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The versatility of asphalt pavement allows its use in many types of heavy-duty applications. One example is railroad facilities. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Company’s intermodal facility located in Portland, Oregon, transfers rail cargo. Recently they partnered with paving contractor Granite Construction Inc. to replace 6 Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) pavement sections including drive lanes, trailer parking, and the entrance gate.

Heavy-duty asphalt mixes provide pavement structure for severe loading and high stress conditions used in heavy-duty pavement applications. These pavements are subjected to high repetitions of heavy loads and comprise industrial facilities, haul roads, major arterial roads, and most roads in the interstate highway system.

Using more than 30,000 tons of asphalt, Superior Paving Corporation provided pavement on an array of pavement types: walking trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, competitive running tracks with strict tolerance requirements, long jump segments, light-duty parking bays, heavy-duty travel paths, a heavy-duty bus loop, and an extension of University Boulevard, a Virginia DOT owned road.

Colorado Springs, Colorado is a recent location for an Amazon distribution center. Considered the largest building in Colorado and the largest of its kind in the country, the distribution center boasts a total of 4M Square Feet. Asphalt was chosen as the pavement type to meet the demands of the high-volume parking lot project.  Amazon chose asphalt as the pavement of choice due to speed of construction, sustainability, and cost. The project team was given lofty expectations to meet the fast-paced construction goals. The quick speed of construction offered by asphalt allowed 2,000 tons of asphalt to be placed each day, and 1,804 parking spaces constructed for Amazon associates. In total, 130,000 tons of asphalt were placed at Amazon’s Colorado Springs campus.

SeaPort Manatee, Florida is situated on the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of Florida’s west coast. It’s a large deepwater seaport at the entrance of Tampa Bay that began active operation in 1970 and is the closest such facility to the Panama Canal. It handles millions of tons of cargo every year, both imports and exports, including produce and juices, petroleum products, metals, and construction equipment. 

A surprising fact to most people is the asphalt industry has been using recycled waste products in asphalt mixes over the last 50 years.   In fact, most asphalt contains recycled products. As the asphalt industry advances its quest for net zero carbon emissions, partnerships between the owner and the industry are invaluable.  Armed with scientifically based research, partnerships benefit the mutual goals of both the owner and industry - to create an asphalt pavement that meets the needs of the users, provides value to the owner, and achieves sustainability.