Who Makes Billions Paving America’s Roads?

The asphalt and road paving industry has always been hugely dependent on federal money. In fact, about 50% of the funding to the industry comes from the U.S. government. With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, signed into law, $1.2 trillion will be invested. That is a 40% to 50% increase over the previous FAST Act. CRH, as the largest road paver in the U.S., is one of the biggest winners. In 2022, CRH made more than $32 billion; more than $20 billion of that came from its business in America. That number is about to increase substantially in the next few years. But there are some strings attached. More money is going to projects that prove they are better for the environment. The industry has solutions to meet this challenge, such as recycled asphalt pavement and warm mix asphalt. But implementing them in the field poses challenges. Chapters: 00:00 — Introduction 01:13 – The need for asphalt 04:40 — CRH and Industry 11:18 — Challenges Produced by: Robert Ferris Editor: Jacob Harrell Senior Managing Producer: Tala Hadavi Additional Camera: Natalie Rice, Darren Geeter Graphics: Alex Wood, Christina Locopo, Jason Reginato Additional footage: CRH, Getty Images