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CALENDAR
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"Asphalt Pavement 101" class
Thursday, July 14, 8 a.m. to noon
G3 Quality, 13850 Cerritos Corporate Drive, Unit E, Cerritos
Contact: Ritha Nhorn (916) 791-5044
Click HERE to register.
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SIGN UP NOW!CalAPA 'Day at the Races' at Del Mar Race TrackSaturday, July 16Del Mar, CA Click HERE to reserve your spot! *SAVE THE DATE!Annual CalAPA Golf Tournament set for Thursday, Sept. 22 in Industry Hills Details soon! *SAVE THE DATE!Fall Asphalt Pavement Conference & Equipment Expo Oct. 26 & 27 in Sacramento. Contact Sophie You of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044 for sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities.
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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. |
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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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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. |
 | State transportation funding deal looks less likely as politics drain the will of legislators
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If you had "nothing will get done this year" in the office pool for a state transportation funding deal, your bet is looking smarter and smarter every day.
Despite furious grass-roots activity on the part of the construction industry, trade unions and other good-roads advocates, the cold reality of an election year and political posturing make a funding deal less likely with each passing day.
"Something has to be done now," Will Kempton, executive Director of Transportation California, told Asphalt Insider. "We can't continue to ignore the condition of our transportation system, which is an  important part of our state's economy and our quality of life."
Kempton conceded, however, that nothing getting done this year was one of the possible scenarios heading into 2016 even as the possibility seems too horrible to contemplate.
Evidence continues to mount that the state is falling behind in the condition of its roads due to lack of investment, and further cuts partly brought on by the much-derided "gas tax swap" are making projects disappear faster than beer at a biker bar. Bad roads in California already cost motorists an average of $762 a year, according to one recent study, and another found that four of the five cities in America with the worst road conditions are located in California.
The California Transportation Commission announced May 18 that the failure to act to address the state's transportation funding crisis means it has been forced to chop $756 million worth of projects from the state's 5-year transportation improvement plan, and delay another $755 million worth of work. The long-term plan is known as the "STIP" but may end up being called the "STOP" if current trends continue.
As the bad news starts to cascade down to local communities, reaction has been swift and sharp. In San Luis Obispo County, for example, it was announced that the local cuts included $19 million worth of design and right-of-way work for Wye Interchange improvements at the intersection of Highway 41 and 46.
"This cut of $45.1 million in funding to our region is on top of the $15 million in cuts and delays from prior STIP reductions late last year," said Ron De Carli, San Luis Obispo Council of Governments Executive Director. "This is further proof that state transportation funding cannot be relied on to solve our local transportation needs."
Meanwhile, in the Legislature, elements of the Brown Administration's transportation funding plan were deleted from the state budget. That leaves the "special session" of the Legislature devoted to transportation, which has not accomplished much, as the best hope for getting something done this year. And even those hopes are dimming fast.
For various grass-roots resources to tell your elected officials what you think about the continuing lack of action on the transportation funding issue, click HERE to visit the CalAPA Legislative Action page.
CalAPA member Astec Inc. has also put together an automated web page where you can send your local elected official in California a sample letter about road funding. Click HERE to access this handy feature.
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| Popular CalAPA 'Asphalt Pavement 101' class to be held July 14 in Cerritos
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CalAPA's enormously popular "Asphalt Pavement 101" class is back and will be held Thursday, July 14 from 8 a.m. to noon in Cerritos. Click HERE for details and to sign-up. The class is a good overview of everything asphalt, touching on how asphalt pavements are designed, constructed and maintained. It is taught by Roger Smith, a former senior materials engineer with Caltrans and the Asphalt Institute, as well as a former executive director of CalAPA. Although the class is just a half-day it is packed with loads of useful information for
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| | Roger Smith |
contractor and agency paving crews, quality control specialists, lab personnel and others who interact with asphalt pavements. The class will cover pavement structure and terminologies, asphalt binders, aggregates, asphalt mixes, plant operations and mix delivery, paving and rolling, acceptance specifications and testing.
Because so much is changing in the world of asphalt pavements, the class is an excellent refresher course for veterans in the industry as well as providing a good overview for those new or just returning to asphalt pavements.
"Asphalt Pavement 101" is a recommended prerequisite for other CalAPA technical classes, such as "Caltrans Section 39 Specifications," "Essentials of Pavement Smoothness" and "Quality HMA Paving."
