CALENDAR |
A FEW SEATS LEFT!
Fall Asphalt Pavement Conference & Equipment Expo
Oct. 29-30
Doubletree Hotel, 2001 Point West Way, Sacramento
Contact: Sophie You (916) 791-5044
Register HERE.
*
|
Los Angeles Area Technical Committee Meeting
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 9:30 a.m. to noon
County of Orange RDMD Conference Room, 1152 Fruit Street, Santa Ana, CA
Contact: Tony Grasso (909) 362-9192
Details HERE.
*
Joint L.A./ High Desert Technical Committee Meeting
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 9:30 a.m. to noon
Caltrans Southern Regional Lab, 13970 Victoria Street, Ontario, CA
Contact: Tony Grasso (909) 362-9192
Details HERE.
*
SAVE THE DATE!
2015 CalAPA Annual Dinner
Thursday, Jan. 15
Jonathan Club
545 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles
Contact: Sophie You (916) 791-5044
*
CLICK & GO!View our interactive, "At a Glance" event calendar HERE.
|
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 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.
|
GET THE FACTS
|  |
There's plenty of information, and misinformation, out there about asphalt pavements. Click HERE to get the straight scoop at the Asphalt Facts website.
|
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.
|
DESIGN!
|
|
Click HERE to visit the PavExpress website.
|
|
|
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. |
 | Values, change and innovation are featured at 'Young Leaders' event in San Francisco
| CalAPA was pleased to be the host state for this year's National Asphalt Pavement Association "Young Leaders" conference in San Francisco. The line-up of executives and experts focused on leadership development, change management, values-based leadership, overcoming project challenges and trends in the asphalt pavement industry.
The Oct. 20-23 event included a job-site tour of the breathtaking $1 billion Presidio Parkway project along the waterfront in San Francisco, which connects the city to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The public-private partnership project included bridge replacements,
 | NAPA Chairman William C. Ensor III (left) with CalAPA Senior Technical Consultant Dr. Rita Leahy (center) and Brian Handshoe, vice president of Kenco Engineering, a CalAPA member and one of the sponsors of the event. | "cut-and-cover" tunnels and spotlighted asphalt's speed-of-construction attributes for the 22,000 tons of HMA that was produced by CalAPA member Syar Industries for an epic demolition-and-detour phase of the project that took place over a 57-hour weekend closure last year that made the "Carmageddon" closure in Southern California look like a walk in the park.
CalAPA's senior technical consultant, Dr. Rita Leahy, presented to the group on "Engineering Trends in California: Golden State of Opportunities," which included many of the technical issues that are topical in California, including technology, research and specification changes and trends.
David Shelstad with the MOBA Corp. presented about density and temperature, and Corey Wall with Wirtgen America briefed the group on the latest in "Intelligent Compaction." Michelle Stanley, NAPA's director of governmental relations, discussed legislative activity, politics and the importance of member engagement on road-funding issues.
Prior to the construction site tour, Dave Pang, P.E., Caltrans Construction Manager, and project spokeswoman Molly Graham, gave an overview of the unique engineering, political, environmental and logistical challenges presented by the Presidio Parkway project. The public-private partnership funding mechanism was one of the first of its kind in California.
Developing the project in San Francisco, which has a notorious
 | UC Davis graduate students in engineering Patricia Chavez (left) and Hannah Curran atop one of the Presidio Parkway tunnels under construction in San Francisco. | reputation for halting transportation projects, presented its own unique challenges, Pang said. The bridges in particular, which were built in 1936 in anticipation of the 1937 opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, were deemed structurally deficient in the 1950s, and it required a 10-year environmental impact review before the project could proceed.
"If you don't get consensus opinion, you don't get funding," Pang said.
Day 2 of the conference featured talks on leadership by Granite Construction CEO James H. Roberts, and William C. Ensor III, president of Maryland Paving Inc. and the 2014 NAPA chairman. Both leaders touched on the importance of ethics and change-management as it applies to their companies and the industry. Mark Fernandes, chief leadership officer of the Luck Companies, gave a compelling talk on values-based leadership for sustained long-term success. He also highlighted the many opportunities and pitfalls facing construction companies today, including effectively managing work.
"Most contractors go broke not because they didn't get enough work, but because they got too much work," he said.
For more photos from the event, click HERE to visit CalAPA's Facebook Page.
 | Participants in the "Young Leaders" tour of the $1 billion Presidio Parkway project in San Francisco. |
|
 | Pavement Smoothness is focus of L.A. Technical Meeting Nov. 5 in Santa Ana
| Pavement smoothness will be the focus of the next CalAPA Los Angeles Area Technical Committee meeting, which will take place Wednesday, Nov. 5 from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Santa Ana. The meeting is open to all CalAPA members and public agency representatives.
