This summer, Auburn Engineering celebrated the 25th year of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), which was created in 1986 during Weaver’s tenure, through an agreement with the National Asphalt Pavement Association Research and Education Foundation and Auburn University. The center’s success has involved the cooperation of more than a dozen states and the federal government. NCAT operates a 1.7-mile test track in neighboring Opelika, where heavily loaded semi rigs circle 16 hours a day, six days a week, testing asphalt pavements and related transportation projects. More than six million miles have been logged. The track contains 46 sections that are 200 feet in length, each containing its own “recipe” of build properties and material composition; they are tested in a highly accelerated regimen for about two years, simulating the typical lifespan of an asphalt road.
