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CALENDAR
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Los Angeles area Technical Committee Meeting
Wednesday, July 1
9:30 a.m. to noon
County of Orange, RDMD Conference Room, 1152 Fruit Street, Santa Ana.
Contact: Tony Grasso (909) 362-9192
Details HERE
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Annual 'Day at the Races' at Del Mar Race Track in Del Mar, Calif.
Saturday, July 18
Sign-up HERE!
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CalAPA Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, July 29
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Location: AGC of California, 3095 Beacon Blvd., West Sacramento
Contact: Russell Snyder (916) 791-5044.
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Southern California Contractors' Dinner
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 5:30 p.m.
Dal Rae Restaurant
9023 E. Washington Blvd.
Pico Rivera Contact: Tony Grasso (909) 362-9192
Details soon!
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CLICK & GO!View our interactive, "At a Glance" event calendar HERE.
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Are you an engineer, designer or technical professional who makes decisions on pavement type selection? The DriveAsphalt website has technical reports and other resources may be just what you're looking for. Click HERE for more information.
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| 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)
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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.
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Click HERE to visit the PavExpress website.
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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. |
 | As transportation funding debate heats up in Sacramento, key figures express optimism |
As the state prepares to begin a new fiscal year on Wednesday, there's plenty of signs of optimism: the state budget is balanced and has a healthy surplus, the economy is gaining momentum and jobless rates continue to trend down. Only a stubborn drought is taking some of the luster off the current state of the Golden State.
Still unresolved, however, is how the state is going to address its modern transportation needs with a tax system largely untouched since the 1990s, resulting in crumbling roads that are among the worst in the nation.
At a forum last week in West Sacramento, transportation advocates  gathered to compare notes and express hope that solutions may finally be imminent.
Gov. Jerry Brown called a special session of the Legislature specifically to deal with transportation financing, and a flurry of meetings have been taking place to see if a compromise plan can be hammered out. In his announcement, the governor said the special session must address a tax system that "is sufficient to fund only $2.3 billion of work -- leaving $5.7 billion in unfunded repairs each year."
In an exclusive interview last week with Asphalt Insider, Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said, "I think there is momentum now, and we need to seize that momentum."
"Both the Administration and the Legislature are talking about transportation funding," Dougherty said. "The governor called for a special session of the Legislature. The focus of everyone's conversation so far is 'fix it first' -- take care of the existing infrastructure before you do anything else. We are behind the eight ball and we need to catch up and make sure we are investing to take care of the infrastructure on a pay-as-you-go basis. We've got an opportunity for the Legislature to come together and try to figure something out."
Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley, who is chairman of the
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| | Assemblyman Jim Frazier (center) met earlier this year with CalAPA's Brian Handshoe (left) of Kenco Engineering and Len Nawrocki of Valero Refining. |
Assembly Transportation Committee, last week was named the chair of the committee in the Legislature's special session tasked with coming up with a compromise funding plan. The official title of the committee is the Transportation & Infrastructure Development Committee.
He immediately proclaimed that "this year we are going to get something done," adding: "This opportunity only comes once in a while."
Several bills that were languishing in the Statehouse were re-introduced in the special session in the hope of getting them fast-track approval, including a bill by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, that generates funds from a number of sources and reforms and could generate an estimated $3 billion for transportation. Another bill to extend indefinitely the authority of agencies to engage in innovative public-private partnerships, or P3s, was also introduced into the special session. CalAPA is on record supporting both bills.
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| Funding, mix segregation to be featured topics at July 1 L.A. area Technical Committee meeting in Santa Ana
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The current status of funding for the state's pavement maintenance program, and methods and practices of reducing asphalt mix segregation will be the featured topics at this week's CalAPA Los Angeles-area Technical Committee meeting.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, July 1 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at the County of Orange RDMD Conference Room, 1152 Fruit Street in Santa Ana. All CalAPA members and agency personnel are invited to attend.
The most recent projections for the State Highway Operations & Protection Program (SHOPP) will be discussed, as well as the latest developments in the Legislature to call attention to and hopefully address California's road-funding crisis. A new report out by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) on methods and practices to reduce or eliminate asphalt mix segregation also will be reviewed.
In addition to the featured topics, there will be ample time for agency updates and questions-and-answers from attendees.
For additional information or to RSVP, click HERE or contact Tony Grasso at (909) 362-9192.
