Tuesday,
October 30, 2001
Contact: Karen Whitney
Telephone: 202-366-0660
FHWA 35-01
FHWA
Pavement Performance Research Saves $50 Million Annually in Highway Construction
Costs
The
U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
today announced that a software tool developed under its Long Term Pavement
Performance (LTPP) research initiative yielded savings of at least $50
million last year in state highway construction costs.
“LTPP
research is significantly advancing the pavement engineering process
nationwide,” FHWA Administrator Mary Peters said.
“The better the process, the better the product.
That’s why the LTPP investment is so essential – it yields the kind
of substantive, long-lasting improvements the public expects for its
transportation dollars.”
Engineers are using a software tool, known as LTPPBind, to more accurately determine the asphalt binder (cement) grade needed for their specific environmental conditions. A national review of LTPPBind shows it helps highway agencies save at least $50 million in construction costs each year by reducing the need to apply modified binders, a factor that can drive up the costs of construction.
The LTPP program
involves collecting and analyzing data that accurately describes how
and why pavements perform as they do. It is resulting in a number of nationwide improvements to
pavement design, performance and life-cycle costs. LTPP results are being used to improve pothole patching,
pavement evaluation, and other aspects of highway pavement design,
construction and maintenance.
One example of the role of LTPP is its impact on what has been dubbed the “2002 Design Guide.” The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) is developing the guide, which is a complete replacement for the current “how to” book on designing pavements. Developers of the 2002 design guide have estimated that the new procedures, validated and calibrated with LTPP data, could result in pavement rehabilitation savings of $1 billion per year.
The LTPP program
has also produced a number of other products and processes that will save
potentially millions more for U.S. highway agencies and help improve highway
condition and performance.
Another LTPP software tool is helping highway
engineers effectively implement new guidelines for the design of Portland cement
concrete pavements. Effective
implementation of the new guidelines is expected to reduce the life-cycle costs
of concrete pavements by 30 percent compared to current procedures, translating
into potential savings of $52 million annually for highway agencies.
The total
national investment in LTPP to date is about $187 million including nearly
$14 million
funded by the NCHRP. An additional
$36 million was awarded in June for four new regional LTPP data
collection projects to contractors located in Texas, Nevada, Illinois and New
York. In addition, participating
states and Canadian provinces have invested about $50 million in the overall
effort.
The LTPP is a 20-year pavement research initiative to increase the longevity of
roads and maximize benefits from the dollars spent on the nation’s highways
through the development of improved pavement technology.
The
Federal Highway Administration manages the LTPP program, which was initiated in
1987 as a comprehensive 20-year study of highway pavements.
The goal is to provide national data, information and products that
extend highway pavement life at a reasonable cost.
Additional
information on the positive impact of the LTPP program is available in the new
brochure, “An Investment
Benefiting America’s Highways: The
Long Term Pavement Performance Program.”
The brochure is available online athttp://www.tfhrc.gov/pavement/ltpp/brochure.htm.
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