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A look back at Asphalt Institute publications
By Robert Horan, P.E. and Jacqueline Bartek
In certain parts of the country, people sometimes callasphalt pavement “macadam.” The term macadam is something that has been passeddown through the generations from the early 20th century when asphalt pavementswere often called…macadam.
The story of John McAdam (and his ideas about improving pavement performance) is just one of the interesting storylines you can find when delving into the history of the use of asphalt materials for pavements in the United States. Publications from the Asphalt Institute have a long (100-year) history of providing an authoritative resource for readers.
Communication and education
If you explore the Asphalt Institute (AI) website, you willquickly see that education is a major focus to support the mission and visionstatements. This focus on education goes way back to the early days of AI. Educationcan take many forms, but it is widely known that one of the best ways tocommunicate with key components of your target audience is throughpublications. Since its formation a century ago, the development, promotion andwide distribution of AI publications have been a major focus. AI publicationstend to be technical in nature.
In 2018 alone, Asphalt Institute sold over 3,700 publications with some of the best-selling being “MS-2 Asphalt Mix Design Methods” and “MS-22 Construction of Hot Mix Asphalt Pavements.”
Besides the large library of technical manuals, another AIpublication that is highly valued is “Asphalt” magazine. The first version ofthe magazine was published in 1949 – making 2019 the 70th anniversary of thepublication. The magazine is mailed to over 18,000 subscribers in 114countries.
It is interesting to note that in the 1928 AI Annual Meetingminutes, there is a mention of the need to have an asphalt industry magazine.“There should be a magazine issued by and for the industry, but as yet we havenot been able to secure the needed support for such an undertaking.” Today thatdesire is a reality.
Early publications
Archival documents show that getting the word out aboutasphalt pavements in the form of publications was a major focus in the earlyyears of AI. For instance, an excerpt from the 1922 AI Annual Meeting minutesstates: “During the past year, we have distributed in the neighborhood of100,000 publications covering practically every phase of asphalt paving work.
These publications have won a high place in the estimationof engineers, officials and teachers and they have done much to make asphaltbetter known to those who have to deal with paving subjects.”
Many of the publications were created primarily to educate those directly involved with road building. In 1920, Wallace Craig, an Asphalt Institute District Engineer in the Chicago office, prepared a handbook on the proper use of asphalt which later was used as a model for the first “Asphalt Handbook.” To this day, almost 100 years later, AI still publishes that manual and it is one of their best-selling books.
In the 1929 AI minutes, it was reported that: “During thiscalendar year, we issued 18 new publications and five reprints of articlesappearing in magazines, bringing the total number of distinct publicationssince the formation of the association to 200 brochures, circulars, pointersand reprints. It is worthy to comment that about 15 percent of our requests forpublications came from foreign countries.”
Besides the technical publications, in the early days of theorganization there was an effort to educate the general public on the use ofasphalt as an important road-building material. The reason for the outreach tothe general public was that the use of asphalt surfacing was relatively new inthe 1920s and public acceptance was vitally important.
We noticed in each of the annual minutes, articles publishedin magazines and the number of clippings in newspapers were closely tracked.For instance, in the 1929 annual meeting minutes, it was reported that “…203articles from the association were published in 3,211 newspapers for a total of847 pages. In addition, 230 articles appeared in engineering and trademagazines covering a total of 310 pages.”
Again, a decision was made that it was critical to promoteasphalt pavements to both technical and non-technical folks as a viablealternative to concrete pavement.
Training materials
Some of the most popular AI publications in the 1920s wereeducational brochures which included 15 primary brochures that covered a widevariety of topics related to the use of asphalt in highway and streetpavements.
One of the more popular ones was entitled “Asphalt a worldold material.” This document evolved and the AI archives include editions onethrough five. It includes a summary of the history of human’s use of asphaltthat dates as far back as about 3,000 B.C. including the evolution of its useas an important highway building material all the way through “modern times.”(1925) A section on the future of asphalt featured this quote: “Experienceurges the use of asphalt.
From ancient Assyria to modern America it has renderedincreasing service to mankind. Its sources of supply are practically unlimited.It is stored away in enormous quantities deep within the earth and only awaitsthe hand of man to fashion it to his services.”
In 1932, AI began publishing specification booklets writtenby Prevost Hubbard. Low-cost road construction increased significantly with thecontinued promotion and distribution of these booklets. State highway engineersbenefited from this information to learn the proper technical methods for theirroad construction.
Promotion
Not surprisingly, the early publications contained contentpromoting the use of asphalt pavement as an alternative to concrete pavement.Many times, the text would include direct or indirect comparisons to concretepavements.
Here is an example: “Its (asphalt pavement) pleasingappearance, easy-riding qualities, low tractive resistance, general freedom fromcracks and rough joints, cleanliness and the fact it is easy on tires, havemade it the most popular pavement in existence.”
Technology trends
The early years of AI (the 1920s) were a time of majortransformations in the asphalt industry and in how asphalt pavement materialswere used in construction and maintenance. Much of the efforts in the earlypublications were focused on explaining those changes to both the professionalsinvolved with highways and also, in more simple terms, to the general public.
One major change was the move from the use of naturally occurringasphalt sources to the production of asphalt materials through the petroleumrefining process. At the same time, AI engineers were working with otherorganizations toward the goal of reducing the number of asphalt grades beingspecified and this was accomplished in 1923 with a reduction from 102 grades tonine standard grades.
There was also an evolution in the basic types of asphaltpavement applications. One effort that was highlighted in the publications wasexplaining the various types of asphalt pavement applications forbase/foundation mixtures and surface mixtures which are defined in Brochure #5“Terms Used in Connection with Asphalt for Highway Work.”
The brochure listed three types of surface mixtures used fornew construction and overlays which were laid on the roadway at that time. Theywere:
Rimworld Ancient Evil
1. Sheet asphalt – a mixture of sand and fine aggregate treated with petroleum asphalt
2. Asphalt (penetration) Macadam – a broken-stone wearing surface layer that liquid asphalt material is poured into for the purpose of filling the voids in the pavement layer
3. Asphalt concrete – a mixture of asphalt with broken stone, broken slag or gravel and often with sand or mineral filler as well
Ancient Asphalt Road Rimworld 2
Continued legacy
To this day, Asphalt Institute publications are geared to not only educate those involved with pavement design, production, construction and maintenance of asphalt pavements but also the non-technical users of roadways. This philosophy is essential to ensure that asphalt pavements are viewed as a quality product that plays a vital role in the world’s infrastructure.
A great example of AI’s focus on sharing publicationsoccurred in 2018 when the Asphalt Institute Foundation distributed 130 printbooks and 248 eBooks to college students studying pavement engineering.Colleges included Auburn University, California State Polytechnic (Pomona),Iowa State University and the University of Idaho.
It certainly seems that the expression “The more thingschange; the more things stay the same” applies to a historical look at AsphaltInstitute’s publications. Whether it be in 1919 or 2019, AI has always put apremium on developing and marketing quality publications as a method inensuring that asphalt is always recognized as the construction material ofchoice.
Ancient Asphalt Road Rimworld Mods
Horan is an Asphalt Institute Senior Regional Engineer based in Virginia. Bartek is the Asphalt Institute Library Services and Resource Specialist.