Steve Marvin, P.E., with CalAPA associate member firm Labelle-
 | Steve Marvin | Marvin, will be the featured presenter. Marvin, once of CalAPA's most highly rated presenters, will bring his unique and entertaining style that imparts valuable technical knowledge with humor and proven best-practices. CalAPA is proud to offer an unconditional, 100 percent money-back guarantee for anyone who is not satisfied with Marvin's presentation.
The meeting will be held in the County of Orange RDMD Conference Room, 1152 Fruit Street in Santa Ana. Click HERE for details, including a map to the meeting location. Although there is no charge to attend the event, CalAPA asks that those who plan on attending RSVP via the event website.
For more information, contact CalAPA's Tony Grasso at (909) 362-9192.
|
 | Members in the news: Don Vivant honored for work to boost sustainability of Caltrans pavement specifications | Don Vivant of CalAPA member Sully-Miller/Blue Diamond Mateirals was honored by the joint Caltrans-industry Rock Products Committee for his tireless efforts to help update and improve state pavement specifications.
The committee, at its quarterly meeting held on Oct. 15 at the Caltrans Transportation Laboratory in Sacramento, presented Vivant with a special "Sustainability Award."
While Vivant, Quality Control Director for his company, has lent his expertise to numerous committees that examine Caltrans construction materials specifications, the citation called out his recent work "for exceptional leadership and vision while championing the use of returned plastic concrete in California."
In recent years, both the concrete and asphalt industries have been placing additional emphasis on sustainable practices in their operations, including in pavement design. On the asphalt side, increasing use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP), fuel-sipping Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) and tire-consuming Rubberized Hot Mix Asphalt (RHMA) have won kudos from agencies as well as environmentalists.
The plaque and certificate presented to Vivant was signed by industry co-chairs Mike Cook of Graniterock and Tony Limas of Granite Construction, and Caltrans co-chairs Steve Price, Phil Stolarski and John Stayton representing Caltrans pavements, materials and construction.
 | Pictured, from left: Caltrans State Materials Engineer Phil Stolarski, Tony Limas with Granite Construction, Don Vivant with Sully-Miller/Blue Diamond Materials, John Stayton with Caltrans Division of Construction and Mike Cook with Graniterock. |
|
 | A few spots open for Oct. 28 Inertial Profiler certification in Sacramento
|
As part of the Caltrans transition to a new method of measuring pavement smoothness, the department announced it has a few spots open on Oct. 28 for its latest round of Inertial Profiler equipment and operator certification in Sacramento. Click HERE to learn more about the program.
A new standard special provision (SSP) for smoothness was posted on the Caltrans website in February. These specifications require that all paving projects use the inertial profiler for measuring pavement smoothness in lieu of the "California Profilograph." These new specifications are now appearing in individual project Special Provisions.
The new smoothness specifications require certification of both equipment and operators. Prior to this year, certifications have been performed by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) because Caltrans did not their own site for this purpose. Caltrans has recently announced the opening of their own certification site and scheduled certification dates for both operator and equipment.
Those who have an interest in getting a machine or an operator (technician) certified also are encouraged to sign-up for the certification sessions. For more information, contact to Rupinder "Bobby" Dosanjh of Caltrans at (916) 274-6078, or via e-mail at: rupinder_dosanjh@dot.ca.gov .
|
 | Welcome aboard: Sonneborn
| CalAPA is pleased to welcome its newest supplier member, Sonneborn.
Sonneborn asphalt additives include Warm Mix Asphalt, rejuvenators, chip seal additives, anti-strip and cut-back additives. The company says its products are non-hazardous, non-toxic and can reduce emissions and lower temperatures at the plant and the job site. The company has multiple additives that can be used in the terminal or at the plant.
The company's products are available in lower quantities, which can be economical for contractors and liquid emulsion suppliers. All of the products are in liquid form and can be easily added to mix designs.
For more information, contact Chris Strack at (203) 261-8582, or via e-mail at chris.strack@sonneborn.com . The main website for the company is HERE. The website for its "sonnewarm" WMA product line is HERE.
|
 | Tip of the Week
| When bidding public works projects, don't wait until the last minute to submit a bidder's inquiry. The earlier the inquiry is submitted to a public agency, the more likely it is that you will receive a meaningful response.
|
|
 |
Quote of the Week
|
"Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."
-- John F. Kennedy
|
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) |
|
|