Stefan Romanoschi, an associate professor in the UT Arlington Department of Civil Engineering, will lead the study focused on the strengths and weaknesses of asphalt mixes containing recycled asphalt pavement and recycled asphalt roof shingles.

Texas Business reports: The Texas Department of Transportation awarded a $1.12 million grant to a UT Arlington civil engineering professor to determine the durability of recycled materials for use in road construction.

As part of the project, UT Arlington is building a new accelerated pavement testing center, next to The UT Arlington Research Institute on Jack Newell Boulevard in Fort Worth just off Loop 820. The center is scheduled to open this fall. The overall road pad at the accelerated pavement testing center could be a little bigger than a half-acre in size.

Stefan Romanoschi, a UT Arlington associate professor in civil engineering, designed and built the accelerated pavement testing machine. It will test recycled products in pavement for the Texas Department of Transportation at a soon-to-be-completed pavement testing center near the University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute on Jack Newell Boulevard, just off Loop 820 in Fort Worth.

 “TxDOT is constantly searching for ways to improve or lengthen roadway life,” Romanoschi said. “Seeing how the recycled asphalt performs and how long it lasts could help TxDOT lengthen a road’s life and change the way the agency maintains roads.”

John Obr, TxDOT construction division director, said the agency is trying to find better, more environmentally friendly ways to build roads.

“Studying the performance of recycled asphalt is just one of the many ways the agency gets behind projects and research to provide greener alternatives to conventional road building,” Obr said.

TxDOT is using recycled asphalt on an increasing number of maintenance and rehabilitation projects, Obr added.

“Depending on research results, the agency could potentially increase the recycled asphalt in road projects, saving millions of dollars for taxpayers,” he said.

J.-P. Bardet, dean of the UT Arlington College of Engineering, said the new pavement testing center is likely to attract new industry partners for University-led research.

“Businesses need to test materials before investing a great deal of money in them, and we are seeing much more private sector involvement in highway construction,” said Bardet, also a civil engineer. “This center is the perfect way for the private sector to determine which road materials work best and how long those materials will last.”

In preparation for the TxDOT project, Romanoschi built an accelerated pavement testing machine that is about 68 feet long by 10 feet wide by 11 feet tall and weighs 60,000 pounds. The apparatus eventually will be transported to the pavement testing center.