Asphalt binder performance and research were some of the topics covered at the annual meeting of the Asphalt Institute held last week at Lake Tahoe.

Many CalAPA refiner members were in attendance as the refiner association, a CalAPA partner on a many initiatives, provided updates on a number of topics of interest to the industry, including binder classifications, environmental product declarations and research.

The meetings were held in Incline Village, Nev., on Lake Tahoe,

Marc Mitchell with Alon gets an up-close look at a trained hawk at a recepton during the AI conference.

which straddles the California-Nevada border and is home to some of the most scenic stretches of asphalt roads anywhere.

The 300 conference attendees also heard updates on the activities of the Asphalt Alliance, a joint effort financed by the Asphalt Institute, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) and the state asphalt pavement associations, including CalAPA. As was reported in last week's Asphalt Insider, it was announced that the new national director of the Asphalt Alliance is Amy Miller. You can read the story about her appointment HERE.

As always, the highly regarded engineers from the Asphalt Institute were prominently featured at the conference, including the indefatigable Bob Humer, the AI regional engineer based in Southern California. Humer, a frequent presenter at CalAPA conferences, works closely with CalAPA and others on technical matters involving Caltrans specifications and other asphalt-related subjects. For example, he was instrumental in providing technical assistance to Caltrans as the department developed long-life (perpetual) asphalt pavement projects. Once such project on Interstate 5 in the North State earned a Caltrans innovation award earlier this month. Read more about that project HERE.

AI's connection to CalAPA even extends to CalAPA Technical Consultant Dr. Rita Leahy, and Roger Smith, who conducts training classes for CalAPA -- both of whom have previously worked for the Asphalt Institute.

Several CalAPA member companies, who are also active in the Asphalt Institute, were in attendance, including CalAPA refiner members Alon Asphalt, Lunday Thagard Refining, San Joaquin Refining and Valero Marketing & Supply.

For more information about the Asphalt Institute, click HERE. For information about the Asphalt Alliance, click HERE.

Edgard Hitti with Alon (left) shares a laugh following an AI technical committee meeting with Don Powell of San Joaquin Refining (right) as SJR's Ed Starbuck looks on.

Gov. Jerry Brown joined legislative leaders and others last week to call for more funding to repair California's deteriorating roads as the Legislature prepares to resume a special session devoted to transportation infrastructure.

The news conference Aug. 19 at the Port of Oakland didn't really have much news, other than a restating of the importance of pothole-free roadways to California's economy and quality of life. Brown was mum on what finance mechanisms, including raising the gas tax, he would support, deferring to the Legislature.

A coalition of transportation advocates, calling itself "Fix Our Roads," orchestrated a number of media events to help spread the word about the transportation funding crisis in California, and attracted the support of a number of organizations, including CalAPA. Click HERE to visit the group's website.

Although the Legislature is on summer break, informational hearings have been held this month but work on a comprehensive funding package for transportation is not expected to resume in earnest until next month.

Gov. Jerry Brown, at the microphone, joined legislative leaders and others Aug. 19 to call for a long-term fix to California's road maintenance crisis.

 

The Caltrans Transportation Laboratory, known as TransLab, is a cluster of buildings located at 59th Street and Folsom Boulevard in Sacramento. Steeped in history, TransLab is where State Materials Engineer Phil Stolarski and many other pavement experts work, as well as laboratory facilities that perform numerous tests on the construction materials that go into Caltrans projects, including asphalt.

TransLab also hosts numerous technical meetings where representatives from Caltrans and industry evaluate and propose updates to Caltrans specifications.

Last week following a meeting, CalAPA intern Hamza Ali Shallwani, a U.C. Davis engineering student, got a behind-the-scenes look at the facility that is steeped in history and innovation. His brief tour, courtesy of Caltrans technician Frank Chevez, focused on the many different ways that asphalt binders and asphalt pavements are tested.

Many other innovations were born at TransLab, including Hveem Mix

Caltrans Lab Technician Frank Chevez (left) shows a core sample to CalAPA intern Hamza Ali Shallwani at TransLab.

Designs, developed by legendary Caltrans materials engineer Francis N. Hveem and still in use today (click HERE to read a previous Asphalt Insider story about Hveem), and raised pavement markers known as "Botts' Dots," for Elbert D. Botts, the Caltrans materials engineer who developed them. Other innovations born at TransLab are too numerous to mention. Materials testing at Caltrans dates back to 1912, and the TransLab building in Sacramento was built in 1958.

Jack Van Kirk, who currently works for CalAPA member George Reed Inc./Basic Resources, but who worked for many years at TransLab, likes to tell the story of how there is an exact replica of TransLab in South Africa. Years ago transportation officials from South Africa were visiting California and were so impressed with TransLab that when they got back home that immediately started work building an identical copy.

In addition to the lab space, testing equipment and offices, few know that the facility also houses a tunnel that was used to test reflective material on signs and traffic devices, such as cones and barricades. One can only imagine how many lives that have been saved in highway work zones thanks to innovations tested out in that tunnel.

As a second-year engineering student, Ali Shallwani was awe-struck at all that takes place at TransLab, and how there is much more to asphalt pavements that meets the eye.

Caltrans recently opened the Southern Regional Lab in Fontana, an impressive facility in its own right. But it will be tough to top the history and the mystique of TransLab. Our special thanks to Joe Peterson of Caltrans for arranging the brief tour for a future engineer. A brief history of TransLab can be found HERE.