Perpetual Pavement Awards

Perpetual Pavement Awards (PPA) from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance

The Washington State Department of Transportation has won a total of 15 Perpetual Pavement Awards (PPAs) from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA). The awards celebrate 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. Through 2022, WSDOT has won 9 awards through the years.

In the “By Design” category, the awards are presented to state transportation departments and local agency road owners for well-performing asphalt pavements that are newly designed under strict Perpetual Pavement criteria. The first year this award was available was 2020 and WSDOT has won an award in this category every year since it was established. Though 2022, WSDOT has won 3 awards through the years.

In the “By Conversion” category, the awards are presented to state transportation departments and local agency road owners for well-performing asphalt pavements that are placed over an existing road under strict Perpetual Pavement criteria. The first year this award was available was 2020 and WSDOT has won an award in this category every year since it was established. Though 2022, WSDOT has won 3 awards through the years.

Engineers at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University evaluate the nominations and validate the results for all the 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, around 200 projects have been honored with the award throughout the US and Canada.

A video on the Perpetual Pavement concept is available here.

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 (SAPA). The Asphalt Pavement Alliance’s mission is to establish asphalt as the preferred choice for quality, performance and the environment.