Balanced Mix Design—a 1-Year Reality Check on Quality Control Testing and State DOT Adoption

Details

• Creators:
  Huang, Kai ; Huang, Baoshan
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering ; Louisiana Transportation Research Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  Louisiana. Department of Transportation and Development ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  BMD Implementation Implementation Literature Reviews Mix Design Quality Assurance Quality Control State Departments Of Transportation Surveys Testing
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/LA.26/723
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Louisiana
• Edition:
  Final Report: 01/2025–01/2026
• Corporate Publisher:
  Louisiana Transportation Research Center
• Abstract:
  Balanced Mix Design (BMD) represents a major advancement in asphalt pavement engineering. As a performance-driven framework, BMD integrates mix design, structural design, quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC), and performance-related specifications (PRS) to promote durable and sustainable pavements and innovations. This synthesis documents the evolution and current state of BMD implementation across the United States, with particular emphasis on SASHTO member states. It is based on an extensive literature review, including a comprehensive compilation of national and state research studies, first-round survey responses from 36 state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), and second-round feedback from eight SASHTO DOTs. The analysis summarizes progress and variability across performance testing, aging protocols, QA/QC integration, and specification development, and catalogs more than 170 state-based BMD studies. Key recommendations include establishing standardized testing protocols, adopting variability-informed QA/QC criteria, identifying practical long-term aging surrogates, and implementing stepwise strategies for volumetric relaxation. Collectively, these findings provide a national and regional perspective on BMD implementation, challenges, and emerging best practices, supporting SASHTO leadership, member agencies, and other stakeholders in advancing toward a standardized performance-based asphalt mixture design framework.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:429073c2b56ea1e52f7c78010d127d258654f393e999de8a11aa5de002f51085b33827e7cf87839b911fbfd1afec7d335b4bd34e29c026cdb43000324cdf1796
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91167/dot_91167_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.94 MB ]