Until the beginning of the 1980s, SMA was essentially known only in Germany. Its application in other European countries was limited in scope. Scandinavian states where studded tires used were the quickest to adopt the SMA concept; for example, in Sweden a few sections of roads had been paved with SMA by 1974 European Asphalt Pavement Association (EAPA, 1998). In Poland, which at that time was behind the Iron Curtain, concepts in West German publications were officially disallowed. Despite that, the Polish road administration permitted the first road section of an SMA-like mixture to be placed within its borders in 1969 (Jablotiski, 2000). Very positive results of that trial made the Polish Central Authority of Public Roads inclined to draft a standard (ZN-71/MK-CZDP-3), which was put into practice in 1971. After forschungsgesellschaft fur straPen-und verkehrswesen (Germany)
(FGSV) published the first German technical standard for SMA (ZTV bit-StB 84), the mix became more popular and several European countries started to test the SMA mix. Now, virtually all European countries use SMA or, like France, nationally standardized mixtures conceptually similar to SMA.
The significant growth of the SMA application started in the early 1990s outside of Europe. This growth was certainly boosted by its popularity in the United States, and research on developing an American method of designing an SMA mix commenced (see Chapter 7). Popularization of SMA in North America led to the release of SMA guidelines in other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and China. During the last 20 years, SMA has become a global mix, and thus it may be seen almost everywhere where mineral-asphalt layers are applied.
