Sorenson Award is presented at NEPPP meeting May 5. From left are Bobby Betsold, FP ² vice-president; Brian Kelleher, MassDOT deputy administrator and Chief of construction;  Cody Holemo, MassDOT pavement preservation engineer; and Eric Thibodeau, NE PPP chair

May 11, 2026 -- The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is the winner of the 2025 James B. Sorenson Award for Excellence in Pavement Preservation, for its dedication to pavement preservation principles over the last two decades.

Recognizing exemplary agency pavement preservation practice, the Sorenson award is presented at the discretion of FP² Inc., usually to municipal or county road agencies, or state departments of transportation.

As an agency, MassDOT is committed to delivering safe, reliable, and sustainable pavement infrastructure. In the past two decades, MassDOT has adopted a preservation-first strategy centered on proactive, data-driven and equitable pavement management.

“By prioritizing preservation  and embracing new approaches, we are  making a real difference in communities  across the state,” said Interim Secretary of  Transportation Phillip Eng.

 “There are many ways that we, as FP², can advocate for the advancement of pavement preservation and recycling," said FP² vice president Bobby Betsold at the presentation of the award to MassDOT at this May’s Northeast Pavement Preservation Partnership (NEPPP) meeting in Springfield, Mass.

"One the most important and rewarding opportunities we have each year is to recognize the outstanding work of a local, county or state agency with the Sorenson Award," he added. “For over 20 years, MassDOT has proactively collaborated with local and state officials, academia and industry to continuously lead in the implementation of the latest pavement preservation and recycling processes and applications.".

 DECADES OF PRESERVATION

 While MassDOT has been using pavement preservation and recycling treatments for decades, including early uses of micro surfacing and diamond grinding PCC pavements in 1990s, and polymer-modified thin overlays and ultrathin bonded wearing overlays in the early 2000s, the commonwealth formally created its pavement preservation program in 2005 as part of the highway division's Pavement Management Section.

 This group, under the direction of former pavement management engineer Matthew Turo and current pavement management engineer Edmund Naras, has developed into an integral part of the department's overall highway division maintenance plan.

 From the start of the program until today, the agency has emphasized the importance of pavement preservation to extend budget dollars and keep good roads good by employing the philosophy of the Right Treatment, on the Right Road, at the Right Time.

 Over the last 20-plus years, some of the highlights of MassDOT's pavement preservation program have included:

• Implementation of a centralized pavement condition database and pavement management system since the early 2000s, providing the basis for informed preservation and maintenance planning

• Being a founding member of the Northeast Pavement Preservation Partnership (NEPPP), as well as hosting the first NEPPP meeting in 2006

• Legislative creation of the Performance and Asset Management Advisory Council (PAMAC) in 2013, helping increased preservation projects based cost-effectiveness and condition metrics

• Participation in SHRP2-R26 Guidelines for the Preservation of High-Traffic Volume Roads program in 2016 with a 1.4+ million sq yd preservation project including over 10 different treatments

• Participation in the FHWA Every Day Counts (EDC-4) preservation initiative in 2017, creating pavement preservation guidelines for increasing the implementation of pavement preservation treatments, and

• Launch of the Municipal Paving Program in 2021, bringing much needed funding and resources to preserve and maintain state-numbered municipal roadways (see following article).

MassDOT continues to explore more ways to improve its pavement management program and efforts, with pavement preservation and recycling treatments serving as a cornerstone of the successes at the state and local levels.

Who Was Jim Sorenson?

 Jim Sorenson (1949-2009) was senior construction and system preservation engineer, FHWA Office of Asset Management, and he was a great champion of pavement preservation at the national level. He was born in Montana on July 28, 1949, and received a B.S.C.E. in 1976 from Montana State University at Bozeman, where he had worked as an engineering assistant to the city engineer following four years in the Vietnam War.

 Mr. Sorenson worked in several FHWA field and headquarters offices, culminating in his position in the Office of Asset Management, where he traveled the country promoting pavement preservation to state and local road agencies, when he was not leading the effort to fund pavement preservation at the national level. There he was responsible for technical assistance, policy development, and research guidance in the areas of construction and maintenance operations, transportation system preservation, asset management, and FHWA’s external Quality Management Program.

 The pavement preservation industry had no greater friend, and FP² honors Jim’s memory with the Sorenson Award. Intended to recognize agency pavement preservation, the Sorenson award is usually presented to municipal or county road agencies, or state departments of transportation.

 Intended to recognize an agency’s preservation program, the Sorenson Award application is open to any level of government. Nominations may be made by the agency or in cooperation with industry. Nominations should include a write up of how the agency gained acceptance and support for its pavement preservation program:

The deadline for entries for the current year is Aug. 1, 2026.

Learn more at https://fp2.org/fp2-awards-programs/sorenson-award/

ABOUT FP² INC.

FP² Inc. is a non-profit trade association organized under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)6, and is supported by the pavement preservation industry, contractors, material suppliers and equipment manufacturers.

 Formerly known as the Foundation for Pavement Preservation, FP² supports the adoption of pavement preservation at all levels of government, and works to ensure that pavement preservation becomes a part of road programs from coast-to-coast. It also supports valuable research in pavement preservation, and works in close cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP), and regional pavement preservation partnerships and state-based pavement preservation centers.

 FP² also sponsors key promotional activity events, such as international and national pavement preservation conferences. It supports distribution of promotional information to support pavement preservation, such as brochures and the quarterly magazine Pavement Preservation Journal.