All class attendees will receive a reference booklet that includes copies of the slide presentation, key acronyms, glossary and other reference items for future use. Attendees will also receive a handsome certificate of completion documenting that they have completed four (4) Professional Development Hours (PDH) of technical instruction. CalAPA can also bring technical classes to your location. For more information on hosted CalAPA technical classes, contact Ritha Nhorn of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044. For an on-line calendar of all CalAPA classes and events, click HERE.
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| Asphalt's speed-of-construction attributes on display for I-5 emergency repairs in Tracy |
Once again, it's asphalt to the rescue. This time it's to help speed emergency repairs on one of California's most important goods-movement corridors -- Interstate 5 -- which was knocked out of service near Tracy in the Central Valley by a massive sinkhole.
The sinkhole was discovered by Caltrans maintenance forces last Tuesday on the northbound lanes and measured 1-foot in diameter by about 10 feet deep, according to Caltrans spokesman Greg Lawson. It was determined that the sinkhole was caused by an abandoned 36-inch corrugated irrigation culvert, estimated to be about 40-years old,
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| | Photo of the I-5 sinkhole near Tracy. |
running beneath the freeway. Caltrans decided to close the freeway in both directions just south of State Route 33 so work crews could excavate down to a depth of about 35 feet, remove the pipe, and rebuild the roadway foundation.
Asphalt, which can be placed, compacted and opened to traffic within hours, was utilized for the paving surfaces. According to the department, the asphalt was placed in layers of 3-inches to 4-inches thick to rebuild the roadway surface up to a thickness of 18-inches. The northbound lanes of Interstate 5 were opened over the weekend, and southbound lanes were expected to reopen early this week.
Interstate 5, which stretches the length of California, 796 miles, from Mexico to the Oregon border, is the state's commerce workhorse, carrying thousands of trucks each day that deliver goods to far-flung destinations. More than 30,000 vehicles travel on I-5 through the Tracy area each day.
To learn more about asphalt's speed-of-construction attributes, click HERE to visit the Asphalt Pavement Alliance web page devoted to the topic.
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| Smooth asphalt, native Californian, star in the the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500
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Although it was tough for us to keep our eyes off all that fabulous asphalt on display at this year's Indy 500, it was also great to see a Californian win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Alexander Rossi ran a race for the ages, winning the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 May 29 and taking his first Verzion IndyCar Series win in spectacular style. Starting from the 11th position on
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| | Yes, that's smooth asphalt being partially obscured by this year's Indy 500 winner. |
the grid, and running dead last at times, the Nevada City native won the race driving the No. 98 NAPA AUTO PARTS / Curb Honda for the Andretti Autosport team, and becoming the first rookie to win the prestigious race in 15 years before a sell-out crowd of 350,000 and a worldwide TV audience.
"There are few words to truly describe how I'm feeling right now," Rossi said following the race. "I really was focused on taking it one lap at a time -- the emotional roller coaster of this race is ridiculous.
The 200-lap race marked a new chapter for Alexander's open-wheel story, finding victory at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway with his sixth career Verizon IndyCar Series start after struggling earlier in his career in Europe on the Formula 1 circuit.
His win was no fluke, however. He topped the time sheets in practice sessions. On race day, he took the lead on the 197th lap of the 200-lap race and never looked back.
The 2.5-mile oval that is home to the Indianapolis 500 was once covered with brick, hence the nickname "the brickyard," but these days it is covered with smooth asphalt. A thin strip of brick at the start-finish line of the historic track pays tribute to its former racing surface.
In 1950, the top lap-speed at the Indy 500 was 128 mph. With modern race cars routinely topping 200 mph, smooth and reliable asphalt is the pavement of choice at Indianapolis and at race tracks around the world.
To see what another race car driver, NASCAR star Brian Scott, who drives the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 44 stock car, thinks about asphalt, click HERE.
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| | Nevada City native Alexander Rossi in the Winner's Circle at this year's Indy 500. |
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| Tech Term of the Week
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Each week we highlight a word, acronym or other reference commonly used in the asphalt pavement industry in California.
JOINT SEALANT: Compressible material used to minimize water and solid debris infiltration into the sealant reservoir and joint.
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| Quote of the Week
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"You are as good as the best thing you have ever done."
Billy Wilder |
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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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