Asphalt: The Choice of Engineers

Benefits of Asphalt | The Engineers Choice | Perpetual Pavement | Life-Cycle Costs | Speed | Environmental Issues and Recyclable Asphalt | Fact Sheets and Q&As | Glossary

There are seven reasons why most engineers who have closely studied the new high-performance asphalt are convinced that it should be the pavement of choice for designers of future roadways:

#1 Asphalt is a much smoother driving surface than concrete

• Surface smoothness is important to taxpayers. Research shows that smoother pavements offer positive benefits for the public, including reductions in vehicle-maintenance costs, tire wear, driver fatigue and fuel consumption.
• The reduction in fuel consumption because of surface smoothness has been calculated by researchers to be between 5 and 6 percent.

#2 Hot Mix Asphalt makes a longer-lasting pavement

Hot Mix Asphalt pavements have been known to last more than 50 years when properly designed and built.

Open-graded pavements developed in the past 10 years:

• withstand freeze/thaw cycles
• reduce the cost of construction due to ability to layer roadway with local aggregate materials

#3 Another way to cut costs is to recycle the material

• Hot Mix Asphalt is the most recycled product in the nation today. Today’s investment in an asphalt roadway is for life, since the material can be reused time and time again to produce paving materials that is equal or superior to the original material.
• Due to asphalt recycling, the cost of a flexible-pavement structure can be 30 percent less than a comparable rigid-pavement structure.
• The recyclability of asphalt is a hedge against inflation! Recyclable material increases at the same rate as the virgin material.

#4 Asphalt roads are the safest pavements available

• Hot Mix Asphalt roads are the safest driving surfaces. This is directly attributable to asphalt’s inherent smoothness, which improves vehicle stability.
• It allows water to drain vertically from the surface, which eliminates back spray from automobiles and increases visibility by more than 100 percent in rainy conditions.
• Asphalt roads are quieter and more skid resistant.

#5 Asphalt pavements are quieter

• Hot Mix Asphalt averages 3 to 7 decibels quieter than rigid pavement surfaces. The lower noise level also tends to reduce driver fatigue.

#6 Flexible pavements are able to support heavy loads

• New stone-skeleton mixes being designed today are able to support the same heavy loads as rigid pavements.

#7 Hot Mix Asphalt requires much shorter construction times

• During construction of a roadway, it is possible to open the newly paved section to traffic almost immediately, thereby giving motorist early access to their new convenience.
• Repairs and rehabilitation can take place at night with a new surface ready for the morning drive time.
• From a dollars-and-cents point of view, the new high-performance asphalt provides the Missouri Department of Transportation with the lowest-cost pavement structure.

Source: Hot Mix Asphalt Technology - September/October 2002