CalAPA member Teichert Materials hosted a tour of its facilities in Sacramento Friday to a group of key legislators as part of the industry's stepped-up efforts to educate policy-makers on the importance of infrastructure funding and the important role the industry plays in California's economy and quality of life.

Participating int he two-hour tour was Assembly Minority Leader

Teichert's Mike Cunningham (right) coducts a site orientation for the group of Legislators, including Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian (seated near left).

Kristin Olsen, who represents the Modesto area, Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, who represents part of the East San Francisco Bay, Assemblyman Eric Linder from Corona in Southern California, and Katcho Achadjian, who represents San Luis Obispo. Baker, Linder and Achadjian are members of the Assembly Transportation Committee.

Conducting the tour was Teichert Regional Operations Manager Mike Cunningham, who gave the group a safety orientation and site orientation, led the group to an on-site visit of the quarry and reclamation operations, and then showed the group the asphalt plant in operation. The tour included an up-close look at old asphalt

Cunningham points out features of the asphalt plant to Assemblywoman Catharine Baker.

pavements being processed and converted into new asphalt for a major highway project. Asphalt, the group was told, is the world's most recycled material, and unlike other materials can be used over and over again on pavement surfaces.

The group marveled at the many environmental controls in place at the asphalt plant, which showed no visible emissions despite running at full speed. Lawmakers remarked that following the tour they had a much better understanding of the life-cycle of construction materials, and the importance of recycling, reclamation and local sources of rock.

The tours are part of CalAPA's stepped-up efforts to educate a new crop of Legislators about the asphalt pavement industry and the importance of adequate funding for infrastructure and what it means for jobs, the economy and California's quality of life.

To view more photos from the tour, click HERE to visit CalAPA's Facebook page.

Pictured, from left: Baker, Olsen, Cunningham and Linder.

Gov. Jerry Brown's Executive Order regarding the Declaration of a Drought Emergency does not appear to have a direct impact on the construction industry, although companies are encouraged to conserve water whenever possible.

His order directs the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to impose restrictions to achieve a statewide 25 percent reduction in potable urban water usage through Feb. 28, 2016. These restrictions will require water suppliers to California's cities and towns to reduce usage as compared to the amount used in 2013.

These restrictions should consider the relative per-capita water usage of each water suppliers' service area, and require that those areas with high per-capita use achieve proportionally greater reductions than those with low use. The California Public Utilities Commission is requested to take similar action with respect to investor-owned utilities providing water services.

Most of the restrictions have been directed at local water districts to impose usage reductions for landscape and other residental usages, as well as local jurisdictions. At this time, there does not appear to be a restriction on business uses for production of their product other than insuring that there is not water wasted or run-off during production, but this has not been specifically addressed. The cost of water usage, however, could go up, although even that is in some dispute. 

Earlier this month an Orange County appeals court ruled that San Juan Capistrano's tiered water rates are unconstitutional, potentially dealing a blow to agencies statewide that have used the pricing structure to encourage water conservation. The 3-0 ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal upholds a Superior Court judge's decision that found charging bigger water users incrementally higher rates violates a voter-approved law that prohibits government agencies from charging more than the cost of a service. It is believed this ruling will have an impact on how the local water districts move forward with pricing and conservation efforts.

To read the governor's announcement on his water restrictions executive order, click HERE.

CalAPA will continue to follow this issue and report if there are more specific implementation efforts that impact the industry.

NAPA and FHWA have tracked usage of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), recycled asphalt shingles (RAS), and warm-mix asphalt (WMA) since the 2009 construction season. The results from the 2013 construction season were released in October 2014 and showed that the use of reclaimed materials alone conserved about 3.7 million tons of virgin liquid asphalt binder for a cost savings of over $2.3 billion.  

From 2009 to 2013, this survey has documented a 22 percent increase in RAP use, a 135 percent increase in RAS use, and a 533 percent increase in WMA use. In 2013, WMA reached over 106 million tons at nearly a third of the total asphalt mixture market. Full results of the 2013 survey are available HERE.

Having this sort of data available helps encourage the uptake of warm

Working a RAP stockpile.

mix and mixes with recycled materials and boosts public understanding of the sustainability of asphalt pavements. Your participation will benefit your operations and the industry as a whole.

To participate in the survey, click HERE. The deadline for survey responses is April 30. It is recommended that you download a printed version of the survey from the NAPA website HERE to ensure that all the relevant data is at hand before beginning the process. Survey participants will receive a complimentary copy of the report once it is released.

Data from the survey will be kept completely confidential and will be used only for the purposes of determining quantities. Data will be reported by state only, and no company-specific information will be disclosed or used for any purpose. To further protect the confidentiality of your information, no state specific data will be reported if fewer than three producers report for a state.

Because data is being aggregated by state, companies or branches active in more than one state need to complete a separate questionnaire for the mixes produced for each state. If a plant provides mix for more than one state, the tonnage should be divided accordingly.

For more information, contact Kent Hansen, P.E., Director of Engineering at NAPA at (301) 731-4748, or via e-mail at: khansen(at)asphaltpavement(dot)org.*

*Note: In the e-mail address above, the "@" has been replaced with "(at)" and the period has been replaced by "(dot)" to help deter spam software. 

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