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.

Correction 6/26: At 7:58 we misstated 960billion in dividends. The correct is $960 million in dividends.

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

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Who Makes Billions Paving America's Roads?