NCAT Hosts Another Successful Test Track Conference

 

 Pictured: Randy Funderburg (Banks Construction) and Jason Edmonds (Rogers Group Inc) listen as Dr. David Timm discusses how NCAT instrumented strain and pressure sensors throughout various sections of the test track to measure the section's response to loading.

 

SCDOT and SCAPA Members Attend Sixth NCAT Test Track Conference

The National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) hosted its sixth Test Track Conference March 27-29. The asphalt industry contingent from SC joined over 200 other attendees from across the country to learn about the latest findings from the research cycle. Engineers from NCAT covered many topics including but not limited to pavement design, construction, materials, in-place recycling, and pavement preservation. The sponsored sections of the 2015 test track cycle saw a variety of different materials and treatments subjected to heavy trafficking for rapid testing and analysis. The 1.7-mile oval undergoes over 10 million ESALs during each three-year cycle.

Conference attendees heard about various sections such as Kentucky's Longitudinal Joint, Georgia Interlayers, Alabama and Oklahoma OGFC, MnRoad Experiments, Virginia Cold Central Plant Recycling, Cracking Group, and the Preservation Group (SCDOT was a co-sponsor for the Preservation Group experiment).  

Each afternoon, the group took field trips to the test track as well as the pavement preservation experiments at Lee Road 159 and US 280. The thin overlays once again proved their cost effectiveness as those sections performed extremely well under the MAP-21 standards for cracking, rutting, and rideability.

SCDOT sent engineers from the Office of Materials and Research, who joined representatives from SCAPA and four of its member companies at the conference. On Wednesday, SCDOT State Materials Engineer Chad Hawkins, P.E. delivered a testimonial on how the agency has been able to benefit from the research on the test track. SCDOT has been a research sponsor at the NCAT Test Track since the initial test track cycle. For the 2018 cycle, SCDOT will sponsor a section on the south end of the track that will test the limits of conventional lift thickness.