SHRP PRODUCTS FOR HOT MIX ASPHALT AND BINDER SPECIFICATION

This article reviews the Strategic Highway Research Program's (SHRP) research products in the field of hot mix asphalts, including binder, mixture and SUPERPAVE products. SUPERPAVE is the name of the mixture design system which is made up of the following: performance based binder specifications; performance based mixture specifications; a mix design system; new test methods, practices, and manuals; new test equipment; and mix design and support software. For traffic considerations, the system describes 3 pavement design levels: low, intermediate, and high traffic. Each of these areas is discussed. Aggregate quality and blending guidelines included in SUPERPAVE are also discussed, as are also asphalt cement binder selection, and performance based mixture tests.