Germian Way Gains Foothold

摘要

Stone matrix asphalt (SMA) is catching on rapidly among more and more state departments of transportation (DOTs), particularly on urban in-terstates and other heavily trafficked pavements. This premiere paving surfacing originated in Germany and has achieved worldwide acceptance as a high-performance pavement. Just this year, for example, the Colorado DOT paved eight projects with 226,462 tons of SMA―a 14-fold increase in tonnage from 2002. Minnesota, which ran two test sections of SMA in the early 1990s, will place two 5000-ton sections of SMA on heavily traveled roads next year. The Virginia DOT also is increasing its use of SMA for interstate and high-traffic highways.