Collecting load tickets is an example of an antiquated practice that puts inspectors in harm’s way either adjacent to traffic, in close proximity to moving or backing equipment, or at times requires climbing onto trucks to reach tickets. Technology exists to collect this information electronically allowing for safer, efficient inspection methods. Departments of Transportation are charged with inspecting an increasing work load with a diminishing number of inspection staff. Recently, doing more with less has led to the prioritization of inspection activities and resulted in less collection of data and visual inspection on projects. Technology advancements are available to improve data collection and provide for more efficient inspection. Using GPS and GIS technology tied into electronic scale report-out systems, a fleet tracking system traces haul routes, reports travel time and tonnage, and even assists contractors with equipment matching and balancing. Data from this system coupled with other technologies remote monitoring of temperature, intelligent compaction, and network enabled cameras provide an opportunity to enhance inspection and increase construction inspection productivity all the while enriching detail of project records. The contribution of this paper is to provide a framework in which to combine these technologies into a multi-faceted, enhanced inspection approach.

Over recent years, organizations such as the Federal Highway Administration and Departments of Transportation across the United States have showed interest in automating highway construction processes. The addition of e-Construction and other advanced technologies can significantly improve the efficiency and safety of highway paving operations, specifically paving inspections. Activities such as collecting load tickets, tracking pavement lay-down temperatures, and monitoring roller movement are antiquated practices that DOT inspectors perform during paving operations. E-Ticketing, Paver Mounted Thermal Profiling, and Intelligent Compaction were proposed to automate paving inspections and were recently tested in two resurfacing pilot projects in the state of Kentucky. Findings from the projects indicate that the three technologies display great potential in improving safety and efficiency of paving inspections. The contribution of this thesis is to document the research effort, evaluate the effectiveness of the technologies compared to the traditional practices, and discuss the lessons learned for industry practitioners.