Did you miss an issue of the California Asphalt Insider? No problem! Past editions of the newsletter are available at the CalAPA newsletter archive page.

  

CalAPA produces a highly regarded magazine, California Asphalt, and an annual membership directory. To view back issues of the magazine, click HERE. For advertising sales in the magazine and directory, call Kerry Hoover with Construction Marketing Services at (909) 772-3121.

  

There's plenty of information, and misinformation out there about asphalt pavements. Click HERE to get the straight scoop at the Asphalt Facts website.  

This weekly bulletin contains the latest news and information of interest to the asphalt pavement industry in California. Please feel free to distribute this newsletter to others who may be interested in asphalt pavements.

 

More than 250 industry leaders and agency representatives will be in Sacramento this week for CalAPA's Fall Asphalt Pavement Conference. Today is the last day to join them. Pre-registration for the conference is required and must be done on-line. Click HERE to visit the conference website.

  

The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 24 at the Doubletree Hotel, 2001 Point West Way in Sacramento. New this year is a special welcome reception that will take place from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23. The agenda for the conference is HERE.

  

Attendees consistently rank the trade show portion of the conference as one of its most popular features. Click HERE for a list of this year's conference sponsors.

  

For more information, call Sophie You of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044.

  

Henry Teichert, humble yet legendary patriarch of the venerable construction company that bears his name, passed away at his East Sacramento home last week. He was 96.

  

As president and then chairman of Teichert, Inc., for 35 years, he was credited with bringing modern management techniques to the company as it expanded its operations throughout the state. The paving company was founded by his grandfather, Adolph Teichert Sr., in 1887. His son, Adolph Teichert Jr. joined the business in 1912 to form A.

Henry Teichert

Teichert & Son, and many sidewalks in Sacramento still bear the family inscription. The company maintains the oldest active contractor's license number in California -- No. 8.

  

A graduate of U.C. Berkeley Law School, Henry Teichert originally entered the practice of law, but took over the company after the death of his father in 1953. He was president from 1958 to 1972, and chairman of the board from 1972 to 1993.

Over the years Teichert Inc. has grown to a multimillion-dollar general contractor that mines rock and makes aggregate, asphalt, ready-mix concrete and other building materials. It builds runways, sidewalks, roads, freeways and foundation structures for new housing developments, office buildings and airports. The company is led by the family's fourth and fifth generations. Henry Teichert's nephew, Judv Riggs, is president and chief executive officer. Teichert's granddaughter, Mary Rotelli, is chief operating officer.

Henry Teichert had five children with his wife of 56 years, the former Wendy Downey, who died in 2003. He is survived by sons Fred, Jonathan and Isaiah; daughters, Wendy-Marie and Rose Grimm; 18 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.

  

CalAPA is pleased to welcome its newest associate member, G3 Quality.

 

G3 Quality (G3) is headquartered in Cerritos and is an Engineering Quality Control / Quality Assurance Company, established to provide technical solutions to clients within the transportation construction market.

 

A Caltrans-certified testing and inspection firm as well as a California Certified Small Business Enterprise, G3 specializes in HMA material designs, pavement design, and quality program development. The company principals have over 16 years of infrastructure quality program management experience for agencies such as Caltrans, the Federal Aviation Administration and numerous cities and local agencies. G3 maintains a 7,000 square-foot full-service laboratory with cutting-edge equipment to perform Superpave designs, Hamburg Wheel Track testing and Inertial Pavement Profiling.

 

Company founder and President Chris Gerber started his career in the field of asphalt pavements over 16 years ago and is a recognized industry expert with flexible pavement materials, design, construction and sustainability.  

 

For more information, contact Susan Pierce at (562) 321-9841, or click HERE to visit G3 Quality's website. To view a photo of G3's new lab, click HERE to visit CalAPA's Facebook page.

  

As explained in its Construction Policy Directive (CPD) 13-4 dated July 15, 2013, Caltrans has adopted the nationwide standard practice of expressing asphalt binder content as a percentage by total weight of mix (TWM). It will no longer express asphalt binder content as percentage by total dry weight of aggregate (DWA). The implementation of OBC (Optimum Binder Content) based on total weight of mix is only for projects under the 2010 Standard Specifications. The 2010 revisions to California Tests 304, 367 and 368 reflect this new terminology.

 

For contracts using the 2006 Standard Specification, the contractor can continue with OBC based on dry weight of aggregate until the completion of the contract or the contractor can request a revision to OBC based on total weight of mix. When the contractor requests to report the OBC in terms of total weight of mix instead of the dry weight of aggregate for an approved JMF, the contractor must submit the following at least 15 days before the proposed change:

1. Revised JMF with OBC reported as a percentage of total weight of mix on Form CEM-3511, "Contractor Job Mix Formula Proposal."
2. Original accepted JMF Form CEM-3511, "Contractor Job Mix Formula Proposal."
3. Original mix design for accepted JMF on Form CEM-3512, "Contractor Hot Mix Asphalt Design Data."
4. Original mix design verification for accepted JMF on Form CEM-3513, "Caltrans Hot Mix Asphalt Verification."

The resident engineer reviews the submittal and verifies that the OBC has not been changed from the original JMF when converted to OBC as a percentage of the total weight of mix. The resident engineer will issue a contractor-requested change order authorizing the contractor to report OBC as a percentage of the total weight of mix and replace the specification for compensation for asphalt price adjustments so that asphalt price adjustments are correct for the OBC based as a percentage of the total weight of the mix. In addition, the change order must include new tolerances for asphalt binder content as shown in the following table for various types of HMA:

 

 

For more information, click HERE to go to the Caltrans CPD archive page and click on CPD 13-4.

It's a little-known fact almost lost to history -- the first "good roads" movement in California was started by bicyclists. The bicycle, after all, predates the automobile, and the bicycle craze that swept across the state quickly ran into a stark reality -- you needed a smooth road to ride the new-fangled contraptions on. These weren't modern mountain-bikes, after all. Bicycle clubs sprung up and a few plank roads were built, but lacking any real funding the movement was going nowhere fast.

  

Then along came the automobile and another "good roads" movement was born. The automobile followed the well-worn path taken by bicyclists, with automobile clubs springing up and motorists agitating for better roads. The first road signs were placed by auto clubs, and the first state highways were funded by bonds, starting in 1910.

  

As more cars and trucks flooded the state, and demand rose for more safe routes to connect people and places, pressure to build more roads also increased, Finally, the first state gas tax was passed in 1923 -- 2 cents a gallon -- and the concept served the state well for almost a century.

  

As the debate heats up in Sacramento and Washington about a sustainable system of transportation funding -- and protecting our $2+ trillion investment in roads -- we pay tribute to the early "good roads" movements in California. To get an idea of how far we've come, click HERE to view a short video of what it was like trying to get around in the 1920s without a good asphalt road under your tires.

  

We hope you enjoy CalAPA's Asphalt Insider. We are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information on technical issues, regulation, news and events in California that may impact the asphalt pavement industry. Click HERE to contact us with any comments or suggestions.