The Paving for Bonus Issue
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iCones
Tollway Uses SMA On I-88 and Beyond
• 3D Mill at JFK • Remote Control Roll • Decrease Dust in Work Zone • IPC Grows Over Paving Generations
NOVEMBER 2018 WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM
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CONTENTS
asphaltPRO november 2018
departments
Editor’s Letter 6 –Smartphone vs Boom Box for Road Condition Indexing AROUND THE GLOBE 8 Mix it up 10 – Cargill Partners with NCAT, MnROAD for High RAP Mixes From Cargill Safety Spotlight 14 – Broce Preps for Silica Dust Control By Natalie Labonge 16 – EPIC Prevents Employees from Entering Protected Areas By Sarah Redohl Pavement Maintenance 18 – Dunham’s Asphalt Services Wins By Sandy Lender Producer Profile 20 – Intercounty Paving Evolves, Grows Through Three Generations By Sarah Redohl 28 – Colony Construction Paves Its Own Way By Sarah Redohl
46 16
36
x
Solve Your Problem 26 – Solve Your Amp Troubles From Asphalt Drum Mixers
10
Project Management 36 – Grace Mills in 3D for JFK Taxiways By Larry Trojak Meet the National Exec 46 – Construction Angels’ Kristi Ronyak By AsphaltPro Staff International Snapshot 50 – International Bucket Screening From ALLU Product Gallery 64 – Plan for Seasonal Production Shutdown New Tech 78 – Autonomous Equipment Joins the Job Site By Sarah Redohl Here’s How it Works 84 – iCone’s Real-Time Traffic Message Board System By AsphaltPro Staff Off The Mat 90 – Adopt QC Program for Long-Term Customer Relationships From Western Specialty Contractors
Feature articles
The Paving for Bonus Issue
asphaltPRO PRODUCTION – PROFESSIONALS – PRODUCTS
52 – SMA with WMA Supports I-88 Overlay By Amy Chiconas 58 – Technology Takes the Lead in Proactive Tire Management By Rob Seibert 76 – Illinois Brings Paving Technology Forward By AsphaltPro Staff
iCones
Tollway Uses SMA On I-88 and Beyond
• 3D Mill at JFK • Remote Control Roll • Decrease Dust in Work Zone • IPC Grows Over Paving Generations
NOVEMBER 2018 WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM
on the cover The Reagan Memorial Tollway in Illinois received an overlay with an SMA surface course this summer. See related story on page 52. Photo courtesy Ingevity.
editor’s Letter Smartphone vs Boom Box for Road Condition Indexing
Back in the summer of 1993, my BFF and I drove from Kansas City, Missouri, to Denver to attend a Duran Duran concert. My car didn’t have a compact disc player so we plopped a boom box in the back seat, inserted a Duran Duran CD, and lit out across the plains of Kansas. While driving, we often encountered rough pavement that made the CD skip. We jokingly said this was making Simon LeBon (the singer for Duran Duran) hiccup. Certain stretches were rougher than others, offering a higher Hiccup Index than other stretches. Fast forward. In August of this year, a group of professional engineers and grad students at the University of Missouri-Columbia, alongside Applied Research Associates Inc., prepared a final report for the Missouri Department of Transportation entitled “Pavement Roughness Measurement Using Android Smartphones: Case Study of Missouri Roads and Airports.” The students were tasked, during the two-year field trials, with assessing an app’s ability to evaluate—or score—pavements. The scores would then help DOT personnel prioritize roadways and runways for pavement maintenance treatment. It would take more space than we have here for me to document all questions that came to mind from the oddities I found in this report. You can read it for yourself at https://bit. ly/2INYwop. I had a problem with the foundation of this experiment, and the report did nothing to set me at ease. The students even questioned the efficacy of the premise. From page 23 of the 110-page report: Therefore, the smartphone application may very likely be missing peak accelerations due to the relatively slow data collection rate. Unlike the smartphones, the inertial profilers have a very high sampling rates [sic] (1 kHz). However, with the expected advancement of smartphone technology, higher data collection rates will be possible, potentially rendering IRI estimates on rough pavements even more accurate. Another idea is to attach commercially available accelerometers with higher data collection frequency to a smartphone, which will also make the measurements more consistent for the entire pavement. It’s commendable that DOTs would like to conserve taxpayer dollars by eliminating profilometers and profilographs from their line items. It would be “cheaper” for DOTs if each member of field personnel could strap the phone he already owns to his car and drive around getting blips on graphs. That saves money. But the point of gathering these measurements is to get an accurate reading that can be compared across the board to determine which pavements are in need of care. My underlying misgiving in this study is this: Did the students determine how each smartphone can offer accurate and repeatable results from the dashboard of vehicles that may or may not have excellent suspension? And do those results correlate across counties and devices so that DOT personnel can indeed prioritize pavement maintenance projects correctly? I’m from a generation that is hesitant to merely trust all my data to a sliver of technology in my hand. Or on the dashboard. I back up important documents and images to the cloud and to a Maxtor device and to thumb drives because, let’s face it, those external hard drives go obsolete and one of these days some government entity will own the cloud and everything in it. Only the Paranoid Survive. My point: We’ve got measurement tools that have been tested and accepted across state lines right now. If the smartphone will replace those tools someday, it will require a more robust study and final report than what I labored through on the MoDOT library. The fallibility of my Hiccup Index mentioned above comes to mind. With proper tethering to measuring devices (such as an accelerometer), with higher data collection rates, with accurate result correlations across devices, we might be able to use smartphones to evaluate and compare pavement conditions at some point in the future. I invite you to read the report to assess this upcoming technology for yourself. Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender
6 // November 2018
November 2018 • Vol. 12 No. 2
asphaltPRO
602 W. Morrison, Box 6a • Fayette, MO 65248
(573) 823-6297 • www.theasphaltpro.com GROUP PUBLISHER Chris Harrison chris@ theasphaltpro.com PUBLISHER Sally Shoemaker sally@theasphaltpro.com (573) 823-6297 EDITOR Sandy Lender sandy@theasphaltpro.com (239) 272-8613 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sarah Redohl sarah@theasphaltpro.com (573) 355-9775 MEDIA SALES Cara Owings cara@theasphaltpro.com (660) 537-0778 ART DIRECTOR Kristin Branscom BUSINESS MANAGER Susan Campbell (660) 728-5007
AsphaltPro is published 11 times per year. Writers expressing views in AsphaltPro Magazine or on the AsphaltPro website are professionals with sound, professional advice. Views expressed herein are not necessarily the same as the views of AsphaltPro, thus producers/contractors are still encouraged to use best practices when implementing new advice. SUBSCRIPTION POLICY: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the United Sates, Canada and Mexico to qualified individuals. One year subscription to non-qualifying Individuals: United States $90, Canada and Mexico $125.00. For the international digital edition, visit theasphaltpro.com/subscribe/.
around the globe
Industry News and Happenings from Around the World UNITED STATES
• Congratulations to Mary E. Peters, who is the 2019 recipient of the Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation. Peters is former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, and Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation. She is currently principal of Mary Peters Consulting Group LLC. Source: Transportation Research Board • H.R. 6367, introduced by Representatives Al Lawson (D-FL) and Trent Kelly (R-MS), which seeks to give subcontractors a proper channel to file a formal notification to the federal government when there is a lack of prompt payment, has now passed the House by unanimous voice vote and has moved to the Senate. Source: National Electrical Contractors Association
FLORIDA
Make a note of this year’s Asphalt Contractors Association of Florida 42nd annual Asphalt Conference and Trade Show, at the Wyndham Orlando Resort Nov. 27-28. The registration deadline is Nov. 9 at https://bit.ly/2MHtzYe.
HAWAII
The Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening from Kealakehe Parkway to Keahole Airport Road from two to four lanes was accomplished as a design-build project. In addition to the widening of the road, the effort resulted in six new signalized intersections, as well as 4.5 miles of new water lines. The project also included a new sewer system to move wastewater from regional developments to the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant and an R-1 line to bring back treated water. The project has a long history dating back to July 2008 when bids were first opened. The project faced several obstacles, such as bid protests, a protracted Section 106 consultation process and delays during construction. The Section 106 review process is an integral component of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. After several protests and rebids, the design-build project was finally awarded to Goodfellow Bros. Inc (GBI). July 2010, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) gave GBI a notice to proceed with
8 // November 2018
design, with a goal of starting construction in early 2011. Enter the discovery of previously unknown historic sites to delay construction again. The protracted Section 106 process and consultations delayed the start of construction until September 2015. During the construction, there were two major issues (mostly design) that cropped up resulting in the overall completion date to slip about 5 months. For the paving, Grace Pacific used a grade control system that is used on the earthwork, utilities and grading portions of a construction project, but not typically used in paving operations. The grade control system was used on some of the milling and paving portions of work on the existing highway. Use of this system resulted in a smooth riding pavement. Aug. 9, 2018, the community celebrated the opening of the widened highway. Officials participating in the ceremonial untying of the maile lei included Governor David Ige, Kahu Daniel Akaka Jr., Hawaii County Managing Director Wil Okabe, Senator Lorraine Inouye, Representative Nicole Lowen, and Representative Cindy Evans. Source: Hawaii Asphalt Paving Industry
ILLINOIS
Make plans to attend the Illinois Bituminous Paving Conference Dec. 11-12 at the iHotel and Conference Center, Champaign. Get more info on http://bituminousconference.ict.illinois. edu/about/
INDIANA
Gear up for the Asphalt Pavement Association of Indiana (APAI) Winter Conference and Trade Show Dec. 19-21 at the Marriott East in Indianapolis. Visit https://asphaltindiana.org/ events/.
MARYLAND
Audrey Copeland, Ph.D., P.E., has been named the next president and CEO of the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). She will assume the new role at the NAPA 2019 annual meeting in January. Copeland succeeds Mike Acott, who has served as NAPA’s president since 1992. Over the coming months, Acott and Copeland will work together to ensure an orderly transition of the leadership of NAPA. During the transition period, Copeland will serve as NAPA’s chief operating officer.
MISSOURI
The AsphaltPro Magazine staff offers a host of online opportunities for asphalt professionals to learn more information, tips and tricks of the trade to improve your bottom line. Make sure the website of www.TheAsphaltPro.com is on your regular rotation. Also make sure you follow our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AsphaltPro. If you need training options for your paving crew, check out our online course, Asphalt Paving 101 on the Teachable platform: https://training.theasphaltpro.com. Want more? We have a blog on the website that we update each week and a LinkedIn page with additional information. Every Monday morning, we send out a quick-n-usable, free Toolbox Tip via an eBlast. Sign up for that here: https://theasphaltpro.com/upgrade-daily-toolbox-talks/. And sign up for our free Training Solutions eNewsletter while you’re at the website. That goes out once a month.
NEW YORK
Peckham Industries Inc., headquartered in White Plains, New York, announced Sept. 19 it had completed the acquisition of Palmer Paving Corp., Palmer, Massachusetts. Palmer’s operations, business management team, including President Jan Callahan, and more than 150 talented employees will remain intact and will provide Peckham with expanding business opportunities in the region.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater issued a statement Oct. 1 about the announced United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA): “The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a step in the right direction. Trade agreements provide better access to customers across the globe and help us add to the 1.3 million jobs our industry supports in the United States. We urge this administration to continue working closely with the Canadian and Mexican governments to enact policies that promote continued economic growth for our industry.” Nearly 30 percent of all equipment produced in the United States is intended for export; Canada and Mexico are the first and second-largest export markets for both U.S. construction and agricultural equipment.
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mix it up
The crew first milled the existing pavement on the track. Photo courtesy NCAT.
Cargill Partners with NCAT, MnROAD for High RAP Mixes C
Cargill, Minneapolis, is partnering with the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) in Opelika, Alabama, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s MnROAD program in Albertville, Minnesota, to determine how best to implement performance-engineered mix design procedures, especially in mixes containing rejuvenators and high levels of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). “We believe it’s time for the asphalt industry to look beyond recipe specifications and focus more on real-world results,” said Rob Neumann, global category leader, Cargill. “Investments in research and development have yielded advances in asphalt technology, but industry standards haven’t always kept pace.” Neumann said that results from the multi-year NCAT and MnROAD trials should help state agencies gain confidence in performance-based testing. As part of the project, the researchers will compare blacktop made with Cargill’s Anova rejuvenator and a 45 percent RAP mix to control sections paved with a lower RAP mix, measuring factors such as pavement ride quality, cracking and rutting. By conducting parallel testing at both the NCAT test track and MnROAD test highway, scientists will be able to monitor results in both northern and southern climate extremes.
10 // November 2018
Mix design began earlier this year, as researchers from both facilities conducted extensive laboratory analysis on preconstruction samples. In early September, NCAT will pave a 200-foot-long section of its 1.7-mile oval pavement test track with the Anova/high RAP mix. There, scientists will evaluate the performance-engineered asphalt mix using an accelerated pavement testing protocol, subjecting the section to 10 million equivalent single-axle loads (ESAL) or about 10 years’ worth of traffic, in only two years. The NCAT test will be conducted in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Transportation.
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Mix it up
The test mix included Cargill’s Anova rejuvenator and 45 percent RAP. Photos courtesy Cargill.
An SB25000 material transfer vehicle fed the mix to a Roadtec paver. Photo courtesy NCAT. 12 // November 2018
“With this research, we’ll be able to equip state agencies with well-controlled, realworld data on new design principles, especially when used with rejuvenators and high RAP mixes, giving them greater confidence in adopting these research-based quality control tests.”—Hassan Tabatabaee
The crew from East Alabama Paving placed and compacted the test and control section. Photo courtesy Cargill. The MnROAD project, slated to begin the week of Sept. 17, will cover two approximately 500-foot sections of the test highway. It’s being done in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which owns and operates the testing facility, and CRH/Hard Drives. Both test locations will conduct ongoing laboratory testing and field monitoring as they work to use various performance-engineered design protocols, while also assessing potential practical quality control tests that can be used when constructing pavements using such designs. “We know many state agencies are looking for advances in asphalt that deliver demonstrable performance benefits,” said Hassan Tabatabaee, global technical manager for road construction, Cargill. “With this research, we’ll be able to equip state agencies with well-controlled, real-world data on new design principles, especially when used with rejuvenators and high RAP mixes, giving them greater confidence in adopting these research-based quality control tests.” The push for new performance-based evaluations comes as the industry faces growing pressure to increase infrastructure sustainability, while managing costs and improving durability. High RAP mixes, made possible by advances in rejuvenator technology, offer the potential to address all three of these key concerns. For example, Cargill’s Anova rejuvenator is specifically designed to rebalance aged asphalt and enable the recycled material to perform similar to virgin material. As a result, it’s possible to increase the amount of recycled content in the asphalt mix from today’s typical 20 to 30 percent RAP mix, up to 50 or even 100 percent RAP, without sacrificing performance or durability. Increasing the recycled content by just 20 percent on a typical 5,000-ton resurfacing project saves 48 trucks of virgin aggregate, 1,000 tons of recycled asphalt storage costs, two trucks of liquid asphalt, along with the carbon emissions generated by all those
trucks. However, while these rejuvenator/high RAP asphalt mixes deliver on critical sustainability, cost-management and performance criteria, they don’t always meet long-standing, ingredient-based requirements. “Rather than relying on a specific ‘recipe’ to deliver performance, we need to be evaluating our asphalt mixes based on measurable factors like durability and workability,” Tabatabaee said. “Developing and adopting research-based quality control practices will enable agencies to speed adoption of innovations like high RAP/rejuvenator mixes, providing them with reliable data to more effectively evaluate new technologies based on actual results.” – FROM CARGILL
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safety spotlight
Broce Brooms now includes NeSilex silica dust suppressant with every sweeper they sell and is offering it to current Broce Broom users through their nation-wide distribution channels.
