The 1st International Conference on Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA)

The 1st International Conference on Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) took place from November 5–7, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia / USA hosted by the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the Asphalt Institute, and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies with support from the Federal Highway Administration.

Some 250 people from 20 countries and 32 U.S. states came to Atlanta to share experiences with and learn more about the performance, economic, and sustainability benefits of SMA, as well as to hear about research pushing the material in new and innovative directions. In the coming months, NAPA will develop a conference wrap-up, and TRB is expected to release an e-circular of conference papers and presentations. As these become available, they can be found on the NAPA website.

SMA (Stone Mastic Asphalt) was developed in Germany in the 1960s to provide heavily trafficked roads with a durable, rut-resistant wearing course using a gap-graded aggregate structure and a modified asphalt binder at elevated asphalt contents.

SMA has been used worldwide for 50 years with a lot of success. Freeways, highways, national roads, county roads, city roads, airport runways and taxiways, container terminals, etc. SMA is used everywhere. For surface layers, thin lifts, noise reducing layer and also as structural layer in Europe called binder course. The latest development is a three layer full depth SMA for industrial areas with highest loads.

For J. RETTENMAIER & SÖHNE who produce fiber products for the use in all kind of asphalt mixes it was an honour that Horst Erdlen, who is the global manager of the business unit road construction, was invited to speak about 50 years of SMA in Germany and how the SMA technology spread around the world. A copy of his presentation is available on the NAPA website.

SMA – in the Spanish Speaking Parts of the World know as “Sin Mantenimiento Anticipado” – Offers a lot of Benefits:

SMA is safe, Durable, Versatile, Reliable, Economic and Trendsetting.

Based on the SMA concept different other mixes were developed such as AC Duopave the two in one solution for rural roads and G-AC a mix for industrial areas and roundabouts.

A well-known fact is that the JRS fibers – VIATOP Das Pellet. – work as drainage inhibitors for the use of more binder leading to thicker binder films round the aggregates thus the benefits of VIATOP can best be described as durability enhancers .

Durable and sustainable asphalt roads have only one name:

SMA – Stone Mastic Asphalt