Superpave Design Basic Knowledge

Superpave History

Under the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), an initiative was undertaken to improve materials selection and mixture design by developing:

1.    A new mix design method that accounts for traffic loading and environmental conditions.

2.    A new method of asphalt binder evaluation.

3.    New methods of mixture analysis.

When SHRP was completed in 1993 it introduced these three developments and called them the Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement System (Superpave). Although the new methods of mixture performance testing have not yet been established, the mix design method is well-established.

Superpave Procedure

The Superpave mix design method consists of 7 basic steps:

1.          Aggregate selection.
2.          Asphalt binder selection.
3.         Sample preparation (including compaction).
4.         Performance Tests.
5.          Density and voids calculations.
6.         optimum asphalt binder content selection.
7.          Moisture susceptibility evaluation.

 Equipment use

Gyratory_compactor

Core_comparisson

Nasir Abbasi