Texas Drives Infrastructure Innovation with Modern Hydrogen Demo Project
BY AsphaltPro Staff
Texas contractor and Modern Hydrogen team up to fix parking lot with carbon-sequestering asphalt
Modern Hydrogen demonstrated its carbon-sequestering asphalt technology in San Antonio, Nov. 11, 2024, with attendance from Bexar County Department of Public Works (DPW) and other regional transportation leaders. The demo took place in the Northern Heights neighborhood from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. where Modern Hydrogen and Clark Construction placed 100 tons of Modern Carbon-sequestering asphalt, a product designed to enhance road resilience and sustainability by capturing carbon from natural gas before it was burned.
Clark Materials produced the mix for the project at the Clark Asphalt Products plant on Old Nacogdoches Rd. in New Braunfels. Modern Carbon was added at the RAP conveyor. 25-pound totes were emptied onto the belt to blend with the recycle product on its way to the drum. Then, the Clark Construction crew placed Modern Carbon HMA alongside 100 tons of standard HMA in the parking lot of San Antonio Magic Volleyball Club for a total of 200 tons.
Mothusi Pahl, VP of Business Development and Government Affairs at Modern Hydrogen, said this project represented the company’s first deployment of carbon sequestering hot mix asphalt.
Modern Carbon-sequestering asphalt aims to reduce costs and improve the performance of Texas infrastructure. The November parking lot project followed a successful potholes pilot with Bexar County DPW in 2023.
Rick Lara, co-owner of the San Antonio Magic Volleyball Club and Texas Made Athletics said, “Our parking lot was horrible. We got Clark Construction and Modern to come out to replace all of our asphalt. What’s interesting about this project is that it’s carbon-sequestering asphalt, which is great for the environment.”
The club ownership wasn’t the only interested entity onsite for the demo. Aaron Martinez, a supervisor for the Bexar County Department of Public Works, shared that his county is always on the lookout for new technology and new materials that are sustainable for the environment. He said that’s why members of his team were there that day.
Rick Lara, co-owner of the San Antonio Magic Volleyball Club and Texas Made Athletics, said the condition of the parking lot was “horrible” and the team of Modern Hydrogen and Clark Construction offered a paving solution that “is great for the environment.”
“Just recently, this past year, we used Modern with sequestered carbon in our cold patch mix in a road up north,” Martinez said. “We’re always, in an innovative way, looking at materials that enhance our products, and I believe carbon-sequestered asphalt is one of the ways we want to go.”
Martinez explained that his county—like many others—is looking for ways to make its maintenance-spend more efficient. “We use hundreds of tons of asphalt every year. We want to make sure the asphalt lasts longer. That’s less maintenance for us, for the maintenance department.”
“We are here in San Antonio today doing our first Texas field deployments of carbon sequestering hot mix asphalt,” said Mothusi Pahl, VP of Business Development and Government Affairs at Modern Hydrogen. “We’ve been working with Bexar County and the Department of Public Works for the last year around road repair with cold patch, but today we’re doing early deployments of HMA with Clark Construction. It’s an exciting time in the industry because this asphalt is both carbon sequestering and has a lower embodied CO2 footprint. So, the associated EPDs are a game changer.”
Both the Modern Carbon and control lifts were placed 2 inches thick. Here you see a closeup of the Modern Hydrogen product in place.
Corey Clark, the director of asphalt and fleet operations of Clark Construction of Texas, echoed the theme of partnership. “Today, we’re partnering with Modern Hydrogen to produce a carbon-sequestering hot mix. We’re placing 2 inches of carbon-sequestered
hot mix in a parking lot,” Clark said. His grandparents started the business in 1978, and he said he’s “just trying to keep the dream going in a good family company.”
Modern Hydrogen worked with Clark Construction to deploy carbon sequestering hot mix asphalt in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 11, 2024, to repave a sport club parking lot.
Pahl said, “It’s an exciting time to be here because carbon capture and sequestration is really front of mind for next-generation infrastructure development—and what we’re demonstrating today is the efficacy and high value of carbon capture and sequestration here in the heart of the oil patch in Texas.”
For more information, contact Leigh D’Angelo at Modern Hydrogen at Leigh.Dangelo@modernhydrogen.com.