The National Transportation Product Evaluation Program or NTPEP is a public-private partnership that provides single-source testing of common products used by state departments of transportation in part to prevent duplication of efforts among those agencies, saving time and money.
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, NTPEP also encompasses auditing and on-site inspection of factories manufacturing products commonly used by state DOTs – such as reinforcing steel, hot-mix asphalt crack sealant, structural steel coatings, pavement marking materials, and portable signs – to standards established by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
An NTPEP oversight committee sponsors project panels – which includes both state DOT and industry members – is responsible for developing project work plans for laboratory and field performance testing of products. Product testing is primarily hosted by state DOTs, but if necessary testing protocols are beyond the available resources of state participants, NTPEP arranges for testing to be done by universities or private testing laboratories.
More information is available in the video below:
Last year, AASHTO’s board of directors formally placed management of the AASHTO Product Evaluation List or APEL program under NTPEP, in effect merging and consolidating the two technical service programs into one.
AASHTO noted that APEL will maintain its current structure and leadership, continuing to operate as its own subgroup. But it will now exist as a technical committee focused on facilitating the exchange of state product certifications and evaluations, coordinating accelerated laboratory testing for innovative and proprietary products – reporting to NTPEP and its steering committee.
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