As a part of the Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 1-40 project panel, Kevin Hall is a vital link in the national effort determining how to implement an entirely new system of pavement standards to update the highways of Arkansas and the U.S. The standards currently used date back to the early 1960s, when there were approximately 20 percent fewer trucks on the road.

Hall is one of only two members of the project panel from academia.

"Since the last implementation, traffic volumes have risen, average weights have increased, axle configurations have changed, and tire types are now radial instead of bias-ply," said Hall. "We have no way to know how those variables have affected how the pavement performs."

The old system used a total of five inputs, or variables to design a pavement. Hall is evaluating more than 50 variations with the new system, such as the stiffness of the asphalt used for highways. Other variables include soil strength, temperature levels, moisture levels and load characteristics of the traffic using the road.

"The same pavement, whether it's concrete or asphalt, will perform very differently in Florida, Minnesota or Arizona," said the researcher who received the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award for Research and Teaching from the Arkansas Alumni Association. "Arkansas is a national leader in developing its highway system."

Arkansas supports the 13th largest highway system in the U.S. on the 45th largest budget. "We're at a major intersection of the country," he said. "That gives us good tools to figure out how pavement will hold up over time. Of course, I hope people never notice my work. If they do, I did something wrong."

As much as Hall enjoys his research, returning to the classroom at the university that granted his bachelor and master degrees was always his true goal. "After I got my doctoral degree from the University of Illinois, I knew I wanted to teach, but only if it was at the University of Arkansas," he said. "Now, I get to come to work on a college campus every day. How cool is that?"