Publication Number: FHWA-SA-97-025
Date: July 1997

States Awarding More Than 300 Superpave Projects This Year

State highway agencies will build more than three times as many Superpave pavements this year as they did in 1996, according to a new survey conducted by the Superpave Lead States Team with help from the New York Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Forty-eight States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia responded to the survey.

The survey found that 44 States plan to award 326 Superpave projects in 1997. The actual number of projects should be even higher, as several States did not say how many Superpave projects they will award. In 1996, 28 States had reported constructing 95 Superpave pavements.

The survey also found that implementation of the Superpave system is on schedule. Twenty-six States report they will have implemented the Superpave binder specification by the end of this year. More than three-quarters of the States plan to implement the volumetric mix design procedures by 2000.

Nineteen States have prepared written implementation plans to ensure that they will meet their implementation schedules. Another 14 States said they are in the process of developing written implementation plans.

"These results are not surprising, but they are terribly significant," says Paul Mack of New York State DOT and leader of the Superpave Lead States team. "The survey shows a national commitment to Superpave and shows that the goal of implementation on or about 2000 is realistic."

Gary Henderson, head of FHWA's Superpave Technology Delivery Team, says the survey "gives the States a benchmark and lets them know where their neighbors are on implementation of the Superpave system."

Harold Brown, division administrator of the New York Division of FHWA, says his staff appreciated the chance to assist the Superpave Lead States Team with the survey. "Superpave represents our future," he says. "FHWA will be there side-by-side with all our customers and partners to assist with its implementation."

For more information on the results of the survey, contact Paul Mack at New York State DOT (phone: 518-457-4445; fax: 518-485-7074; email: pmack@gw.dot.state.ny.us).

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