Paving the Way
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
May 19, 2016
 
 

SCAPA Presents SCDOT with APA Perpetual Pavement Award

Print Print this Article | Send to Colleague

On April 21st, SCAPA President Mike Crenshaw presented SCDOT Secretary Christy Hall with a 2015 Perpetual Pavement Award on behalf of the Asphalt Pavement Alliance.

SCDOT received this distinguished award for a 6.5-mile section of Interstate 20 in Lexington County. This is SCDOT’s fourth Perpetual Pavement award in 12 years.

To qualify for this prestigious award, a pavement must be at least 35 years old and never had a structural failure. The average interval between resurfacing of each winning pavement must be no less than 12 years. The pavement must demonstrate the characteristics expected from long-life asphalt pavements: excellence in design, quality in construction and value for the traveling public.

Engineers at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) evaluated the nominations and validated the winners.

The award-winning section of Interstate 20 runs from the Aiken County Line to SC 34 (MM 37 to MM 44). SCDOT began work on the four-lane divided highway in October 1969. Construction included 10 inches of soil base, 7 inches of sand asphalt base, 2.38 inches of asphalt binder course and 1.43 inches of an asphalt surface course. The road opened in 1971.

SCDOT resurfaced the road in 1983 with 2.14 inches of asphalt surface in two lifts. In 2005 contractors milled the pavement and replaced it with 1.9 inches of Superpave 12.mm surface course and 0.86 inches of open graded friction course. SCDOT plans a 3-inch mill and fill for the pavement in 2016, making the average time between resurfacing 17.5 years.

The average daily traffic volume for Interstate 20 is 30,400 vehicles with 20 percent truck traffic. From its opening, the road had a much higher volume of traffic than anticipated. It has carried an equivalent single axle load (ESAL) of 20.7 million in its 45 years of service, 23 times the initial designed traffic level.  

The Asphalt Pavement Alliance is a coalition of the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the Asphalt Institute and the state asphalt pavement associations. The Asphalt Pavement Alliance's mission is to establish asphalt as the preferred choice for quality, performance and the environment.  

 

 

 

Back to Paving the Way

Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn