NCSC
Download Profile| Website | https://engineering.purdue.edu/NCSC |
|---|---|
| Park | Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette |
| Contact Information | n/a |
| Business Classification | Engineering |
| Business Service | Prof Services |
North Central Superpave Center (NCSC) is one of five such organizations originally established to pursue the ultimate goal of longer-lasting pavement.
More than 90 percent of all paved highways in the U.S. are paved with asphalt. Annual expenditures for asphalt pavements top $10 billion. If asphalt pavements can be designed to last longer, the country stands to garner substantial benefits.
Administered by the Purdue-based Joint Transportation Research Program (which annually runs the nationally renowned “Road School” for highway builders), the North Central Superpave Center (NCSC) is a collaborative effort between Purdue University, the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The NCSC has established two operations to serve the needs of the ten states and two Canadian provinces in North America’s north central region: the Mixture Branch located at Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Ind., and the Binder Branch in Indianapolis, Ind.
The NCSC actively participates in technical support, technology transfer, research and training activities associated with all aspects of hot mix asphalt technology. The further development of performance-based HMA technology, which encourages asphalt mixes to be tailored to specific traffic loads and climates, is at the heart of the NCSC’s mission.
As the program moved beyond the immediate challenges of implementing the Superpave system in parts of North America and Canada, the center’s focus has evolved to address changing issues related to tire pavement noise control, frictional characteristics of surfaces, asphalt content of pavement and regional test standardization.