Pavement Preservation Journal, Fall 2015
By Thomas Burchett, Tahmidur Rahman, and James Sassin
The Federal Highway Administration initiated a new Specific Pavement Study (SPS) for monitoring the performance of warm mix technology under the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Program.
The SPS-10 experiment, Warm Mix Asphalt Overlay of Asphalt Pavement Study, aims to compare the performance of warm mix asphalt (WMA) to that of hot mix asphalt (HMA), both in the short and long term. The study expects to reduce the current knowledge gap between the performance of WMA and HMA, which is partially attributable to the lack of documentation of long term performance.
Most of the industry is adopting WMA technology, but there is no real grasp of its long-term impact. This study will aid in determining that impact and how WMA can be used to save money and improve road life and performance. Today, WMA has numerous benefits, including increased haul distances, and time to work the mix, compared to conventional HMA. WMA can also be used as a compaction aid, and in regard to emissions, is more environmentally friendly than HMA.
