|
CALENDAR
| (Always on-line HERE)
|
*
Southern California Contractors' Dinner
Tuesday, April 12, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Dal Rae Restaurant, 9023 E. Washington Blvd., Pico Rivera
Contact: Tony Grasso (909) 362-9192
Click HERE to sign up.
*
SIGN UP NOW!CalAPA Spring Conference & Equipment ExpoApril 20-21 Doubletree Hotel, 222 N. Vineyard Ave., Ontaro Contact: Sophie You (916) 791-5044 Register HERE * SAVE THE DATE!CalAPA 'Day at the Races' at Del Mar Race TrackSaturday, July 16Del Mar, CA Details soon! *
|
|
SOCIALIZE
|
|
|
| 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. |
| GET TECHNICAL | |
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.
|
| 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 current and past issues of the magazine, click HERE. For advertising sales information, click HERE or call Kerry Hoover with Construction Marketing Services at (909) 772-3121.
|
| STAY INFORMED |  |
Click HERE to receive California Asphalt Insider each week via e-mail FREE! Or visit our website at:
|
|
WATCH
| |
|
Click HERE to visit our video page.
|
|
|
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. |
| Special Report: RHMA, Caltrans and where the rubber meets the road
|
The deployment of Rubberized Hot Mix Asphalt (RHMA) in California over the years has had more twists and turns than a mountain road, including legislative mandates, larger-than-life personalities and Byzantine specifications.
All the while, the state has grappled with two overarching goals that appear to intersect where the rubber meets the road: the desire to be environmentally sustainable, including reducing the number of scrap tires that end up in landfills, and to ensure optimum and cost-effective performance of pavements on the state highway system.
The backdrop for this effort is increasing pressure for state agencies to be "green." The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) recently revised its mission statement to include the word "sustainable," and created the position of "Assistant Director for Sustainability" reporting to the director.Under a legislative mandate to incorporate scrap-tire rubber in pavement mixes, however, Caltrans has struggled in recent years to meet the targets, prompting the department to offer up other ways to achieve the goal.
In a September 2015 article in the department's "Mile Marker"  publication, the department reported on the issue this way: "California law requires Caltrans to use 11.58 pounds of crumb rubber modifier per metric ton of its total asphalt paving material. This means that Caltrans must use crumb rubber in about 35 percent of the total hot-mix asphalt it places statewide. In 2012, however, only about 29 percent of Caltrans' statewide asphalt paving used rubberized hot-mix asphalt ... and in 2013 the amount dropped further to about 23 percent. This was due to a higher percentage of projects that require conventional asphalt for the base layers. Asphalt containing crumb rubber can only be used on the top two inches of the pavement surface. If the base layers were excluded from the overall calculation, the percentage of asphalt containing crumb rubber would be 37 percent, rather than the 23 percent calculated using the total amount of all asphalt paving materials."
The department further reported in the article that "RHMA uses recycled tires, and every mile of RHMA pavement prevents 150 old tires from going to landfills. RHMA also adds elasticity to the highway, making it less susceptible to cracking and stress from temperature changes. While the initial cost of RHMA is higher than the cost of conventional asphalt -- up to 38 percent more -- RHMA is cost-effective when used to resist cracking. About half as much RHMA is needed to prevent cracking in overlays that would be needed if conventional asphalt were used."
In July of 2013, Caltrans implemented the use of Performance Graded Modified (PG-M) asphalt binder with minimum of 10 percent Crumb Rubber Modifier (CRM). On Feb. 10, 2015 Caltrans issued a memo and new guidance to its engineers on RHMA, which, according to Chuck Suszko of the Caltrans Division of Construction had the effect of making RHMA the pavement surface course of choice when evaluating alternatives for a project. It was still deemed insufficient for the department to meet its tire-recycling goals, however. That reasoning was given in 2014 when the department proposed something new: requiring the addition of 5 percent Crumb Rubber Modifier (CRM) in all unmodified asphalt binder. The proposal triggered a flurry of industry-agency meetings as the idea was evaluated and the logistical challenges and costs to implementing it, including accurately measuring how much scrap tires would be used, were estimated.
The new "green" Performance-Graded binder with 5 percent CRM  (PG+5) as envisioned by Caltrans would be required to meet the performance grade requirements for unmodified asphalt binder. At several very well-attended meetings, virtually every component of Industry was represented: refiners, emulsion manufacturers, tire processors, HMA producers, paving contractors and specialty materials producers. To read a previous Asphalt Insider articles on this topic, click HERE and HERE.
