News Release: WSDOT Earns Three Perpetual Pavement Awards
Asphalt Pavement Alliance Announces Winners of 2021 Perpetual Pavement Award (PPA)
The Washington State Dept. of Transportation was notified on April 14th, 2022 that it has won three 2021 PPAs from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA). The award celebrates long-life asphalt pavements from across the USA that highlight the characteristics of a Perpetual Pavement design.
In the “By Performance” category, the awards are presented to state transportation departments and local agency road owners for well-performing asphalt pavements that are at least 35 years old with proven high-quality structural design. To earn the award, the pavement must have not suffered a structural failure, and it should have an average interval between resurfacing of no less than 13 years. The pavement must demonstrate the characteristics expected from a long-life, Perpetual Pavement design: excellence in design, quality in construction, and value for the taxpayers.
The 2021 By Performance award winner is for a 4.4 mile section of highway on State Route 7 in Pierce county. This is the eighth Perpetual Pavement Award by Performance earned by WSDOT. The roadway was opened to traffic in 1952 (70 years ago).
“One of the keys to infrastructure sustainability is long pavement life,” said Amy Miller, P.E., national director of the Asphalt Pavement Alliance. “These Perpetual Pavement Award-winning roads demonstrate how asphalt roads can be engineered to last indefinitely with only routine maintenance and periodic surface renewal.”
Engineers at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University, evaluated the nominations and validated the results for the 2021 Perpetual Pavement Award winners.
Winning agencies are honored by their local state asphalt pavement association and are presented with an engraved crystal obelisk. The names of the winning agencies and projects are added to a plaque on permanent display at the NCAT Research Center at Auburn University. Since the Perpetual Pavement Award was first presented in 2001, 176 pavements in 37 U.S. states, one Canadian province and one County have been honored with the award.
A video on the Perpetual Pavement concept is available here.
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The Asphalt Pavement Alliance (www.driveasphalt.org) is a partnership of the Asphalt Institute (AI), the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) and the State Asphalt Pavement Associations. The Asphalt Pavement Alliance’s mission is to establish asphalt as the preferred choice for quality, performance and the environment.
For more information, contact:
Asphalt Pavement Alliance
Amy Miller, P.E., 904-591-3333, amiller@asphaltroads.org
Washington State Department of Transportation
Claudia Bingham Baker, 360-357-2789, Bakerc@wsdot.wa.gov
