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-RD-02-004
Date: November 2001
A national team of partners has been recognized by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standing Committee on Quality for "Saving Superpave" by mobilizing support for the technology in the wake of Federal funding cuts.
Developed under the Strategic Highway Research Program, the Superpave system has given highway engineers and contractors the tools they need to design and construct asphalt pavements that will perform better and last longer under all traffic levels and a range of temperatures. However, the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century did not contain any special funding provisions to continue Superpave implementation. The team, which included representatives from State departments of transportation, the Transportation Research Board, AASHTO, and FHWA, has worked to obtain sufficient additional funding from such sources as the National Cooperative Highway Research Program to continue advancing Superpave implementation.
The additional funding, including about $2.5 million in 2001, has enabled continued growth in the use of the Superpave system. The number of Superpave projects leaped from 95 in 1996 to almost 4,000 in 2000. To date, more than 40 States have used the Superpave system to design and construct pavements.
For more information on the Superpave system, contact John D'Angelo at FHWA, 202-366-0121 (email: john.d'angelo@fhwa.dot.gov), John Bukowski at FHWA, 202-366-1297 (email: john.bukowski@fhwa.dot.gov) or, Tom Harman at FHWA, 202-493-3072 (email: tom.harman@fhwa.dot.gov).