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| Project profile: High praise for George Reed's work on Highway 89 from a knowledgeable source
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It's one thing to derive satisfaction from a pavement job well done, including acceptance and prompt payment from the owner, experiencing the smooth ride on the finished product, and hearing an occasional compliment from a nearby resident or a business-owner.
But its entirely something else to pass muster with Roger Smith, who has an exacting eye for detail, is a stickler for quality, and isn't shy about speaking his mind.
Smith, a former senior materials engineer for Caltrans, the Asphalt  Institute and onetime state asphalt pavement association executive, teaches the popular "Asphalt Pavement 101" classes for CalAPA when he isn't helping out the Pavement Preservation Center at California State University, Chico. in numerous technical presentations and classes over the years, Smith is known for showing photos projects done right. as well as those where outcomes were less than ideal, and why. It's all about learning from the mistakes of others and striving to deliver the best pavement project possible.
Recently Smith came upon a work being done on Highway 89 by CalAPA member George Reed Inc., and quickly fired off the following note to a couple of the company officials:
"I was in the Sierra last weekend and came across your paving projects on Highway 89 (10-Alp-89) near Highway 88," Smith wrote. "I just want to compliment George Reed Inc. on what is a very nice paving job ... very smooth, nice uniform texture and appearance, and great paving joints. The outside edges are nice clean lines and even the temporary markers are perfect. The whole job shows pride of workmanship. I noticed an MTV (Material Transfer Vehicle, or "shuttle buggy") on site so I assume it was used for all that work, and contributed to the nice uniform look of the new HMA." The team at George Reed was especially pleased to hear the rave reviews on the $3 million project near Markleeville because it went through a major design change just prior to the pavement being |
| | Roger Smith (right) speaks to an attendee on a break of one of his "Asphalt Pavement 101" classes. |
placed. Caltrans originally designed the roadway improvements to include 3/4-inch Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA A) for pavement repairs, and a .10' cap of 1/2-inch RHMA G (Rubberized Asphalt Pavement). As the project was about to get underway, Caltrans decided to change the design to 3/4-inch HMA A for pavement repairs and 1/2-inch HMA A 64-28 PM for the top lift. Even with the changes, once the paving got underway the finished product spoke for itself. "Taking into consideration the unique geographical location of this project, along with its proximity to George Reed Inc's Asphalt Plant, things went extraordinarily well," said George Reed Project Manager Dave Cox. "It's the effective partnering relationships with Caltrans District 10 engineers and consultants that makes projects like these successful." |
| FHWA publishes a new report: "Towards Sustainable Pavement Systems"
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The Federal Highway Administration has published a new report that seeks to gather together the latest research and best practices on producing pavements that are as environmentally friendly as possible.
The report, titled "Towards Sustainable Pavement Systems: A Reference Document (FHWA-HIF-15-002)" can be downloaded in PDF format HERE.
While the report notes that there is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a "sustainable" pavement, it nonetheless attempts to provide guidance to the pavement community "on sustainability considerations in pavement systems, drawing from and synthesizing the large and diverse body of knowledge that exists on pavement sustainability."
The report goes on to say that "sustainability is very much context-sensitive in that each project is unique, with specific needs depending on the location, climate, available materials, facility type, and required level of service, as well as on the overall goals of the organization" in charge of the project.
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| Welcome aboard: D & H Equipment
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CalAPA is pleased to welcome its newest associate member, D&H Equipment. LTD.
D&H Equipment specializes in asphalt rubber and polymer modified  asphalt blenders, tanks, heaters, and controls. The company is a family-owned business that began from a paving company recognizing the need for reliable and durable equipment. D&H Equipment, LTD is dedicated to being the one source for all modified asphalt needs. The company has the experience and capability to build high-quality, heavy-duty equipment that includes: asphalt rubber blending plants, polymer plants, crack seal plants, warm mix equipment, reaction tanks, storage tanks, hot oil heaters, heat exchangers, and more. For more information, click HERE to visit the company website, or contact Jason Cox at (830) 833-5366, ext. 227, or via e-mail at jason(at)dhequip(dot)com . NOTE: The "@" symbol in the e-mail address above has been replaced with "(at)" and periods have been replaced with "(dot)" to deter malicious e-mail spam software. |
| Quote of the Week
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"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." Desmond Tutu
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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. SnyderExecutive Director California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA) |
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