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Evaluation of the Asphalt Binder Quality Tester (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Section 7 - Benefit-Cost Analysis
Pages 34-40

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From page 34...
... 7.1  FHWA ABQT Expenditures In this analysis, the public sector includes the FHWA and state DOTs. FHWA expenditures on the development, demonstration, and technology transfer of the ABQT device included the following: • FHWA/TFHRC staff hours for development, specifically the development of the ANN because the engineering and hardware production costs were mainly covered by LTI; • Production of six prototype devices used for demonstration at conferences/meetings and loaned to DOTs for testing; and • FHWA/TFHRC staff's role in demonstrating the ABQT at conferences/meetings and pub lishing papers and articles on the ABQT.
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From page 35...
... In Scenario 2, in addition to the state DOTs' expenditures, there would be the following suppliers' expenditures: • Each binder supplier will purchase an average of four ABQT devices for their terminals: – 107 binder supplier organizations were assumed for this adoption scenario. This is the total number of domestic organizations that were members of the Asphalt Institute in 2018 because they would be the most likely suppliers to adopt the ABQT.
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From page 36...
... 7.4  Time Series of Benefits and Costs: Scenario 3 Scenario 3 assumes the ABQT will be adopted by 50 state DOTs, binder suppliers, and asphalt mix plants. In addition to the expenditures by state DOTs and binder suppliers, the expenditures of asphalt mix plants would include the following: • Each mix plant would purchase a single ABQT device for its terminals.
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From page 37...
... Component Total Costs FHWA expenditures $473,000 DOTs' purchase of the ABQT device $7,600,000 Suppliers' purchase of the ABQT device $16,264,000 DOT staff training $48,000 Supplier staff training $103,000 DOT operating materials $100,000 Supplier operating materials $214,000 DOT maintenance $220,000 Supplier maintenance $471,000 DOT staff operation $480,000 Supplier staff operation $857,000 Total costs $26,830,000 Component Annual Costs/Benefits Annual benefits $17,429,000 Equivalent annual costs $4,392,000 Net equivalent annual benefits $13,037,000 Benefit-cost ratio 4.0 ROR 297% Note: Cost and benefit numbers were rounded to the nearest $1,000 due to the precision of the evaluation team's underlying assumptions. This may result in minor discrepancies due to rounding.
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From page 38...
... Hours/ $2021 Units per Type Frequency State/Facility States/Facilities Wage/Cost Expenditure FHWA expenditures One time NA NA $473,000 $473,000 DOTs' purchase of the One time 4 50 $38,000 $7,600,000 ABQT device Suppliers' purchase One time 4 107 $38,000 $16,264,000 of the ABQT device Mix plants' purchase One time 1 1,000 $38,000 $38,000,000 of the ABQT device DOT staff training One time 32 50 $30 $48,000 Supplier staff training One time 32 107 $30 $103,000 Mix plant staff One time 8 1,000 $30 $240,000 training DOT operating Annual 4 50 $500 $100,000 materials Supplier operating Annual 4 107 $500 $214,000 materials Mix plant operating Annual 1 1,000 $500 $500,000 materials DOT maintenance Annual 4 50 $1,100 $220,000 Supplier maintenance Annual 4 107 $1,100 $471,000 Mix plant Annual 1 1,000 $1,100 $1,100,000 maintenance DOT staff operation Annual 320 50 $30 $480,000 Supplier staff Annual 267 107 $30 $857,000 operation Mix plant staff Annual 67 1,000 $30 $2,010,000 operation Note: Cost and benefit numbers were rounded to the nearest $1,000 due to the precision of the evaluation team's underlying assumptions. This may result in minor discrepancies due to rounding.
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From page 39...
... 7.5 Quantitative Estimate of the Potential Benefits and Costs of the ABQT Table 7-8 provides a summary of the annual benefits in $2021, equivalent annual costs, and net equivalent annual benefits for each of the three adoption scenarios. The FHWA investment to date has been approximately $0.5 million.
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From page 40...
... , the return on investment from adopting the ABQT as a screening tool depends on the number of asphalt lane-miles the state DOT is responsible for, which determines the resulting decrease in maintenance costs. Table 7-9 pro vides a summary of the annual benefits in $2021, equivalent annual costs, and net equivalent annual benefits for three individual states.
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Key Terms

  • equivalent annual
  • net benefits
  • operating materials
  • annual benefits
  • mix plants

  • annual costs
  • mix plant
  • state dots
  • net equivalent
  • dot operating

  • net annual
  • abqt devices
  • total costs
  • abqt tests
  • annual maintenance

  • state dot
  • dot maintenance
  • supplier maintenance
  • supplier operating
  • maintenance costs

  • binder suppliers
  • fhwa expenditures
  • potential savings
  • single abqt
  • conduct abqt

  • plant operating
  • individual state
  • adoption scenarios
  • air tank
  • underlying assumptions


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