ASPHALTopics | Summer 2014 | VOL 27 | NO3

The Ohio Department of Transportation won a 2013
Perpetual Pavement Award for a 4.5 mile section of
I-275 near Cincinnati. Constructed in 1972, the road
has carried approximately 100 million equivalent
single-axle loads (ESAL) since then but received only
two resurfacings, most recently in 2000.
Since warm mix technology was first introduced in the U.S.
ten years ago, WMA has been used in paving projects in
49 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico. In addition to lowering greenhouse gas emissions
on the production side, WMA provides several benefits,
including extending the paving season in northern
climates, providing a longer window for compacting
pavement, and improving pavement performance.
“Every year we do a survey on the use of warm mix
technology,” says T. Carter Ross, Vice President for
Communications at NAPA. “In 2009, warm mix usage
was 16.8 million tons, and that number jumped to
106.4 million tons by 2013. In 2013, warm mix tonnage
increased by 23 per cent over what was produced in 2012.
Industry has really embraced the use of warm mix and this
has all been done without any mandate or requirements.”
Porous and open-graded asphalt pavements have also
made inroads in proving their environmental benefits.
As effective storm water solutions, porous asphalts
provide natural filtration systems so that contaminants
are not washed away directly into waterways and streams.
They also reduce road spray for greater safety and have
been shown to reduce traffic noise.
Perpetual Pavements, with an expected life span of
40 years, have also received a lot of interest in the last
15 years, with several research projects initiated to study
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