AASHTO Journal, 21 March 2014
According a report released this week on the condition of highway pavement across California, drivers are seeing the results of California Department of Transportation’s innovation and hard work to provide a smoother and safer ride.
Caltrans made public its “2013 State of the Pavement Report” on Wednesday, which shows that the percent of state highway system healthy pavement increased from 75 percent in 2011 to 84 percent in 2013, an increase of about 4,500 lane miles of better, smoother pavement.
According to Caltrans officials, the report shows that California’s highway pavement is at its healthiest level in 10 years.
“It’s important to maintain and preserve the existing transportation system first and foremost before making other improvements,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty in a statement. “This improvement in our pavement proves that we are committed to doing just that.”
Caltrans officials say the increase in “healthy” highway pavement is due to “high-tech strategies, recycling, and innovative treatments” to prolong the life of its pavement, essentially saving money for taxpayers. These solutions have other benefits too, as innovative paving processes like cold-in-place recycling and using rubberized hot-mix asphalt and warm-mix asphalt has reduced more than 60,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in California.
Another helpful tool for Caltrans was the funding made available through the state’s 2006 Proposition 1b transportation bond, which, along with the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, assisted in funding for almost $4 billion of pavement work on about 18,000 lane miles.
Caltrans’ 2013 State of the Pavement Report is available here.
