pg grade of 76 22 an actual grade of 79 8 27 0 and a uti of 106 8 a viscosity of 1450 centipoise 135 u00b0 f an ac20 asphalt cement material similar to ex 1 was prepared the resulting product had a pg grade of 70 22 an actual grade of 75 5 25 4 and a uti of 100 9 example i was repeated except that the vulcanization step was carried out after the oxidation step and the polymer added before the oxidation step the resulting product had a viscosity 135 u00b0 f of 793 cps a pg grade of 70 22 and an actual grade of 72 3 26 5 example i was repeated except that both polymer addition and vulcanization step were carried out before the oxidation step the resulting product had a viscosity 135 u00b0 f of 998 cps a pg grade of 70 22 and an actual grade of 73 9 27 4 asphalt paving compositions of the present invention exhibit a distinct improvement in useful temperature index uti as defined by the superpave performance graded pg asphalt binder specifications aashto mr an ac20 asphalt cement material was lightly oxidized at 350 365 u00b0 f.