Wisconsin Asphalt Pavement Association: WisDOT NE region earns State Asphalt award

Contact: Brandon Strand (608) 609-8024

Madison – The Wisconsin Asphalt Pavement Association (WAPA) announced today that the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Northeast Region was the recipient of the 2017 State Asphalt Award for advancing innovation in asphalt pavements. The department was recognized today (November 28) at a ceremony during the association’s 58th Annual Conference in Madison, WI.

In partnership with industry and the Federal Highway Association (FHWA), WisDOT is modernizing asphalt pavement acceptance practices with the introduction of the percent within limits (PWL) to evaluate volumetrics and density measurements. PWL is an acceptance method based on statistics, measuring against the desired average and variance for different measureable pavement properties.

WAPA Executive Director Brandon Strand described this approach for encouraging product consistency and performance of our roads. “Wisconsin has taken a measured approach to adopting PWL acceptance, learning lessons and best practices from our neighboring states as well as others around the country and FWHA,” Strand said. “The PWL special provisions in Wisconsin were developed to incorporate the best features of these other programs and to best meet the needs of government and industry in our state.”

Last year, three WisDOT Regions used PWL acceptance and this season the Northeast Region fully embraced the program and had 11 projects that met the PWL criteria, successfully constructing each of them this season. The Northeast Region received the award for the smooth transition into PWL by recognizing the additional value provided to the department, contractor, and driving public.