Asphalt Road-eo Paves the Way to Bring a Fresh Crop of Talented Civil Engineers into the Asphalt Industry

TXAPA hosted the first annual Asphalt Road-eo at the association’s campus in Buda, Texas on December 8, 2017. The idea for the event comes from University of Texas at Austin Civil Engineering student Sungun Yoon. Yoon and associate professor Amit Bhasin were discussing concrete canoe competitions—in which engineering students create a literal floating canoe using concrete—and pondering why no such event exists for asphalt.

With Dr. Bhasin’s enthusiastic support, Yoon set to work organizing the Asphalt Road-eo in which students would compete by making a two-by-two-foot slab of asphalt pavement. Teams of three were given only aggregate and binder to complete this task. Additional materials would result in points added or lost depending on their cost and origin. The winning team would be decided based on the slab’s friction response, resistance to rutting and cracking, and the ability of the students to defend their mix design to judges Robert Lee, TxDOT; Harold Mullen, TXAPA and Chuck Fuller, TXAPA.

Following opening comments from judges Lee and Mullen, a group of some 30 student participants waited anxiously for their slabs to undergo some serious testing. The slabs were subject to a friction test as well as ingeniously designed rutting and cracking tests that involved a Toyota Tundra and lots of cheering. The rutting test lasted approximately 15 minutes, during which each team met with the judges to present their rationale for the type of grade and composition they chose to construct the slab. Points were deducted for use of non-waste additives and materials while points could be gained by using industrial waste or if the mix design costs could be offset by longevity and durability.

It was difficult to tell who was more excited during the event, the students or the judges. It would be fair to say that everybody learned something; you might even describe the judges as giddy with excitement over the level of passion and interest shown by the teams. During the question and answer portion of the competition, a lot of lively conversation centered around each team’s trials and tribulations as they worked to determine the ratio of materials needed to achieve the desired grade. "Asphalt is really three ingredients," said TXAPA’s Partners in Quality leader, Chuck Fuller, "aggregate, binder, and air. A lot people forget to factor in the air."

The winning slab was constructed by Team Theta Tau (Daniel Duke, Ekin Ugurel). Their slab endured several passes from the Tundra before throwing in the towel. Team Pave the Way (Jennifer Zuehlke, Nick Felty, and Rachel Sutherland) came in second place after wowing the judges with their mix design which included industrial waste and a more expensive component that won points for durability. Rounding out the top three was Team Numero Uno (Sungun Yoon, Christian Sabillon, Cristina Cordoba), whose captain, Yoon was already talking about plans to involve universities across the state of Texas in next year’s competition. Aggies, if you’re listening, the gauntlet has been thrown! Right now, the National Asphalt Road-eo Championship with the Texas Longhorns!