CALIFORNIA ASPHALT INSIDER
The latest asphalt news from the California Asphalt Pavement Association
Dec. 23, 2013

www.calapa.net

IN THIS ISSUE
The year in review: Our choices of the Top 10 asphalt pavement stories in California
Registration open for CalAPA's Annual Dinner Jan. 16 in Los Angeles
Quote of the Week: Søren Kierkegaard

 

CALENDAR

 *

 

  2014 Annual Meeting and Dinner

Jan. 16, 2014

The Jonathan Club

545 S. Figueroa St.

Los Angeles

(213) 624-0881

Contact: Sophie You (916) 791-5044

Click HERE to sign up

 

*

'Hot Topics in Hot Mix Asphalt'

Jan. 29, 2014

Hodel's Restaurant, 5719 Knudson Drive, Bakersfield

Contact: Rita Leahy (916) 239-8315

Click HERE to register!

 

*

 

SAVE THE DATE!

Spring Asphalt Conference

April 9-10, 2014

Doubletree Hotel

222 N. Vineyard Ave.

Ontario

Contact: Sophie You (916) 791-5044

 


 

Find us on Facebook

 

Follow us on Twitter


CHOOSE ASPHALT
Asphalt is used on about 94 percent of paved roads in America. Why? Because it's smooth, quiet, safe, durable and 100 percent recyclable. Visit the Asphalt Pavement Alliance website learn more about why asphalt is the right choice now more than ever.

USCapitol
CalAPA
California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)
 
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 981300
West Sacramento, CA 95798
 
Main office:
1550 Harbor Blvd., Suite 211
West Sacramento, CA 95691
 
(916) 791-5044 (phone)
  
BACK ISSUES
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.
  
MAGAZINE
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, click HERE or call Kerry Hoover with Construction Marketing Services at (909) 772-3121.
  

 GET THE FACTS

Ashalt Facts web ad
There's plenty of information, and misinformation out there about asphalt pavements. Click HERE to get the straight scoop at the Asphalt Facts website.  
STAY INFORMED
Click HERE to receive California Asphalt Insider each week via e-mail FREE! Or visit our website at:


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.
The year in review: Our choices for the Top 10 asphalt pavement stories in California in 2013            
                  

Editor's Note: As 2013 draws to a close, we highlight our choices for the Top 10 stories that impacted the asphalt industry in California over the past year. Look for our 2014 predictions in next week's newsletter. Click HERE to read last year's predictions and judge for yourself how well we did. 

 

1. The nation began the year with a compromise, short-term surface transportation bill in place but little consensus as to what to do after it expires on Sept. 30, 2014. The stop-gap measure known as MAP-21 contained $100 billion in funding, but did nothing to address the long-term issues surrounding dropping gas tax revenue that could lead to the insolvency of the federal highway fund. With the outlook on federal transportation funding looking bleak, a sudden budget compromise hammered out in USCapitolWashington at the end of the year, coupled with renewed dialog about the gas tax and other forms of revenue, raised hopes that policy makers will roll up their sleeves and address transportation funding in 214 before another fiscal crisis, and election cycle, ushers in a new era of political gridlock.

 

2. The advocacy group Transportation California proposed a statewide ballot measure hiking the state's vehicle license fee to pay for transportation programs, jump-starting the transportation funding policy debate. The governor's top transportation official, State Transportation Agency Secretary Brian Kelly, told a budget hearing in December that improving state government finances might allow the state to repay early the hundreds of millions of dollars of transportation funds that were diverted in the past few years to shore up a general fund leaking red ink. While a poll of Asphalt Insider readers showed increased optimism for 2014 on the road funding front, many uncertainties remain.

 

3. The California economy began to show the first real signs of life in its agonizingly slow recovery from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. As the year drew to a close, economic indicators were trending up, but the construction industry recovery continued to lag behind other sectors, due largely to the improving but still wounded housing market. In the meantime, competition for projects remained robust. California's vast size meant that the state was home to several "micro-climates" of economic activity, with the Silicon Valley, Southern San Joaquin Valley and Bay Area showing brisk construction activity, while many parts of the Central Valley and the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles remained in the economic doldrums.

 

4. California's foray into Long-life Asphalt Pavements, otherwise known as perpetual pavements, garnered national attention, with  media coverage in national trade magazines and a "Pavement Pioneer" award presented to Caltrans by the national Asphalt Pavement Alliance for work on two projects on Interstate 5 in the north state. A successful demonstration project was previously built on the I-710 Freeway in Los Angeles County and is performing to

Long-life asphalt on I-5
Work on I-5 in the north state.

expectations according to an analysis by the University of California Pavement Research Center. A collaborative effort that involved Caltrans, industry and academia resulted in the pavement strategy being rolled out in other areas of the state, including the Bay Area, where Teichert Construction followed long-life designs in rehabilitating a stretch of Interstate 80 that connects San Francisco and Sacramento.

