Development of quality assurance system for building of traffic infrastructure projects on the example of asphalt

Transport infrastructure covers road, rail infrastructure, infrastructure of airports and ports. The construction, maintenance and management of transport infrastructure is one of the most important tasks of each country to facilitate the mobility of people and goods.\ud Transport infrastructure in Slovenia is mainly due to the construction of highways between 1995 and 2010, well developed. As a country at the crossroads of transport routes our transport systems will be heavily loaded also in the future. That needs to be used also in economic terms, the development of transport and logistics activities. \ud In the thesis the system of quality assurance and quality control is displayed, which was developed during the time of construction of slovenian motorways in the period 1995 to 2010. The technical regulations of the system of quality assurance and quality control, institutions and professional bodies to produce technical specifications, and the organisational structure of the quality assurance system and quality control are described. On the basis of the parameters described above a critical analysis of the system is made, taking the asphalt as a construction product as an example of good practice.\ud In Slovenia the necessary institutions for the establishment of a successful system have been established, but all of them do not carry out all of the assignments for which they were established. The biggest problem is reflected in the production of technical guidelines, including the scopes of works, which would have been necessary to produce according to the Law on the construction of the facilities as well as under the sectoral laws, e.g. the Law on the Roads. It also requires the administrator of the entire system, which may be the Ministry for Infrastructure or the Engineer DRI Investment Management,LtD., who has provided this role already in the past.\ud In the recent years, the structures in the area of transport infrastructure in the country have been reorganized. The Ministry of infrastructure has been established, in the composition of which is also the Directorate for infrastructure. In addition to DARS a second large client DRSI- is established, which is responsible for state roads and railways. DRI Investment Management, LtD. became in agreement with the state an Engineer for most state projects. All this calls for the re-establishment of the system of quality assurance and quality control, that will assure connectivity and communication, through the expert commissions and the coordination of all actors in the investment process providing the production of technical documents such as policies, technical guidance, instructions, reminders, and inventories of acivities that are of key importance for high-quality and transparent realization of projects.\ud DRC, Road and Transportation Research Association of Slovenia, LtD., that has been established for that purpose, modeled on institutions in the neighbouring countries, does not perform these activities. It is necessary to open a debate on this topic and to establish the operation. The thesis is a support to this debate and the achievement of the final goal: establishment of a system of quality assurance and quality control and production of technical regulation for the whole area of transport infrastructure