By: Mike Acott
Now that stone-matrix asphalt is being recognized as the premier surfacing lasting 20 years or more, it is easier than ever before to make the case for asphalt for high-performance situations.
Everything that the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) does has an impact on the market for hot-mix asphalt (HMA). NAPA's goals and activities are all aimed at preserving our members' markets and opening up new ones.
A case in point: perpetual pavement. The research now under way at the National Center for Asphalt Technology into the endurance limit may sound highly abstract to some, but the outcome of that research builds on the science for designing and constructing perpetual pavements. This will ultimately help to preserve our markets and open up new ones by reducing life-cycle costs.
Another example: improving the time from initial construction to the first overlay isn't something that anyone would assign to a marketing department, but it is something that opens up markets. Now that stone-matrix asphalt is being recognized as a premier surface lasting 20 years or more, it is easier than ever before to make the case for asphalt for high-performance situations.
NAPA's first legislative victory was the 1959 rollback of a U.S. Air Force mandate for concrete pavements on all its runways. Because we were able to make the case to Congress, through engineering presentations, that asphalt can take the weight and punishment of aircraft, we have been able to develop a thriving market for our pavements. Today, more than 85% of all airport runways in the U.S. are asphalt, and a new $2 million-a-year, federally funded asphalt runway research program got started in 2005.
NAPA's engineers have led the way in all these areas, in addition to numerous others—porous asphalt technology, quiet pavement technology, warm-mix asphalt—I could go on and on. It all translates into having the right products to serve the marketplace and having our industry's customers feel confident that they are buying the best.
One of NAPA's major programs contributes to the industry in a less direct, but very important way. Since 1994, the scholarship program operated by the NAPA Research and Education Foundation has helped 862 college students complete their education. Because each scholarship recipient is required to take HMA technology, several civil engineering departments have added such courses to their curricula. This means that, each year, many hundreds of young engineers enter the work force with a knowledge of HMA. Whether they go on to work for government agencies, in academia or in private firms, this knowledge is valuable.
The ultimate question is, how can NAPA best have an impact on the marketplace? Our answer is that we continue to improve our product through investments in research and through advocating best practices in construction. We continue to improve conditions for workers at the plant and at the paving site. We continue to champion education. We continue to support increased investment in the highway program at the federal level, and we work through partners to do the same at the state level.
All of this adds up to the ways that NAPA fulfills its primary missions: sustaining and improving the market for HMA and helping our country grow stronger through improved infrastructure.
