A performance investigation of Superpave(TM) using the Long Term Pavement Performance Specific Pavement Studies-9A

In 1994, the end product of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) was an asphalt concrete mix design methodology known as the Su perior Performing Asphalt Pave ments (Superpave(TM)) system. As part of the SHRP, the United States Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also established the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP), within the LTPP program, a specific experiment identified as Specific Pavement Study-9 (SPS-9) was created to evaluate the long term performance of the Superpave system. This thesis evaluates the long term performance of the Superpave system using the in-service test sections constructed as part of the SPS-9A phase of the SPS-9 experiment. Although some trends were identified in this study, overall there was no statistically significant difference in the performance of the considered mix design types and asphalt binder grades. These results would indicate that asphalt binder and mixture properties likely play a larger role in performance than asphalt binder and mix design classification. However, due to the level of asphalt binder and mixture property data in the LTPP DataPave Release 20.0 a more detailed evaluation of binder and mixture properties on performance was not possible.