NCAT Research Spurs Use of Highly Modified Asphalt

by Tom Kuennen

ALDOT HiMA Application on Busy Highway Driven by Persistent Rutting, Experience at Close-By Test Track

The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) leveraged pavement research from the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) to validate the use of a new, high-performance, highly modified asphalt pavement mix that it anticipates will stand up to brutal truck traffic.

The highly modified asphalt (HiMA) mix, placed as an intermediate or binder course on U.S. 231 in mid-2012, contains a much higher percentage of polymer modifier than conventional modified mixes.  The HiMA binder contained 7.5 percent SBS (styrene-butadiene-styrene) polymer, more than twice that used in conventional polymer-modified binders.

The existing pavement – placed 4 years earlier – had begun rutting under heavy traffic in just 3 months after placement. But in spring 2013, 8 months after placement of the new HiMA intermediate course, the new pavement
shows no sign of rutting, cracking or any other distress, according to ALDOT.

Read the Full Article

This entry was posted in General News, Journals/Publications, New Technology, News, Pavement Design/Const., Pavement Pres. Apps., Treatments. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.