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Annual CalAPA Golf Tournament set for Thursday, Sept. 22 in Industry Hills Click HERE to sign up! Contact Sophie You of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044 for sponsorship opportunities. *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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| 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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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. |
 | 'Type B' re-emerges as 'HMA-LV'
| There's a well-worn aphorism, "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good." Engineers and pavement designers are well-aware of this concept, designing roads to stand up to the expected forces of usage and nature, plus a bit more, to make them as economical as possible over a specified design life. To over-design is to needlessly over pay, it is sometimes said. In these days of limited funding for roads, that principle is more important than ever.
But getting to that sweet spot of value and performance is not the same for every paved surface. A case in point is the "Type B" Hot Mix Asphalt specification that was a stalwart of Caltrans pavement specifications for many years.
Prior to the implementation of "Superpave" into Caltrans  specifications and its new test methods and tolerances, HMA Type B mixes specified a lower requirement for Hveem stability, percent crushed aggregate faces and Los Angeles rattler measures of abrasion characteristics of coarse aggregate. The conventional wisdom was that Type B was perfectly adequate for rural routes and other roads that experience low traffic volumes, and it was enormously popular with city and county public works departments.
Type B also accomplished another important sustainability objective -- it allowed for the use of alluvial aggregate deposits without the requirement for additional crushing operations. With California's aggregate sources in limited supply, the use of HMA Type B was seen as a way to maximize existing aggregate sources to produce asphalt pavements that are more than adequate to meet the needs of less-traveled roadways in a cost-effective manner.
In recent years as Caltrans has moved to incorporate elements of
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| | Hamburg Wheel Track samples, which are now called for in Caltrans "Superpave"-influenced asphalt specifications. |
"Superpave" into its specifications, HMA Type B was eliminated from the standard specification language, to the dismay of many. Since then there has been a steady drumbeat across the state calling for the return of something to replace Type B that has been vetted by Caltrans pavement engineers and industry experts even if the department does not intend to use it on the state highway system.
Stepping into this void is a special committee made up of state and local agency representatives and industry experts working on something that has become known as "HMA-LV" for "Hot Mix Asphalt-Low Volume." The committee has taken regular Section 39 Hot Mix Asphalt specification and stripped out unnecessary language, and modified other standards to be inclusive of more aggregate sources in the state. The intent is to create a modern version of "Type B" for use by local agencies and others who don't want to "over-design" for roads such as a rural route or a residential street. While the new language will not be included in the regular Caltrans standard specifications, it will be nevertheless widely available electronically so that it may be considered by local agencies.
Tim Denlay with CalAPA-member firm Knife River is the industry co-chair of the committee developing the HMA-LV specification, and his Caltrans counterpart is Kee Foo. Local agency representatives have also participated in the effort, which began in 2014, stalled for a time, and is now gathering new momentum. To read a Caltrans "scoping document" that lays out the case for developing the HMA-LV specification, click HERE. A previous "Asphalt Insider" story about Superpave and the official end of the Hveem mix-design era in California is HERE.
The committee meets next on Monday, Aug. 22 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at CalAPA offices, 1550 Harbor Blvd., 2nd Floor conference room in West Sacramento, and there is a phone-in and-or web option. Anyone interested in the topic is invited to participate. For more information, contact Russell Snyder of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044.
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| Annual CalAPA Golf Tournament registration now open; event set for Sept. 22 in Southern California | Registration is now open for one of the most popular industry events of the year, the annual CalAPA Golf Tournament at the fabulous Industry Hills Golf Club at the Pacific Palms Resort in Industry, Calif. This event sells out every year so early registration  is strongly recommended. Click HERE to visit the sign-up page.
The golf tournament is sponsored by the CalAPA Southern California Contractors' Committee. Proceeds from the event help support CalAPA's workforce development efforts, such as its annual International Road Federation fellowship and providing free passes to CalAPA conferences for college students who are aspiring materials engineers.
There are numerous sponsorship opportunities to help CalAPA members build their brand and support a good cause. Proceeds from the event benefit CalAPA scholarship programs.
For more information, contact Sophie You of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044.
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| | If you don't have fun at the CalAPA golf tournament, check your pulse! |
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| CalAPA offers hosted training classes
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CalAPA's popular technical training classes, which are held at various locations throughout the year, are also available to be delivered on-site to a company or agency in an exclusive "hosted" arrangement.
These "on-demand" classes have become a popular way to ensure employees get consistent, high-quality technical training in a convenient, cost-effective way. As part of the service, CalAPA will arrange to bring the instructor to your facility to teach a class exclusively made up of your employees at a group discount. A minimum of
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| | Roger Smith teaches an "Asphalt Pavement 101" class earlier this year. |
20 attendees must be guaranteed to take advantage of this arrangement. Some smaller agencies have teamed up with a neighboring agency to put on a class. All attendees will receive CalAPA's highly regarded trainee handbooks and a handsome certificate of completion. The class host will receive a tabulated report summarizing the course evaluations completed by class attendees.
Dates and times for the classes, as well as group discount pricing, may vary, so contact CalAPA's Ritha Nhorn at (916) 791-5044 to inquire about instructor availability.
The current half-day classes that are offered as part of the program include the introductory "Asphalt Pavement 101" by Roger Smith, "Caltrans Section 39 HMA Specifications" by Paul Curren, "Quality HMA Paving" by Skip Brown, and "Essentials of Pavement Smoothness" by Mike Robinson.
For additional information about CalAPA training classes, click HERE to visit our training & education page.
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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.
PRIME COAT: An application of low-viscosity liquid asphalt to an absorbent surface. It is used to prepare an untreated base for an asphalt surface.
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| Quote of the Week
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"It is not really work if you are having fun."
Pierre Omidyar |
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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. Snyder, CAE Executive Director California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA) |
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