For the asphalt and bitumen industry, 2024 was largely a year focused on enhancing sustainability measures across the supply chain from plant manufacturing processes to construction site materials and usage.
For Sripath, sustainability has always been at the forefront of product development, and 2024 provided an opportunity to share thought leadership and products that could help customers lower their overall carbon footprint. From live events to product launches, 2024 proved to be a year of growth and underscored our commitment to helping make asphalt better around the world.
New Product Launch, Team Members, and Brand News
Sripath launched a new product in 2024, adding a warm mix additive to its product portfolio with the introduction of PHALANX®. This superior warm mix additive improves compactability of hot asphalt and polymer modified bitumen (PMB) mixes while helping to reduce both production and compaction temperatures. In addition to being highly dosage efficient, PHALANX may also help contractors reduce their carbon footprint through reduced energy consumption.
In 2024, Sripath introduced its consolidated branding theme and introduced its corporate mascots. As a global company with team members, partners, and customers worldwide, Sripath wanted to ensure its branding represented the company’s unified vision for enhancing asphalt and bitumen performance. The debut of our corporate mascots, Rocky Asphalt and Sandy Asphalt, showcase the Sripath ethos of going to work for customers.
Also in 2024, Sripath enhanced its corporate team with both new additions and promotions. Vince Aurilio was named as the corporate Senior Technical Director, bringing over 40 years of experience in pavement design and material engineering for roadways and airports. Deepak Madan was promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer. Jill McConaghie joined our team as Marketing Specialist. As a reflection of our continued global expansion efforts, the team welcomed Dr. Haissam Sebaaly as its representative in the Middle East.
Events, Webinars, and Expos
Sripath’s global presence was felt further through the team’s extensive travel and event schedule.
With a robust presence in Canada, Sripath attended several events including the Canadian Technical Asphalt Association Annual Conference (CTAA 2024), the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA) 2024 Fall Asphalt Seminar, the Transportation Association of Canada Conference (TAC Conf 2024), and the Canadian Airfield Pavement Technical Group (CAPTG) meeting. During CAPTG, Vince Aurilio presented a paper coauthored with Professor Hussain Bahia titled “Improving Performance of High-RAP HMA with Bio-Oils.” Vince Aurilio also presented a talk on “Recycling Agents: Industry Perspective” at the RILEM TC308-PAR Workshop held in Montreal, Canada.
Krishna Srinivasan was a featured presenter during the Society for Asphalt Technology (SAT) Binderrr Conference 2024, which brought together leaders from the South African asphalt industry. Srinivasan provided a comprehensive review on the “Impact of Changes in Crude Oil Refining on Bitumen”.
Srinivasan also presented a talk on the use of ReLIXER in High-RAP Mixes at the short course on Mix Design & Quality Control in Pavement Construction held at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India.
The Sripath team attended the 8th E&E Congress in Budapest organized by the European Asphalt Pavement Association (EAPA) and Eurobitume. Key themes during the event included industry resilience, sustainability, and innovation, where Srinivasan also presented a poster titled “Increasing RAP Usage with an Effective Recycling Agent.”
Making Headlines
A number of industry publications featured Sripath’s products and commitment to sustainability in feature articles throughout the year. Roads & Infrastructure (R&I) Australia’s August 2024 issue showcased Sripath’s industry-leading approach to transparency around sustainability including the ease of availability of its Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Later in the November 2024 issue, R&I put the spotlight on NuMIXER®, Sripath’s bitumen softener derived from a blend of prime green bio-based oils.
Echoing the theme of sustainability was a feature article in the September issue of AsphaltPro magazine, which focused on the importance of sourcing, preparing, and sampling RAP. The article also reviewed how successful high-RAP implementation may occur when mixes are dosed with an effective rejuvenator like ReLIXER®.
Sripath also entered the spotlight as part of the UK National Highways Carbon Week. National Highways undertook a resurfacing trial for Highway A21 to test and compared high-RAP mixes dosed with ReLIXER® to high-RAP mixes with no ReLIXER and mixes with no RAP.
World Highways featured PHALANX in an article exploring decarbonization efforts in bitumen technology. The article included results from a trial conducted by the City of Brisbane with data evaluated by the Royal Melbourne Technical Institute, which considered compaction performance at varying temperatures. The tests showed PHALANX to have superior compactability in comparison to the control mix without an additive.
On the track, the #12 Mini Cooper, sponsored by Sripath, became the New England Region Road Racing Champion. Steve Introne claimed the 2024 NERRC B-Spec Season Championship, with his son, Zach, in his first year competing, finishing 8th out of 17 drivers.
Looking Ahead to 2025
Planning is well underway for what Sripath believes will be an exciting and productive 2025. Industry trends indicate sustainability will remain a key topic of interest with increasing focus on recycling methods and carbon neutral efforts across the supply chain.
While roadway development is projected to reach USD 1333.37 billion by 2030, not all of this growth is attributable to new infrastructure projects. Urbanization and development of new roadways is certain to contribute, but increasing demand for repairs and revitalization to existing infrastructure will also be a major consideration.
The industry’s drive to approach both new construction and maintenance projects with a lower carbon footprint will continue to call for innovative technologies and solutions addressing challenges such as variability of bitumen quality and meeting rigorous performance specifications with sustainable products.
As we move into 2025, Sripath remains committed to providing innovative additives that enhance bitumen and asphalt performance while helping customers achieve their sustainability and cost-efficiency goals.
Contact our team to learn more about Sripath’s product line up and our dedication to delivering sustainable and innovative products and solutions.
