ITEM 7-A

Standing Committee on Highways (SCOH)

Resolution SCOH-97 AM-1 (AASHTO Resolution)

Title: Uniform Implementation of SHRP Superpave

Questions regarding this resolution may be addressed to Bobbie F. Templeton, Assistant Executive Director for Field Operations, Texas Department of Transportation.

WHEREAS, the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP^®) funded by the Highway Trust Fund produced approximately 130 products and technologies; and

WHEREAS, Congress appropriated additional funds from the Highway Trust Fund and charged the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) with oversight responsibility for SHRP implementation; and

WHEREAS, AASHTO has established a Task Force on SHRP Implementation to provide leadership and guidance to the AASHTO member departments for the implementation and use of SHRP products and technologies; and

WHEREAS, this Task Force, in concert with FHWA and the Transportation Research Board (TRB), launched the Lead State Program, to expedite implementation of seven critical products and technologies and create peer support for subsequent implementation of these seven products and technologies by other AASHTO members; and

WHEREAS, one of the major technologies included in this program, known as the Superior Performing Pavement (Superpave) System, was developed to design asphalt pavements and conduct a performance analysis of such pavements; and

WHEREAS, AASHTO approved and published standard specifications, requirements, methodologies, practices and test methods for Superpave based on SHRP; and

WHEREAS, the uniform implementation for these standards provides a common national practice on which to add research-based refinements to further improve performance; and

WHEREAS, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) registered the trademarks SHRP^® and Superpave^® in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, to identify the research and its products as being those emanating from the Strategic Highway Research Program and being consistent with the findings and recommendations of that Program; and

WHEREAS, the NAS licensed AASHTO to use the registered trademarks SHRP^® and Superpave^® on publications and products that are distributed in connection with the SHRP implementation plan, and asked that AASHTO and each member State agree not to "alter, modify, dilute, or otherwise misuse the licensed trademarks;" and

WHEREAS, the quality of the end product asphalt pavement yielded by this SHRP technology is very sensitive to the materials and design requirements specified in the Superpave System; and

WHEREAS, substantive modifications of the standards by individual AASHTO members could both limit the impact of refinements and bring discredit to the named technology

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways urges all AASHTO members, when implementing SHRP Superpave technology, not to substantially modify applicable prescribed standards, requirements, or methodologies as adopted in the AASHTO Standard (and Provisional) Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways urges all AASHTO members who find it necessary to modify the prescribed SHRP^® standards, requirements, or methodologies for the Superpave^® technology beyond what has been adopted in the aforementioned AASHTO Standard (and Provisional) Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing; and to avoid referring to asphalt pavements so constructed as utilizing the SHRP Superpave technology.