Asphalt Concrete Brownie with Hot Asphalt Fudge by Punit Singhvi

3rd Place Winner of Image of Research 2020.

Highways to driveways, airports to parking lots, we are all surrounded by asphalt pavements. Ideally, we wish for smooth rides, however, with every year we experience an increase in potholes and cracking in our asphalt roads, right? United States’ roadway infrastructure is aging and has a backlog of $420 billion in repairs of our existing highways. Addressing these challenges and improving pavement conditions economically, motivates me to design and develop asphalt materials that last long. Asphalt concrete is a mixture primarily composed of asphalt binder and crushed aggregates. It also incorporates fibers and other additives to enhance its performance. The design of asphalt concrete is like a recipe, unique for every geographical location, traffic, drainage, and available materials. It requires the right proportion of each of its ingredients (binder, aggregates, modifiers) to ensure the highest performance. The image reflects asphalt concrete brownie topped with asphalt binder, a sprinkle of yellow Sulphur pellets and white Sasobit (modifier), a garnish of polymer fibers on the top and hint of bio-based oil (modifier). The image is an abstract depiction of how asphalt concrete can be made with perfection by choosing the right ingredients, to overcome the poor pavement condition.