NATIONAL ASPHALT PAVEMENT ASSOCIATION NEWS

NAPA has been awarded a five-year, up to $2.5 million cooperative agreement by the FHWA for the Advancement of Innovative Asphalt Technology. It is the largest federal contract ever awarded to NAPA. Under the agreement, NAPA will work with FHWA to develop and distribute technical publications and multimedia tools, as well as create, plan, and deliver conferences, seminars, webinars, presentations and conduct surveys for benchmarking. The cooperative agreement is part of the Accelerated Implementation and Deployment of Pavement Technologies Program, which was authorized by MAP-21. For information about the agreement contact Dr. Audrey Copeland, NAPA Vice President for Engineering, Research, & Technology. 

Engineering:  Warm-mix asphalt won a 2013 NOVA Award from the Construction Innovation Forum (CIF). NAPA and FHWA accepted the award on behalf of the asphalt pavement industry, warm-mix technology developers, and partners at state departments of transportation. In selecting warm mix to win a 2013 NOVA Award, the investigators cited its ability to improve compaction, reduce fuel or energy use, improve worker comfort, lengthen the paving season and reduce overall paving costs. For more details and a video about warm mix created for the awards program, visit http://goaspha.lt/1cpkkz6. 

Environment:  A new report from the National Center of Excellence for SMART Innovations at Arizona State University (ASU) outlines multiple negative consequences of relying upon reflective pavements as a mitigation strategy for the urban heat island effect (UHI). These consequences include the potential for increased cooling loads in adjacent buildings; increased heating demands during cold weather; roadway snow and ice buildup during winter months; reduction in precipitation, runoff, and soil water content; and adverse human health impacts. The project was funded by NAPA and the state asphalt pavement associations through the Pavement Economics Committee. Visit http://goaspha.lt/16GZcGD to download a copy of the report.