Rubber Pavements Association 

RPA is a 501(c) 6, non-profit association.  It is the successor of the Asphalt Rubber Producers Group founded in 1985.  The association is dedicated to the promotion of greater usage of high quality, cost effective asphalt pavements containing recycled scrap tire rubber.  RPA is based in the state of Arizona in the United States because the most widely used and nationally accepted material containing recycled scrap tires, “Asphalt-Rubber,” was developed in the state and all the major components of the industry are readily available.  Arizona also has Asphalt-Rubber pavements that have been in service for many years.

RPA carries out its mission through technology transfer and maintains the largest library of Asphalt-Rubber research documents in the world.  The main technology transfer activities include workshops, seminars and conferences, the publication of a quarterly newsletter and other informational materials. Since 1997 the association has conducted over 75 workshops for federal, state and local agencies.  The association also maintains a website that has been visited by thousands of individuals, agencies and countries.

The membership of the association is comprised of “User” (contractors) and  “Producer” (crumb rubber processors) members as well as non-voting Associate, Affiliate, and Individual classifications.  A Board of Directors, representing its member companies located throughout the world, governs the association.

The association funds a Technical Advisory Board (TAB), made up of engineers from governmental agencies, academia and the private sector.  George Way, P.E., recently retired from the Arizona Department of Transportation, currently chairs the 22 member TAB.  The purpose of the TAB is to provide technical and policy direction to the association.  Their mission statement is:  Advance engineering technology and implementation of Asphalt-Rubber.  They have set five goals to accomplish their mission.  (1) Provide policy and technical counsel to the RPA Board of Directors.  (2) Provide technical insight and direction.  (3) Assist in establishing technical merits and values of Asphalt-Rubber.  (4) Identify, formulate and monitor research and development activities.  (5) Lead development and delivery of training programs.  The TAB is actively engaged with the development of ASTM and AASHTO standards for Asphalt-Rubber paving materials.

The association is funded by its member companies through assessments on the sale or purchase of crumb rubber used in asphalt applications.  In the past three years nearly 60% of the RPA budget has been dedicated to research and education.  The association has sponsored several significant research projects. Among the projects: Life Cycle Cost Analysis by Dr. Gary Hicks, Dr. Jon Epps and Dr. Jim Lundy; Quality Control and Quality Assurance by Hicks and Epps; Development of a Mechanistic Overlay Design Method Based on Reflective Cracking Concepts by Dr. Jorge Sousa and Dick Stubstad, Consulpav International and Field Aging Effects on the Fatigue of Asphalt Concrete and Asphalt-Rubber Concrete by Dr. Lutfi Raad, University of Alaska.  RPA has also commissioned field performance reviews in the states of Arizona and Texas.

The association partners with many national and international associations such as the International Tire and Rubber Association, the European Tyre Recycling Association; the Scrap Tire Management Council; the National Asphalt Paving Association; the Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Technology Centers in Los Angeles and Sacramento counties, California; the Asphalt Rubber Training Service at Clemson University, SC and the University of New Hampshire’s Recycled Materials Resource Center.   It also has a number of agencies and universities as affiliate members.  The Universities include Arizona State University; Clemson University in SC; the University of Denver in Colorado, the University of Nevada Reno and the University of Veszprem in Hungary.

The association has recently founded the Recycled Tire Engineering and Research Foundation (RTERF), a 501-C-3 organization, which will seek private and public funding to conduct advanced research on other applications utilizing waste tires and technology transfer on a global basis.

 RPA History

Asphalt-Rubber:

is a blend of asphalt cement, reclaimed tire rubber and certain additives, in which the rubber component is at least 15% by weight of the total blend and has reacted in the hot asphalt cement sufficiently to cause swelling of the rubber particles.