U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Focus
| Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations |
Publication Number: FHWA-SA-98-024
Date: July/August 1998
New England Gets a Helping Hand with Superpave
State highway agencies and paving contractors in New England now have a ready source of assistance in designing Superpave mixes: the Transportation Technology Center of Connecticut (TTCC).
FHWA Forms Pavement Models Team
Staff and contractors in offices throughout the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are at work developing models to predict the performance, life-cycle costs, and other attributes of asphalt pavements. To give the people working on these models a chance to share ideas, keep each other up to date, and avoid duplication of effort, FHWA is forming a pavement models team.
Videotapes Explain the How and Why of Laboratory Test for Resilient Modulus
The resilient modulus, or stiffness, of the soil and rock in the subgrade at a paving project is a critical factor in determining how thick a pavement should be (see sidebar below). Many highway agencies use a falling weight deflectometer (FWD) to measure the resilient modulus of subgrade materials. The FWD is towed to the project site, where it measures how the subgrade reacts to a heavy weight dropped on the ground above.
Winter Maintenance Groups Working Together for Clearer Roads
To keep roads safe for travel during the winter, State and local highway agencies spend more than $1.8 billion a year on snow and ice control. It's thus no surprise that the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), State and local highway agencies, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and others have placed a high priority on identifying and deploying innovative, cost-effective techniques and technologies for winter maintenance. To spur deployment, they have established three programs that work in concert to help highway agencies implement innovative winter maintenance tools:
