recavarren, G., Fiori, C., and Jaselskis, E. “CEC: Engineering with the elements.” J. Construct. Eng. Manag., 137, 755–761.
Scrivner, F. H., Moore, W., McFarland, W., and Carey, G. R. (1968). “A systems approach to the flexible pavement design problem.”, Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX.
Shahin, M. Y. (2005). Pavement management for airports, roads, and parking lots, Springer, Berlin.
Shahin, M. Y., Darter, M. I., and Kohn, S. D. (1977a). Development of a pavement maintenance management system. Vol. II: Airfield pavement distress identification manual, Construction Engineering Research Lab (ARMY), Champaign, IL.
Shahin, M. Y., Darter, M. I., and Kohn, S. D. (1977b). Development of a pavement maintenance management system. Vol. I: Airfield pavement condition rating, Construction Engineering Research Lab (ARMY), Champaign, IL.
Smith, K., Darter, M., and Hall, K. (1989). Distress identification manual for the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) studies, Strategic Highway Research Program, Washington, DC.
U.S. Dept. of Transportation (USDOT). (1999). Asset management primer, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Office of Asset Management, Washington, DC, 31.
Wilkins, E. (1968). “Outline of a proposed management system for the CGRA Pavement Design and Evaluation Committee.” Proc., Canadian Good Roads Association, Ottawa.
Zaniewski, J., Hudson, S., and Hudson, W. (1985). Pavement condition rating guide, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Austin, TX.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 140 • Issue 4 • April 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 14, 2011
Accepted: Jun 3, 2011
Published online: Jun 6, 2011
Published in print: Apr 1, 2014
Discussion open until: May 31, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.