European Asphalt Technology Association

The origins for the creation of eata go back to 1973 at the University of Nottingham where a group of about twelve people with an interest in new developments in flexible pavement engineering met to hold informal discussions about their work, focussing, particularly, on new ideas and developments. They agreed to meet annually thereafter and to do so under the title of the “European Flexible Pavement Study Group”. These meetings continued initially, at Nottingham, and then at various venues around Europe offered by members of the group. No paperwork was generated, the discussions being informal and “off the record”.

The idea for the format of these meetings came from the Western United States where the “Triaxial Institute” had met in a similar way for many years. The name came from the three states of California, Oregon and Washington, the three organisations of university, industry and highway authority and the three types of work discussed, research, design and construction and use of the triaxial laboratory test. They met at Klamath Falls on the Oregon side of the border with California since, it is understood, the Caltrans staff could only claim expenses for meeting ‘out of state’. Like the Nottingham group, the Triaxial Institute ceased to meet in the early 1990s.

Meetings

The inaugural meeting of eata took place in Nottingham on 6^th and 7^th July 2004 and was attended by 99 people. 11 papers were presented and published in a Special Edition of the international journal, Road Materials and Pavement Design (RMPD). Details of subsequent meetings are shown below.

The 11th meeting will be held in Ancona, Italy in 2025.