Engineering Professor Receives Gift to Support Pavement Research

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From left to right: Baxter Burns, president of Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions; Mark Ishee; Andrew Braham; Kevin Hall; Shannon Davis, assistant dean of research at the College of Engineering.

Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions Inc., located in Jackson, Miss., has pledged $75,000 to support research on pavement maintenance in the department of civil engineering. The gift will provide a scholarship for a graduate student who will work with assistant professor Andrew Braham, as well as discretionary funds that can be used for equipment and supplies for Braham’s laboratory.

Braham’s research focuses on pavement maintenance. He uses special lab equipment to examine the conditions that lead to weaknesses in concrete and asphalt and evaluates the effectiveness of methods to strengthen and repair pavement.

“When I came to the University of Arkansas, I recognized a need for more research in the area of pavement maintenance products in academia,” Braham explained. “So much of our university level research (in the U.S. and around the world) revolves around the more traditional forms of pavements, such as hot mix asphalt and Portland cement concrete. However, there is comparatively little research in the area of pavement maintenance products.”

One of Ergon’s core businesses is asphalt emulsions, which are an integral component of many pavement maintenance products. When company officials learned about Braham’s research, they were eager to support his efforts.

“Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions is excited to partner with the University of Arkansas as the engineering group expands its research facilities to include pavement preservation,” explained Mark Ishee, vice president of pavement preservation. “Maximizing the utilization of taxpayer funding to maintain and preserve our nation’s roadway infrastructure has never been more crucial. Dr. Braham’s group will play a leading role in providing the research required to further develop the preservation techniques as well as providing the industry with a much needed supply of young engineers ready to convert the concept to reality.”

“We are very pleased about this opportunity to work with Ergon,” said Kevin Hall, head of the department of civil engineering. “Such industry-university collaborations are vital to our focus on economic development and bringing research into ‘real world’ practice. I applaud the efforts of Dr. Andrew Braham and the professionals at Ergon for making this partnership possible.”