Similarly, NAPA’s Hansen and Marks labor to educate engineers on the design and application of high-RAP/RAS mixes.

Some of the most interesting areas of education are where concrete and asphalt come into direct conflict. This includes ACPA’s campaign for unbonded overlays as an alternative to asphalt overlays. It also includes NAPA’s campaign for Perpetual Pavement, a full-depth asphalt pavement designed for long service life.

Where the technologies of the two industries clash, the conflict is almost always about cost-effectiveness and service life, and sustainability usually benefits from the competition.

Looking Forward

While most future advances in pavement sustainability will likely come from incremental improvements in materials, methods and technology – and the communication of those advances to pavement engineers throughout the country – there is the potential for revolutionary advances down the line.

In concrete circles, the MIT research to apply nanotechnology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the production of Portland cement is certainly a case in point.

On the asphalt side, publicly- and privately-funded research is exploring the potential for organic products derived from materials like vegetation waste or algae to replace asphalt cement.