Update: “Best in Arizona” Pavement Awards Program Judging

We are excited to announce that Tim Murphy, a renowned pavement professional, will contribute his expertise to “Best in Arizona” Pavement Awards Program. Tim will be traversing Arizona to review numerous nominated projects across the state this September.

Tim’s comprehensive on-site evaluations will include:
– Assessing top-notch asphalt pavement projects
– Interviewing individuals responsible for designing and building these projects
– Providing recommendations to our awards committee

We are grateful for Tim’s willingness to undertake this effort on behalf of the Consortium. Stay tuned for updates as Tim documents his journey across Arizona. We look forward to celebrating innovation and excellence in our state’s pavement industry!

What is Best in Arizona Awards Program?

Best in Arizona Awards Program¹ is organized by the Southwest Pavement Technology Consortium and supported by the Arizona Pavement Materials Conference. The program is open to all asphalt users, producers, and contractors. Projects nominated for awards can be submitted by the owner/agency and/or the contractor. Nomination forms for numerous candidates have already been received. A panel of judges will review and rate all nominated projects during the months of September and October.

Award Categories

Evaluation Criteria

Overall Appearance
Refers to the uniformity of the materials placed, consistency of appearance, construction quality, texture, workmanship, and the contractor’s attention to detail.

Segregation
Nominations showing segregated areas due to paving operations, raking or broadcasting mix, etc. will be taken into consideration.

Longitudinal Joints
Evaluated as to how straight they are on tangents and smooth their line is on curves.  They will also be evaluated on how tight they appear and how noticeable they are. In the Urban and Rural Highways, New or Re-construction and the Re-surfacing Categories, joint density incentives achieved results will be used as part of the judging criteria.

Transverse joints
Evaluated as to how tight they appear, smoothness across the joint and how noticeable they appear and will be considered for both Ride Quality and Joint Construction.

Ride Quality
Ride Quality will be evaluated as the smoothness of the joint between lanes.  Bumps, wheel chatter and must grind areas will also be noted. Transverse joints will be evaluated and considered as part of the Ride Quality judging. 

Project Size
The size of a project will be used when considering it for a “Best in Arizona” Asphalt Pavement award. It is important to include quantities in section 5C of the nomination.

Complexity/Difficulty
Impacts influencing the constructability, phasing and overall process of the project will be considered. Elements to be scored include Night Paving, Traffic Impacts, Number of mobilizations required to complete the project and other on-site considerations.

1. Inspired by Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association’s great award program celebrating its 30th year. ↩︎