Jaxon Burkhart leads the BATT Mix Lab to achieve success in asphalt mix design
As the Mix Lab Lead, Jaxon Burkhart divides his work time between designing asphalt mixes in the lab and ensuring those designs meet quality standards on the job site. He also tests new products that BATT evaluates. In the lab, he finds mix design is like putting a puzzle together.
“We strive to find the perfect combination of raw materials for every asphalt mix — from the aggregates and binder, to recycled asphalt pavement and additives — to come up with a design that will not only meet the client’s expectations, but will pass the owner’s specifications as well,” he says.
Jaxon enjoys a challenge, especially when the occasional mix that he expects to pass, doesn’t. It’s then that he and the rest of the mix lab team work to find ways to improve the design and re-test as many times as needed to achieve success. With new products, he looks for noticeable differences and possible advantages/disadvantages that the new product may offer.
He relies on a wide range of testing equipment to ensure mix designs will perform as expected, and routinely runs industry-standard tests, including Indirect Tensile Cracking Test (IDEAL-CT), Semi-Circular Bend (SCB), Hamburg Wheel Tracker (HWT), Bond Strength, and Dynamic Friction Test (DFT).
“Testing is the heart of what we do at BATT, and my personal commitment is to do the job to the best of my ability and with a smile on my face.”
When he’s on the job site, Jaxon uses BATT Vision to provide an accurate analysis of an existing pavement’s condition. Powered by Tiger Engineering, BATT Vision utilizes cameras and AI learning to produce images, graphs, and maps of the location of all types of pavement distress. It provides a complete picture of the pavement’s condition and a blueprint for devising a strategy for designing new pavement that will deliver improved performance.
Working on site with the client’s QA technicians during an installation, Jaxon relies on the non-nuclear density gauge and the DFT portable unit to help ensure the mix meets expected quality standards.
“For job sites, we can provide everything from pavement evaluation to inspection of construction methods and the materials used, to assuring the job meets the owner’s expectations. The most rewarding thing about my job is having a project come in with positive results, after we have worked tirelessly on it, and knowing that the client is going to be satisfied.”
Jaxon holds a Bachelor of Construction Management from Eastern Kentucky University and is also a certified Kentucky Superpave Plant Technologist.
For more information on how Jaxon and the rest of the BATT Team can ensure your next project meets performance standards, contact us at info@blankenshipasphalttech.com.
