Transition Plan
January 31, 2000

THE FUTURE

Perspective

In 1998, the likelihood that Superpave would reach its full potential was very much in doubt. However, the dedication, commitment and hard work of its past partners to forge new partnerships, identify funding and create a new management and coordination structure have gone a very long way to ensure the improvement and future success of Superpave. In doing so, care has been taken to recognize and account for the absence of the Superpave Lead State Team.

Keys to the Future

For Superpave to reach its full potential, a number of key components must be in place and/or supported.

These include:

• Leadership
• Expert Advice
• Expert User Support
• Long Range Plan for Research
• Standards Adoption
• Visibility
• Communication
• Coordination
• State-of-the-Art Implementation
• Technology Transfer and Training
• Universal Implementation

Most, but not all of these, exist today. The key to success is covering all the bases and providing the needed linkages among the various contributing organizations.

Leadership

The TRB Superpave Committee is clearly positioned to provide national leadership on the future direction of the Superpave system. Its membership is committed and the majority are executive level managers who command a great deal of respect within their parent organizations. Both AASHTO and the FHWA will be looking for and accepting its leadership.

Its members include representatives from and therefore linkages to key Superpave support groups. These include industry, academia, various AASHTO Committees, and representatives from five of the current Superpave Lead States. Beyond that, it has access to the FHWA Superpave Technology Delivery Team, the NCHRP staff, and the AASHTO SHRP Research Coordinator (who provides an excellent link to the AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials).

Expert Advice

The Binder and Mix ETG's have been reconstituted; will be funded by NCHRP and report to the TRB Superpave Committee. Their membership includes experts who know the technology and are committed to its improvement and deployment. They will act as invaluable advisors to the TRB Superpave Committee and to the AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials. As such, they will be in a position to identify gaps or weaknesses in completed research for action by the Committee. They will also be in a position to recommend effective improvement to the AASHTO standards maintained by SOM.

Membership on both ETG's include representatives from the AASHTO Lead State Team.

The Superpave Models/Software ETG has been eliminated. But, the NCHRP panels, which provide oversight to the models research, can and are providing a similar function.

Beyond the ETG's, the Committee enjoys access to the institutional knowledge of the FHWA Superpave Technology Delivery Team, the NCHRP staff, and their continued input and advice.

Expert User Support

Having been initially funded and equipped by the FHWA, the Superpave Centers are maturing into self-sustaining organizations. To some extent, all are currently supported by Regional pooled funds. Some receive added support from individual states and as contractors for research activities of interest to individual agencies as well as contractors for groups of agencies.

It's their vision that as time goes on, their mission should evolve to position them as trainers, communicators, and providers of regional and national research.

As the technology expands through newly completed research, there will be a need for continued training of practitioners. The centers would be a good source for that training. Beyond that, as they see it, there is a need to focus training in at least two other directions, the universities and the local municipal level. They are correct on both counts.

To achieve their vision, they will need to articulate it and "sell it" to their customers. States (and groups of states) need to carefully consider the services they need from the centers and be willing to support them through pooled funds. The FHWA needs to facilitate and manage these pooled funds and the TRB Superpave Committee needs to encourage the required partnerships. Beyond the Superpave Centers, it would seem the newly formed FHWA Resource Centers could and should be expected to become a full partner to implementation.

Their mission is to provide expert technical and program assistance, training and technology delivery to State DOT's and other customers. The TRB Superpave Committee should encourage the development of a plan for the Resource Centers to support the delivery to practitioners of the "Enhanced Superpave System" technologies resulting from ongoing research.

Long Range Plan

The TRB Superpave Committee, drawing on resources and input from many sources, has developed a Long Range Plan to complete essential research on or about 2005. Its likely the plan will be iterative and the Committee will make yearly recommendations to SCOR and FHWA for inclusion in annual research programs. The plan reflects today's hopes for Superpave among transportation agencies and the hot-mix asphalt industry:

Superpave will be a fully integrated asphalt mix design and construction system that (1) recommends binder type (including complex binders) and mixture proporitons based on anticipated environmental and loading conditions and layer location; (2) predicts the ability of a mix to withstand rutting, fatigue, thermal cracking, and moisture damage through a series of laboratory tests and mechanistic models; (3) integrates the binder and mix requirements into a performance-based quality control specification system during construction; and (4) will be clearly understood by public and private sector engineers, technicians, and contractors through initial and continuing training and outreach programs.

