Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are? Why is a baseball game nine innings? Why is a basketball goal ten feet from the ground? Or why does the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) use asphalt content and gradation for asphalt mixture acceptance? All of these are great questions, and the reasons are based on sound logic, but are they non-negotiable or open to improvement? Modern baseball traces its roots back to 1845, when the first rules of the game were established, but no one can claim today’s game follows the same rules as nearly 180 years ago. Recent changes to the game include the pitch clock and the use of replay. Major League Baseball had to make changes to keep up with innovations and the interest of fans. The same can be said of basketball. The National Basketball Association has continued to make changes to the rules and the court. Think, for example, about the rule against flopping and the movement of the three-point line as players become better shooters. As times have changed, so have the games. Is it time to change the way asphalt materials and pavements are accepted? Over the last five years, Virginia has been at the forefront of researching and implementing carried out by state employees were transferred to contractors. Before the shift, VDOT staff controlled the asphalt plants, directed the mix designs, and adjusted at the plant and in the field. In other words, VDOT was responsible for all testing and acceptance processes. Like many changes in industry or life, a disrupter came along, resulting in a new way of doing business. A quality assurance process utilizing contractor test results caused a paradigm shift. Contractors had to learn how to design asphalt mixes, how to test asphalt mixes, and how to ensure quality. The Virginia Asphalt Association (VAA) and VDOT had to hold training classes to teach the workforce how to perform the tasks once performed by VDOT alone. Outside experts were hired, and VAA staff had to know as much or more than the members to serve as a technical resource. By 1995, states like Virginia were relying on contractor test results in the project acceptance process. Each state had their own approach to performing this process, so there was a lack of uniformity as well as no federal requirements. Recognizing the large federal investment in state DOT programs, a new federal regulation was established: 23 CFR 637. This regulation established RETHINKING REALITY Trenton M. Clark, PE, President, Virginia Asphalt Association continues on page 14 △ THE EVOLUTION OF ACCEPTANCE TESTING balanced mix design (BMD). Starting in the late 1990s, VDOT began using inertial road profilers to measure and pay for smoothness instead of a California-type profilograph. With the implementation of the “Blueprint” in 2009, VDOT had to adjust the plant and field quality assurance programs due to a reduction in staff. These are some of the changes made over 25 years to the asphalt acceptance program. However, are the specifications and approaches developed and implemented over the last 30 or 40 years appropriate for tomorrow’s challenges? Maybe. Maybe not. CURRENT PROCESS Much of the processes used to accept asphalt mixes at the plant and placement in the field date back to the 1980s. During that time, VDOT had a reduction in staffing, and many of the roles and responsibilities VAASPHALT.ORG 13
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