Asphalt Materials and Pavements Program

The National Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center), under the direction of Peter Taylor, was awarded the Committee Award of Appreciation during the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Committee on Materials and Pavements (COMP) 2024 annual meeting.

The award recognizes the CP Tech Center for its dedicated contributions to cement and concrete standards and technology over many years. Among other achievements, the CP Tech Center has contributed to the development and maintenance of AASHTO R 101, T 358, T 395, T 402, T 403, and T 413.

“It was an honor to represent the CP Tech Center during the AASHTO COMP annual meeting,” CP Tech Center Associate Director Leif Wathne said. “It’s humbling to see the efforts of the CP Tech Center recognized by our nation’s materials and pavement engineers.”

Wathne also said that he and the entire CP Tech Center team appreciated the recognition and those who support and contribute to the center’s activities.

“We’re honored to receive this and indebted to Mark Felag for his help in our work with AASHTO,” Taylor added.

During the conference, some of the CP Tech Center’s recent efforts garnered additional discussion as follows:

• Revisions to AASHTO R 101, Performance Engineered Concrete Mixtures, were presented and moved forward based on recommendations from a stakeholder feedback meeting facilitated by the CP Tech Center in July 2024
• Revisions to T 413, Early Opening of Concrete Pavements by Maturity, were also presented and moved forward. This standard was first published earlier this summer as a result of needs from stakeholders.
• The CP Tech Center updated attendees on how its recently published Guide for Reducing the Cradle-to-Gate Embodied Carbon Emissions of Paving Concrete was edited to AASHTO format and style, went through ballot processes addressed comments and concerns, before approval to go to AASHTO Publications. It is anticipated that this Guide will be available from AASHTO early next year.

The CP Tech Center will continue to work with our stakeholders to stay engaged in these and other concrete pavement-related standards, practices and guides in support of our federal and state agency partners.

The COMP annual conference, held this year on August 4–8 in Madison, Wisconsin, brings together materials and pavement engineers and technical experts from member departments, as well as industry and academia typically, to work toward consensus on the development of materials and test standards utilized by all of the AASHTO member departments.