A.E. Stone has contracted with several area communities over the past 20 years, including Atlantic City, Bass River, Brigantine, Buena, Egg Harbor Township, Egg Harbor City, Galloway Township, Hamilton Township, Lacey Township, Linwood, Little Egg Harbor Township, Margate City, Port Republic, Somers Point and Pleasantville. Our projects include several private developments including K. Hovnanian, Consumer Square, Guerro Lakes, LaCosta Homes, Fountain Lakes, and Meadow Run. Some are in the construction phase and others have been completed recently, comments Ritter. A.E. Stone has also recently completed the parking lot of the new Middle School in Galloway Township and the soccer fields and running track at Stockton State College. In addition to working in the community, A.E. Stone's county projects include Atlantic, Ocean, Cape May, and Burlington road improvements. Federal projects include the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and a $1.2 million project involving the New Jersey Air National Guard for maintenance of the roads on their Pomona base. Recent state projects include the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority's pavement of the Sandcastle Stadium and a new runway at Atlantic City International Airport. A $700,000 project to improve Interchange 63 on the Garden State Parkway for the New Jersey Highway Authority has recently begun in early 2000. A.E. Stone's largest project to date was the 1987 resurfacing of the Garden State Parkway from Exit 38 to Exit 0, a cost of $7 million and requiring more than 202,000 tons of paving materials. Future projects include supplying 80,000 tons of asphalt and paving the Atlantic City-Brigantine Connector, better known as the "Atlantic City Tunnel Project". There are even plans in place for an Ocean City-Longport Bridge. Airport Paving Test Facility: One of the more unusual projects A.E. Stone is currently affiliated with is the National Airport Pavement Test Machine project. Located on the premises of the FAA Technical Center in Pomona, the $21 million machine operates 24 hours a day, testing nine different mixtures of concrete and asphalt at once to determine the ability to withstand the weights of the jumbo jets of the future. The research and final developments will affect airport runways throughout the world and A.E. Stone is providing the asphalt mixtures. New jet models could weigh up to 1.2 million pounds compounding the need to research what types of runway asphalt will support them on the ground. Surprisingly, the damage to the runway surface is not done during landing. The real problems occur between the gate and takeoff, when the jets are loaded with fuel and moving slowly towards the runway for takeoff. Additionally, changes to the wheel configurations on later model jets have increased the stress and damage to the asphalt. At the test facility, two vehicles resembling two different configurations of landing gear move along at five to seven miles per hour over the nine different pavement test surfaces. Each design test will run approximately 18 months. They may end earlier if the pavement designs do not succeed. However, A.E. Stone maintains a positive outlook for a successful project that will not only give them national recognition, but will also enable them to take part in future experimental projects.