Asphalt Cost Escalator Provisions Tax State Transportation Budgets

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Beyond fuel and transportation, rising oil prices directly impact street and highway building and maintenance costs, compounding the hundreds of millions of dollars states lose due to outdated bidding policies that favor petroleum-based asphalt over other paving materials, according to a recent report by Portland Cement Association (PCA) Chief Economist Ed Sullivan. He describes how asphalt no longer has a competitive cost advantage compared to concrete at the time projects are bid. As a result, taxpayers take on the risk of increasing asphalt prices and the resulting higher maintenance costs of asphalt roads, PCA contends.

Source: Concrete Products article for March 12, based on a PCA press release. Read more.