Broce Preps for Silica Dust Control S
Silica dust exposure has been in the spotlight since the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ramped up regulations and significantly lowered the permissible exposure limits (PEL) for most construction-related activities last fall. With OSHA cracking down on non-compliance and increasing safety concerns, it is more important than ever to find the best silica dust control solution for your construction site. Broce Manufacturing, which has been manufacturing commercial construction sweepers for over 55 years, is taking a proactive approach and leading the sweeping industry in silica dust reduction and safety. Sweeping is an essential part of road construction operations. It is also an activity that produces a lot of dust. Over the years, Broce
14 // November 2018
has led the way in safety innovations by being the first to include a fully enclosed cab with air conditioning on their sweepers. Today, all Broce sweepers have the ability to be equipped with water spray systems to help reduce dust; however, the new silica regulations have prompted them to offer even more dust control options. Broce Manufacturing CEO, Alan Vance, noted: “Like a lot of manufacturers, I was initially skeptical of new regulations. However, the evidence is pretty clear that silica dust is dangerous to those with a lot of exposure to it, so I think OSHA is right to put in place safeguards for people working in environments with silica risk. The regulations have forced us to think of news ways to provide protection for operators of Broce Brooms as well as those working on the ground around them.�
A GROWING CONCERN FOR HEALTH & SAFETY
Since OSHA updated silica regulations in the fall of 2017, silica monitoring in the field has become a hot topic in the construction industry. As we know now, exposure to silica dust poses serious health and safety threats to workers in a variety of construction-related industries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 2 million U.S. workers remain potentially exposed to respirable silica dust. Inhaling respirable crystalline silica is extremely dangerous and can greatly increase a worker’s risk of developing silicosis, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or kidney disease. Having a safety plan is essential to workplace operations and OSHA compliance. As of 2017, the PEL for respirable silica dust is 50 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³), which is five times less than the previous limit of 250 µg/m³, over an eight hour activity period. To give a visual representation of this figure, imagine standing on a 13 foot ladder in the middle of a football field and dumping a single packet of sweetener into the air—that would be enough material to expose anyone on the entire field to unsafe levels of silica dust. OSHA requires specific housekeeping requirements to ensure safety compliance. These include implementing specific engineering controls to reduce silica dust exposure and having data to show that your preferred method of dust control method is working. Working with an industrial hygienist or obtaining data through third party testing will be necessary to have as a part of your exposure control plan (detailed under OSHA CFR 1926.1153 (g)(1)). OSHA has been expanding the scope of its regulations and cracking down on non-compliance. Within the first six months of the new regulations, there were a reported 116 silica violations. As of June 23, 2018, enforcement is now in effect for the general industry, including manufacturing and maritime.
Following the World of Asphalt, Broce decided to partner with Chemtek Inc. to supply a method of silica dust control to all of their customers nationwide. Broce is including NeSilex silica dust suppressant with every sweeper they sell and is offering it to current Broce Broom users through their nation-wide distribution channels. Many companies are aware of the new silica dust regulations but are unsure of how to become compliant and improve safety regarding silica dust inhalation on their work sites. By offering an integrated dust control solution specifically in response to the new silica dust regulations, Broce is making the path to safety and compliance easier and more manageable for end-use customers. Continuing to educate the people who have the power to implement safety practices is essential. As part of the partnership, Chemtek Inc., creator and manufacturer of NeSilex, provided third party data showing up to 100 percent decrease in respirable silica dust while using NeSilex. This data, gathered from an industrial hygienist specializing in silica dust, demonstrates NeSilex’s ability to create a safer work site and can be included in exposure control plans. “The partnership with NeSilex enables us to keep people safer,” Vance said. “That’s really an amazing thing! We are always looking for ways to improve the quality of our equipment and enhance the comfort of operators. But safety always has to be our priority—and NeSilex takes our products to a whole new level of safety. For me, this is simply a product I can feel good about.” – BY NATALIE LABONGE
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A PARTNERSHIP IN SAFETY & ENGINEERING
Many sweepers offer enclosed cab options to protect the machine operator; however, that still leaves surrounding workers and civilians at risk of hazardous silica dust inhalation. Under the new OSHA regulations, dry sweeping or brushing is prohibited. At the 2018 World of Asphalt, Broce Manufacturing was on the hunt for a simple, easy-to-implement solution that would enhance the ability of their sweepers to control dust and reduce the potential for silica dust exposure resulting from sweeping operations. At the event, they were introduced to a dust suppressant called NeSilex, manufactured by Chemtek Inc., which enhances water’s ability to control respirable silica dust. Vance recalled: “I was very impressed from the first time I saw how effective the NeSilex product is. As I have come to know David Rigsbee [CEO of Chemtek Inc.] and his team, it has become clear that they are committed to excellence in every aspect of the way they do business. In the NeSilex product they have taken their expertise in industrial chemistry and produced a product that dramatically improves the effectiveness of water in dust suppression. You can see it with your eyes, but more importantly, they have the science to prove that we can meet or exceed OSHA standards for protecting workers.”
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safety spotlight
EPIC is a specialized crowd control belt that prevents people from walking between the paver and material transfer vehicle.
EPIC Prevents Employees from Entering Protected Areas Superior Paving’s Entry Prevention Interactive Control (EPIC) Safety System keeps workers from breaking the “electronic tether” between the MTV and paver and prevents workers from getting struck by equipment.
As long as there have been material transfer vehicles, there have been employees walking between them and the paver. “It’s second nature to take the path of least resistance,” said Nick Ellis, the Chief Financial Officer at Superior Paving Corporation, Gainesville, Virginia. Cutting between those two machines can shave 10 or 15 seconds getting from A to B, he added.
A
16 // November 2018
“It’s a problem our industry has faced forever,” said Superior Director of Safety Todd Atkins. “That’s 40,000 pounds and 80,000 pounds of iron that people were freely walking between. It was a huge safety issue.” Although Superior had put policies in place preventing crewmembers from walking between the two machines, it was difficult to en-
“We’ll never know if we did or didn’t save a life, but we know we don’t have employees walking between the machines anymore.”—Todd Atkins force. That’s why Superior developed its Entry Prevention Interactive Control, or EPIC, safety system. EPIC is basically a specialized crowd control belt that prevents people from walking between the paver and material transfer vehicle. It’s Superior’s second initiative in the past three years that has earned a Safety Innovation Award from the National Asphalt Pavement Association.
Superior’s previous NAPA safety award was a result of the company’s roll-off alarm, which was an audible and visual reminder that would prevent truck drivers from exiting their vehicles without applying the parking brake. “Now, if a crewmember wants to cut between those two machines, they have to go over or under the tape to get into that protected area,” Ellis said. “It makes them think twice about making that decision.”
BEHIND EPIC
The idea for EPIC actually began two or three years ago, Ellis said, when the company bought a new Shuttle Buggy that had sensors to detect the paver’s location and set the Shuttle Buggy’s speed accordingly. “When guys would walk between the machines, the sensor goes crazy and starts moving the Shuttle Buggy faster or slower because it can’t tell where the paver is anymore,” Ellis said. Although crossing between those two machines was relatively uncommon, it still affected the Shuttle Buggy’s performance and was an issue of safety. That’s when the idea of a crowd control belt, like those used in lines at movie theaters and airports, began to form. “Although crowd control belts already existed, no one had the foresight for its use on this type of equipment,” Atkins said. In the fall of 2017, Superior deployed its first EPIC device. “We were so pleased with the prototype that we started retrofitting all of our other material transfer machines.”
the crew will simply pull the magnet off the paver and store the magnet and tape back in the metal box on the material transfer vehicle. In addition to self-adjusting, another unique aspect of this application for crowd control tape was the magnetic attachment to the paver. “It had to be strong enough to hold the tape, but also could pull away from the paver if the material transfer vehicle gets too far ahead,” Atkins said. The magnet requires about 20 pounds of force to remove. “Since it can detach itself, it won’t destroy your tape if the machines get further than 65 feet apart.” Retrofitting each material transfer vehicle cost around $1500. “It’s not a large investment in terms of the return you’re getting,” Atkins said, adding that he hopes other paving contractors will consider implementing the idea. “We want other employees to be as safe as our employees.” To create an EPIC safety system for your company, visit the product page on CrowdControlStore.com, directly available at bit.ly/2Hf24PL, for less than $700. Then, purchase a heavy duty magnet with at least 20 pounds of force to remove from a metal surface from your supplier of choice. Although the real work behind implementing EPIC is done, Superior plans to continue to monitor the results. “We’ll never know if we did or didn’t’ save a life, but we know we don’t have employees walking between the machines anymore,” Atkins said. – BY SARAH REDOHL
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The Minds Control System is outselling all other name brands for retrofit to existing facilities. The Minds Control is the only system demanded by many contractors on their new facilities.
WHAT IS EPIC?
EPIC includes a 65-foot-long, 4-inch-wide crowd control belt that is attached to the material transfer vehicle on one end and the paver on the other. The belt self-adjusts as the two machines move down the road, expanding as the two machines get further apart and contracting as the machines get closer. The entire system is contained within a metal housing attached to the company’s material transfer vehicles. At the start of each shift, a crew member will grab the loose end of the tape, which is attached to a heavy duty magnet, and attach it to the paver. At the end of the day,
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pavement maintenance
When a shade tree casts a shadow over the pavement, the crew must modify the rolling pattern to get proper compaction of the mat. Dunham’s Asphalt Services has trained the team to get the leaves and debris out of the way and to make adjustments for rolling. This image is from their award-winning overlay in the City of Cleveland.
Dunham’s Asphalt Services Wins One way to make sure your pavement maintenance and preservation protocol is on the right track is to submit your projects for judging. It might be a scary proposition to let inspectors and outside professionals put your work under the microscope, possibly looking at factors your crewmembers didn’t take into consideration during the project’s execution. The team at Dunham’s Asphalt Services Inc, Sand Springs, Oklahoma, took the risk and came out with a handful of awards from the Oklahoma Asphalt Pavement Association (OAPA) thanks to a consistent quality mindset. That mindset starts at the plant and makes its way to the finished pavement. Dunham’s Asphalt Services incorporated in 1994 and put its Standard Havens plant up in a competitive market in 2007. Larry Patrick, OAPA executive director, explained: “The company is centered in the Tulsa area and they have carved out a very successful company in a highly competitive market. Not only are they an OAPA member, but also a NAPA member.” In 2017, Dunham’s was the small contractor/producer winner for commercial/industrial on two projects and runner-up for urban overlay on a third project in the OAPA state awards. We’re going to explore those three projects as mini-case studies in pavement maintenance and preservation best practices here.
O
18 // November 2018
MAINTENANCE PROJECT WINS
Starting with a pavement maintenance project for Hobby Lobby, we can see the care Dunham’s Asphalt crewmembers give to detail work. For the 2017 reconstruct, the crew removed 4 inches of pavement, regraded the lot, installed concrete flumes for drainage, and put in slope for drainage when repaving. This project used 9,000tons of asphalt and good management from Tim Quattrocchi, the company’s estimator and project manager. Quattrocchi has been with Dunham’s for six years and uses Insight Sitework software to put estimates together when bidding projects.
machine that stays busy, and we use RAP left over from jobs. ODOT doesn’t allow RAP in the surface when using Superpave mix; however, it is allowed up to 15 percent on lower traffic and parking lots using the older mix designs. At this time, ODOT doesn’t allow RAS; however, I believe they have done testing strips and I’m sure they’ll allow it soon...” For virgin material, Dunham’s has a steady supply. “Our aggregate is abundant and locally mined and liquid AC is abundant locally with several refineries nearby. We also have the Port of Catoosa and several suppliers capable of unloading the barges.”
URBAN OVERLAY TAKES RUNNER-UP
For the commercial/industrial award for a small contractor/producer in urban overlay, Dunham’s paved a 1.5-inch overlay of City Type C mix for the city of Cleveland, Oklahoma. Dunham explained that there was no milling involved in this project, although the pavement “badly needed an overlay.” The crew led by Foreman Euland McKenzee placed 3,500 tons for this project. “He has several years with the company,” Dunham said. “He took pride in workmanship and in directing the guys for quality.” Quality is the name of the game for Dunham’s Asphalt, as seen in their projects on the ground and awards on the walls. With the 2018 season wrapping up, businesses and cities in Oklahoma can watch their property values increase from that quality mindset. – BY SANDY LENDER
TOP: At the Costco in Tulsa, the Dunham’s crew placed 11.5 inches of new asphalt pavement. BOTTOM: Notice the concrete guttering that takes water toward the drains for this award-winning parking lot reconstruct.
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NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECT WINS
For the commercial/industrial award for a small contractor/producer in new construction, Dunham’s paved full depth asphalt for Costco in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They placed 6.5 inches of heavy duty mix for the base and 5 inches of standard duty mix for the surface, totaling about 14,000 tons. The crew was also responsible for striping, signage and pipe ballards. In fact, including striping in a project is a reminder of how far the company’s president has come. “I started striping parking lots when I was 15,” Eddie Dunham said. He started the company from scratch and has nothing but praise for the workers who are with him in its growth. He specifically named Roberto Marquez, who has been with the company for over 18 years, and Phillipe Cueves, who both worked on the Costco parking lot job. “Both men are detail oriented and strive to provide the highest quality project on time and in budget.” The plant he assembled in 2007, and which fed the project, is managed by Jeff Call. “Jeff keeps the plant running with very little downtime and is consistent in this,” Dunham said. Dunham’s personnel fractionate recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) to a 5/8 minus. They fractionate recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) to 3/8 minus. “RAP is used in most mixes, especially in the base mix and surface mix where traffic count is low,” Dunham said. “We have a milling
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contractor profile
On average, IPC paves around 25,000 tons of asphalt per year.
Intercounty Paving Evolves, Grows Through Three Generations When brothers George and Mike Spano first started Intercounty Paving, Carmel, New York, in 1955, the company focused exclusively on asphalt paving. Over the past 63 years, the company’s focus on asphalt paving hasn’t changed, but the way it’s done business has changed drastically. Originally the company paved small driveways by hand. In fact, they’ve saved the ledger from 1956 for a driveway the company paved for only $50.Now, IPC is poised for major growth.
