Transition Plan
January 31, 2000

THE PRESENT

The Technology

By 2000, all but a handful of states will have adopted the binder specifications and most will be using the mix design system. Last year, 1999, the states awarded more than 3,000 Superpave projects, nearly ten times more than just two years previous, representing 46% of the market share. In 2001, the market share is projected to grow to more than 80%. All good news for the state-of-the-practice and for the taxpaying customers.

But Superpave is not a fully mature state-of-the-art HMA system and will not be for years to come. Much remains to be researched, learned and implemented if Superpave is to fulfill its intended promise. That is, a universal system that can be used to design and place any HMA mix for any application, and can be used to predict in-service performance, thus being capable of supporting a true performance-related procurement system.

A simple performance test is needed to differentiate among competing designs. We need to know more about the performance of modified binders and how to fairly test them in the lab. We need to verify the applicability of the aggregate consensus properties. We need to understand and be able to avoid occasional mix tenderness during construction.. We need better laboratory tools which can be used to assist in predicting service performance. We need to reduce the variability of current test procedures and replace old, time consuming test procedures with new ones. And, we need to fully develop an integrated modeling system to accurately take all the components and predict in-service performance. We need all this and more!

TEA-21 and Superpave

In a reversal of the support it provided in ISTEA, Congress, when it passed in June of 1998, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), did not provide sufficient funding to the FHWA for Superpave implementation and continued federally sponsored research.

It was immediately recognized by the AASHTO Task Force on SHRP Implementation that if Superpave, and other technologies, were to succeed, it would require the development of new funding and management relationships. A plan was developed and presented to the AASHTO Board of Directors to be considered at their annual meeting in the Fall of 1998.

AASHTO

In November, 1998, the AASHTO Board of Directors met in Boston. They considered and passed Administrative Resolution AR-5-98 titled, "Conduct of Highway Research Under TEA-21." In the resolution, they recognized that the loss of funding threatened critical research and the implementation of technology important to member Departments. In response, the Board resolved:

1. To fund immediate critical research, formerly funded by FHWA, with unobligated 1999 NCHRP funds.
2. To set aside substantial NCHRP funding in support of Superpave research for the FY 2000 program.
3. To continue support of the Lead States program and to invoice member states a voluntary contribution of $6,000 for FY 2000.
4. To request that TRB organize and staff a Superpave Oversight Committee in consultation with FHWA and AASHTO and to use NCHRP funding for this purpose.
5. To charge the TRB Superpave Committee to provide an annual accounting of the NCHRP funds expended on Superpave activities and recommend annual budgets for review by the Standing Committee on Research (SCOR) and the Task Force on SHRP Implementation. The Committee was also charged to provide oversight of the Superpave research and implementation activities.

TRB

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) immediately went to work to establish the "TRB Superpave Committee" in response to the AASHTO resolution. The Committee was seen to be the Successor to two existing advisory groups, the TRB SHRP Committee and the FHWA Superpave Technical Work Group (TWG). Its charge would be to provide advice on the planning, activities, and resources needed to successfully complete Superpave implementation.

The TRB Superpave Committee, as established, includes representation from AASHTO member Departments, municipal government, private research, academia, and the HMA industry. It has liaisons to the National Asphalt Pavement Association, AASHTO headquarters, the Asphalt Institute, the FHWA and C-SHRP (the Canadian SHRP organization).

The Committee will undertake four priority activities:

1. Long Range Plan (through 2005)
   The consideration and adoption of a long range plan, using a combination of FHWA and NCHRP managed research, to address outstanding elements of the program aimed at bringing the technology to maturity on or about the year 2005.
2. The recommendation of annual research programs within the context of the long range plan.
3. The reconstitution and assimilation of the Binder and Mix ETG's to provide expert advice to the TRB Superpave Committee.
4. Provide periodic reports and advice to AASHTO and its appropriate committees, and to the FHWA with regard to the actions needed to bring the technology to its fully mature potential.