A quality network of roads and highways is fundamental to the worldwide
competitive success of the United States. The challenge of maintaining or even
raising that quality at a cost level which reduces budget demands and lessens
taxpayer burden has been the object of the Transportation Research Board's
effort over the last quarter century.
What is now a certainty from that effort is: 1) oxidative hardening
is the 'cancer' which afflicts then prematurely terminates the useful
life of over 93% of our nations highways, 2) the chemical identifiers
associated with the early stages of that 'cancer' are now well
established, 3) pavement adhesive formulations which substantially
attenuate the formation of these chemical identifiers block this
destructive oxidative hardening; thereby extending the useful life of
the pavement up to three times longer, 4) Asphalt Rubber pavement
adhesives containing a minimum 15% quanta of composite rubber derived
from the mechanical crumbing of scrap tires down to a minimum 40 mesh
particle size, which are then swollen by reaction with hot asphalt,
have a proven, cost effective track record of this threefold extension
of pavement performance.
Federal Pavement Preservation effort, known as FP2,
posits that the right treatment on the right road at the right time
should be the guiding philosophy to achieve optimal results. Recent
innovations derived from an intense research and development effort
within the aerospace industry since the mid 1990's has yielded a way
to cost effectively manufacture a micronized, composite rubber from
scrap tires. This micronization yields effective surface area
stabilization of asphalt adhesives at over fifty times greater than a
40 mesh configuration. This micronization allows the formulation of
both hot mix pavement for new construction and cold process binders
for pavement preservation; with physical properties which resist
failure for time periods which are at least a full factor greater than
the best current Asphalt Rubber pavement adhesive modality. This
micron sized composite rubber when grafted with a newly invented epoxy
functional vegetable based resin provide a sustainable road binder
alternative, and/or at a minimum, a major extender to petroleum based
asphalts.
This advanced composite rubber technology falls in line with all
the Transportation Research Board's findings of the last 25 years. Its
effectiveness will eventually earn a permanent place in the pavement
construction and maintenance spectrum based upon existing testing
protocol. However, Federal government encouragement through the FHWA
and State Department of Transportation agencies could cause this
advanced technology to come on line much quicker than the customary
five to ten year time span associated with new innovations.
America needs the cost-benefit paradigm shift which the Long Term
Paving Program (LTPP) task force asked of industry in 1984 at the
launch of the 20 year study. We heard that call and have so responded.