Impacts and Benefits from APT Programs for the Asphalt Industry

In the last decades it can be observed that more knowledge and responsibility is moving from the road authority side to the road contractor side. Also the detailed descriptions of the products to be used in the specifications are moving into the direction of functional requirements. By going into the direction of functional requirements the contractor needs to be able to produce a mix that will fulfil the functional requirements set by the road authority. That means the contractor needs to know how long a certain layer will perform well and how long it will last and how much risk he will have if it will be applied in a certain period of the year. In large contracts where the contractor is responsible for the (entire) pavement for a long period and it can be observed the contractor in general will chose for a surface layer (or a pavement) that has proven to durable in the past. So often a proven solution will be chosen instead of a new concept. In the last 20-30 years several new asphalt products were development, such as stone mastic asphalt, porous asphalt, double layer porous asphalt, high performance mixes, and very thin and ultra thin layers of asphalt concrete. At this moment different types of Warm Mix Asphalt are being developed by asphalt producers. For these product developments Accelerated Pavement Test (APT) facilities are hardly used. This paper describes the possible reasons for that. In some situations APT facilities were used by contractors. Some examples from various countries are described. In the conclusions the (possible) benefits of using APT facilities are mentioned.