From October 1987 through March 1993, the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) conducted a $50 million research effort to develop new ways to specify, test, and design asphalt materials. The final product of the SHRP asphalt research program is a new system referred to as Superpave, which stands for SUperior PERforming asphalt PAVEments. It represents an improved system for specifying the asphalt binders, aggregates, mixture design methods, and analyses that go into building longer lasting pavements.

One of the main goals of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) with respect to asphalt mix design was developing a new laboratory compaction method. This new compaction method had to provide compaction that more closely mirrors that which is done in the field. By kneading mixes to simulate construction and traffic loads, the Superpave Gyratory Compactor (SGC) provides specimens that are much more representative of actual in-service pavements.
The specimens fabricated with the Superpave Gyratory Compactor (SGC) are used to determine the volumetric properties -- air voids, voids in the mineral aggregate, and voids filled with asphalt -- of Superpave mixes. Those properties, measured in the laboratory, indicate how well the mix will perform in the field. The SGC is also well-suited for quality control / quality assurance, as it can be set up at the job site to verify that the delivered asphalt mix meets the job mix volumetric specifications.