History of the CP Road Map

Click to enlarge. To see more historical photos, please go to History Page:
https://cptechcenter.org/cp-road-map/?highlight=CP%20Road%20Map%20History

The National Concrete Pavement Technology Center
concluded its CP Road Map in 2019

Detailed History of the CP Road Map!
Background | History | Accomplishments | Research Tracks | So what now?

The Long-Term Plan for Concrete Pavement Research and Technology (CP Road Map) was an innovative program developed and jointly implemented by the concrete pavement stakeholder community. The CP Road Map concluded in 2019, but its impact on concrete pavement research and technology transfer has been substantial. The CP Road Map aimed to prioritize and coordinate the nation’s concrete pavement research so that effective tools and practices could be implemented to reliably deliver sustainable concrete pavements and its story is outlined below as follows. The CP Tech Center has created a well-organized and comprehensive web-based resource center that captures the background, history, accomplishments, and research tracks that became the CP Road Map.

BACKGROUND   |  For most of the 20th century, the same materials—portland cement, aggregate, and water—were used in pavement concrete with only minor refinements. It was a fairly forgiving system that allowed some flexibility in material quality, construction practices, and other variables without sacrificing pavement performance.

For generations, the industry had enjoyed the luxury of keeping traffic off new concrete pavements for several days (even weeks) while the concrete developed its design strength. By the end of the 20th century, however, many various changes had turned the process of concrete paving on end.

• The availability of the highest quality materials had diminished and environmental pressures were increasingly affecting mix designs and pavement construction practices
• Traffic volumes increased rapidly and the demand for better roadway conditions in winter had led to extensive use of deicing materials
• Truck weights had increased significantly, requiring increased structural capacity from pavements
• Increased performance requirements reduced motorists’ tolerance for variation—desired smoother, quieter pavements
• Complex mix designs led to compatibility problems, forcing a closer look at which properties were critical.
• Highway budgets were being squeezed at every level
• Highway agency focus shifted from building new pavements to rehabilitating and maintaining existing ones
• Motorists became more demanding which increased the need for new paving methods so road crews could complete jobs much more quickly, with shorter lane closure time

It was no longer possible for the concrete pavement community to continue doing business as usual, while meeting the growing highway construction and rehabilitation demands. The CP Road Map gave the concrete pavement community the opportunity to proactively reinvent itself through research and technology transfer. To see the list in detail, please click on the word “BACKGROUND” above.

HISTORY  |
2001—The CP Road Map vision began and was outlined in an agreement between the Innovative Pavement Research Foundation (IPRF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The National Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center) at Iowa State University’s Institute for Transportation (INTRANS) (Formerly the Iowa State University’s Center for Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Technology) was chosen to lead the development and manage the implementation activities of the CP Road Map.

2005—The partnership culminated in the publication of initial Executive Summary:
Volume I: Background and summary and
Volume II: Research tracks

2006 to 2013—The original CP Road Map took shape through support from an FHWA contract (DTFH61-06-D-00023) and the pooled fund TPF-5(185) that included six states (lead state IA, with MI, MS, NY, PA, and VA). For funds, expertise, and political capital, the CP Road Map brought together representatives from national, state, and local agencies, academia, and industry through collaborative brainstorming sessions to assemble and synthesize research priorities across the concrete pavement community. Ultimately, more than 400 stakeholders engaged in identifying critical needs and distilling them into 12 major research tracks (listed below). The CP Road Map sought also to connect funding agencies with researchers by having a national set of research priorities that state highway administrations (SHAs) and other research funding entities could use to prioritize local funding and collaboration opportunities. Joint funding partnerships between FHWA, SHAs, and academia were established on many CP Road Map priorities that multiplied the cost effectiveness of research spending by allowing partners each to invest less, yet accomplish more.

2013—Through FHWA-sponsored pooled fund TPF-5(286), the Next Generation CP Road Map was established, engaging five states (lead state IA, with GA, MI, OK, and PA) as well as industry partners in continued cooperative involvement in research and technology transfer—an Updated CP Road Map
Volume I: Background and Summary and
Volume II: Research Tracks

Ultimately, over the course of 10 years, the CP Road Map investment enabled concrete-pavement-related sponsored research programs to leverage resources and help researchers funnel effort toward the stakeholder community’s top priorities. One of the very innovative early products of the CP Road Map was the Integrated Materials and Construction Practices for Concrete Pavement: A State-of-the-Practice Manual (now in its 2nd edition), which for the first time communicated in a user-friendly manner the growing complexity of mixture design, materials selection, and construction practices.  Additional CP Road Map accomplishments are below.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS | Key CP Road Map accomplishments:

• Ranking of concrete pavement research needs
• Quarterly “CP Road Map E-News” newsletter (now the “NC² E-News”)
• Quarterly Moving-Advancements-into-Practice (MAP) tech briefs
• Curated and searchable online Concrete Infrastructure Research Database of in-progress and recent research

For details on the list and many more links, please click on word “ACCOMPLISHMENTS” above.

RESEARCH TRACKS  |  12 primary research tracks and several subtracks were identified by the CP Road Map Executive Committee. The committee then prioritized the 12 tracks—with priority tracks marked *—obtained executive-level buy-in to the CP Road Map, and cultivated collaborative sponsorship of research across the nation. The 12 key research tracks of the CP Road Map: Click on the word “Research Tracks” above to see details with their respective goals:
1. Materials and Mixes*
2. Performance-Based Design Guide for New and Rehabilitated Pavements*
3. Intelligent Construction Systems and Quality Assurance*
4. Optimized Surface Characteristics for Safe, Quiet, and Smooth Pavements*
5. Equipment Automation and Advancements
6. Innovative Joint Design, Materials, and Construction
7. Maintenance and Preservation*
8. Construction, Reconstruction, and Overlays*
9. Evaluation, Monitoring, and Strategies for Long-Life Pavements
10. Foundations and Drainage
11. Business Systems and Economics*
12. Sustainability*

For the History of the CP Road Map Webpage, please go to: www.cptechcenter.org/cp-road-map/

For the ISCP Article on the NCC Road MAP and CP Road MAPs, please go to:
NC² Spring 2020 Quarterly E-News: NC² MAP Brief & “News From the Road” & More: https://www.concretepavements.org/2020/03/26/nc²-spring-2020-quarterly-e-news-concrete-film-clips-q-list-search-bridge-deck-nc²-map-brief-news-from-the-road/
“CP Road Map Quarterly E-News of the Long-Term Plan for Concrete Pavement Research & Technology”, please go to: https://www.concretepavements.org/2020/01/31/cp-road-map-quarterly-e-news-of-the-long-term-plan-for-concrete-pavement-research-technology/

For more information about the former CP Road Map, contact:
Peter Taylor, DIRECTOR-CP TECH CENTER
Phone: 515-294-9333   |   E-mail: ptaylor@iastate.edu