Pavement - Awards

2023

WSDOT wins three pavement awards

WSDOT received three Perpetual Pavement Awards from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance for 2023. This was WSDOT's 10th PPA by Performance since the program began in 2001 and its fourth PPA by Design and PPA by Conversion. WSDOT was the first to earn these awards in 2020 and was one of only a handful of road owners to win a 2023 PPA in all three categories. The Asphalt Pavement Alliance developed these awards to recognize long-life asphalt pavement in the United States and honor asphalt pavement work demonstrating outstanding design and construction.

The Perpetual Pavement by Performance Award was awarded for a 2.7-mile section of State Route 395 in Stevens County, which is more than 63 years old. The winning section of State Route 395 has an Annual Average Daily Traffic of 4,190 vehicles with 10.4% trucks. This has resulted in an estimated loading of 68.66 million equivalent single axle loads (ESALs) since 1961. This award's qualifications are that the pavement must be at least 35 years old and have never suffered a structural failure. It must also demonstrate excellence in design, quality construction and high value to taxpayers.

To qualify for the PPA by Design, the winning pavement must be a newly designed and constructed asphalt roadway built over a new or reconditioned subgrade that meets strict Perpetual Pavement criteria. WSDOT earned this award for a 2.13-mile section of State Route 520 in King County. This project opened to traffic in 2015 and has experienced an estimated loading of 2.5 million ESALs, with Granite Construction being the main contractor.

The third PPA is for the category of Conversion, which recognizes new asphalt roads constructed over an existing road. The WSDOT winning project converted 4.03 miles of Portland Cement Concrete on the northbound lanes of I-5 in King County to high-quality asphalt. This was accomplished by cracking, seating, and overlaying the concrete with hot mix asphalt. Icon Materials completed the project in 2019, and this section has experienced an estimated load of 10.6 million ESALs since opening. The winning sections of SR 395, SR 520, and I-5 all meet the criteria for a PPA and will continue to serve the travelers in Washington well into the future, requiring little maintenance and providing a great value.

2022

WSDOT wins three pavement awards

WSDOT received three Perpetual Pavement Awards from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance for 2022. This was WSDOT's ninth PPA by Performance since the program began in 2001 and its third PPA by design and PPA by Conversion. WSDOT was the first to earn these awards in 2020 and was one of only two road owners to win a 2022 PPA in all three categories. The APA developed these awards to recognize long-life asphalt pavement in the United States and recognize asphalt pavement work that demonstrates outstanding design and construction.

The Perpetual Pavement by Performance Award is the original category of the Perpetual Pavement Awards and was for a 2.67-mile section of State Route 2 in King County, which is more than 73 years old. The winning section of State Route 2 has a current traffic volume of approximately 3,500 vehicles per day with 12% trucks. This has resulted in an estimated loading of 4.9 million equivalent single axle loads since 1950. To qualify for this award pavement must be at least 35 years old and have never suffered a structural failure. It must also demonstrate excellence in design, quality construction and high value to taxpayers.

To qualify for the PPA by Design, the winning pavement must be a newly designed and constructed asphalt road built over a new or reconditioned subgrade that meets strict Perpetual Pavement criteria. WSDOT earned this award for a 3.84-mile section of State Route 167, also in King County. The project opened to traffic in 2019 with Guy F. Atkinson Construction LLC and Miles Resources being the contractors.

The third PPA is for Conversion, a category which recognizes new asphalt roads constructed over an existing road. The WSDOT winning project converted 4.41 miles of Portland Cement Concrete on the southbound lanes of I-5 in Cowlitz County to a high-quality asphalt. Kerr Contractors Inc. completed the project in 2011.

The winning sections of SR 2, SR 167 and I-5 all meet the criteria for a PPA and will continue to serve the travelers in Washington well into the future, requiring little maintenance.

