Abstract
There is no universally adopted specification for airport asphalt compaction in Australia. Rather, various compaction schemes exist, including limits on Lot averages and/or limits for individual values, percentage of samples within working limits, and characteristic value approaches. Additionally, there is no consensus on the number of compaction tests per Lot. To address this, Monte Carlo simulations were used to evaluate typical schemes against simulated conforming and several non-conforming scenarios. The optimal scheme balances risk for both contractors (false rejections) and clients (accepting non-conforming lots). Whilst all schemes had benefits and drawbacks, there was no scheme that stood out as the ideal solution for test frequencies in the typical range of 6–12 tests per Lot. However, a scheme with limits on individual results and Lot averages was preferred, because this scheme best balances the client and contractor risks and promotes the best contractor behaviour. It is hoped that the outcomes from the research will inform airport asphalt specification revisions in the future.