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Engineers for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation are warning that state highway paving completed in recent years under a department warranty program could deteriorate prematurely – but not until after the warranties from contractors expire, meaning the state would be stuck with the bill for repairs. The issue has been raised by a new state audit of the highway warranty program.

The warranty program, which began in 1995, is generally used for rural or other low-traffic highways. The warranties typically last for about five years after construction is finished. If DOT inspections find the pavement is deteriorating prematurely – asphalt paving is expected to last 15 to 20 years – the DOT can demand the contractor perform repairs at no cost.

(photo by adrian palomo)

Projects done under the warranty program are about 17 percent cheaper, DOT estimates, because they don’t require regular testing of construction materials during paving. The warranty program is nothing new, but it’s more than doubled in size in recent years: In 2009, 226 miles of state highway were paved under it, as compared to about 82 miles in 2004.

According to state testing, projects completed in 2003 and 2004 under warranty have generally aged better than their non-warranty counterparts. But DOT engineers worry, according to the audit, that since 2004, the warranty pavement “is deteriorating more quickly than anticipated and that the full extent of the problems may not become apparent until after the warranties expire.”

Pavement engineers in Northwestern Wisconsin, where about half of warranty projects are done, say more than half of the projects completed in 2005 and 2006 “are showing distress that is inconsistent with pavement age.”

DOT regional offices, since December 2009, have requested additional inspections of projects completed under warranties due to concerns about premature wear. The audit notes that these additional inspections “are costly and time-consuming to perform.”

Normally, the state is required to perform inspections during the first and last years of the warranty period, but the audit found that the final-year inspections are often turned in after warranties expire, casting doubt on whether, in those cases, the state would be able to collect on the warranty.

Out of 33 projects completed between 2002 and 2004, inspections were turned in late for 18. (According to DOT, 13 of those were due to a computer software malfunction.)

The Federal Highway Administration has said the state’s inspection standards (which DOT made stricter last year) are too lenient. As a result, the federal agency has done some of its own inspections of warranty projects in the state: It inspected one nine-mile resurfacing of Interstate 94 in Monroe and Jackson counties, a $10.1 million project, and found that paving was done in “inclement weather,” which could shorten the lifespan of the pavement.

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