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FHWA Forms an Extended Superpave Technology Delivery Team
by Gary Henderson
Twenty field engineers from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Lands Highway Office have been assigned as members of the Extended Superpave Technology Delivery Team (STDT). SuperpaveTM is an asphalt pavement mixture design and analysis system developed in the Strategic Highway Research Program. The system allows an asphalt mix to be designed to accommodate a location's specific traffic loads and climatic conditions, resulting in pavements that better resist rutting and cracking. FHWA is currently leading a national program to encourage the adoption and use of the Superpave system. The creation of the Extended STDT marks a significant expansion of FHWA resources devoted to Superpave field implementation. The team provides overall Superpave program coordination and oversight. The extended team will be in the best position to respond, on a daily basis, to project concerns and other local issues. They will be very involved - "hands on" - with the regional asphalt user/producer groups, the regional Superpave centers, and other state and regional groups. The tasks of the Extended STDT members are to report on the status of Superpave projects and to provide outreach, liaison, training, and other services to address priority implementation needs in their areas of the country. Team members were upbeat about their new functions after they had completed their training. "It's really a good idea to pull all of our resources together to deploy a new technology - in this case, Superpave," said Extended STDT member Jitesh Parikh from FHWA's Maryland Division. "The Extended STDT will be able to communicate to a wide variety of partners - counties, states, contractors - and to provide technical help." Parikh said working with local governments will be a near-term emphasis area in Maryland. Maryland's local governments need to quickly become very familiar with Superpave because the state is going to exclusively specify Superpave. Many localities reference state specifications, and local engineers must be made aware that the state specifications have changed radically. Also, the engineers will need to quickly acquire the technical background necessary to supervise a Superpave project. Others noted how the Extended STDT will improve communications. "The appointment of the team will help achieve an implementation program that reflects what's really going on out in the field," said Greg Doyle of the Massachusetts Division. "The team will provide a more direct communication link to the field. I'd like to see us work closely with the lead states," said Ross Martinez from FHWA's Region 6. "The training has provided a good opportunity to hear what's been going on around the country," said Washington Division's Cathy Nicholas. "Utah is a lead state, and I didn't even know it! I hope we can have a positive impact and be able to reach out to get everybody more familiar with Superpave concepts." Other members of the Extended STDT are Ken Archuleta, Region 7; Jim Bush, Vermont Division; Rick Drumm, Illinois Division; Dennis Dvorak, Kansas Division; Lester Frank, Arkansas Division; Lee Gallivan, Indiana Division; Roger Hoovestol, North Dakota Division; Bernie Kuta, Region 4; Jeff Lewis, California Division; David Law, South Carolina Division; Brad Neitzke, Western Federal Lands; Greg Schiess, Florida Division; Jean Sexton, Pennsylvania Division; Jose Torres, Puerto Rico Division; Marcel Vivier, Eastern Federal Lands; and Mark Zitzka, Montana Division. For more information, contact Gary Henderson at (202) 366-1549. Gary Henderson is the leader of the Extended Superpave Technology Delivery Team. He works in FHWA's Office of Engineering.
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