W
THREE GENERATIONS
George’s son Scott entered the business in 1980. In 1987, he bought out his uncle and in 1995, he and his wife Trish bought out Scott’s father. Today, Trish is the company’s president and Scott, its vice president. The company is now fostering its third generation of Spano leadership with Trish and Scott’s son Tyler, who worked for the company every summer throughout high school. After going away to college for two years, Tyler returned to Carmel to complete his degree while being a part of the business.
20 // November 2018
“He basically came home after his second year in college and said he wanted to be involved in the family business,” Scott recalled. “We told him to finish school, fill out an application, and bring us a business plan for a service we didn’t already do,” Trish said. Tyler developed a business plan to establish the company’s striping division. “He came home and he threw the business plan on the table and told us he needed $12,000 to buy equipment.” Tyler now heads the company’s milling and striping divisions, and is also in charge of hiring, training and development and is an integral part of the company’s sales team. Although Tyler brought in a number of business skills he’d learned in college, the company trajectory really began its transition 10 years ago, when Scott began attending expos, shows and other industry events. One of the most beneficial aspects of attending these events was the chance to meet professionals and speak candidly with paving companies from other regions. One company that IPC has established a relationship with is Esso Brothers Paving, Hazlet, New Jersey.
“Esso has more than 50 employees, and we’re setting ourselves up to grow in that direction,” Tyler said. Scott added that being able to learn from one another and ask each other questions has been helpful for both companies, “though probably more helpful for us than for them,” he added. The classes and seminars were also useful, but it was often hard to put those lessons to work once paving season picked up. “By March I would have forgotten all about the new ideas I’d learned,” Scott said. To really embed those best practices within the IPC crew, the company hired paving consultant John Ball. “That was a game-changer for us. We thought we knew what we needed to know, but we still learned so much.” For example, Scott used to think he was the only one who needed to know the yield on each job. Now, everyone is aware of those numbers.
The long-standing IPC staff also includes Office Manager Debbie Henry, safety coordinator Joe, the company’s main foreman Terry, its junior foreman Luis, lead roller operator Bernie, laborer/operator Hiraldo and its mechanic Bill. Ball also took the time to walk through IPC’s paving equipment to ensure it wasn’t hindering job quality or safety. For example, IPC used to check the straight edge on the screed each March and never again throughout the paving season. “He proved to us that’s not the way to do it,” Scott said. “Such small adjustments made a big difference.” “That first year, there was some pushback from our guys who thought we were fine without him and didn’t like the changes we were making,” Scott said. But, by the third day, Ball had won over the crew. Four years and four training visits later, the crew looks forward to his visits and the new crew members pick up on that general feeling. “[Ball] has been able to help the whole crew have a vision of why they’re doing what they’re doing instead of just having to do it,” Scott said. “He’s definitely brought us the best practices.” Another integral aspect of IPC’s progression was hiring a business coach from The Nolan Consulting Group. The business coach they hired typically focuses on painting companies that have hundreds of employees, and Intercounty is using the same processes for its team of 15 to 20. “We never really had sales or production goals before hiring our consultant. Now, we run our family business like a large corporation,” Trish said. These days, they have their sales goals for each month and throughout the year on paper before each paving season begins. “That way, we can keep tight control on where we are financially and where we need to be.” Another example is that Scott used to spend every day on the job site. “Now, I spend less time working in my business so I can work more on my business,” he said.
THE STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER
Ten years after Scott first began attending industry events and training opportunities, IPC is now a part of teaching at
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 21
contractor profile
TOP LEFT: Scott Spano estimates that nearly 90 percent of the company’s work is commercial, whereas only 40 percent of its work was commercial six years ago. TOP RIGHT: Intercounty Paving employs between 15 and 20 people. The company also has a referral program so its current crew helps the company find qualified employees. BOTTOM LEFT: An IPC crewmember gets mix to build a takeoff ramp. Photo courtesy of John Ball. BOTTOM RIGHT: IPC’s crew measures out the parking lot it’s about to pave to figure yield and how long each pass will be. Photo courtesy of John Ball. such events. Tyler presented a seminar for the past two years at a national expo. “My seminar focused on hiring, retention and training programs built for the next generation of employees,” Tyler said. He spoke alongside Tom Esso from Esso Brothers. Tyler has also been awarded Construction Equipment Magazine’s top construction professionals under the age of 40. Some of his strategies include incentive-based programs that allow employees to grow at their own pace through a certification program. To accomplish this, Tyler and the employee make 60-day plans, which include accomplishing various tasks on the job, watching training videos, reading materials and taking a test to develop new skills. He also recommends hiring based on attitude rather than on skill. “If someone has a good attitude, you can teach them the skill,” Tyler said. “I’d rather have to train someone than hire someone who will be a cancer to our crew.” Another strategy Tyler has implemented is paying existing crew members for referrals. An employee can earn $250 up front and another $250 if the new employee is still there in six months. “No one
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is going to bring in a bad egg because it will look bad on them,” he said. Another strategy is simple yard signs in the region they perform work. Tyler also encourages the crew to approach new crew members in a supportive and inclusive way. “I think a lot of turnover is because the existing crew doesn’t give the new person enough time to learn,” he said. “Instead of letting them learn, they take a task away from them because the crew vet knows he can get it done faster.” “I remind them of this mantra, ‘If I do it myself today, I’ll always do it by myself,’” he added. “And that new guy is going to leave because he won’t like the way he’s being treated and he won’t be able to move forward with his job.”
SAME, BUT DIFFERENT
Since focusing more effort on establishing the state of the company and its future goals, IPC has switched from performing mainly residential paving to commercial paving. Scott estimates that nearly 90 percent of the company’s work is commercial, whereas only 40 percent of its work was commercial six years ago.
SAFETY TIP: Make sure all workers know to wear long pants when working around hot asphalt.
IPC’s paver operator, right, pulls a pass while Scott Spano stands on the screed to check the depth and ensure they are pulling a nice pass. Photo courtesy of John Ball. On average, IPC paves around 25,000 tons of asphalt per year with its one and a half crews, though they’re on the verge of breaking into two crews.
The company operates a Wirtgen 120 CFI milling machine, two A770 Bobcats, a Weiler 385B paver for smaller jobs, a Blaw Knox PF4410 for road work and larger parking lot jobs, one sixwheeler and three tri-axle dump trucks, two tool trucks, and a tractor trailer and lowboy. They also own five rollers: a Bomag 138, an Ingersol Rand DD70, a Dresser SH10, a Hamm HD13 and a Buethling B105 finish roller. They also just purchased an angled broom from Broce for its milling division. This past season, IPC completed its first township job, laying 5,000 tons of hot-mix asphalt for the town of Kent. Before bidding the job, IPC looked to Ball for guidance. “He told us it would be a piece of cake,” Scott recalled. “He told us to calm down and that it would be the easiest job we’ve ever done. And he was 100 percent right.” Many of IPC’s clients are property managers and homeowners’ associations based on relationships Trish has built over the years. She said the key is to be available every step of the way, from the community meeting and educating the residents to offering a golf cart shuttle during the construction. “It’s a huge disruption to rip their roads out,” Trish said. “They often feel trapped, they’re dealing with noise and dust and parking issues.” IPC also takes over planning, notifying residents, and offering offsite parking. “Anything we can do to make it easier, we do.” IPC discovered that roadwork was in many ways simpler: no handling schedules with residents, no tight corners, just a straight shot forward. “The Kent Road job has been a great stepping stone for us,” Scott said. “We are definitely poised for growth.” – BY SARAH REDOHL
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 23
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Asphalt Drum Mixers
Solve your problem
Solve Your Amp Troubles If the call box at the plant alerts you to a sudden increase of amperage, do you know what to do?
The Problem
A drag conveyor that typically uses 75 or 80 amps begins pulling 85 amps. An amp meter system will catch this problem. It reads amps on select motors to determine how hard each is working. That information is then usually transmitted to the control house to be viewed on a monitor. The amp meter system is useful for noticing changes in consumption from one day to the next. If a motor is suddenly using more power than it did the day before, there’s definitely a problem. It could be that the motor—in this example, the motor on the conveyor—is having trouble moving material. Or something is plugged up. Or paddles are worn. The early warning lets you get to the solution.
The Solution
Determine which motor is throwing the alarm (the amp meter system typically will show this to you, removing any mystery). The early warning allows operators to fix or replace parts early before something large breaks and the plant is forced to shut down for a fix. While an operation would likely notice if the electric bill was increasing over time, the amp meter system can notify maintenance personnel precisely where the issue is occurring, which speeds up the troubleshooting process. This can also help you stop wear from occurring if you have a plugged area. It can help you prevent offspec material if worn paddles are letting inconsistencies get through, etc. – FROM ASPHALT DRUM MIXERS
Photos courtesy Asphalt Drum Mixers Inc., Huntertown, Indiana 26 // November 2018
Producer profile
Colony’s first asphalt plant was an Astec 300 TPH drum plant with three silos that opened in Powhatan in March of 2008.
Colony Construction Paves Its Own Way Scott Claud had been the President of Colony Construction, Powhatan, Virginia, for six months when he and Vice President Harry King went for a beer after work. King remembers the conversation well. “We were dreaming and talking business and Scott said, ‘We’re going to go for a million dollar contract,’” King recalled. For a
S
28 // November 2018
company that was doing $2 million in sales per year, a job of that size and value seemed like a distant dream. After King had finished laughing off the idea, he asked Claud who would run a job of that size. Claud’s answer was simple: you. King began working with Colony in high school, worked summers on its paving crews through college, then ran a crew for a cou-
ple of years before leaving to work for an engineering firm for a few years. At the time of the million-dollar-job bar talk, King was running the company’s maintenance department, which mostly performed maintenance on VDOT roads. Less than a year later, he would be the project manager on a $1.4 million job to repave Military Boulevard at Fort Pickett.
Producer profile “From then on,” Claud said, “we knew we could tackle just about anything.” “There was some head-scratching on that job,” King said, “but once we put that final surface layer down, it was amazing to see. To take a crew that is used to paving driveways and put them out on a 3-mile stretch of road, you can really see their talent.” Nearly 20 years later, Colony continues to do work for Fort Pickett and million-dollar jobs are no longer an outlier.
COLONY YESTERDAY
2001 may have been the year Colony first won a million-dollar bid, but the company’s history began in 1989. It was founded by Claud’s father-in-law, Earl Pryor, as a grading contractor. Although the company expanded to offer paving in the mid-90s, Colony remained a smaller company of 20 to 25 employees until Claud joined the company in 2000. Claud, who had previously worked in the car rental industry, moved to Powhatan from Atlanta with his wife, Cathy, to join the family business. With him, he brought big plans for the small company. In 2002, 2003 and 2004, Colony saw an average increase in sales of 20 percent each year.
Claud has been on the board of the Virginia Asphalt Association for eight years, and will be the association’s president in 2019. “ Being a VAA member is very important for a producer in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Claud said. “The opportunity to collaborate with other members in the VAA has been invaluable to Colony as a start up producer. All VAA board members contribute different talents and come from companies of all sizes. We may share different points of view, but all in support of asphalt production and lay down in Virginia.” In 2005, the company decided to purchase its first asphalt plant, an Astec 300 TPH drum plant with three silos. The new plant opened in Powhatan in March of 2008. “I wouldn’t say I was the smartest guy in the world to put up a new asphalt plant in 2008,” Claud joked. However, the timing of the new plant was integral to Colony’s
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TOP: Colony recently completed a driving track for the Virginia State Police to use in its training program. “It’s almost like a race course,” Claud said. “They use it to train police for high speed chases.” BOTTOM: In 2012, Colony put up a second Astec 300 TPH plant, on the Luck Stone quarry in Burkeville, Virginia. survival and even success during the recession. “Had we not built that plant in ’08, we would not be where we are today,” Claud said. “Commercial work had reduced significantly, but because we owned a plant, we were able to bid on VDOT work that would have been hard to win without a plant.” Before the recession, Colony’s work was about 20 percent VDOT and 80 percent commercial and municipal. During those tough years, the percentages swapped. Around 80 percent of Colony’s work were maintenance projects for VDOT, while 10
percent was commercial paving and 10 percent was new construction. In fact, Colony was able to continue growing through those years. Between 2009 and 2012, Colony’s crews laid an average of 150,000 to 180,000 tons per year. In 2010, the company expanded to offer milling, and in 2012, it put up a second Astec 300 TPH plant, on the Luck Stone quarry in Burkeville, Virginia.
COLONY TODAY
Today, Colony Construction employs 160 full-time employees and over 30 part-time employees in the height of paving season.
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Producer profile
be several different sizes, but they operate the same way.” The company’s equipment choices have also impacted their ability to attract new talent. When they began expanding their fleet of dump trucks in the early 2000s, Claud said they saw drivers’ preferences changing.
Its two asphalt plants produce approximately 400,000 tons per year: around 300,000 at its Powhatan plant, and 100,000 at its Burkeville plant. The company’s primary mixes are BM25.0 for bases, IM-19.0 for mid-level, and SM-12.5E for state work and SM-9.5A for driveways. They’ve also been paving SM-9.0 in neighborhoods and have found residents prefer that finer mix. On average, Colony runs about 27 percent RAP, and the majority of mixes the company produces for Virginia’s DOT are warm-mix. Both of the company’s plants are equipped with Astec’s Double Barrel Green systems. Colony chose this system for three reasons, Claud said. First, to lower fuel consumption, second, to increase asphalt production, and third, because VDOT had just approved the Double Barrel Green system as an approved warm mix option.
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“Over time, it has definitely helped increase production and lower fuel costs,” Claud said. “We can also achieve a better target density in cooler temperatures.” Today, Claud estimates that nearly three quarters of Colony’s work is VDOT or municipal work, and around 85 percent of the mix Colony produces goes to its own crews. To support this production, the company has four paving crews, two milling crews and a trucking department of more than 60 trucks. Colony strives for consistency among its equipment, in addition to support from local dealers and preferences from its crews. Today, the equipment fleet includes three Wirtgen mills (two 210i machines and one 150 CF for trench widening), three Caterpillar AP-1055F pavers, three 8-foot Volvo 4410 pavers, and seven Hamm rollers. “Our Hamm rollers may all
The Cat pavers represent a new era for paving machines at Colony, according to General Superintendent Mike Bell. “The four-sensor material handling allows for easier managing of mix as it travels through the auger,” he added, “and the Moba system that replaced Topcon has five sensors per head to offer a more accurate reading.” The Cat pavers also have integrated grade and slope controls, and hydraulic assistance to the variable vibration HD screed, “for pressure when you need it and lift when you don’t,” Bell said. “After the seeing the advancements over the last 18 years, the next 18 should bring us even better quality and longer lasting roads.” “It used to be all manual, but the workforce is changing and now the preference is automatic,” Claud said. The 40 to 50 trucks Colony has purchased since 2002 have all been automatic. This decision has made it possible for Colony to find new seasonal drivers in an unlikely place: school bus drivers, off for the summer. “If our trucks had stick shifts, many of them may not be able to drive our trucks,” Claud said. He estimates that around 15 of
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Producer profile
TOP: A job at Fort Pickett was Colony’s first million-dollar contract. To this day, Colony continues to do work at Fort Pickett. MIDDLE: Around 85 percent of the mix Colony produces goes to its own paving crews. BOTTOM: Nearly three quarters of Colony’s work is VDOT or municipal work. Here, the crew paves along Route 153. the company’s haul truck drivers are school bus drivers, who already have their commercial driver’s licenses and are looking for summer work. Colony has been thankful that its operators tend to return season after season, enticed by the company’s culture, a good benefits package, and the opportunity to move up through the ranks of a growing company. King himself is proof of this possibility. Five years after managing Colony’s first million-dollar job, he was promoted to Vice President. In fact, he adds, many of the employees that began with the company as equipment operators are now managing various departments of the business.
