What exactly is SuperPave, and how is the asphalt industry better off because of it?
Back on Season 1 of The Hot Mix Podcast, we brought on Chris Bocci from TriMat Materials Testing to give us an overview of the subject.
How Chris got into the asphalt industry
Chris is the vice president of TriMat Materials Testing here in North Carolina. He graduated from West Virginia University before continuing his studies at NC State University, where he got his master's in civil engineering. In 2001, he became a PE and later went on to become an asphalt state design engineer with NCDOT.
Chris started as an assistant asphalt design engineer. He claims he “ended up in the industry”, but really enjoyed the lab aspect of the job.
What is SuperPave?
For those that don’t already know, SuperPave (Superior Performing Asphalt Pavements) was the result of a research program in the 1980s and 1990s for the Strategic Highway Research Program (or SHRP). It was designed to improve pavement performance by optimizing asphalt binder selection, aggregate structure, and volumetric properties to withstand various environmental and traffic conditions.
SuperPave has largely replaced older mix design methods (like the Marshall Mix) thanks to its ability to customize asphalt mixes for specific climates and traffic loads.
Chris’s favorite part of the industry
Chris loves seeing things built. In fact, even when he was a kid, he loved to build things and was a big Lego fan. He enjoys seeing things getting done and the feeling of driving down the road knowing you helped pave it.
A more notable project he was involved with is Highway 540 right here in the Triangle area.
The future of SuperPave
Chris believes the future of asphalt is going to be a hybrid of SuperPave and BMD.
The key will be figuring out how to get a test that everybody can do, and that everybody agrees works for the industry. What’s needed are a lot of field trials and a lot of experience in the field.
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