Special Issue on Asphalt Binder Characterization

Considering the urgent need for infrastructure rehabilitation of the highway system, the introduction and application of sustainable and environmentally friendly asphalt materials will have a significant effect on the national economy and energy sustainability. It is for this reason that the Fourth International Conference on Asphalt Materials was held in Guangzhou, China, on November 6–8, 2013. The aims of this conference were to provide a forum for the exchange of recent asphalt materials research and development results among researchers, practitioners, and state department of transportation engineers involved in material characterization and field validation for the long-term performance of various asphalt pavements. Out of 100 submitted technical papers, nine were recommended by scientific committee members to further revise and submit to the Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering (JMCE) as a special issue. These nine papers include the study of morphology on modified asphalt binders, microstructure of a reclaimed asphalt binder, application of a rejuvenator on porous asphalt concrete, mathematical modeling for viscoelastic properties of asphalt mixtures, use of a molecular dynamic to investigate SBS-modified asphalt, interaction of tire rubber and an asphalt binder, and a new index that was used to evaluate the performance of asphalt.

We would like to express our most sincere thanks to all of the authors for their hard work in preparing their manuscripts for publication. Thanks are also extended to the members of the conference Steering Committee for their valuable input and suggestions throughout the conference planning. Sincere thanks are also expressed to the Scientific Committee for their assistance in reviewing the abstracts and technical papers. Without their efforts, we would not have had the high quality papers included in this publication. The assistance of Dr. Jianming Wei, Ms. Qi Wang, and Ms. Yuanyuan Guo in the arrangement of the conference’s facilities is greatly appreciated. Thanks are also due to the editorial team (Michelle English, Holly Koppel, and others) at the ASCE JMCE office for their help on the final publication of this special issue. Special thanks should be given to Professor Antonio Nanni, Editor-in-Chief, for his strong support of the conference and approval of the special issue of the Journal.