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“It’s been interesting to see them step up to the plate as managers and take on new challenges,” King said. For example, when Colony’s trucking department manager started with the company in 2003, he was overseeing six trucks. Today, he oversees a fleet of sixty. “They all feel like they have had a hand in our growth, and they did,” King said. “Everyone had a job to do and they did it.”
COLONY TOMORROW
“Our number one goal is to keep everyone safe year after year,” Claud said. “Our other goal is to continue improving the quality of our final products.”
Claud said the company is in the process of expanding its offices and shop. “We’ve outgrown our two little shops with four bays, so we’re building one eight-bay shop this winter,” near its Powhatan plant, Claud said. Also on the agenda is building a new corporate office in 2020 or 2021, and, eventually, a new training facility. “Some key employees and I sat down and worked out a five-year plan,” Claud said. “One goal is to purchase a piece of land between our two plants for stockpile overflow, and construct a test road site where we can continue training milling and paving operations. Our industry is heavily focused on training people on the job, and we look to a future training facility as an opportunity to enhance our crews’ on the job skill sets,” Claud said. One thing that hasn’t changed since Claud joined the operation in 2000 is the core team. King continues to run the operations side, while Claud focuses on the business side. Mike Bell is still general superintendent; Blake Rogers left the company briefly and returned in 2010 as the company’s director of operations, and in 2005, Jimmy Coffman joined the team as vice president of asphalt plant operations to oversee the asphalt production facilities. According to Claud, there are another 20 individuals with at least 15 years of service to Colony and its growth. “Colony was built with a focus on quality, and we run our business with integrity and character,” Claud said. “This has continued through our many years of growth, and will continue as we look to the future.” – BY SARAH REDOHL
For the past five years, Colony Construction has held an art contest for the relatives of its employees between the ages of 5 to 18 years. Colony asks contestants to submit a drawing or painting related to road construction or Colony Construction. The entries are divided into categories by the artist’s age and judged by a panel of Colony employees. The winner of each category can choose between a family season pass to Busch Gardens or Kings Dominion, and the art is displayed at Colony Construction’s office. Every contestant receives a $25 gift card and a thank you note for their participation.
project management
Grace Mills in 3D for JFK Taxiways
Ranked #16 on the list of the world’s busiest airports, New York’s JFK airport handles nearly 59 million passengers and 1.4 million tons of cargo annually. The area designated for warehouse and storage facilities to accommodate all that cargo alone, is the size of roughly 70 football fields. When periodic work needs to be done on several of the facility’s taxiways, the logistics of making that happen can be staggering and complex. It also becomes incumbent upon the firm heading up the repaving effort to get the work done as quickly and safely as possible to minimize impact on overall airport operations, yet maintain tough milling and paving specs. For Grace Industries LLC (a division of the Haugland Group), that meant embracing new 3D milling technology. With three phases of a proposed 11-phase project completed, the result has been a milled surface that the facility’s owners called “The best we’ve ever seen,” and “Better than many paved surfaces.”
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SOLID REPUTATION GOES 3D
The company currently known as Grace Industries LLC was formed when electrical contractor William Haugland acquired an asphalt
36 // November 2018
“…because the grade control will hold us at 3 inches below finished grade the whole time, our quantities—projected at 3,000 tons for Phase 3 alone—will be accurate,” Paul Ceglia said.
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project management
plant from the W. L. Grace family. Though he sold the plant some four years later to the New York State DOT, he brought his sons William Jr. and Joseph (J.J.) into the business to begin growing a civil construction company from the ground up. That business, and an electrical firm started when Haugland’s non-compete agreement from his previous business had expired, form the bulk of what is today’s Grace Industries. “Even though that was just 13 years ago, we currently employ between 700 and 800 people and, between those two main divisions, generate annual sales in the $350 million range,” said J.J. Haugland, Grace’s VP of project development and operations. “The construction division specializes in milling/paving, concrete and bridge deck work, sewer and other drainage work, and storm cleanup, while underground utilities have been the bread and butter area for Haugland Energy, our utility construction division. Over the years we’ve developed a solid reputation for high quality infrastructure work which has allowed us to secure a good many municipal contracts—including the one for the Port Authority of NY/NJ to mill and repave Taxiway Q at JFK.” While major airport runways generally undergo a repaving effort every five years, taxiways last a bit longer: seven to 10 years between upgrades. Valued at more than $31 million, the JFK project involves the rehab of nearly 2 miles of taxiway that, in some areas, measures up to 200 feet in width. The high-profile nature of the project, (work
38 // November 2018
Valued at more than $31 million, the JFK project involves the rehab of nearly 2 miles of taxiway that, in some areas, measures up to 200 feet in width. The information on these pages showcases the completion of three phases of a proposed 11-phase project at JFK. took place during U.N. Week, in which world dignitaries were flying into and out of the airport), coupled with a tight schedule, prompted the Grace team to rethink its proposed milling methods. “We have always been big believers in 3D machine control for our earthmoving equipment,” Haugland said. “So when John Biscardi,
our project manager, mentioned that he had worked with Jim Cleary from Cleary Machinery using 3D milling on a previous airport project, it made sense. The fact that the Port Authority is really making a push toward automation in its specs also came into play. Something of an authority in 3D applications, Jim was certain that this was a solution we needed—reassuring us that the technology had gotten even better since that last project, for example—and we agreed.” To understand the benefits a contractor can derive from 3D milling, it is best to start with a look at the traditional 2D milling approach. In a traditional airport milling setting, sensors use an external device such as a stringline as a surveying reference to maintain the desired milling profile. While accurate, the shortcomings of stringline—human error, string movement or damage, etc.—can not only hamper production, they can also result in increased costs. By comparison, the approach Cleary was proposing, a Topcon Millimeter GPS system, draws upon the strength and accuracy of a 3D digital design model. In this model, an array of rotating laser transmitters located alongside the taxiway creates a laser zone, which the 3D system on the milling unit accesses to determine elevation and set the necessary depth of the milling drum. This laser zone is considered more efficient than optical control, which requires line of sight from instrument to prism. When signal blockages occur, millimeter is designed to recover instantly regardless of rover position. “It is all about maintaining grade and that is precisely what the 3D system ensures,” Biscardi said. “The engineers design the grades and
Some of the key players in the JFK taxiway milling project: (from left) Paul Ceglia, Grace’s party chief; Jim Cleary, technical support specialist, Cleary Machinery; and J.J. Haugland, Grace’s vice president of project development and operations. we pave to that design. If we are out within .5 inch either way, we are penalized. It’s as simple as that. Just as in vertical construction, if you have a foundation that is proper, things will go smoothly. If you have a foundation that has issues, going upward will be a problem. I worked with Jim on an airport job in Newark in 2009 with a similar, but less sophisticated system and knew that this was the way to go.”
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 39
project management
Grace’s decision to choose the 3D milling solution at JFK is an apt representation of what Topcon calls the “Intersection of Infrastructure and Technology.” The company describes it as a conceptual crossroads at which Topcon provides industry professionals like Grace with the advantages and know-how to be at the forefront of technological innovation. According to Paul Ceglia, Grace’s party chief, the solution rose to the occasion and opened more than a few eyes in the process. “The accuracy has been amazing,” Ceglia said. “While it’s possible to mill manually and stay within the ½-inch spec, consistency is what we are looking for and the 3D grade control provides that. We took a bit of a different approach out here, in that we used a pair of Wirtgen W201i seven-foot milling machines provided by Komatsu Northeast (Holbrook, N.Y. branch)—one running the Topcon system, the other without. In that way, because we were able to control both sides of the drum on the Topcon-equipped unit, we were able to skip passes and the other miller was able to simply go in and
40 // November 2018
3D milling for the JFK taxiway project resulted in numbers the likes of which Port Authority officials had not seen before. Grace’s crew consistently milled to within ± .5-inch spec on 100 percent of shots taken.
match on either side. On Phase 3, we basically had 1,600 feet of taxiway milling done by noon—three hours ahead of schedule. The crew was ecstatic and wanted to start milling elsewhere on the job; it was impressive to see. And the numbers speak for themselves— the Port Authority said this is one of the best milled surfaces they’ve seen. That’s a nice endorsement.”
BENCH IS DEEP
Even an impressive GNSS solution is only as good as the benchmarks set for it and in that regard, Grace, being a survey-focused company, errs on the side of caution. Working with Ceglia, Vince DiCairano, the Port Authority’s senior engineering survey supervisor, drew upon older, proven benchmark techniques to guarantee the success of the new approach. “We took an old-school approach, using three-wire levelling for the project and I feel it’s made a difference,” DiCairano said. “Our original bench run started 2 miles west and we did another from 2 miles east and we closed to within .02, which is almost unheard of. On a project like this, the horizontal numbers can be a couple hundredths off but the vertical has to be within thousandths—these bench runs gave us that. As a result, we were looking for milling to be within .5 to .25 (high or low), and these guys are hitting it well.” “Hitting it well,” might be a huge understatement at JFK. According to Jim Cleary, Grace’s crew consistently milled to within +/-.5 inch spec on 100 percent of shots taken. “More noteworthy, however,
Some areas were milled to the depth of 3 inches, while others needed only 2 inches or 1.5 inches removed to meet the grade. is the fact that they are within +/.25 inch spec 80 to 85 percent of the time,” Cleary said. “We expected that number to be around 75 percent, so we were pleased. But on Phase 3, the joint survey produced a large area of milled subgrade that was +/.25 inch on 95 percent of the shots. That prompted the Port Authority to say those were the best numbers they’d ever seen—including top of asphalt. Not bad for a milled surface...”
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project management Ceglia noted that using Millimeter GPS also helped ensure that material costs were controlled as well: “With this technology…you will also mill just exactly what you bid. I built two models for this project: an original ground surface as well a finished design. This surface isn’t a perfect 3-inch mill—sometimes it’s 2 inches sometimes 1 ½ inches—so I have a take-off number to compensate for that. But, because the grade control will hold us at 3 inches below finished grade the whole time, our quantities—projected at 3,000 tons for Phase 3 alone—will be accurate.” In the course of the JFK project, Ceglia became something of a fan of the laser-centered millimeter GPS approach. He particularly cited the shortcomings of a robot—up to this point, their go-to technology. “Typically, with a robot, you can only go so many feet around the radius of the instrument until your elevations start losing the tolerances you want to keep. The lasers, on the other hand, offer a 300foot radius around them. So when I set up the lasers all along the taxiway here, I had a laser level line throughout the whole site, which meant I could walk the whole site and get a mint grade anywhere. The speed of that alone is invaluable, but to have a benchmark anywhere I go is awesome.”
TAP OTHER TECHNOLOGIES
The success Grace is seeing at the JFK project is largely the result of the belief management has in evolving technology. According to J.J. Haugland, he firmly feels that resisting the changes taking place with regard to 3D machine control would be self-defeating. “Over the last few years, technology has been growing by leaps and bounds, and much of what’s becoming available can directly impact the productivity of an operation,” he said. “The construction industry tends to be a little slow in embracing change, so I feel our acceptance of new and better solutions is what separates us from many of the others working today. I’m convinced that, being a young company with the willingness to put these changes to work for us, can really help as we move forward. We are only in the preliminary phase of consideration, but I am definitely interested in seeing what 3D can do for our paving operation. I am intrigued by intelligent compaction. I’d like to examine grade control for excavators for our underground work. There’s a lot that interests me out there.” In an industry in which the survey operation is being increasingly subcontracted out, Grace has instead embraced survey and all that it can do for them. Haugland says, in fact, that he sees his surveyors as key to their success to date. “Our survey team—Rich and Shawn Ness, Paul Ceglia and George Zaniel—are our backbone; everything literally starts and ends with them,” he said. “In addition to their on-site work, we utilize them to the fullest, particularly with regard to 3D modeling. Their expertise in that area allows us to be more competitive in our bidding process; we create 3D models for everything during the bid. Then, once we get the job, that 3D model turns into our job model, so all the info they’ve compiled affords us a leg up on the job. Then, after continually updating that file, we can turn over a fully detailed as-built model to the customer. We can show them: ‘This is what was bid,’ ‘This is a change condition,’ ‘This is what we actually did,’ ‘This is the final product,’ and so on. It’s very comparable to how vertical construction uses BIM.”
42 // November 2018
Topcon PZL-1 rotating laser transmitters positioned alongside the taxiway created a laser zone which the 3D system on the milling unit accessed to determine elevation and set the necessary depth of the milling drum. While the switch to 3D milling could have been a huge disruptive undertaking, all parties involved in the JFK taxiway project point to the outstanding level of support provided by Cleary throughout as having helped prevent that. “Jim has been amazing out here; you will find him on site any time we are milling,” Ceglia said. “He is always thinking of ways to improve the process and if there is any kind of issue, he is right there to help resolve it. Before choosing the Topcon Millimeter GPS, we were looking at using an alternative system. But Jim’s knowledge of the technology and his commitment to the project won us over.” Grace has now wrapped up the first three phases of the JFK taxiway project and will be winding down operations until spring. For Haugland, the work done to date has been a great source of pride in his team. “We have an amazing organization—one in which everyone is always striving to get better. I genuinely don’t feel like I’m going to work each day—it’s more like I am going to do something I love and be with people I enjoy being around. This 3D milling project was a test for many of them and there’s no doubt they passed with flying colors. To see those excellent results sprayed on the milled surface is a great feeling. I couldn’t be prouder.” – BY LARRY TROJAK
Larry Trojak is a freelance writer based out of Ham Lake, Minnesota.
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44 // November 2018FOR
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www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 45
Meet the NATIONAL Exec
Meet the national Exec: Construction Angels’ Kristi Ronyak Construction Angels Inc., Lighthouse Point, Florida, offers financial support to families of construction workers who have lost their lives while working on a construction job site. Kristi Lyn Ronyak has been the national executive director of the non-profit since its founding in 2011. AsphaltPro spent some time getting to know Ronyak and learning about how Construction Angels continues to support the families of fallen construction workers throughout the country.
