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The cost of oil is staggeringly high, the cost of hot mix has spiked accordingly, and environmental and health regulations continue to make an impact in the market.

Changes in the paving industry are underway, so Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction turned to the National Asphalt Pavement Association's Mike Acott, president, to gain some insights into what paving contractors might be facing in the future. NAPA is an organization of hot mix asphalt producers and high-volume paving contractors − if you buy hot mix you probably buy it from a NAPA member − so there's probably no better place to turn to ask someone to gaze into the crystal ball.

And Acott says that much of what paving contractors are going to be dealing with in the future is occurring at some level or other right now.

Recycled asphalt pavement
One of the biggest current trends is the use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) in hot mix asphalt. Acott estimates that plants across the country currently use an average of 12½% to 15% RAP in their mixes. But Acott says that average includes a number of geographic areas that use a limited amount of RAP or certain mixes that use no RAP at all. NAPA's goal is to remove those barriers.

"We think there's a lot of opportunity to raise that number quite significantly and we've had plenty of experience in running high-RAP mixes," he says. He says the cost of raw materials has made RAP more acceptable.