MATC: About the program
Find out more about the Mobile Asphalt Technology Center.
The FHWA Mobile Asphalt Technology Center (MATC) is equipped with traditional and state-of-the-art testing equipment that is ready, or nearly ready, for widespread use in the highway industry. The MATC is a vital mechanism for technology implementation and allows FHWA to develop policy and technical guidance through identifying regional and national trends in asphalt materials and pavement construction. The MATC introduces emerging technologies into real-world construction, assisting agencies with positive change, and promoting innovation within the asphalt industry. These innovative technologies and practices can help to encourage agencies to take specifications and practices to the next level to further improved pavement durability.
The focus of the MATC has continuously evolved over its more than 30-year history and it has visited 49 out of 50 states since 1988. It typically conducts five to seven field visits annually that last approximately 3 weeks in duration. Historically, the MATC receives approximately twice the amount of visit requests than it can accommodate in one year. It also holds open houses at the request of its public agency and paving industry partners at six to eight events or conferences annually.
The MATC Program mission is to:
- Introduce new and emerging asphalt materials and construction technologies to States and industry, in order to bridge the gap between research and implementation;
- Provide guidance, leadership, and technology for the delivery of long life pavements that meet our customers’ needs and are safe, sustainable, and effectively maintained;
- Advance new and improved technologies and innovations into common practice; and,
- Raise awareness, assist, support, and provide guidance to FHWA field offices, State Departments of Transportation, and their industry partners in the area of pavements and materials.
The MATC achieves its mission primarily by:
- Project Site Visits: FHWA is an independent party with a national perspective who provides agencies and industry first-hand exposure to new technologies to facilitate implementation.
- Customized Training Workshops: Test results and observations from the Project Site Visit are presented through the delivery of classroom and online training to agencies and industry to facilitate implementation.
The MATC offers an on-site two-day Quality in the Asphalt Paving Process workshop that can be requested for delivery in your state. Find out more at: MATC Quality in the Asphalt Paving Process Workshop
- Equipment Loan Program: States and industry are loaned equipment to gain hands-on experience and to obtain exposure to new technologies before making a resource commitment.
- Technical Information "One Pagers": Topical documents based on identified national trends encourage States to evaluate and improve their specifications and practices.
The MATC is a traveling asphalt mixture laboratory facility and is supported by its stationary support laboratory, the Asphalt Binder and Mixture Laboratory – Implementation and Delivery (ABML-ID), located at the FHWA Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Virginia, to provide technical excellence to the asphalt pavement community.