ASPHALTopics | Spring 2018 | VOL 31 | NO 1

y Abigail Wright Pereira
To get to the root of a problem, sometimes you have to dig deep and the resolution
requires a holistic approach. In late spring of 2017, ORBA and OAPC came to
the realization that there was no easy way to get to the bottom of the quality of
asphalt pavement issues that have been confronting the industry. The OAPC Board
decided to invest in a landmark, independent study, the Quality of Asphalt review.
KPMG Canada was brought on to serve as an
independent advisor of the review, and the Texas
A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) was engaged to
conduct a technical review and forensic analysis of the
sections of six Ontario roadways which were identified in
the Ontario Auditor General’s 2016 report regarding
premature cracking and pavement failure.
As of the end of January 2018, the technical review
and analysis, which began in June 2017 and is
a major milestone of the study, was completed.
According to David Newcomb, head of the Texas
A&M Transportation Institute Materials and Pavement
Division, and principal investigator of the technical
review, this study was similar in some respects to a
major archaeological dig.
“From a forensics standpoint, the study was quite
unique,” explains Newcomb. “We were dealing with
six distinct asphalt projects located over 1,500 miles
away from our facilities in College Station, Texas. Out
of the six project locations, we were able to obtain
samples from two. Therefore a lot of extra digging
through years of records was required as part of the
analysis and we have to thank MTO for their assistance.
The samples from the two projects that were secured
also shed light on the other four projects.”
The TTI team, consisting of Newcomb, Pravat Karki, Jon
Epps, and chemistry consultant Gayle King, began their
work in June 2017, starting with the literature review of
the 2016 Ontario Auditor General’s (OAG) report which
identified six roadways that had prematurely cracked, as
well as the specs of those roads. The primary roadways
identified in the OAG report were sections of
Highways 400, 403, 10, and 12. This investigation
focused on two contracts on Highway 400,
one contract on Highway 10, and one
contract on Highway 12.
In late July, Newcomb and his team procured roadway
core and RAP stockpile samples from Highways 10 and
12. Testing on those samples commenced at the TTI
laboratory in September and TTI sent the first draft of
the response to the 2016 OAG report to the OAPC Quality
of Asphalt Task Force. The first meeting between ››
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