C
What made you decide such an organization was needed? With approximately 13 construction fatalities a day in the United States, we discovered there was no charity to help the spouse and children left behind when a construction worker has a fatality on the job site. Many construction workers live paycheck to paycheck to provide for their families, so there is a financial gap to provide for the families during their time of need. Can you talk a bit about the services you offer, the regions in which you operate, and how your organization is structured? Construction Angels provides immediate financial assistance and grief counseling to the spouse and children for every trade in the construction industry. Since our inception in Florida, we’ve expanded to Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Delaware and now Maryland. We are about to register in D.C., Rhode Island and three more over the next few months. Our board of directors are business owners within the construction industry that help support and solicit sponsors and supporters to the charity. Do you have a staff that assists you? Jennifer McCloskey is our national coordinator/executive director of Georgia and Kathy Macaluso is our new executive director of Florida.
46 // November 2018
Kristi Ronyak was interviewed about Construction Angels’ mission on Channel 25 in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2016. What are Construction Angels’ biggest events throughout the year? We have golf tournaments in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Florida. We have clay shoots in Georgia and a 5K in Delaware. In Florida, we have two big events: Alligator Ron’s WingsFest in April and Doc Reno’s Bacon, Blues and Brews Festival in October. These two events are promoted by iHeart Radio and draw up to 11,000 attendees. Our first Masquerade Gala is coming up in February 2019 to promote our national campaign to assist families throughout the United States. Also, our 7th Annual South Florida golf tournament is the first scholarship fundraiser in Florida.
Construction Angels is affiliated with these associations. One company that has really supported our mission is Driver’s Alert, Deerfield Beach, Florida. They’ve been promoting safety for nearly 30 years. They also pioneered the ‘1-800-How’s My Driving’ service in 1989 and they’ve been laser-focused on improving driver safety ever since. They understand how dangerous the construction industry can be, so they donate 5 percent of the proceeds from every eLearning purchase to Construction Angels. Anyone interested in learning more about their eLearning resources can call (561) 417-1489 or email john@driversalert.com.
Do you get involved in safety training and preventative methods in any way? We are supported by construction associations that provide safety training in-house, and
How many families have you assisted since the start of Construction Angels? We’ve assisted just under 100 families in many ways since our inception. Even if they did
Your tax deductible donations help support families that have lost a loved one, working on a construction site
Construction Angels, Inc. 501(c)3 Payroll Deduction Form Dear Construction Employee,
Construction Angels, Inc. provides immediate financial assistance to surviving children and spouse of a construction worker’s family when they lose a loved one to an onsite construction fatality. Your decision is yours alone to make, but Construction Angels will be there to help you or your friend’s family, pick up the pieces, if a tragedy such as this should occur. Is your family prepared? Everyone expects to return home at the end of the day to our families, but for unforeseen accidents, the loss of a family member or friend is heartbreaking. Construction Angels hopes you and your family will consider the option to support “One of our Own” in the construction industry. Instructions • Use this form to file for deductions from your payroll. • You can obtain additional copies of this form, by asking your HR department. • Print in capital letters with blue or black ink. Give a copy of this form to your Employer. • Note: Your deductions will be automatic every pay period. • Visit www.constructionangels.us for more information about this charity you are donating to. 1. What would you like to do? (Check only one box, and then complete all sections of this form.) ❒ Establish Payroll Deduction (Check this box to establish payroll deduction for the first time.) ❒ Increase or Decrease Amount (Use this form to increase or decrease your deductions. To stop payroll deduction speak with your employer.) 2. Contribution Instructions (You must complete all applicable parts of this section.) ✓ Tell your employer how much to deduct from your pay each pay period. The minimum contribution is $1 per week option, per pay period. Please Circle Contribution Amount per pay period: $1 $2 $3
$4
$5
$10
✓ Tell your employer when to begin these deductions. Unless otherwise indicated, your deductions will begin as soon as possible following receipt of all paperwork in good order. Effective Date (MM/YY): ______________________________________ 3.Employee Authorization and Signature By signing below, I authorize my employer to process periodic deductions from my paycheck for contribution into the Construction Angels, Inc. Fund. This authorization will remain in effect until canceled by me or by the Employer, Charity, or upon termination of my employment with my employer. Employee Signature_______________________________________________________ Date___________________________________ Construction Angels, Inc. • 3640-B3 N. Federal Hwy, Suite 132 • Lighthouse Point, FL 33064 754-300-7220 Office • www.constructionangels.us
Meet the NATIONAL Exec
LEFT: One of the many ways Construction Angels fundraises for its mission is to host events around the country, including golf tournaments, clay shoots, 5K running events and more. RIGHT: Construction Angels offers financial support to families of construction workers who have lost their lives while working on a construction job site. not qualify (for example, if they do not have children 19 years or younger, or the worker was without a spouse), we still help by offering grief counseling, GoFundMe campaigns and news links through social media to drive awareness of fatalities within the construction industry. How do you identify families in need of assistance? With the assistance of our construction associations, unions, social media, etc., we are notified to contact the companies of which the fatality occurred and offer grief counseling or financial aid to their employees’ family. The family or company can also reach out to us through the assistance request form on our website, and our internal Family Assistance Committee will approve their circumstance. How can people in our industry get involved to help with your mission? Right now, we have chapters in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Delaware and Maryland. However, we’ll soon be expanding into Washington D.C., Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania among many, and our goal is to be in all 50 states by 2028. Whether you’re in those states or not, everyone is able to donate to our national campaign online at constructionangels.us. We also welcome anyone interested to assist with a fundraiser. If we have an active chapter in their state, funds raised in that state would go toward the families in that state chap-
48 // November 2018
ter. If we will be launching a chapter in that state in the near future, we’ll hold funds until the chapter is launched. And if we don’t yet have plans to expand into that state, that money will go toward our national campaign, which supports our expansion into new states and covers donations in states where the need has surpassed that state’s fundraising efforts. The first step in starting a fundraiser is to reach out to me at kristi.ronyak@constructionangels.us.
Get to Know Kristi Ronyak
Why did you join the construction industry? I am a third generation of an asphalt family from Ohio, so it’s in my blood! I was born and raised in the asphalt industry my whole life. What do you see as the most important part of your job as the president of Construction Angels? The most important job is our national expansion program; to be in all 50 states and helping as many families in their time of need by 2028. How could the community and our readers assist in this goal to expand to every state? National construction associations that host fundraisers among their members could contact us and assist us in our expansion into their states, as well as unions, and other organizations that are willing to help in fundraising.
What is the most challenging part of your job? The most challenging part of my job is to talk to the families or meet with them personally during their grieving period. Either I, a member of the board of directors, a family friend or company employee will go to meet with the spouse and children of the loved one who recently passed, and we hand-deliver a grieving book to the wife, stuffed animals to the young children and a check with a card that says, ‘Please accept this donation on behalf of the Construction Angels charity and the entire construction industry.’ What do you find most enjoyable about your job? The ability to help people! It is the most rewarding job I have ever had, to help families in construction during their time of need. What has been the most rewarding experience for you during your time as president? Meeting families, making a difference, having new associations and organizations contact us to help us expand and grow to help others around new areas in the U.S. – BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
With the holiday season approaching, AsphaltPro urges you to consider supporting Construction Angels and its mission to offer financial support to families of construction workers who have lost their lives while working on a construction job site. Please visit construcitonangels.us or fill out the form on page 47 to contribute to this worthy cause.
international snapshot
International Bucket Screening A selection of ALLU D-Series Transformers helped process a variety of materials in four different countries in Asia and the Middle East. The ALLU equipment has been provided and supported by ALLU’s dealers in the countries. The ALLU Transformer D-Series comprises an excavator/ loader/ tractor-mounted attachment which screens, crushes, aerates, blends, mixes, separates, feeds and loads materials. With its screening attachment, the Transformer D-Series has proved to be ideal for a variety of screening and crushing projects. At the heart of the Transformer D is the unique top screen of its bucket. This is where the screening blades spin between the top screen combs with the end material size being defined by the space between the combs. Effectively these screening combs carry most of the material weight to ensure the drums and bearings take on less impact and load. A customer in Thailand is successfully using a DN 3-12 Transformer with TS 16/32 blades set to 32 millimetres. This is being used to screen waste material to fine soil. In another application, a Japanese company is using a DN 2-12 Transformer with a TS 35 setting to crush bark. ALLU exhibited at the Kagawa Prefecture Forest Machinery Demo Exposition, being represented by its dealer in Japan, Okada Aiyon Corporation. The exhibition itself was devoted to the problems of the forestry industry and future opportunities for woodbased manufacturers, such as optimization and cost management. The exhibition proved a great occasion to network with customers and partners, and to examine recent market trends and innovative solutions. The Okada Aiyon team also demonstrated the D-Series crushing and shredding waste bark from log pieces to a burnable or compostable 0 to 25-mm size. As the cases show, the ALLU Transformer D-Series has proved ideal for dealing with excavated soil and rubble, with processed material not needing to be transported away and replaced with fresh soil. Additionally, binders can be mixed if the job requires stabilization.
A
– FROM ALLU
50 // November 2018
The team moved excavated soil and rubble with the ALLU Transformer D-Series bucket.
The ALLU Transformer Series comprises an excavator/loader/tractor-mounted processing bucket which screens, pulverizes, aerates, blends, mixes, separates, crushes, feed and loads materials.
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SMA with WMA Supports I-88 Overlay By Amy Chiconas
52 // November 2018
Illinois Tollway let the I-88 project with two separate contracts—MP 76.1 to 91.4 and MP 91.4 to 113.3.
S
Stone matrix asphalt (SMA) blends are gaining popularity on interstates and high truck-traffic routes across the United States. When using these mixtures, it is critical to incorporate some type of material to keep the asphalt cement (AC) in suspension within the matrix due to the absence of fines in the blend. The asphalt industry is becoming more aware of innovative ways to manage the expense and intricacy of some of the materials currently used in these SMA mixtures while also seeing the same, if not improved, performance.
Quick SMA Review SMA is a gap-graded mixture that typically contains very little sand and relies on stone-on-stone contact to carry traffic loads. Voids created by the matrix of the coarse aggregate are filled with a combination of sand, mineral filler and AC. Initially, SMA blends contained cellulose or organic fiber for this purpose. The fiber would be blown into the heated aggregate in the drum before the injection of AC. Today, some contractors are turning to recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) as an alternative to these SMA blends because the fibers contained within the RAS are found to serve the same purpose and the use of blown-in fibers can be eliminated. The bonus of using RAS in place of fibers is that RAS contains a high amount of AC, which offsets virgin AC and saves the contractor and the owner money. Illinois Paves the Way One state that is having success with this technology is Illinois. The Illinois Tollway consists of five major tollways: Tri-State Tollway (I-94/I-294/I-80), Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90), Reagan Memorial Tollway (I-88), Veterans Memorial Tollway (I-355) and Illinois Route 390 Tollway. The Tollway maintains and operates 294 miles of roadways in 12 counties across northern Illinois and carries more than 1.6 million vehicles each day. SMA has been used for over a decade by the Tollway on some of the nation’s most heavily trafficked roads. In fact, John Lavallee, P.E., operations manager for S.T.A.T.E. Testing LLC in Dundee, Illinois, explained that, out of the whole Tollway system, only I-90 has no asphalt work scheduled in 2018 because it was totally reconstructed during 2012 to 2017.
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TOP: The I-88 overlay includes 2 inches of SMA surface course with Evotherm dosed at 0.4 percent of the total AC in the mix.BOTTOM: “The contractors on I-88 are William Charles Construction, Rock Road Construction, Curran Contracting and Geneva Blacktop.”—John Lavallee 54 // November 2018
IDOT’s success on Hubbard’s Cave influenced the Tollway’s openness to begin using SMA more extensively on its road network beginning in 2004. “Overlay thicknesses for projects this year vary from 3 to 4.5 inches,” Lavallee shared. “All projects will get at least 1 lift of SMA; some will get 2.” Hubbard’s Cave in downtown Chicago, the area between the I-90/I-94 junction and the Eisenhower Expressway (I290), is nearly always congested, with a large amount of slow-moving truck traffic. This makes for a troublesome combination on a conventional hot-mix asphalt (HMA) road. Prior to 2001, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), a separate agency from the Illinois Tollway, was paving Hubbard’s Cave with conventional dense-graded HMA; the pavement had a five-year life under those conditions. IDOT paved Hubbard’s Cave with SMA in 2001, and then took cores from the roadway in 2015. At that time, IDOT performed the disk-shaped compact tension test (DCT) and the Hamburg wheel test (HWT). The DCT results were over 750 J/m² and the Hamburg rut depths were less than 3 mm at 20,000 wheel passes. This SMA project continues to perform well and IDOT has yet to make any repairs. IDOT’s success on Hubbard’s Cave influenced the Tollway’s openness to begin using SMA more extensively on its road network beginning in 2004. “SMA, especially when placed in multiple lifts, typically shows less reflective cracking than dense-graded mixes of the same thickness,” Lavallee said. He knows because S.T.A.T.E. Testing performs a portion of the materials engineering and testing for the Tollway. “Since correctly designed SMAs are stiff and flexible, we don’t see fatigue or rutting under heavy traffic loading.”
Enhancing SMAs on Tollway with Warm Mix SMA commonly uses polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) at elevated loadings.
The production and placement temperatures needed to successfully place a conventional SMA project can result in asphalt drain-down and fat spots in the pavement. Fibers, either blown in or from RAS, are used to reduce this problem. Using a warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technology like Ingevity’s Evotherm® can help reduce production and placement temperatures. The reduced temperatures result in a higher binder viscosity, which is less prone to draindown. Evotherm is also valued for its antistrip properties. In 2012, the Tollway’s leadership mandated that contractors use some type of warm-mix technology in all mixes as the agency was beginning its 15year, $14 billion capital program called “Move Illinois: The Illinois Tollway Driving the Future.” In 2018, the Tollway further required that all mixes containing recycled content above 20 percent asphalt binder replacement (ABR) include a chemical warm-mix additive. The Tollway was seeing that foamers only foamed the virgin portion of the AC in the mix and none of the recycled AC component. Some of the Tollway mixtures contain 60 percent ABR so only 40 percent of the AC in those mixtures was being foamed. “Density is still king,” explained Jay Behnke, professional engineer, president of S.T.A.T.E. Testing. “And we have miles of proof that using an additive like Evotherm increases the compaction window, which leads to improved density.” The Tollway has paved well over one million tons of WMA-SMA since 2004, which has included highly recycled mixes with up to 50 percent ABR between fractionated recycled asphalt pavement and RAS. In 2018 alone, another one million tons of SMA surface, SMA binder and traditional dense-graded mixes will have been placed with Evotherm.
