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Reporting on innovative products
and strategies for building better, safer roads
June/July 1999
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Superpave in the Classroom
In the future, engineers entering the workforce will be better prepared
to tackle asphalt paving design and construction projects, as they will have
been taught the Superpave system.
New course materials developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
through a contract with the National Center for Asphalt Technology, are now
being used to introduce the Superpave mix design system and provide a basic
understanding of asphalt technology to sophomores and juniors in civil
engineering programs. The materials can be used as either a supplement to
existing undergraduate courses on materials and pavements or as a stand-alone
segment of the course curriculum. Until now, information on the Superpave
system has been covered in some undergraduate engineering courses, but on an
ad hoc basis, with no standard curriculum.
The development of the materials was prompted by an Indiana initiative to
provide Superpave training to undergraduates in the State. In addition to
spearheading the development of the national curriculum, the project included
holding a training course to bring professors up to speed on the Superpave
system and equipping five universities with Superpave laboratory equipment.
The Indiana initiative was followed by one in Florida, generating interest
both across the country and internationally.
"Introducing the Superpave system to undergraduates will benefit the
entire highway community for years to come," says Lee Gallivan of FHWA’s
Indiana Division and manager of the curriculum project.
Contained on a CD-ROM, the materials consist of two 50-minute lectures for
sophomores and twelve 50-minute lectures for juniors. The class lectures are
in PowerPoint format and include instructor’s notes, a laboratory instructor’s
guide, a student workbook, and homework problems.
A curriculum for senior-level courses is planned but has not yet begun,
because of funding limitations under the Transportation Equity Act for the
21st Century. Gallivan says, however, that he is hopeful that, "after
the current materials are distributed and FHWA gets feedback from users, FHWA
can find the necessary funding to complete the project."
Copies of the CD-ROM are being distributed to the FHWA technology transfer
centers, Superpave centers, FHWA headquarters and field offices, members of the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Subcommittee
on Materials, and various industry groups. The FHWA field offices will distribute
the materials within their States and coordinate the introduction of the
undergraduate course work at universities in their regions.
The CD-ROM (Publication No. FHWA-RD-99-073) is also available through the
FHWA Research and Technology Report Center (phone: 301-577-0906; fax: 301-577-1421),
or can be downloaded from the FHWA Web site
(www.fhwa.dot.gov/asphtech.htm).
For more information, contact Lee Gallivan at 317-226-7493 (fax: 317-226-7341;
email: victor.gallivan@fhwa.dot.gov).
![CD cover.](asphtech.jpg)
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Hot Mix Asphalt for the Undergraduate CD cover
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