Reduced-temperature warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies are increasingly being explored as practical solutions for reducing energy consumption and emissions during asphalt paving operations. This webinar presents findings from a full-scale field study conducted in Oklahoma comparing reduced-temperature chemical WMA and conventional hot mix asphalt (HMA) under real-world construction conditions. The work was conducted as part of the speakers’ graduate research at Oklahoma State University prior to joining Applied Research Associates. The study evaluated temperature trends, heat loss behavior, thermal segregation, in-place compaction, fuel consumption, particulate matter emissions, and environmental impacts during plant production and paving operations.

Results from the study demonstrated that reduced-temperature WMA achieved comparable in-place density while reducing plant fuel consumption, thermal segregation, particulate matter emissions, and cradle-to-laid environmental impacts relative to conventional HMA. Practical lessons learned from field implementation, instrumentation, and life cycle assessment (LCA) will be discussed, with emphasis on how sustainability-focused asphalt technologies can be evaluated using both construction and environmental performance metrics.

Key learning objectives from the presentation include the following:

• Understand how reduced-temperature WMA compares to conventional HMA in terms of temperature trends, heat loss behavior, and in-place compaction.
• Learn how field instrumentation and thermal profiling technologies can be used to monitor asphalt production and paving operations.
• Understand the effects of reduced production temperatures on plant fuel consumption, particulate matter emissions, and environmental impacts.
• Learn how thermal segregation analyses can be incorporated into field evaluations of asphalt paving operations.
• Understand how life cycle assessment (LCA) can be integrated with field data to evaluate the sustainability impacts of asphalt paving technologies.