Standards Adoption

As noted earlier, care has been taken to create effective linkages to the AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials. SOM Technical Section Chairs will be liaison members to the ETG's. One of the more critical links is the existence and support provided by the AASHTO SHRP Research Coordinator. The Committee should encourage AASHTO to continue the position until such time as the research is completed and the provisional standards mature.

Visibility

The Superpave system has been a success story in moving technology from research to practice. One of many reasons has been its very high visibility. There is a danger that as the system is seen to be mature, the visibility will diminish. Efforts like the "FOCUS" magazine, national forums, the Lead States survey and many others will be eliminated or diminished. The partners, including TRB, AASHTO and FHWA, will need to cooperatively develop and execute plans to keep the technology on the "radar screens" of DOT executive managers and Chief Engineers.

Communication

Probably, the biggest threat to the success of any human endeavor is good communication. That is certainly true of Superpave. To be sure, there have developed a multitude of sources for information on the technology. Newsletters and web sites abound, yet it remains difficult for those who need to know a specific level of information to find it. A definitive source of information, probably a web site (with appropriate links), needs to be agreed upon, funded and staffed. AASHTO and FHWA need to cooperate to make it a reality.

Coordination

Given the multitude of facilitators, providers, customers, and users, it's critical that a single entity assume responsibility for coordinating the parties. This to facilitate agreement and understanding among the stakeholders and to minimize duplicative efforts, yet ensure all that needs to get done, gets done.

Implementation

Assuming that the Long Range Plan to complete the requisite research is both comprehensive and completed, implementation remains a challenge. And implementation brings with it at least three distinct challenges.

The first is state-of-the-art implementation by the states. State decision makers will need both comprehensive and timely information to commit to the implementation of Superpave enhancements as they become the state-of-the-art. Their technical staff will need training in order to act on the guidance of their management.

The second is "universal" implementation. Superpave is clearly the HMA system of choice for most State DOT's. It has the potential to be the universal system of choice for all HMA placed in the United States. If it is to achieve its potential, it must be adopted at the municipal and commercial level.

The actual implementation of any good research cannot be taken for granted. The 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act authorized $108 million to underwrite SHRP implementation and for the continuation of the long-term pavement program. If Superpave is to be fully implemented in its mature form, new partnerships and funding mechanisms will need to be developed among the States, AASHTO, TRB and the FHWA.

Visibility, Communication, Coordination, Delivery, and Implementation of the "Enhanced Superpave System"

The delivery of the enhanced Superpave system will take both coordination and considerable funding. Neither will be easy to obtain. There are four major stakeholders who must be not only involved, but committed. They include AASHTO, its member states, the FHWA and the asphalt industry.

Those with the most experience in the system development, its successful deployment to date, the ongoing research, and the implications new research has on both system enhancement and delivery, reside within the FHWA headquarters organization. As the result of funding support from ISTEA, FHWA developed a cadre of experts in both the technology and its delivery strategies. This cadre is in the best position in terms of both knowledge base and experience to assist in the technology transfer of the expected enhancements to the Superpave system.

In a perfect world those with the ability to coordinate would also have the financial resources to support the delivery system. Unfortunately, unless and until the next surface transportation act, due in 2003, provides the needed resources to FHWA that is not the case. Therefore, at least for a time, a new funding partnership with AASHTO and its member states will need to be established.

That funding relationship could take several forms:

• A national pooled fund for enhanced Superpave delivery could be established. Such a plan could be proposed by the FHWA, endorsed by the to be created AASHTO Steering Group for Technology Deployment and subscribed to by AASHTO member states.
• The AASHTO Standing Committee on Research has passed a resolution encouraging technical corrections to TEA-21. The corrections proposed would restore significant funding for several technologies to the FHWA. In the unlikely event these corrections actually get adopted, the FHWA would again be positioned to lead delivery of the Enhanced Superpave System. Even so, the proposed funding is not extravagant and some financial support from AASHTO would likely be needed.
• Other forms as yet to be defined.

In recognition of these problems, the TRB Superpave Committee has established a "Training, Outreach, and Education Task Force." The Task Force will prepare a position paper for consideration by the entire committee when it meets early in the summer of 2000. It is expected that the Task Force will identify the scope of needed activity, an estimate of needed funds, and a means to institutionalize the effort which would include the noted stakeholders.