For the next five years, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will work with universities and producers of asphalt, concrete, steel and glass to find ways to reduce the carbon output for road and bridge construction.
PennDOT will receive $31.9 million as its share of $1.2 billion in grants announced by the Federal Highway Administration two weeks ago. A total of 39 state departments of transportation got under the Low-Carbon Transportation Materials discretionary grants program, a collaboration between the FHWA and the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce pollution.
Pennsylvania was among 32 states to receive identical grants while seven others received less.
Dean Schmitt, PennDOT’s roadway programs manager who is overseeing the state’s effort, said the money should be available next September and must be committed by 2031. The agency will work first with the asphalt industry because that industry is further ahead than others in developing data and preparing for the effort, Schmitt said.
At the beginning, the state will work with universities and the asphalt producers to develop ways to measure carbon production, then develop methods to reduce carbon creation and choose projects to test whether those steps still produce a quality product. Although the goal is to also reduce the cost or keep it neutral, some of the grant money could be used to pay for any increased costs.
“This is going to be a group effort,” Schmitt said. “We are all partnering together to develop the standards to reduce carbon.”
Schmitt said the goal is to look at every aspect of asphalt production. That will include where plants get aggregate, the amounts used in the mixture with binding agents and recycled asphalt, the temperature of the mix, and the distance trucks have to travel to deliver the finished product.
He called the effort “another tool for suppliers to become more efficient by looking at areas that they haven’t looked at before.”
In a news release announcing the program, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the program is part of the Biden administration’s effort to improve infrastructure without hurting the environment.
“With today’s funding, dozens of states will have the resources they need to invest in cleaner materials and reduce carbon emissions while moving forward with projects that create jobs and support American manufacturing,” he said.
Mary Robbins, director of technical services for the Pennsylvania Asphalt Pavement Association, said the grant program is a good opportunity for the industry to experiment with innovative methods. Computer simulations developed in the past few years make that easier and more efficient because they can accurately forecast whether changes will reduce the life expectancy of the asphalt surface or increase costs, she said.
“It takes the risk out when we try something new,” she said. “We’re all taxpayers, too.
“I don’t anticipate that we’re going to see higher prices. Low carbon is going to see a cost reduction.”
The industry has been anticipating this program since 2020, said Richard Willis, vice president of engineering, research and technology for the National Asphalt Pavement Association. That’s when its board appointed the Climate Stewardship Task Force to develop a program called The Road Forward to reduce the industry’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
After the FHWA released its expectations last year and defined how it would measure carbon production, the association held workshops to familiarize plant operators with the upcoming program.
As a result, he said, the industry has developed a strong base of knowledge about its operations and areas that could be ripe for improvements. Asphalt production is a key area for carbon reduction, he said, because about 90% of U.S. road surfaces are asphalt, but it’s also a “difficult” task because about 95% of the work is awarded through competitive bidding.
That’s why it is important, he said, for states and academic researchers to work with the industry to set attainable standards for carbon reduction. Those standards likely will be different in each state because of variations in traffic, climate, terrain and the availability of aggregate.
For example, there is very little aggregate produced in Florida, so it gets the material from Georgia or shipped by boat from Canada, which means the cost for the material likely is higher than many other states.
“National numbers are difficult because different regions have different standards,” he said. “Every state has its own mix designs.”
Willis said the industry will look at reducing the temperature that asphalt must be kept at until it is laid, because that would use less energy and lower carbon production. That wouldn’t count for this program, he said, because that wasn’t a measurable element when FHWA released its standards in in 2022.
The industry has been involved in life-cycle assessment for asphalt surfaces since 2010, he said. That process is “still in a place where it has a lot of maturing to do,” he said, but research through this program should speed that along and allow for more “high-risk, high-reward” testing.
Schmitt said he is looking for big things from the program. PennDOT will engage the other industries after it gets started with asphalt, he said.
“We’re excited about the program,” Schmitt said. “We’re going to be doing a lot of great work.”
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.