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www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 55
TOP: RAS is allowed up to 5 percent total mix. BOTTOM; Both lanes of I-88 were overlayed. Both inside and outside shoulders were reconstructed. 56 // November 2018
One of those projects is the I-88, or the Reagan Memorial Tollway, pictured on these pages. That overlay took place in 2018, with a deadline of Oct. 31. Lavallee explained that it was let with two separate contracts—MP 76.1 to 91.4 and MP 91.4 to 113.3. “The I-88 overlay is 3 inches, 1 inch of IL-4.75 leveling binder and 2 inches of SMA surface,” Lavallee told AsphaltPro. “Both lanes are being overlayed. Both inside and outside shoulders are being reconstructed at 6 and 9 inches. The contractors on I-88 are William Charles Construction, Rock Road Construction, Curran Contracting and Geneva Blacktop.” As mentioned above, Illinois includes recycling. “RAS is allowed up to 5.0 percent total mix, in all the mixes,” Lavallee shared. “All of the contactors are using 5.0 percent in their SMAs, to prevent draindown, and so they don’t have to use fibers. All of the contractors are using a variable amount in the rest of their mixes. The mix types allow various amounts of ABR and it is more cost-effective to obtain that ABR with FRAP than with RAS unless they need the RAS for other properties, like draindown. Evotherm is used in all mixes. The dosage rate is 0.4 percent of the total AC in the mix.”
State-of-the-Art Testing In general, the Tollway allows contractors various options to modify asphalt liquid, which include the addition of terminally blended styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS), terminally blended ground tire rubber (GTR), plant-added dry crumb rubber and WMA additives. The Tollway uses equivalent performance for all mix designs, meaning that the DCT and Hamburg must meet certain standards, depending on mixture type, for cracking and rutting. Contractors are also given options to meet these standards when designing mixes, which ultimately leads to savings for the Tollway. The Tollway currently uses a blend of volumetric and performance tests for all WMA mixtures. The Tollway uses two main performance measures: the Hamburg and the DCT. SMA mixtures must be able to withstand 20,000 passes of the Hamburg and the rut depth must be less than
6 mm. SMA friction mixes must also exceed 700 J/m² on the DCT. The DCT is valuable because many testing agencies find it to be a repeatable cold-weather cracking test. As of 2018, the DCT is only required for SMA and a few other blends that contain more than 40 percent ABR. Beginning in 2019, the Tollway has indicated it will require all mixes to pass some level of DCT. The Tollway uses one additional test that some call the missing link: performance grading of the recovered AC from the mixture and Delta Tc (∆Tc). The AC can be extracted from the production mix using a new piece of equipment called the InfraTest Asphalt Analyzer. (Watch for a more detailed explanation of the Asphalt Analyzer in the December Mix It Up department of AsphaltPro.) Performance grading and ∆Tc of the AC blend (virgin and recycled components) will validate if the designer chose the correct virgin AC grade to offset the harder, more oxidized recycled AC component. “We can get results faster with the analyzer, which means we can also run other tests without breaking down the asphalt in the process,” explained Signe Reichelt, professional engineer, president, Behnke Materials Engineering in Wisconsin. “Long-term pavement performance tools like LTPP-Bind may indicate that your pavement is a 64-22, but is your binder really a -22? Our automatic extraction unit can recover the asphalt quickly so that it can be performance graded in the S.T.A.T.E. Testing binder lab.” For the I-88 project shown here, all tests were run on the SMA, according to Lavallee. “Hamburg, DCT, AC performance grading are run on the SMA. All of the tests are run on the IL-4.75 level binder. For the shoulder mixes, 19.0 N50 base and 9.5 N70 surface, it depends on the ABR if the DC and AC performance grading are run. All must pass Hamburg, though.” He explained the ΔTc is a new test for the Tollway this year and S.T.A.T.E. is working on developing result correlation to other tests. “There is a plan to add specification for mixes next year,” he said. At press time, his team was receiving mix data from other projects for the year to organize it by mix type.
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www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 57
Tire and rim management platforms analyzed and presented data in an actionable by compiling tire performance data into customizable dashboards. Photos courtesy Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations.
TECHNOLOGY TAKES THE LEAD IN PROACTIVE TIRE MANAGEMENT BY ROB SEIBERT
50 states. 4.12 million miles of road.1 More than 2.6 million miles of highways and paved roads, 94 percent of which use asphalt.2 With such a significant impact, asphalt producers and contractors keep this country up and running. This makes the work they do, and the equipment they do it with, critical to safety and operational efficiency for all forms of transportation. There’s no time for equipmentrelated issues that could potentially halt production.
T
That’s where tires and tire management technologies come into play. Technology is quickly evolving the way off-theroad (OTR) fleets manage tires and how results are reported on jobsites. From tire pressure monitoring systems to intelligent dashboard data programs, new technologies provide owner operators a
reliable solution to improve operations and onsite safety. Technology can make it easier to identify issues and create efficiencies, but without the correct tire, results will be skewed and maximum performance may not be achieved. Selecting the appropriate tire for the application is the foundation for performance and uptime. Bridgestone recommends owner operators work with a trusted dealer partner to ensure the right tire is selected for the jobsite and business needs. To select the right tire for the job, dealers will consider a number of factors including the application, jobsite demands, equipment load carrying capacity and speed. All of these conditions influence tire performance and installing the right tire for the job is critical to the ability to maximize uptime. Dealers also are armed with tire management technologies to help owner operators better manage their tires and see efficiencies across their total operations.
1. Source: Frequently Asked Questions: How many miles of road are in the U.S.? www.artba.org Sept. 9, 2018 2. Engineering Overview www.asphaltpavement.org Sept. 5, 2018
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SILO STORAGE
A NEW CHOICE OUR MAIN DRAG CONVEYORS ARE LARGER AND
WIDER to allow conveyors to run slower yet convey the proper mix to silos. Larger and wider conveyors have a stronger section modulus than bridge beam designs.
SPLIT RETURN ROLLERS COME STANDARD.
Much easier and cheaper to replace just the roller in the future as compared to cutting shafts, replacing rollers, and bearings.
REJECT CHUTE OPENS THE ENTIRE WIDTH of the
conveyor so asphalt doesn’t pass over the reject chute.
HYDRAULIC TAKE UP ON THE HEADSHAFT OF MAIN
DRAG CONVEYOR CHAIN so entry point of asphalt into the tailshaft ALWAYS stays the same. This prevents premature wear of chain.
AUTOMATIC CHAIN TENSION INDICATOR alerts
plant operators when its time to tighten the chain.
REX PLANTETARY GEARBOXES for all conveyors. ALL OF OUR SILOS COME STANDARD WITH 3/8”
CONE LINERS AND ONE ROW OF RECESSED WALL LINERS. Recessed wall liners don’t allow the problematic wear spot to occur that other silos have seen in recent years.
ALL SILOS ARE WELDED 100% INSIDE AND OUTSIDE with laser guided sub-arc machine. This makes the strongest union of two pieces of metal.
ALL SILOS COME WITH SAFETY GATES STANDARD. 3 TON BATCHER COMES WITH EASY ACCESS AIR
CYLINDERS on outside of batcher and safety cage to prevent pinch point. Split batcher allows for even distribution of asphalt in silo.
Call us toll free! (888) 333-0323 www.meekerequipment.com HAVE USED EQUIPMENT TO SELL? WE CAN HELP - Contact Us Today!
Contact Information Your Preferred Asphalt Equipment Resource The Meeker Family
Meeker Equipment Headquarters 4381 Front Mountain Road Belleville, PA 17004 Phone: (717) 667-6000 Fax: (717) 935-2389 E-mail: info@meekerequipment.com
The Bridgestone TreadStat™ Tire and Rim Management Platform integrates via Bluetooth with the PressureState™ tire pressure monitoring system to make analytics accessible from a user’s computer, tablet or smartphone for remote monitoring.
They are focused on understanding and interpreting data on tire pressure and temperature to make adjustments in real time to keep moving the business forward. Solutions like tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and tire management and maintenance systems, along with a trusted dealer partner, can work together to help make mobility more efficient on jobsites by delivering improved productivity.
vehicle, operators can closely track tire pressure in real time to receive in-cab alerts when tire pressure is below recommended levels. TPMS also can reduce the amount of time spent on tire inspections by up to 75 percent by eliminating manual data entry into logbooks. A technology-driven data gathering process helps ensure data is recorded efficiently and correctly each time.
ONSITE REPORTING
ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS
Safety on the jobsite is a top priority for owner operators. Technology has become a conduit for real-time tire performance reporting and enables owner operators to address issues before they result in unplanned downtime or unsafe operating environments. For OTR tires, the key performance indicator is tire pressure. Tire pressure helps ensure a vehicle’s weight is evenly distributed to avoid rapid treadwear and heat build-up at one or more wheel positions. TPMS alert operators to pressure problems before they become serious and costly. By integrating TPMS into a
60 // November 2018 60 // November 2018
Data itself is not enough. Once data is collected, it must be analyzed and presented in an actionable way. Tire and rim management platforms do this by compiling tire performance data into customizable dashboards. These dashboards are rich with insights on the inflation pressure and temperature for each tire on a jobsite and help operators maximize tire use, manage inventory and costs, and improve safety. For example, the Bridgestone TreadStat™ Tire and Rim Management Platform gives owner operators the ability to forecast and check the status of tires and rims
from anywhere in the world with their mobile device. The platform integrates via Bluetooth with the Bridgestone PressureStat™ tire pressure monitoring system and makes analytics accessible from a user’s computer, tablet or smartphone for remote monitoring. As technology evolves and further integration occurs, owner operators are able to shift to a predictive maintenance model, forecasting when to service tires. This enables owner operators to better control costs and be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to tire maintenance and management. Rob Seibert is director of marketing, off-the-road (OTR) tires, commercial group, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) where he leads all marketing research, planning and execution for OTR tire business in North America. Seibert also manages the strategy development and execution of special projects aimed at advancing the organization’s global OTR solutions offerings.
UNPRECEDENTED QUALITY FOR RAP-BASED MIX
TURN “WASTE” INTO PROFIT Ammann recycling technologies enable the use of high percentages of RAP – without compromising on quality. These technologies aren’t baby steps; they’re significant advances that can greatly benefit your business. And they’re proven technologies in use at hundreds of plants around the world. Quality Ammann HRT Asphalt-Mixing Plants produce extremely high-quality mix from RAP. Profit HRT plants dramatically reduce costs by replacing aggregate with “waste” material. Go Green Ammann recycling solutions meet and exceed many environmental standards. Ready to learn more? Please visit www.ammann.com or snap a photo of the QR code.
PMP-2315-00-EN | © Ammann Group
Dependable Performance CONSISTENT MIX
62 // November 2018
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT ASTECINC.COM/UNIDRUM
DILLMAN UNIDRUMÂŽ
When it was time to buy two new plants, a Dillman UNIDRUMÂŽ plant was the best fit for us. We like the Unidrum because of its very consistent, homogenous mix and very low maintenance. The Unidrum plants provide more uptime with less routine maintenance.
Slavic Mokienko,
General Manager, R. E. Pierson Materials Corp. Operating Four UNIDRUM Plants
product gallery
Plan for Seasonal Production Shutdown
The EX120 asphalt plant from ADM With the November edition of AsphaltPro, we turn our product gallery to the production side of the industry. It’s probably time to prepare for seasonal shut-down where you’re located, which means looking at the books, at the yard, at worn components, at upgrade opportunities and at all the areas where you can make enhancements for next year’s highest efficiency.
W
ADM
Asphalt Drum Mixers Inc., Huntertown, Indiana, released the latest version of the EX120 asphalt plant in 2017. The EX120 asphalt plant is a solution for producers who need a portable counterflow plant that can process high percentages of RAP. Featuring single-drum counterflow technology, the compact 120-TPH EX Series plant meets all federal and state emission regulations, according to the manufacturer. Similar to ADM’s SPL Series asphalt plants, engineers designed the EX Series
64 // November 2018
for smaller output and optimal transport. The entire EX120 plant sits on one chassis for easy movement from site to site. This makes it ideal for remote and demanding locations worldwide. In addition, one plant operator and one loader operator can control the EX120. Find specs on https://www.admasphaltplants.com/ex-series/ For more information, contact Carlos Cardenas or Jeff Dunne at (260) 637-5729 or sales@admasphaltplants.com
ago. It is manufactured by Ammann, a family owned, Swiss-based company. There are two warm recycling systems to choose from: A conventional concurrent flow dryer for RAP additions of up to 60 percent; and the RAH100, from which
Ammann
The Ammann ABP HRT (High Recycling Technology) asphalt-mixing plant is designed for asphalt manufacturers who need to incorporate large proportions of recycled asphalt (RAP) without sacrificing production capacity and quality. The HRT is a “2-in-1” plant, featuring both a warm and cold recycling system that can be used simultaneously. The plant became available in the North American market about a year
The ABP HRT from Ammann
product gallery 100 percent recycled materials can be used. Foamed bitumen, pigments and other additives can be used. The most striking visual difference between the HRT and traditional plants is the vertical stacking of the RAP-bearing components. This configuration is designed to reduce wear and sticking and shortens the travel distance of hot RAP material.
Astec
Astec Inc., Chattanooga, offers the Double Barrel Drum. The Double Barrel dryer/ drum mixer combines the latest in hot and warm-mix technology with other Astec features. It is designed to offer productivity and top-quality mixes, while keeping operating costs per ton of mix low and meeting the most stringent environmental codes. It comes in relocatable and portable versions. Find specs on https://www.astecinc. com/products/drying-mixing/double-barrel-drum-dryer-mixer.html. For more information, call (423) 867-4210.
B&S Light
B & S Light Industries Inc, Claremore (Tulsa), Oklahoma, first introduced Ez-Blend continuous mix asphalt plant blend control in 1992. Ez-Blend continues to be completely “in house” designed. Ez-Blend has been continuously updated to keep up with the most challenging mix requirements and conditions as well as the largest and most complex plants in our ever changing industry. Also important to note is that we have always been careful to specifically re-design, when necessary, to provide direct system-to-system replacement components and plant-to-plant familiarity throughout these 26 years. Our most modern Ez-Blend components will work in the first system sold. For example, while many critical parts in our Printed Circuit Boards have changed over the years and required re-design, we prioritized exact drop-in familiarity and function to facilitate system repair speed and ease, regardless of the system’s vintage. In 2000 we added a fully automatic integrated touch screen Start-Stop control option, which included multiple silo control, as an inexpensive plug-in for any new or existing Ez-Blend system.
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B&S Light’s all-in-one full plant control cabinet In 2016 we added a fiber optic data link option to prevent electrical noise interference in difficult plant environments. This also is an inexpensive plug-in for any new or existing Ez-Blend system. We are proud of our uninterrupted system support for each and every Ez-Blend sold. We value our customers, understand the importance of plant uptime, and appreciate the continued loyalty to us and our products. Find specs on www.bslight.com. For more information, contact Mike Young at (918) 342-1181 or mike@bslight.com.
readily incorporated into both new plant design/construction and existing hot mix asphalt operations. Blue Smoke Control introduced a new technology in late 2017 that targets the removal of odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from asphalt storage tanks. This system, named X-VOCS™, uses multiple stages of advanced filtration to remove invisible emissions. For more information, contact Mike Butler at (562) 762-5116 or mikeb@butlerjustice.com.
