Thank you to Amy Epps Martin, Texas A&M A.P. & Florence Wiley Professor II and Senior Research Engineer, who presented Engineering Sustainable Asphalt Pavements at the Institute of Transportation Studies Transportation Seminar on Friday, March. 7, 2025.
Before the seminar began, UC Berkeley CEE Professor Michael Cassidy commemorated the impactful contributions of Carl L. Monismith (1926-2025) to the field of asphalt technology.
Abstract: Sustainability with environmental and economic benefits motivates the increased use of recycled asphalt materials (RAM) in asphalt pavements. However, when stiff, brittle, aged RAM is added to asphalt mixtures, adequate cracking performance must be restored by engineering each unique material combination. Different high RAM mitigation strategies are available, but performance must be balanced with resistance to rutting, cracking, and moisture damage. Guidance is available to engineer sustainable asphalt mixtures through a forthcoming provisional American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standard practice developed through multiple national and state efforts. This practice includes: (1) component materials selection guidelines for virgin materials, RAM, and additives and their proportions including a recycling agent dose selection method and consideration of reduced recycled binder availability; (2) binder blend rheological evaluation tools; (3) mixture performance evaluation tools in a stepwise approach; and (4) binder blend and mixture specimen preparation procedures.
Bio: Dr. Amy Epps Martin has more than 27 years of experience teaching civil engineering materials courses and conducting research on safe, sustainable asphalt technologies at Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute where she is the A.P. & Florence Wiley Professor II and a senior research engineer. She now has 3 sons studying to become Aggie Engineers.