Cooper Union

Asphalt (SUPERPAVE)

SUPERPAVE is the acronym for Superior Performing Asphalt Pavements. SUPERPAVE was developed under the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) and uses performance based testing for classification of the asphalt binder and mix design. The SUPERPAVE Asphalt Technology laboratory can perform the following binder tests to achieve a PG (Performance Grade) rating: Cleveland Open Cup Flash Point, rotational viscometer, dynamic shear rheometer, rolling thin film oven, pressure aging vessel, bending beam rheometer, and direct tensile tester. In addition, a volumetric mix design can be performed using a gyratory compactor. This will achieve mix designs for over 30 million 80 kN ESALs (equivalent single axle loads).

Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.
“My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”
From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.
Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.