VAA Virginia Asphalt Fall/Winter 2021

Hurricane Michael damaged SR-30 (US-98) in Franklin County, Florida. Photo Courtesy of Kevin Wall. Hurricane Michael damage on SR-30 (US-98) in Franklin County, Florida. Photo Courtesy of Kevin Wall. DEFINING ASPHALT’S FUTURE 13 VAASPHALT.ORG built that uses a significant amount of recycled material, reduces cost for an equivalent structure, reduces green- house gas emissions (because mixing is done at ambient temperatures), creates a more resilient pavement and is still an asphalt roadway that can be easily repaired, replaced or further adapted as needed due to varying disruptions. Further, if material supply chains are disrupted, and highways need to be rebuilt, we can rebuild them using the circular nature of asphalt pavement components: Binder used as binder and aggregate used as aggregate. Increasing recycled contents in hot or warm mix asphalt, or using cold in-place recycling or cold central plant recycling technique to rebuild the roadway using 100% recycled asphalt pavement. Work still needs to be done to help agencies make deci- sions about which roads to make more resilient. Not every roadway needs to be adapted, and in some cases, it may make more sense to allow the roadway to fail and have a plan to reconstruct it rapidly. Mix producers also need to consider how to make their plants more resilient to disruptions. If a hurricane is pending, methods to protect the plant should be put in place so that the plant can be fired up to help with the recovery process once the storm has passed. Communication between the agency and the producers and contractors needs to be emphasized as well. It is best to put in place contracts, rapid contracting methods and plans for potential disruptions to reduce the time the roadway is down. Our highways are our lifeline—they connect people, emergency services and our economy—so we must think critically about enhancing their resilience. References: 1. ASCE (2010). Policy Statement 418 - The Role of the Civil Engineer in Sustainable Development. https://www.asce.org/advocacy/policy-statements/ ps418---the-role-of-the-civil-engineer-in-sustainable-development 2. ASCE (2021). 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/roads/ 3. Bowers and Gu (2021). Resilient Asphalt Pavements: Industry Solutions for the Resilience Goal. National Asphalt Pavement Association, Sustainability In Practice 105. https://member.asphaltpavement.org/Shop/Product-Catalog/ Product-Details?productid={6399F00E-2392-EB11-B1AC-000D3A9A6645} 4. Bowers and Gu (2021). Asphalt Pavement: A Critically Important Aspect of Infrastructure Resiliency. National Center for Asphalt Technology, NCAT Report 21-02. https://www.eng.auburn.edu/research/centers/ncat/files/technical-reports/ rep21-02.pdf 5. NOAA (2021). Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: Overview. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/ Resilience, as defined by FHWA Order 5520, is “the ability to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to and recover rapidly from disruptions.” In essence, resilience is our ability to bounce back.