By Timothy Reinhold and Anne Cope

Field studies, including several post-hurricane assessments of asphalt shingle performance, have helped the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) shape its laboratory research program on asphalt shingles.

The core IBHS research facility is a specially designed, open-jet wind tunnel capable of subjecting full-scale, one-and two-story structures to a variety of wind hazards. Small lab capabilities include a wind tunnel that can reproduce ASTM D 3161 and ASTM D 7158 wind tests and extend test wind speeds up to about 180 mph for ASTM D 3161 and about 110 mph for ASTM D 7158. Additional capabilities include replicating UL (Underwriters Laboratories) 2218 impact tests and impacting specimen with lab-created realistic hailstones.

Asphalt shingle research seeks to develop credible relationships between test standards, product ratings and real-world performance in wind and hail events.

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By Bob Horan

Industry professionals are reading, seeing and hearing more about Intelligent Compaction (IC) than ever before.

That increased exposure is due in part to the fact that the Asphalt Institute (AI) has been working with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) since 2007 on the study and implementation of IC technology in the U.S.

In 2014 alone, AI Regional Engineers participated in three week-long IC demo/research projects and taught ten half-day IC workshops. Based on recent events, it looks like the efforts are paying off in a big way. Highway agencies across the country are starting to routinely specify the use of IC as a quality control tool on projects. (more…)