Better measurement techniques may also increase the use of local aggregates on construction projects. Aggregates for U.S. projects are now transported from as far away as Canada and Mexico, which increases costs and has environmental consequences. “If local materials can be better characterized in shape, texture, and angularity and qualified in terms of durability, they can be used instead,” Meininger says.

Improving aggregate measurement and characterization techniques is just part of the equation, though. More research is also needed on how aggregate shape characteristics relate to pavement performance, Meininger notes. “Once we have a better understanding of that, we can develop better specifications,” he says.

This article is courtesy of the Federal Highway Administration.

To learn more

The Technology Partnerships awards are the first grants the FHWA has ever provided directly to general industry. Other companies received grants to refine and test an asphalt binder-cracking device, an intelligent asphalt compaction analyzer, an all-weather pavement marking system for work zones, and an automated pavement marker placement system.

The FHWA considered a second Technology Partnerships Request for Applications in June 2008.  For more information on the Technology Partnerships Program or on participating in tests of the technologies, contact Julie Zirlin, Technology Partnerships Program Manager, at 202-366-9105 or julie.zirlin@dot.gov.

To view presentations and videos on how the technologies work and to sign up for e-mail notification of the projects’ progress, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/tech.cfm.

For more information on Pine Instrument’s aggregate imaging system, contact Dave Savage at 724-458-6391 or dsavage@pineinst.com.

For more information on FHWA’s mobile asphalt materials testing laboratory, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/asphalt/asmixlab.cfm or contact Matthew Corrigan at matthew.corrigan@dot.gov.

(Source: Federal Highway Administration)