2021

WSDOT wins three pavement awards

WSDOT received three Perpetual Pavement Awards from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance for 2021. This was WSDOT's eighth PPA by Performance since the program began in 2001, and its second PPA by design and PPA by Conversion. WSDOT was the first to earn these awards in 2020. and was one of only two road owners to win a 2021 PPA in all three categories. APA developed these awards to recognize long-life asphalt pavement in the U.S. and honor asphalt pavement work that demonstrates outstanding design and construction.

The Perpetual Pavement by Performance Award in the original category of Performance was for a 4.39-mile section of State Route 7 in Pierce County, which is more than 69 years old. This award's qualifications are that the pavement must be at least 35 years old and have never suffered a structural failure. It must also demonstrate excellence in design, quality construction and high value to taxpayers.

To qualify for the PPA by Design, the winning pavement must be a newly designed and constructed asphalt road built over a new or reconditioned subgrade that meets strict Perpetual Pavement criteria. WSDOT earned this award for the 4.25-mile westbound widening of SR 502 in Clark County that opened to traffic in 2017.

The third award PPA by Conversion, recognizes new asphalt roads constructed over an existing road. The WSDOT winning project is 2.41 miles of Pavement Rehabilitation on Interstate 5 southbound in King County, completed in 2017. The winning sections of SR 7, SR 502 and I-5 all meet the criteria for a PPA and will continue to serve the travelers in Washington well into the future, requiring little maintenance.

2020

WSDOT wins three pavement awards

WSDOT received three Perpetual Pavement Awards from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance for 2020, including awards for two new categories: Design and Conversion. This was WSDOT's seventh Perpetual Pavement by Performance Award in the original category of Performance and was for a 6.9-mile section of State Route 395 in Franklin County.

This award's qualifications are that the pavement must be at least 35 years old and have never suffered a structural failure. It must also demonstrate excellence in design, quality construction and high value to taxpayers.

The second award WSDOT won was for a 4.38-mile section of State Route 522 in Snohomish County and was under the new Perpetual by Design award criteria. This award recognizes newly designed and constructed asphalt roads built over new or reconditioned subgrade that also meet the criteria. Two new lanes were built for SR 522 in 2015 to accommodate the increasing traffic volumes, which qualified WSDOT as the first winner of this award.

The third award recognizes new asphalt roads constructed over an existing road. This award was for a 9.31-mile section of Interstate 5 in Skagit County and was under the new Perpetual by Conversion award criteria. This section of I-5 received a crack seat and overlay on the original concrete, and the CSOL converted the roadway into asphalt. WSDOT was the first—and only—winner of this award.

2019

WSDOT, contractor win multiple awards for use of rut-resistant asphalt on I-90

WSDOT and its paving contractor, Central Washington Asphalt, won multiple Washington Asphalt Pavement Association awards for using a special type of rut-resistant asphalt on I-90 between SR 21 and Ritzville in 2019. These awards include the First Place Quality Award, the Smoothness Award for the east side of the state, and the Carl Minor Award, which is given to the best project in the state.

WSDOT and the contractor won these awards for their use of a special type of asphalt called stone matrix asphalt to combat rutting and create a high-quality asphalt overlay that will last longer than WSDOT's typical hot-mix asphalt. SMA is known for its long-lasting benefits, it has high rutting and cracking resistance due to the stone-on-stone contact and rich mortar created by the high amount of fines, mineral filler and binder. The benefit of using this type of mix is the extension of service life and the lower overall life cycle cost of the roadway.

WSDOT has used SMA on its roadways five times. The agency's first SMA project, on SR 524 in Lynnwood, was completed in 1999 life is 15-17 years, indicating that SMA can extend the service life of an overlay by at least four years.

WSDOT receives sixth Perpetual Pavement Award

WSDOT received a Perpetual Pavement Award from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance for a 7.13-mile section of State Route 12 in Lewis County. The award for 2019 was WSDOT's sixth Perpetual Pavement Award.

To qualify for a Perpetual Pavement Award, a pavement must be at least 35 years old and have never suffered a structural failure. It must also demonstrate excellence in design, quality construction and high value to taxpayers.