Asphalt rubber is the largest single market for ground rubber in the United States, consuming an estimated 220,000,000 pounds (100,000,000 kg), or approximately 12 million tires annually.
[1] Use of rubberized asphalt as a pavement material was pioneered by the city of Phoenix, Arizona in the 1960s because of its high durability.
In 2003 the Arizona Department of Transportation began a three-year, $34-million Quiet Pavement Pilot Program, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration to determine if sound walls can be replaced by rubberized asphalt to reduce noise alongside highways.
Tests are currently underway in other parts of the United States to determine the durability of rubberized asphalt in northern climates, including a 1.3 mile stretch of Interstate 405 in Bellevue and Kirkland, Washington[4] and a handful of local roads in the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
[7] Porous Elastic Road Surfaces (PERS) or poroelastic road surfaces improve RAC by incorporating voids and channels, making the pavement porous and further reducing traffic noise.