Vol. 1, No. 1

Dedicated to encouraging greater usage of high quality, cost effective asphalt pavements containing recycled tire rubber.

November, 1996

More than 5 million tires recycled into roads in 3 states alone

Record construction season for CRM asphalt pavements
by Jeffrey Smith, Baker Rubber Southwest RPA president

RPA member companies report the 1996 construction season will set an all time record for agency use of crumb rubber modified asphalt pavements.
Leading the U. S. in total tons of crumb rubber modified asphalt is the state of Florida, which has developed its own crumb rubber modified asphalt process. Florida reports its annual use at 1,250,000 tons.
Jim Musselman, state bituminous engineer, said all friction courses in the state are currently done with FC2, which contains 12 percent rubber and accounts for 75 percent of the Florida total, or FC3, containing five percent rubber.
Musselman said the tons reported do not include the asphalt-rubber membrane interlayer projects, another part of the Florida paving strategy.

California strength

California continues to be one of the nation's major users of CRM HMA. Jack Van Kirk, senior materials & research engineer for Caltrans, said there are over 500 projects in the state, significantly more than anywhere else.
It is estimated that over 650,000 tons of CRM HMA were bid in California in the past year.
Frank Lancaster, materials engineer for the Department of Public Works in Los Angeles, which consults for some 88 cities in the county, reports that the department recommends CRM HMA for those jurisdictions. He said about 75 percent of the $80 million spent by the county for highway asphalt goes for asphalt-rubber.
Arizona, a pioneer state for the asphalt-rubber 'Wet" process, followed California with about 600,000 tons. The state reports that over 25,000 tons of asphalt-rubber binder (about 300,000 wet tons) were used during FY 1995/96, ending in June.
Maricopa County and several cities were responsible for the remaining 300,000 tons used, with the City of Phoenix continuing to rank as the leading municipal user in the country.

Editor's Note: This report covers asphalt-rubber use in just three states. Accurate calculations of CRM pavements in the U.S. are extremely difficult to obtain since state agencies are often unaware of local public or private projects. There is still no single source of accurate information on how many scrap tires are used in paving projects. RPA is working on a program to collect and disseminate such data.

Annual meeting set for California

The RPA board has voted to hold the 1997 annual meeting in southern California. Poor weather in Washington, DC cut attendance last year, postponing the election of officers. Program details are expected to be announced shortly.

RPA moves to Arizona, names Donna Carlson

RPA has moved its headquarters from Washington, DC to Tempe, AZ.
The association is a successor to the Asphalt-Rubber Producers Group (ARPG) founded in Arizona in 1985. It promotes the usage of crumb rubber modified asphalt pavements. Asphaltrubber is a material containing crumb rubber from recycled scrap tires that was first developed in Arizona more than 25 years ago.
In August, RPA hired Donna Carlson as executive director for the association. A former Arizona legislator, Carlson was the founding executive director of the ARPG and served with the group until being named chief legislative liaison for the Arizona governor's office in 1987. Since then, she has continued to work in the industry and has been a consultant for several Asphalt-Rubber firms.
The process of successfully adding crumb rubber from scrap tires to asphalt pavements was developed by Charles McDonald for use by the City of Phoenix and later by the state. The CRM asphalt pavements not only divert old tires from the landfill, but produce a longer-lasting, smoother and quieter highway surface.
RPA president Jeffrey Smith said the move was made to bring the association administration closer to its membership. The group will continue to maintain a Washington DC office to monitor federal activities that pertain to the industry.