The Past, Present, and Future of the Asphalt Industry

SCAPA’s 2016 Summer Conference
The Greenbrier Resort, West Virginia
Past, Present, and the Future of Asphalt Industry
Serji Amirkhanian
Human Being
July 23, 2016
How old is asphalt?
• The first recorded use of asphalt as a road
building material was in Babylon around
615 BCE, in the reign of King Nabopolassar.
ca. 2350–2150 B.C.
Greeks and Romans
• The word asphalt comes from the Greek
άσφαλτος (asphaltos).
• The Romans adopted the word asasphalton,
and used the substance to seal their baths,
reservoirs, and aqueducts.
Roman Roads
• Were constructed during the
Republican times - the oldest
road, Via Appia, dates back to
312 B.C.
• Over 100,000 km (62,000 miles)
of roads.
• Quality roads that have allowed
many Roman roads to survive to
this day.
… Roman Roads
A typical Roman road structure (see
Figure), as seen in the United
Kingdom, consisted of four basic
layers (Collins and Hart, 1936):
• Summa Crusta (surfacing). Smooth, polygonal blocks embedded
in the underlying layer.
• Nucleus. A kind of base layer composed of gravel and sand with
lime cement.
• Rudus. The third layer was composed of rubble masonry and
smaller stones also set in lime mortar.
• Statumen. Two or three courses of flat stones set in lime mortar.
Roman Roads
• Roman Empire built over 3000 miles of roads in
Britain alone by 200 A.D.
• These roads had ditches to aid in drainage and
their thickness varied over weaker soils.
• This indicates that the Romans had some
understanding of basic soil mechanics.
Europeans
• Many centuries later, Europeans exploring the
New World discovered natural deposits of
asphalt.
• Writing in 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh described a
“plain” (or lake) of asphalt on the Island of
Trinidad, off the coast of Venezuela.
• He used this asphalt for re-caulking his ships.
100s years later…..
• Englishman John Metcalf, born in 1717, built
180 miles of Yorkshire roads.
• He insisted on good drainage, requiring a
foundation of large stones covered with
excavated road material to raise the roadbed,
followed by a layer of gravel.
Mr. McAdam!!!
• John Loudon McAdam, taught himself engineering
after being appointed a trustee of a Scottish
turnpike.
• McAdam observed that it was the “native soil” that
supports the weight of traffic, and that “while it is
preserved in a dry state, it will carry any weight
without sinking.”
• To construct his roads, McAdam used broken stone
“which shall unite by its own angles so as to form a
hard surface.”
Patented Pavements!!!
• The first such patent was filed in 1871 by Nathan B. Abbott of Brooklyn,
New York.
• In 1900, Frederick J. Warren filed a patent for “Bitulithic” pavement, a
mixture of bitumen and aggregate; despite vigorous efforts by the
Warren Brothers Company to defend its patent (and the name of the
material), “bitulithic” was often used to describe any asphalt pavement.
• Many of these patented mixes were successful and technically innovative.
• Other trade names for asphalt mixes included
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Wilite,
Romanite,
National Pavement,
Imperial,
Indurite, and
Macasphalt
Can you say warranties??
• The fierce competition among asphalt producers, however,
allowed cities to require more stringent requirements for
their asphalt roadways.
• In 1896, for example, New York City adopted asphalt paving in
place of brick, granite, and wood block.
• But it also required 15 yr warranties on workmanship &
materials.
• The long-term warranties, which did not recognize pavement
failures caused by factors beyond the asphalt contractor’s
control, bankrupted many builders. The result was fewer and
higher bids for asphalt pavements.
Earlier Years: Equipment
• 1901: The first asphalt facility to contain all the basic
components of those of today (Warren Brothers in East
Cambridge, Mass.
• It lacked only a cold feed and pollution control
equipment.
• 1901: The first drum mixers and drum dryer-mixers
• Mechanization took another step forward in the 1920s
• Vibrating screens and pressure injection systems were
added in the 1930s.
Earlier Equipment
• In the 1930s, Sheldon G. Hayes was the first to
use a Barber-Greene finisher, which consisted
of a tractor unit and a screed unit with a
vertical tamping bar.
• Barber-Greene introduced the floating screed
a few years later, and its design dominated the
market until the patent expired in 1955.
Construction Boom
• Pavers added electronic
leveling controls in the
1950s, and automated
screed controls in the
early 1960s.
• Extra-wide finishers,
capable of paving two
lanes at once, made their
debut in 1968.
Conclusions: History
• We have not learned much!!
• For 100s of years we have known about drainage,
crushed aggregate properties, and the importance
of soil mechanics.
• No more research is needed, we know everything
that should be known about quality pavements!!
• Do not mention this to DOT!!
Recent changes
• Since the mid-1980s, the industry has developed
advanced pavement materials including new RAP
mixtures, Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC),
Superpave, warm mix, and Stone Matrix Asphalt
(SMA), also called gap-graded Superpave mixes.
Today, much better system in place
• Engineering control systems placed on asphalt
pavers beginning in 1997 have improved
conditions for workers at the paving site.
• Pavements being built today can be engineered
to meet a variety of needs
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less noise,
greater durability,
enhanced skid resistance,
reduced splash and spray in rainy weather, and
a smoother ride than ever before.
US Infrastructure needs??!!
• the 10-year needs across 10 categories of
infrastructure is $3.3 trillion, including a $1.4
trillion investment gap.
The $1.4 trillion investment gap comprises:
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$1.1 trillion: roads, bridges, transit, and rail
Electricity infrastructure: $177 billion
Water and wastewater infrastructure: $105 billion
Airports: $42 billion
Inland waterways and ports: $15 billion
Our overdue infrastructure bill is
costing us time and money:
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$3.9 trillion in GDP, > the 2013 GDP of Germany
$7 trillion of business sales
2.5 million job losses in the year 2025
$3,400 in a family’s annual disposable income each
year from 2016 to 2025, equal to $9.33 a day.
The Future & $$$
The Future & $$$
Future
An example (Univ of Ill, Cham./Urb.)
Contribution of Primary Energy, as Fuel
HMA Plant
53.8%
Roller
0.6%
Paver
0.6%
Natural Aggregate
1.3%
Crushed Aggregate
7.4%
Straight Binder
36.4%
An example (17% RAP)
Contribution of Primary Energy, as Fuel
HMA Plant
60.2%
RAP
0.6%
Straight Binder
34.5%
Natural
Aggregate
0.7%
Crushed
Aggregate
2.7%
Roller
0.7%
Paver
0.7%
The Present Issues and the Future,
the Need for $$$ (taxes)
Future
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New pavement materials
New method of transportation
New workforce
New everything!!!
Electric cars: Not a new idea!!!
Electric Cars: Now
Future
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Green Infrastructure
100% RAP Mixes
Pelletized Asphalt
Public Private Partnerships
ideas in the way infrastructure is built: China’s
Broad Group put up a 30-story tower in 15 days
• 3D Paving Materials
Future: New Ideas
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Nano Technology
Self Healing Materials
Robots in the Field
Drones