State Departments of Transportation (DOT) use chemical modifiers to improve the durability and longevity of asphalt roads and pavements and reduce costs. However, in some cases with new materials, it can be hard to gauge when, how, or why different modifiers work. With support from the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Exploratory Advanced Research (EAR) Program, researchers at Auburn University, along with partnering groups, are examining fundamental aspects of asphalt modification to help the highway industry make better choices about pavement systems. By testing the effectiveness of additive products, the researchers hope to create asphalt mixtures that result in durable and longer-lasting roads and pavements. Researchers are also examining whether mitigating oxidation through use of certain additives is a viable approach in ensuring the durability of the
chemical binders used in asphalt production. Ultimately, researchers hope to develop an underlying theory for why certain additives work so that future
projects will have a tool to assess an additive’s potential usefulness in different conditions.