Asphalt Shortage Headache For Colorado DOT - Delays Or Extensions Possible For 34 Projects

[hatrack]

Shortages of asphalt and its key ingredients threaten to delay up to $275 million in summer paving projects, state transportation officials said Monday. The shortages are affecting 34 Colorado Department of Transportation projects, said spokeswoman Stacey Stegman. In metro Denver, projects affected include the resurfacing of Interstate 25 between Santa Fe Drive and West 6th Avenue, the repaving of Colorado Boulevard between Mexico and Alameda avenues, and two major paving projects on East Colfax Avenue.

A shortage of liquid asphalt is occurring, in part, because oil refiners are concentrating on producing more profitable finished products from crude oil, such as diesel fuel, said Tom Peterson, executive director of the Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association. Refiners also are processing more light crude petroleum, which produces less asphalt than heavy crude, Peterson said.

Liquid asphalt is mixed with rock and sand to produce hot-mix asphalt for paving roads. CDOT specifies that a chemical polymer be added to the hot mix to strengthen the pavement, especially in areas where traffic volumes are high.

A worldwide shortage of the polymer is compounding the problem for CDOT and asphalt paving contractors in Colorado, Peterson said. "We're told it is due to higher demand in other parts of the world and to disruption at two production facilities in Europe," he said.

EDIT

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_9881872

[razors edge]

1. SBS polymer.

Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene is added to the asphalt, the Butadiene is made in Beijing which has stopped production due to the Olympics.

It is the same everywhere, my plant is running with less than one weeks supply left for the season, normally we run till Thanksgiving.