As temperatures rise due to climate change, engineers are having to adapt to create sustainable infrastructure, including heat-resistant pavement. CCEE associate professor Dr. Shane Underwood, whose research focuses on materials and their interaction with society and the natural and built environments, was recently interviewed by Triangle Business Journal for his expertise on potential solutions.

In the story, Underwood points out there are very few options when it comes to heat-resistant pavement, and asphalt concrete, which is the primary material used in North Carolina’s highways is temperature sensitive. According to his research, roads made with asphalt are more likely to deteriorate at a faster rate in high temperatures.

“It’s not like we’re saying all of our roads are going to fail, it’s just that the deterioration rate is going to accelerate for some period of time,” he said. But cutting years off the life of a highway when there are hundreds of thousands of miles of roadway, “it all adds up,” Underwood said.

Read the full story here: https://loom.ly/6aMHkZQ