Asphalt Materials

The Asphalt Materials Section has three operational laboratories: Asphalt Binder, Asphalt Mixture, and Asphalt Research. Each of the laboratories are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited as well as accredited through the AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP).

Asphalt Binder Laboratory (Mike Ciccarone)

The Asphalt Binder Laboratory ensures that asphalt binders and emulsions used in the construction of FDOT asphalt projects in Florida meet all applicable specification requirements. The laboratory specializes in the Quality Assurance/Acceptance testing of asphalt binders and emulsions sampled from on-going projects as well as from material suppliers, along with asphalt products submitted for approval on the Department’s Approved Product List (APL).

The Asphalt Binder Laboratory is accredited for the following tests:

• Binders: AASHTO R 28, R 29, T 44, T 48, T 49, T 53, T 55, T 228, T 240, T 313, T 315, T 316, T 350, and ASTM D8078
• Emulsions: AASHTO T 59 (Includes: Cement Mixing, Demulsibility, Particle Charge, Residue by Distillation, Residue by Evaporation, Settlement and Storage Stability, and T 59/T 72 Saybolt Furol Viscosity at 25°C and 50°C.)

Asphalt Mixture Laboratory (Melissa Barrs)

The Asphalt Mixture Laboratory is primarily involved in testing asphalt mix designs to ensure compliance with the specifications prior to their use on FDOT construction projects. The laboratory also designs all open-graded friction course mixtures (FC-5 and FC-7).

The Asphalt Mixture Laboratory is accredited for the following tests:

• AASHTO R 30, T 30, T 166, T 209, T 268, T 308, T 312, D 3549

Research Laboratory (Melissa Barrs)

The Research Laboratory is involved in evaluating new products, test procedures and construction practices, as well as conducting in-house research projects and investigations. The focus of many of these activities includes asphalt tests to determine the long-term performance of asphalt mixtures. These tests include Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) rut test, Hamburg Wheel Tracking Test for rutting and stripping, Dynamic Modulus, Texas Overlay, Ideal-CT, Ideal-RT, HT-IDT, Interlayer Bond Strength testing, water permeability, dynamic friction testing of laboratory fabricated asphalt slabs, and evaluation of liquid antistrip additives to support the FDOT’s approved product list.