The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently released the 45th edition of its “Standard Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing and AASHTO Provisional Standards,” more commonly known as the “Materials Standards.”
[Above image by AASHTO]
Developed by the AASHTO Committee on Materials and Pavements or COMP, the Materials Standards contain specifications, recommended practices, test methods, and provisional standards commonly used in the construction of highway facilities.
The 45th edition of the Materials Standards contains a total of 583 standards, including 20 new and 103 revised standards. In addition to revisions to harmonize industry standards, update technology, and improve the standards, this edition includes conversions to dual units, as well as several important updates:
- Better defining coal ash used on concrete;
- More clearly defining blended cements alkali loading;
- Clearer requirements for both making and storing concrete test specimens;
- Improvements to the pipe standards; and
- Clarifications to the binder content of asphalt mixtures by nuclear method.
The standards also include 12 new provisional practices and tests related to pavement measurement and pavement preservation; new dowel bar material and test standards; and a new ice melting capacity test method. AASHTO noted that publishing provisional standards allows practitioners to use them early in the research or development phase.
The organization also noted that 12 provisional standards were adopted as full standards in the 45th edition, with three related to quality assurance: one for concrete, one for cold central plant recycling, and one for cold in-place recycling.
Finally, two new test methods related to asphalt were included in the latest Materials Standards edition: a new liquid asphalt test method, called the poker chip test, and a new balanced mix design for high reclaimed asphalt pavement or RAP testing.
To order a copy, visit the online AASHTO Store online and search by the publication’s item code HM-45 or click here for direct link to the publication’s page on the AASHTO Store site.
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