Effective this year, AASHTO will make two important changes to the 2021 Edition of the Standard Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing, and AASHTO Provisional Standards (the "Materials Standards"), starting in July 2021.

In the fall of 2020, the AASHTO Publications Department conducted an extensive survey of our customers who utilize the AASHTO Materials Standards. In response to their strong preferences revealed in the survey, effective this year, AASHTO will be making the following two changes:

First, AASHTO will return to a single annual release, and all materials standards, whether purchased as a set or individually, will be released—and take effect—in July of each year.

Second, both the print format, which was reintroduced last year, as well as the PDF Download, will now be grouped into volumes by standard type—specifications and practices, tests, and provisional standards. These changes will make it easier for users to track updates and search for specific standards.

Customers who wish to purchase a copy of the current 2020 edition of the Materials Standards may continue to do so, by visiting the AASHTO Store online at https://store.transportation.org and searching by the publication’s item code, HM-40.

The standards are available to purchase in paperback; as a PDF Download; as well as in a set that includes both a paperback copy and the single-user PDF Download copy at a discounted rate.