Butler-Justice
The technology of the patented Blue Smoke Control collectors from Butler-Justice Inc., Anaheim, California, captures blue smoke from key emission points in the asphalt production process, including 1) top of silos, 2) conveyor transfer points and 3) truck load out areas. The system concentrates and coalesces airborne oil droplets into a liquid form that is readily filtered and removed. Blue Smoke Control systems are
Blue Smoke Control collectors from Butler-Justice Inc.
product gallery trap with particulate filter. It features internal data storage of up to 2,000 tests, according to the manufacturer. For more information, contact, bfreed@EInst.com.
Gencor
Gencor’s Portable Ultradrum
Chemtek
Chemtek Inc. Morrisville, North Carolina, introduced the NeSilex Silica Dust Suppressant March 2018 to be added to any existing water system to help control dust on site. NeSilex was formulated specifically to reduce worker exposure to respirable silica dust. It contains specially formulated surfactants, wetting and agglomerating agents, which greatly improve water’s ability to control silica dust, according to the manufacturer. Find specs on nosilicadust.com For more information, contact David Rigsbee at (888) 998-1557 or david@ chemtek.ussales@nosilicadust.com.
Conveyor Components
Conveyor Components Company, Croswell, Michigan, has now added a cantilevered brush style conveyor belt cleaner to its product line. The Model BRC is designed to remove fines and carry-back material from a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt cleaner uses an electric motor to drive a helical shaped, open face brush to remove build-up from conveyor belts. The mounting flange allows for chute installation, or the unit can be installed on the conveyor framework. When it’s mounted under the head pulley, excess material is thrown into the discharge stream.
68 // November 2018
For more information, contact the sales department at (800) 233-3233 or info@ conveyorcomponents.com.
Dillman
The UniDrum mixer is a heavy-duty drum designed to generate high quality mix. The Dillman UniDrum is a counterflow design, with a range of production capacities from 200 to 600 tons per hour (182 to 544 tonnes per hour) with 5 percent moisture. With an extra-long drum, the Dillman UniDrum mixer is designed to produce quality hot mix at a high production rate with a high percentage of recycle. The extra-long drum length maximizes mixing and drying times to reduce fuel consumption and provide superior mixing. Find specs on https://www.astecinc. com/products/drying-mixing/dillman-unidrum-counterflow-dryer-mixer.html For more information, call (423) 867-4210.
E Instruments
The VOC Plus hand-held emissions analyzer from E Instruments International, Langhorne, Pennsylvania, includes rea-time continuous data logging with VOC measurement with PID sensor. The operator can select the 0 to 20 ppm or 0 to 200 ppm VOC measuring range. It has a continuous active internal sampling pump and condensation
Gencor Industries, Orlando, updated its Portable Ultradrum in 2017 “with crane less ductwork for drum to baghouse.” It is the heart of the Gencor’s Portable Ultraplant™, built around patented counterflow Ultradrum™ technology. The isolated mixing section is located behind the burner to prevent liquid asphalt coming in contact with the burner flame. This means there is no oxidation of the asphalt, no degradation of the mix, and no asphalt vapors entering the exhaust gas stream. Vapors generated in the mixing section are pulled through the burner by a patented volatile system and consumed as fuel. Features • Patented adjustable 5-way veiling flights • Patented combustion T-flights • Sweeping material inlet flights • Self-cleaning RAP inlet allows up to 50 percent RAP • Larger drum diameter reduces air velocity and dust carry-out • Friction driven trunnion rolls • Positive volatile reclaim system captures and destroys hydrocarbons • Drum erection skids- no foundation required • Hydraulic erection cylinders quick-disconnect plug wiring • Two-speed landing gear • Fifth wheel pin Find specs on https://www.gencor.com/ equipment/drum-mix-plants/ For more information, contact (407) 2906000 or sales@gencor.com.
Hotmix Parts
Hotmix Parts/Stansteel, Louisville, Kentucky, introduces the Tank Tracker so you can instantly know the percent full, gallons or tons of asphalt in your AC tanks and tons of mix in your silo via your smartphone. With several of the newest technology developments in non-contact sensor measurements with the Accu-Level Sen-
Stansteel’s Tank Tracker
sors, Stansteel and Hotmix Parts have developed the electronic technology to measure the amounts of material in your tanks and silos, whether vertical or horizontal AC tanks and hot-mix silos of all diameters and cone configurations. The ability to fill these devices to the maximum level without overflow or plugging up all the equipment behind them allows the plant to operate better and maximizes the use of all the equipment. In the Tank Tracker Management Systems, the valves, pumps and switching can be controlled to automatically fill and select the right tank or transfer liquids within the tank farm system. The basic units handle up to four AC tanks and three silos and can be expanded to monitor up to 16 AC tanks and 10 silos. Features • Load the right AC in the right tank • Monitor/manage solids and liquids • Stop overflow of tanks • Help manage your inbound tankers and outbound trucks and know inventory at all times
• Know your tank or silo level within a few gallons or 0.1 percent • Safer for plant personnel and removes one more difficult/hazardous task • Real time status of your hot oil heater • Management and supervisors can monitor the level and temperature from any smartphone Find specs on www.hotmixparts.com or www.stansteel.com. For more information, contact Hotmix Parts/Stansteel at 1-800-826-0223.
John Deere
John Deere, Moline, Illinois, now offers an extended coverage of five years/15,000 hours as part of its articulated dump truck (ADT) transmission warranty on all new E-Series models. Eligible machines include new E-Series models (260E, 310E, 370E, 410E or 460E) built on or after Jan. 1, 2017, and purchased prior to Dec. 31, 2019. For more information, visit www. JohnDeere.com.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 69
product gallery
Astec Mobile Screens’ ProSizer® 3600
KPI
KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens introduce the portable ProSizer® 3600, which is a single-load crushing plant for processing virgin aggregate and recycled materials. Its 36-inch x 46-inch horizontal shaft impactor can be paired with a conventional or high frequency screen. This crushing plant can be powered by diesel, electric or hybrid power. The hydraulic drive allows for variable rotor speed without loss of power, providing up to 25 percent more production over clutch-driven units, according to the manufacturer. This plant was designed with maintenance in mind, making equipment sustainable, even in dirty environments like recycled asphalt pavement processing. Astec Mobile Screens’ ProSizer 3600 also features a robust design, equipped with an I-beam frame, heavy-duty axles and AR-lined chutes. An additional swing-out conveyor, with optional remote control has been added to the machine, giving producers the ability to make a third, stockpiled product. The conveyor can also be used to remove waste material that is caught in the circuit. Find specs on https://www.kpijci.com/ equipment/portable/andreas-hsi-plants/. For more information, contact Patrick Reaver at preaver@astecmobilescreens.com.
DA™ software is designed to help producers reduce cost and improve quality, offering industry standard software for quality control of hot-mix asphalt (HMA), aggregate and asphalt binders. LASTRADA automates quality control processes by integrating aggregate production control, HMA production control, HMA mix design, and asphalt binder quality control into a single quality process. Test results are passed between these modules in a way that presents a clear simple view of all factors affecting HMA quality to the decision makers at an asphalt plant. Find specs on https://www.lastradapartners.com/our-technology/. For more information, contact Dan Ridolfi, PE, at (855) 747-8265 or dan@ lastradapartners.com.
Libra
Libra Systems Inc., Harleysville, Pennsylvania, is releasing the next generation Silo Safety System Nov. 1, 2018, for the asphalt plant. The next generation of Libra’s Silo
Meeker
Lastrada
LASTRADA Partners, El Dorado Hills, California, has released the updated version of Construction Materials Quality Control Software in August 2018, with new releases every two months. LASTRA-
70 // November 2018
Safety System, is designed to guard against dangerous and expensive accidents at an asphalt plant. Both the legacy and new system provide these important functions, according to the manufacturer: • Reduces the possibility of opening the wrong silo • Independent of, and compatible with, existing automation and manual switches; it blocks attempts to open the wrong silo • No operator interaction normally needed – it’s always on guard Additional features offered by the next generation system include: • Fully graphic screen • Automatically detects space between cab and trailer • Auto-alerts for potentially defective sensors • Pedestal or panel-mount options • Configurable for any number of silos Find specs on www.librasystems.com. For more information, contact Greg Fleisch at (215) 256-1700 x123 or gfleisch@ librasystems.com
Libra’s next generation Silo Safety System
Meeker Equipment Co. Inc., Belleville, Pennsylvania, offers the Meeker hot mix storage silos and heavy duty drag slat conveyors. The system conveys hot-mix asphalt to storage silos and holds it for truck loadout. Meeker silos feature recessed wall liners to allow smooth surface from top to bottom of silo. Meeker drag slat conveyors use split return rollers, Ni-Hard cast floors, 6-inch
controlled asphalt storage temperature, if higher-temperature hot oil is required. The system is designed to provide 100 percent efficient heat over its lifetime (often 30 years or more), as it reduces emissions and the associated need for stack permits at the plant, according to the manufacturer. Be-
cause the elements are accessible from outside of the system, they may be serviced without draining the tank. Find specs on www.processheating.com/ products/industrial/all-in-one. For more information, contact Rick Jay at (866) 682-1582 or info@processheating.com.
Meeker Equipment’s heavy duty drag slat conveyors and storage silos pitch chain, electric or hot oil heat, and drag conveyors are constructed with a camber. Find specs on http://www.meekerequipment.com/productDetails-16. For more information, contact Derek Garrett at (267) 446-4167 or DerekGarrett@ meekerequipment.com.
PHCo
Process Heating Company (PHCo), Seattle, fully released the PHCo Lo-DensityÂŽ All-in-One Heater Kit in 2016. The All-InOne Heater Kit is a complete system designed to provide direct heat to the asphalt tank, while also supplying hot oil for the plant. The primary feature of the system is the drywell-style electric heating elements that provide and maintain heat to keep liquid asphalt cement (AC) at the desired temperature. At the same time, the system circulates oil through scavenger coils and thermostat-controlled electric booster heating elements to provide hot oil to heat jacketed lines, pumps and valves, drags, silo cones, and other plant components. The scavenger coils allow for quick heat, while the booster coils sustain it for pinpointed locations. Booster elements also can elevate the oil temperatures above the
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 71
product gallery
The TransTech PQI380
Pine
The Rotary Asphalt Wheel Tester (RAWT) by Pine Test Equipment Inc. was designed to determine the rutting performance of all HMA mix types. The accuracy and predictability of this accelerated test method remained ambiguous until the City of Los Angeles shared the results of 14 years of use and 15,000+ SGC rut wheel tests of many different HMA mix types. Now an integral part of the City of LA’s Pavement Preservation program, the results were featured in the September 2016 edition of AsphaltPro. Independent research conducted by Dr. Hussain Bahia of the Modified Asphalt Research Center (University of Wisconsin Madison) on the speed, accuracy and repeatability of the new rutting test method was presented at the June 2018 ASTM meeting in San Diego. The short test time allows for expedited quality control and acceptance. For more information, contact Dave Savage at (724) 458-6393.
TransTech
The flagship product from TransTech Systems Inc., Latham, New York, the Pavement Quality Indicator (PQI), is what put the company on the map in 1998. The PQI is the non-nuclear pavement density gauge offering precise pavement density and moisture measurement in 3 seconds, according to the manufacturer. With the PQI, you don’t have the hassle of regulatory training and certifications. There is no radiation
72 // November 2018
threat with the product, which means after a day of work just place it in your truck and you’re done. For more information, call (800) 7246306 or visit www.transtechsys.com.
Troxler
Troxler Electronic Laboratories Inc., Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, released the Moisture Measurement System (MMS™) (Model 3630) May 2017. The MMS is mounted on the virgin aggregate conveyor belt after the shaker. It’s a real-time method of moisture measurement for quality-oriented asphalt plants, providing moisture content through a noncontact “scan” of combined virgin aggregate. This helps plants more precisely control binder addition, resulting in cost savings and a better-quality product. It also allows operators to better manage the burner temperature during drying to enhance product quality and save energy/reduce emissions. The MMS measures virgin aggregate on an inclined conveyor belt and provides a continuous moisture content reading. Measurements are displayed in a plant’s control room or transmitted to its control system. This data, when used in conjunction with weigh bridge data, allows the plant to make asphalt more like the mix design than ever before, according to the manufacturer. Find specs on http://www.troxlerlabs. com/products/details?prodid=47. For more information, contact Miguel DeJesus at (919) 719-1836 or mdejesus@ troxlerlabs.com.
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Illinois Brings Paving Technology Forward
E
Each year, asphalt professionals gather to share the latest technical information and review field reports in the area of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) construction at the Illinois Bituminous Paving Conference. It’s a compact, one-day program that brings together highway and technical engineers, contractors, government officials, and consultants. The conference is designed specifically for people actively involved in asphalt construction. The first conference was held in 1960 and organized by the National Asphalt Paving Association (NAPA). Moreland Herrin, who was a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), originally envisioned and implemented the conference, thus it has a long and technology-based history. It is now hosted and planned by the Illinois Center for Transportation at UIUC and this Dec. 11 through 12, celebrates its 59th event. Each year going forward, the conference planners intend to recognize the significant contribution of individuals and/or organizations to the pavement engineering field after the success of the first four monetary Bituminous Achievement Awards were presented at the 58th conference. At the 2017 conference, UIUC Ph.D. student Punit Singhvi received the Marshall Thomson Student Research Award. Retired Materials Engineer Robert Bailey received the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association (IAPA) Bituminous Innovative Research Award. IDOT HMA Supervisor Allen Fox received the Barry Dempsey Bituminous Technical Contribution of the Year Award. And 2017 NAPA Chairman Dan Gallagher received the Imad Al-Qadi Leadership in Bituminous Engineering Award. Nominations for the 2018 awards closed Sept. 18, but you can start thinking about industry members who should be nominated in 2019, and get your registration in to attend the conference with the Bituminous Achievement Awards luncheon. A reception and the opening of the exhibit hall takes place Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the iHotel and Conference Center, Champaign, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., but the meat of the program takes place Wednesday, Dec. 12, with presentations from members of the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Illinois Tollway. Check out the discussion of the use of stone matrix asphalt (SMA) on the Illinois Tollway on page 52 in this issue, and then bring your questions for Cindy Williams of the Illinois Tollway to her presentation at the conference. Get more information on speakers, activities and how to register at http://bituminousconference.ict.illinois. edu/about/.
76 // November 2018
BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
Imad Al-Qadi, on the left, presents the the Imad Al-Qadi Leadership in Bituminous Engineering Award to the 2017 NAPA Chairman Dan Gallagher, on the right, during the 58th Bituminous Paving Conference and first Bituminous Achievement Awards December 2017.