 

5. Coming on the heels of pro-recycling legislation by then-Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, Caltrans published an update to its specifications in 2013 permitting up to 25 percent of RAP in asphalt pavement mixes, up from the previous standard of 15 percent, and touted the move in a special report on the department's various "green" initiatives. The move was also hailed by industry as a way to save tax dollars, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the most efficient use of our national resources. The specification continues to evolve, meanwhile, as Caltrans announces its intention to go to a "binder replacement" system of calculating RAP usage, and also to incorporate more recycled tire rubber and roofing shingles in asphalt mixes.

 

6. Environmental regulation in California, led by major changes air quality regulations, continued to make news in 2013. The industry continued to grapple with stringent air-quality regulations imposed by local air districts and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Companies also continued to be peppered with letters from advocacy groups warning of the potential punitive actions for non-compliance of Proposition 65, the state's toxic substances reporting law. The CalAPA Environmental Committee was active in assessing the various changes, engaging regulators on behalf of industry and communicating important developments to members. Caltrans published a new report, meanwhile, that signaled out innovate asphalt pavements as the department's No. 1 greenhouse gas reducer.

 

7. Caltrans huddles with industry representatives throughout the year as the department refined its asphalt specification to more closely conform to the national "Superpave" asphalt pavement

Hamburg Wheel Track class
'Superpave' testing equipment demonstration and class in Sacramento.

standard. With numerous issues to resolve, the department announced in December it was pushing off its review deadline for the latest version of the specification to January in the hopes of giving the widest possible opportunity for industry and local agency representatives to study and comment on the changes. At various CalAPA technical committee meetings across the state, "Superpave" is a topic of high interest.

 

8. The City of Los Angeles, facing a daunting backlog of delayed road repairs, advances a bold, $3 billion "Save our Streets" initiative to tax homeowners to pay for the upkeep of local streets and roads. While studying the concept is endorsed by the City Council, plenty of political hurdles remain before the funding begins to flow to the city streets and address a repair backlog that in some instances is 50 years or more.

 

9. Caltrans published a new smooth-pavement standard, ushering in the era of using sophisticated computers and sensing devices to gauge pavement smoothness. Pegged on the International Roughness Index, or IRI, the smoothness standard sought to further incentivize smooth pavement jobs, a characteristic very noticeable to motorists. Research, meanwhile, continues to point to pavement smoothness as a contributor to increased fuel economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. To implement the new standard, which requires new mobile measuring equipment, Caltrans unveils a calibration location near Sacramento. The move signals the beginning of the end of an era for the venerable "California profilograph" that has been measuring pavement smoothness in California and elsewhere for decades.

 

10. U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the powerful Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is named "Legislator of the Year" by the National Asphalt Pavement Association for her work in shepherding the $100 billion "MAP-21" surface transportation act through a gridlocked Congress. Boxer was praised for her masterful job in lining up bipartisan support for the bill during an era of partisan bickering on Capitol Hill.

null
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California (center) speaks with asphalt industry leaders earlier this year at the U.S. Capitol.
Registration open for CalAPA's Annual Dinner Jan. 16 in Los Angeles
 
It's time to register for CalAPA's annual dinner, which will take place Jan. 16 at the elegant Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles. Members, spouses, star employees and favorite customers are welcome.
  
Will Kempton, former Caltrans director and chief of the Orange County Transportation Authority, will be a featured speaker at the event. He is currently serving as executive director of Transportation California, a
Caltrans Director Will Kempton
Will Kempton
statewide organization that advocates for adequate levels of transportation infrastructure investment. CalAPA, along with numerous other like-minded organizations, is a longtime supporter of Transportation California.
  
The thorny subject of transportation funding, and an expected drop-off in federal and state monies devoted to roads, will likely be a topic of discussion at the dinner. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and the dinner program starts at 7 p.m. The Jonathan Club is located at 545 S. Figueroa St., and a strict dress code is in effect.
  
The evening will also feature the installation of officers for the association and some special recognition for leaders who have helped shape our industry.
  
For more information, click HERE to visit the event website. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Sophie You of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044.
Quote of the Week

 

  

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."  

  

                                    -- S�ren Kierkegaard

 

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.

 

Sincerely,

 


Russell W. Snyder
Executive Director
California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)

The California Asphalt Insider is an official publication of the California Asphalt Pavement Association. For more information or to inquire about membership, call (916) 791-5044, or click HERE to send us an e-mail.
Copyright � 2013 California Asphalt Pavemement Association - All Rights Reserved.

www.calapa.net