Bernie McCarthy was first employed by the Asphalt Institute in 1967. His first assignment with the Institute was as District Engineer for Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. He was made Regional Managing Engineer for the Eastern Region in 1971, the National Field Director for District Engineers in 1973 and was named Director of Technical Services in 1987. Bernie served as the Institute’s Vice President and Director, Industry Affairs from 1991 until his retirement in 2004.
Bernie is a graduate of the University of Maryland, having received his Batchelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1959. While he worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, he obtained his law degree in 1965 from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. and is a member of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Bernie is a registered professional engineer in the District of Columbia and Maryland.
During his long career, Bernie has probably done more than any other individual to increase the volume of asphalt usage. His leadership and training of Institute Field Engineers, coupled with his relationship building skills in our broad industry leave a lasting legacy of service and dedication. Bernie assisted in Al’s national advertising campaign in the late 1960s to the mid-1970’s. That campaign emphasized smoothness and safety. The “velvet ride” was its mantra. He was the first chairman of the Asphalt Industry Environment Oversight Committee (AIEOC) which had significant influence in causing the federal government to reconsider its plan to publish stringent regulations of asphalt fume. He was part of TRB’s asphalt environmentally-related Fume Generation Committee. He is a long time member of AAPT and was one of its directors. He presented papers at the International Society of Asphalt Paving (ISAP) Conference in Baltimore and at TRB on fume evaluation. He was the sole author of Asphalt magazine’s Technical Bulletin Series from 1988 to 1992. He was instrumental in Al’ s promotion and development of recycling asphalt pavement and the reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) program during the mid-to-late 1970’s. Bernie and the field engineers were an integral part of the effort that promulgated asphalt as being the most recycled product in the world. Bernie promoted asphalt landfill covers and asphalt pavements to cover hazardous waste materials during the late 1980’s and 1990s. He was the champion promoter of Full-Depth asphalt pavements throughout the U.S. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, Bernie and the Al field engineers promoted Full-Depth asphalt pavements full-throttle around the U.S. During the early and mid-1970’s, they were the sole promoters of Full-Depth. The result of their extensive promotion tripled asphalt usage at the county and city levels, and in some cases at the state level.
In reviewing Bernie McCarthy’s career, it is apparent that perhaps no single individual has been more productive in promoting the proper technological use and the increased volume of asphalt usage. He has positively influenced the entire asphalt industry throughout his career to this day.
Elected: 2004
