Where in the World are the Rubber Pavements?

By Sidney Cox, President, 2003-2005

Most of my 21-year involvement in the Asphalt-Rubber industry has been spent in Texas. I have witnessed the demand for Asphalt-Rubber paving material grow steadily over the past few years as TXDOT has followed the lead of the Arizona DOT in working with the material to find the best uses for the motoring public. While ADOT seems to have settled on the use of Asphalt-Rubber for long term performance and reflective crack mitigation, the noise reduction properties in urban areas has captured the most attention.      TXDOT also recognizing the above mentioned properties has focused on the safety issues, the skid resistance and the reduction of vision impairing spray during inclement weather. The use of Asphalt-Rubber for this purpose has reduced accidents significantly on the Texas Highways.      In the past two years as President of RPA I have been exposed to the exploding interest and growth in the Asphalt-Rubber industry far beyond the borders of Texas. As my "tour of duty" has been fulfilled, I want to take this opportunity to say "Thanks" to all the RPA members who work so diligently to share this great technology with the entire world.      This overview will only present countries using the field blended wet process, as defined by the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM). Many other countries have used other methods of incorporating rubber in asphalt pavement with varying degrees of success. Following some disappointing results, they are now looking at Asphalt-Rubber to obtain the benefits that have been proven in the United States. This takes blending equipment and Cox Paving, which is probably the "oldest" Asphalt-Rubber contractor in the United States, is seeking to meet this demand with D & H Equipment, Ltd. (www.coxpaving.com) currently being used in many of the countries to the right.      My special thanks go to the companies, International Surfacing Systems, Recipav and FNF Construction who have shared their equipment and expertise to establish an international market. Also to our globe trotting 2nd Vice President, Jorge B. Sousa who has visited many other countries in the laboratory/ research stages of developing an Asphalt-Rubber program.