The Superpave system was a featured item on the 5-day agenda. The countries represented at the conference came seeking ideas for improving the ways they design, build, and maintain pavements. For most of these countries, this involves closely watching the path and progress of Superpave implementation in the United States. The conference sessions included a thorough description of the Superpave system and an update on the status of Superpave implementation in the United States and Latin America.
The conference was distinguished by its emphasis on practical solutions, not research. The Federal Highway Administration's mobile asphalt laboratory was on site, giving participants a first-hand look at the equipment needed to design asphalt mixes using the Superpave volumetric mix design procedures. Participants also toured the South Central Superpave Center, located at The University of Texas at Austin.
The highway industry was well represented at the conference, with three dozen companies exhibiting and demonstrating products.
"People were pleasantly surprised by the presence of so many industry representatives," said conference coordinator Sharon Campos. "The conference showed that there was a great need to exchange information and to develop contacts between highway agencies and industry."
The idea for the conference came from the realization that South and Central American pavements needed new maintenance and construction technologies. When Tom Kennedy, technical director of the South Central Superpave Center, lectured in Uruguay and Chile in 1993, he found that highway agencies in South and Central America, as in the United States, "realize they need to improve pavements." Kennedy and Ross Martinez of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) regional office in Fort Worth, Texas, got together in 1995 to develop the conference, enlisting the help of FHWA's Office of Technology Applications for funding and other needs.
Greg Speier of the Pan American Institute of Highways, a member of the board of directors of the Ibero-Latin American Asphalt Congress, encouraged high-level industry, government, trade association, and university representatives to attend the event in Austin.
Speier said the conference helped U.S. vendors participate in the boom in infrastructure development in South and Central America. "When a vendor and a buyer come together at one of these events, it takes a lot of the intrigue out of the negotiations," he said. "It gives the private sector a chance to get its foot in the door."
Wilfredo Montenegro, Latin American manager for Troxler Electronic Laboratories, Inc., strongly agreed. "I cannot overemphasize the importance of this conference. People are hungry for technology transfer and are eager to exchange ideas," said Montenegro. "Without the conference, I would never have been able to talk with so many people from that many countries."
The next step is to provide training in the use of the Superpave equipment and test procedures. Kennedy said that, since the conference, he has had several discussions with government, industry, and with academic representatives from several South and Central American countries about conducting Superpave training sessions there. And Speier reported that industry, highway agency, and university staff have been "clamoring" for Spanish translations of four key publications in the Superpave system being distributed by FHWA's technology transfer centers.
The conference was sponsored by the Continuing Engineering Studies department at The University of Texas at Austin, the FHWA, and the Pan American Institute of Highways. Corporate support was provided by Akzo-Noble Asphalt Applications, Inc., Brent Rauhut Engineering, Chemcrete International Partnership, Ingersall-Rand Company, Koch Materials Company, Prime Materials & Supply Corp., the Texas Hot Mix Asphalt Pavement Association, and Ultrapave Quality Asphalt Additives.
The conference steering committee, which includes representative of The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, the Texas Department of Transportation, Asphalt Institute, industry, and FHWA, is already working on a 1997 conference. As details become available, they will be announced on the Center website and in the newsletter.
- Reprinted from January 1997 Focus
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