Doctoral Student Punit Singhvi received the Marshall Thomson Student Research Award for his research on asphalt and pavement preservation techniques, as well as his contributions to the development of the I-FIT protocol, which you can read about in the October issue’s Mix It Up department.
THE RELIABLE WORLD OF ASPHALT PLANT PRODUCTS
www.ReliableAsphalt.com
Portable Gencor Recycle System
Astec and Custom Cold Feed Bins
• Gencor Hammermill Crusher • 75hp motor on crusher • 8’ x 15’ bin opening • Bin equipped with Grizzly, partial extensions and bottom half of bin lined with plastic • 15hp motor
• 2 Bin recycle system (feeding toward each other) • 1 Astec incline feeder bin 10’ x 14’ • 1 Custom flat feeder 7’ x 14’ • Recycle intermediate conveyor 30” x 73’ • Recycle screen Deister 4’ x 8’ single deck
Astec Skid Mounted Recycle System • 2 bin arrangement 8’ x 14’ openings • 36’’ flat feeders • Chain drive 5hp AC • Adjustable gates and air cannons • Bulk wall and wing walls • 36’’ collector
Gentec RAP Gator
Cedarapids Recycle Bin • Nominal 10’ x13’ bin opening • Bin equipped with air cannon • Bulk wall and wing walls included • Support structure • Includes 40’ long inclined conveyor
Inclined Recycle Bin
• Nominal 25hp foote-jones Reducer • Dual roll style with raised teeth • Chain Drive
• 8’ x 14’ bin opening • Inclined feeder • Skid mounted • Bin Extensions • No Grizzly
HUNDREDS of pre-qualified equipment listings for every type of plant retrofit Your expert provider. It’s what we do! New, Used and Refurbished Asphalt Plant Equipment 521 Old 7 Mile Pike • Shelbyville, KY 40065 • Office Toll Free (866) 647.1782 • Fax (502) 647-1786
new tech
Without a driver present, an autonomous roller could be equipped with significantly larger drum diameters, bigger water tanks and more space for the batteries of electrically powered rollers.
Autonomous Equipment Joins the Job Site You may already be aware of autonomous equipment use in mining operations in the form of Volvo CE’s HX2 autonomous, battery-electric load carriers or Caterpillar’s autonomous mine trucks. What you may not know is that this autonomous technology is also making its way into asphalt paving jobs. Autonomous equipment can make a job site safer and save fuel consumption and operations costs, as well as free up skilled employees for other tasks and help address the workforce shortage the construction industry is currently experiencing. “[In the mining sector], highly standardized work is carried out in closed systems; there are few points of contact with the outside world and few unforeseeable influences on the process,” said Dr. Stefan Klumpp, Chief Technology Officer of Hamm, Tirschenreuth, Germany, in a 2017 announcement from Hamm. “In road construction, by comparison, the processes are far less clear-cut and less easy to structure. Every construction site is a little different. There is also much more contact with the surroundings (and thus more potential hazard), and user behaviour is not uniform.”
Y
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Despite the challenges, companies like Hamm and Caterpillar, among others, are moving forward for a safer, more efficient tomorrow.
AUTONOMOUS EQUIPMENT IN ACTION Despite obvious differences between mining and paving, many of the first autonomous machines to be headed for the paving train are also material transport vehicles. Last October, Built Robotics announced its Autonomous Track Loader (ATL), which is a compact track loader that can perform excavation, grading, pad prep, compaction and other tasks without an operator. This is made possible by the ATL’s LiDAR, which are essentially the machine’s eyes on the jobsite, and its GPS sensors to assist with navigation and precision tasks. Also last fall, United Rentals, which provides more than 3300 equipment and tool classes for industrial and construction sites in the U.S. and Canada, deployed its first autonomous machine on the job site, a Bobcat skid steer moving materials around the job site.
Another autonomous machine of interest to paving contractors is the autonomous impact attenuator truck from Royal Truck and Equipment, Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. The company’s first fully autonomous attenuator truck was deployed in Colorado last year. Autonomous attenuator trucks have already been tested in Florida, but this is the first time one has been deployed without a safety rider. The Colorado DOT had purchased the driverless attenuator truck to be the shadow vehicle behind a human-driven line painting truck. “That operation moved at around 5 to 7 miles per hour,” said Royal’s Government Account Manager Fred Bergstresser. “Until now, there needed to be a driver in the ATMA protecting that line painting truck.” However, by equipping the lead vehicle with a highly precise GPS system, it could transmit the information the attenuator truck needed to safely follow behind while avoiding obstacles.
Head online to theasphaltpro.com/departments/new-tech to watch videos of the autonomous TMA truck in action. After the success of this initial test, the autonomous TMAs are now approved for full use in Colorado’s district 4 by both the Colorado legislature and the Colorado State Police. The Colorado DOT will be adding more driverless attenuators to their fleet by the end of 2018, with a goal to get an autonomous TMA behind every mobile maintenance operation in the state, Bergstresser said. “CDOT has also initiated a pooled funding study with the Federal Highway Administration that around 10 other state DOTs have joined, Bergstresser said. “They’re pooling funds to do additional studies on autonomous TMAs for further use cases, like behind sweeper trucks and mowing operations.” Royal also has a driverless attenuator in action in London, being used behind a cone setting truck during a 10-week live trial with international road construction company, Colas, and Highways England. “One of our barriers now is that a number of states don’t have legislation allowing for the use of autonomous TMAs,” Bergstresser said. On September 26, 2018, the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed SB 1096, which allows the use of highly automated work zone vehicles in Pennsylvania. A companion bill, House Bill 1958, also passed unanimously in the House. “It is our hope that they both will now be sent back to the House and Senate respectively for final passage and then to the Governor for signature.”
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AUTONOMY ON THE PAVING TRAIN
When it comes to autonomous equipment operating within the paving train, both Hamm and Caterpillar are working to develop self-driving compaction equipment. “Compactors are a good place to start because they utilize processes with a high level of repetition, which can lead to
931-388-0626 PugmillSystems.com www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 79
new tech
CDOT’s Autonomous Impact Protection truck is demonstrated on a Colorado highway. operators losing concentration and performing inconsistently,” said Bryan Downing, Global Sales Consultant of Caterpillar Paving Products. Downing also said that autonomous compaction equipment can improve uniformity and consistency. “Poor layer durability often can be attributed to inconsistencies in processes, such as rolling pattern variations (poor pass coverage, improper vibratory system on/off variation or incorrect use of amplitude or frequency),” Downing said. “With the use of autonomous systems and semi-autonomous (operator assist) systems, the roller processes will be more consistent and precisely executed.” Hamm also sees the potential for a self-driving compactors, a concept the company first announced it was working on in 2017. “Rollers for asphalt and soil compaction will be among the first vehicles in which such systems will widely establish themselves,” Klumpp said. “This is because, in many respects, they are closer to cars than many other types of machine are. This is why we have been dealing with this subject for some time at HAMM.” The first step, Klumpp said, is to ensure the machines’ sensors can appropriately measure stiffness to accurately decide frequency and amplitude. According to Klumpp, “the automation of the working process of the machine has to be optimized and further developed. As a result, the driver can concentrate on driving.” The following piece of the puzzle is to allow the machine to make passes autonomously, with a operator on board just in case. The final step is to have sensors successfully monitoring the machine’s surroundings so it can begin to operate fully autonomously. Klumpp said the two main reasons to automate this process are to improve quality and solve the labor force shortage.
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“When we shared the article about our efforts in 2017, immediately we got calls from several companies asking when they could buy it because they cannot find enough labor force to realize their projects,” Klumpp said. “But we still have to concentrate the knowledge of the driver into rules that a machine can follow.” In the 2017 announcement from Hamm, the company also outlined how fully autonomous compaction equipment could offer other benefits, such as significantly larger drum diameters, bigger water tanks and more space for the batteries of electrically powered rollers.
WHERE TO NEXT?
Although OEMs continue to invest in the possibility of autonomous equipment on the paving train, most commercially available self-driving equipment is still a long ways off. Klumpp estimates it will be at least another 10 years before a fully autonomous roller will be commercially available. Automating other equipment on the paving train is even further afield. “The asphalt paver will be one of the most difficult machines to make autonomous on the paving train because of its interface with trucks or material transfer vehicles and its connection to the floating screed,” Downing said. “This is a convergence of a lot of processes and variability.” “We’ve built a roadmap and we are constantly working on this mission,” Klumpp said. “This will not happen tomorrow, but the path to get there is clear.” – BY SARAH REDOHL
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D A T E 46TH ANNUAL
FEBRUARY 27– MARCH 1, 2019 CROWNE PLAZA | DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT | DENVER, COLORADO
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Here’s how it works Step 1
STOPPED TRAFFIC
Deploy the message board around 4 miles from the start of the work zone. Step 2
3 Miles Ahead
Place a smart cone at one-mile increments between the message board and work zone.
Step 3 The cones collect traffic speed and volume.
Step 6 This information is also shared with third party applications, such as Waze, to notify drivers within their vehicles.
Step 4 This information is used to determine the correct information to display on the message board. Step 5
The message board displays the appropriate message. As the situation changes, the message will also change.
iCone’s Real-Time Traffic Message Board System Ensuring the driving public is aware of your work zone is an integral step to stop accidents within your work zone. That’s why the team at iCone Products LLC, Cato, New York, developed its iCone real-time traffic message board system. Here’s how it works. First, one of iCone’s traffic control contractors will set up the system on your work zone, which takes about 30 minutes. The typical system includes a handful of traffic cones and one or two message boards. A message board will be placed around 4 miles upstream of the work zone. A smart cone will be placed at every mile from the start of the work zone to the message board. If traffic is expected to extend beyond 4 miles, a second message board will be placed typically 8 miles upstream of the
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work zone, with additional cones at every mile in between. Once deployed, the sensors within each smart cone will begin to measure traffic speed and volume. This information is then transmitted to iCone’s servers in New York, where the data is run through a number of algorithms to determine what information should be displayed on the message board. For example, if traffic has slowed to 10 miles per hour at the cone 1 mile from the start of the job, the message board at 4 miles would display, “Stopped traffic 3 miles ahead.” If the cone 2 miles out sees a slow down, the message will change. Other information, determined by iCone and the customer beforehand, might include detour information or merge instruc-
tions, depending on information from the cones. When traffic clears, the message boards will return to a predetermined standard message, such as “Road construction 4 miles ahead.” As the situation changes, certain individuals on the crew or at the agency can be notified in real-time by text or email. The information is also shared with GPS navigation app Waze every two minutes from the time the message board is turned on to the time it is turned off. By the end of the year, iCone data will also go to Google, and eventually, directly to connected cars with integrated communications systems, like those Toyota and GM plan to roll out in 2021. For more information, contact Ross Sheckler at (315) 626-6800.
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advertiser index Ahern Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Almix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Amman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Asphalt Drum Mixers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Astec, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 44, 51 B & S Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Blue Smoke Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 ClearSpan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 CWMF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Dillman Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Eagle Crusher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 E.D. Etnyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Fast-Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Gencor Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Green Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Heatec, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover, 37 Kelly Steel & Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
KM International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 KPI-JCI-AMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover Libra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Maxam Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53, 55, 57 Meeker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Pegasus‌ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Process Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Pugmill Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Reliable Asphalt Products . . . . . . Back Cover, 13, 15, 17, 19, 77 Roadtec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 39 Stansteel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43, 85 Systems Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 49 Tarmac International, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Top Quality Paving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Trans Tech Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Willow Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Wirtgen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
AsphaltPro’s advertiser index is designed for you to have quick access to the manufacturers that can get you the information you need to run your business efficiently. Please support the advertisers that support this magazine and tell them you saw them in AsphaltPro magazine.
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off the mat
Adopt QC Program for LongTerm Customer Relationships One of the most important aspects of construction is delivering a quality project. Owners hire contractors to perform a specific function, and they expect a superior product. Implementing a quality control program that evaluates the work process from initial steps all the way through to completion ensures customer satisfaction and long-term success, according to Eric Olson, safety director at Western Specialty Contractors, St. Louis, Missouri. “There are many benefits to implementing a quality control program,” Olson said. “Many contractors may not see the value in it when looking at the upfront costs of a program, but ensuring a superior product delivers a number of benefits to the owners, consultants, facility managers and general contractors on a project. In short, Western’s quality program was designed and developed with the explicit goal of adding measurable value to our customers.” For over a century, Western Specialty Contractors has made quality control a cornerstone of its organization and a part of its company culture. Western celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2015 and ranks as one of the top 150 privately held companies in St. Louis, based on revenue. “It’s woven into the fabric of our daily work lives and integrated into every activity and process that we do,” Olson said. “Quality control is the foundation of a healthy, long-term relationship with our customers and an internal source of pride. Bottom line, quality is good for business.”
O
START WITH TRAINING
Olson suggested that when implementing a new quality control program, all employees should be fully trained on the value of the program and understand how to perform and document inspections correctly. “If employees aren’t aware or don’t understand the value, they may just see the program as more paperwork and will not truly verify the quality of the performed work,” Olson said.
REDUCE RISK
With a sustainable quality control system in place, the tangible benefits to construction companies include reducing risk. Contractors who complete work the right way, the first time, save time and money on expensive re-work. Tearing out and re-installing defective material is almost always more expensive than the initial task. Then, being forced to redo work increases employee risk. Doing a project the first time comes with injury risk, but that risk is tempered through earnings potential. All work should be completed as safely as possible. Performing the same work a second time for free increases employee exposures for little to no gain.
90 // November 2018
Delivering a quality project ensures a happy customer. Happy customers are much more likely to hire the same contractors for future projects.
DOCUMENT
A well-documented quality control program can help with any future litigation. Documentation confirming the project was performed correctly goes a long way. Western’s quality program is documented in its Quality Assurance and Quality Control Policy and Procedures manual. The multi-section manual details the specifics of Western’s program and illustrates: • Clearly defined roles and responsibilities; • Well established document control; • Detailed proposal preparation, project set-up and process controls; • Strict guidelines on purchasing and material controls; • Robust verification, inspection and testing protocols; and • Specific guidance in the identification of non-conforming actions and the necessary corrective procedures.
“Quality control is the foundation of a healthy, long-term relationship with our customers and an internal source of pride. Bottom line, quality is good for business.”—Eric Olson Highlights of Western’s quality program, which you may want to incorporate in your own quality control program, also include: • Quality Control Inspection Sheets customized for each specific job; • A Quality Control Supervisor (QCS) assigned to each project to ensure overall quality compliance; • All materials inspected to insure conformance with project requirements before being released for use; • A series of well-defined tests and inspections before, during and after construction to verify that all items conform to stated project requirements; and • A complete set of all documents required for the proper execution of work to be maintained on site. Western’s quality program was derived and perfected from some of the best practices across a range of industries, including: Lean, ISO and Six Sigma. For more information, visit www.westernspecialtycontractors.com/ about/quality-control/. – FROM WESTERN SPECIALTY CONTRACTORS
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