On March 18 of this year, industry and agency came together at the Caltrans TransLab in Sacramento for a meeting titled, "Increasing Crumb Rubber Usage: Small Amount of CRM in Hot Mix Asphalt." The daylong meeting was attended by 39 people. At the meeting, Caltrans estimated that if 5 percent crumb rubber binder was included in all asphalt binder that is currently classified as unmodified, it would use the equivalent of 8.3 million to 10 million tires per year. The group reviewed a "scoping document" for the evaluation effort that was approved on Oct. 9, 2015 by the joint industry-agency Rock Products Committee, which lays out various alternatives and a plan for evaluating them. The group divided up into three working groups based on the production process of the materials. Each group was tasked with developing a work plan and timeline.
Caltrans has used CRM produced from scrap tires in asphalt rubber binder for more than 20 years, and there has been steady increases in the use of Rubberized Hot Mix Asphalt (RHMA) on Caltrans projects during that time until recently. The effort has been spurred along by legislation, starting with the Tire Recycling Act of 1989 that levied a fee on all tires sold in California to be used for programs to create markets for waste tires. In 2005, the Legislature passed and the governor signed into law AB338, authored by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, a Democrat representing the 40th Assembly District in the San Fernando Valley, which set targets for CRM use each year. The mandate is now referred to as Public Resources Code 42703. Another bill, SB876 of 1999, requires the department to report on rubber usage each year. A bill to extend the rubber requirements and make other changes to the program, AB2658 by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Los Angeles, failed to make it out of a state Senate committee in 2015.
California generates an estimated 40 million waste tires each year, and the state has been working to divert those tires from landfills to consumer products. The lead agency for this effort is a state agency known as CalRecycle (formerly the California Integrated Waste Management Board until 2010 when its responsibilities were folded into CalRecycle). Paving asphalt is the No. 1 source of CRM, and it has been celebrated by the environmental community for its sustainability and by motorists for its smooth and quiet ride. Placement of RHMA can be tricky for the unaware. Experienced paving contractors have learned over the years to be mindful of the specific requirements for placing RHMA that differ from conventional Hot Mix Asphalt, including placement temperatures and weather conditions.
Caltrans acknowledges there are many hurdles to overcome if such a rubber-boosting specification is implemented, including changes in how scrap rubber is processed and handled at refineries. More meetings between industry and agency are planned, and CalAPA will be following developments closely.
|
| | CalAPA's Technical Director, Dr. Rita Leahy (standing at the front of the room), addresses the rubber meeting March 10 at Caltrans TransLab in Sacramento. |
|
| Susan Bransen named executive director of California Transportation Commission; Will Kempton to rejoin Transportation California
|
The California Transportation Commission recently named Susan Bransen as executive director of the commission, replacing Will Kempton. Kempton, the widely respected former Caltrans director, will be rejoining the advocacy group Transportation California, Asphalt Insider has learned.
Bransen had previously been the CTC's chief deputy director, where she reported to Kempton and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the commission and served as the chief of staff and policy advisor to the executive director.
She recently told Asphalt Insider, "As the commission's newly
 |
| | Susan Bransen |
appointed executive director, I am looking forward to working with members of the California Asphalt Pavement Association and other transportation stakeholders to address the need for reliable and sufficient funding to preserve and expand the state's transportation system and to identify measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering the transportation program."
The CTC consists of 11 voting members and two non-voting ex-officio members. The commission is responsible for the scheduling and allocating of funds for the construction of highway, passenger rail and transit improvements throughout California. The commission also advises and assists the governor's cabinet secretary for transportation and the legislature in formulating and evaluating state policies and plans for California's transportation programs.
Bransen's career spans more than 25 years in transportation. Prior to working for the commission, she was Director of Audits and Investigations for Caltrans.
Sources tell Asphalt Insider, meanwhile, that Kempton will be rejoining Transportation California on a temporary basis as the legislature considers several proposals to shore up California's chronically underfunded transportation program. Kempton previously served as executive director of the group. A previous Asphalt Insider story about Kempton and his tenure at the CTC can be found HERE.
|
| | Will Kempton was keynote speaker at CalAPA's 2014 Annual Dinner in Los Angeles. |
|
| Tech Term of the Week
|
Each week we highlight a word, acronym or other reference commonly used in the asphalt pavement industry in California.
TERMINAL BLEND: According to the state agency CalRecycle, Terminal Blend is defined as a form of the wet process where Crumb Rubber Modifier (CRM) is blended with hot asphalt binder at the refinery or at an asphalt binder storage and distribution terminal and transported to the Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixing plant or job site for use.
|
| Quote of the Week
|
"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."
Albert Einstein |
|
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) |
|
|
