WMA Issue
asphaltPRO PRODUCTION – PROFESSIONALS – PRODUCTS
Asphalt Sustains Environmental Excellence •Rejuvenate RAP Binder •Austin Micro Mills COTA •Prevent Micro Surfacing Mess •PennDOT Partners for High RAP •Vermont Shares Cracking Success
Residential Paving JULY 2019 WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM
UNMATCHED DESIGN
Heatec has been designing and building tank farms for over 40 years and each project has been unique in some way. That’s because each customer is unique. You have your own business model that may be slightly different or dramatically different from the other guys’. That’s why at Heatec we take a comprehensive approach to designing your tank farm. That means we look at the materials you will be using, all the equipment that needs heat, the piping, and even future plans for expansion. Then we design a system that works for you. And we make it efficient and simple to operate. Heatec is unmatched when it comes to designing heating and storage systems for your asphalt plant. To find out more about our approach, visit us at www. heatec.com or give us a call at 423-821-5200.
H E AT E C , I N C .
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CONTENTS
asphaltPRO July 2019
departments
34
Editor’s Letter
6 – Make WMA Relatively Hot
Safety Spotlight
8 – How to Dispose of Silica Dust By Sarah Redohl
Solve Your Problem
14 – Solve Micro Surfacing Messes By AsphaltPro Staff
Mix it Up
16 – Rejuvenate Your RAP Binder A technical report on ReGen® rejuvenating additive By Asphalt Testing Solutions & Engineering LLC
Pavement Maintenance 20 – Micro Milling Provides Formula 1 Retexture By Tom Kuennen
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50
Project Management
28 – Blend to Mend Des Moines tries out emulsion and rejuvenation with winter recycling By Sandy Lender
Producer Profile
34 – Industry Incorporates Sustainability at Asphalt Production Plants – Part I By Malcolm Swanson, P.E.
State Exec
38 – Meet Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association’s Kevin Burke III By AsphaltPro Staff
International Snapshot 52 – International Reflectivity From RetroTek Technology
Product Gallery
66 – Find New Parts for More Tons By AsphaltPro Staff
Off the Mat
70 – Workplace Violence Costs You Money By Gary Sheely
Here’s How it Works
71 – FORTA’s Surface-EXT Fiber & Ranger Feeder
New Tech
74 – Kokosing Complies with Lockout-Tagout By Sarah Redohl
Feature articles
60
44 – Avoid WMA Roadblocks, Reap WMA Benefits By Sandy Lender 50 – Equipment on the Line Gather insight from the pipeline industry’s construction, refurbishment From Association of Equipment Manufacturers 54 – Pennsylvania Partnerships Place High-RAP Mix PennDOT partners with paving contractors to place high-RAP mixes on the state’s low-volume roads By Sarah Redohl
WMA Issue
asphaltPRO PRODUCTION – PROFESSIONALS – PRODUCTS
60 – Vermont Trials Wheel-Path Fix By Ian Anderson 64 – Job Site Planning for Residential and Commercial Paving Part Two of AsphaltPro’s “Best Practices for Residential and Commercial Paving” series. By Sarah Redohl
Asphalt Sustains Environmental Excellence •Rejuvenate RAP Binder •Austin Micro Mills COTA •Prevent Micro Surfacing Mess •PennDOT Partners for High RAP •Vermont Shares Cracking Success
Residential Paving JULY 2019 WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM
on the cover
Clean-running burners like the Whisper Jet from Astec are one aspect of our sustainable industry. See related article on page 34. Photo courtesy of Astec Inc.
editor’s Letter Make WMA Relatively Hot
I tend to enjoy the high temperatures in Florida. Sure, it gets hot and humid here, but my definition of hot may not be the same as someone who lives closer to the equator or in Arizona. When the ambient temperature is 95oF here, my neighbors may be complaining, I’m watering plants like mad, and someone in Quito or Tucson is probably wishing for that kind of break in the heat. It’s relative. The same is true of asphalt pavement mix temps. If you have a plant producing mix at 230oF, someone who is not familiar with our industry might consider that hot. In fact, that temperature is smack in the middle of the range for a warm-mix asphalt (WMA), which is the theme of this month’s issue. If you check with the Federal Highway Administration’s Every Day Counts program, the range for WMA is 30 to 120oF lower than traditional hot-mix asphalt (HMA) temps. Other sources have a “more slender” range of 30 to 75oF lower than traditional HMA, but the point is that WMA is, by definition, made at cooler-than-traditional mix production temperatures. Whether you produce the WMA by mechanical foaming or by introduction of a WMA additive, the definition of warm mix includes a designation of “lower” temperature. By dialing down the production temperature, the asphalt mix producer gives himself a host of benefits at the plant, including reduced fuel use and reduced stack emissions. The mix itself offers benefits at the paving site, including worker comfort and improved compaction. Benefits get discussed throughout this edition of AsphaltPro, so let’s stay focused on temperature for this note. If you find yourself tempted to introduce a WMA additive to your production process, yet leave your production temperature up around 300 or 310oF, you are not making a warm mix. You’re making an HMA with a WMA additive. If you find yourself tempted to foam your HMA with water or additives, yet leave your production temperature up around 300 or 310oF, you are not making a warm mix. You’re foaming HMA. You may get to enjoy compaction benefits at the paving site, but you’re not enjoying benefits at the plant, are you? You’re not making conditions more comfortable for workers anywhere. There’s no reduced fuel consumption or reduced emissions when you’re still running at 320 and up. The point is this: WMA is cooler than HMA. It’s relative. Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender
July 2019 • Vol. 12 No. 9
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/.
6 // July 2019
13333 Highway 24 West Fort Wayne, IN 46814 Tel. (260) 672-3004 Fax. (260) 672-3020 www.almix.com
safety spotlight
Employers have the option of following a control method laid out in Table 1 of the construction standard or they can measure workers’ exposure and decide which dust control methods will reduce workers’ exposure to the permissible exposure limit (PEL). Here we see the team at Intercounty Paving Associates includes face masks to reduce its workers’ exposure during mill-and-fill operations. Photo courtesy Wirtgen Group
How to Dispose of Silica Dust An estimated 2 million construction workers in the United States have been exposed to respirable silica dust, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. That’s why OSHA’s Respirable Crystalline Silica standard requires that employers limit workers’ exposure to silica and take other steps to protect workers. “Silica dust appears in asphalt, concrete and rocks,” said David Rigsbee, CEO at Chemtek Inc., Morrisville, North Carolina. “Any activity that involves breaking, cutting, demolishing, grinding,
A
8 // July 2019
etc. of those elements will create silica dust.” That means many activities in our industry have the potential to create respirable crystalline silica dust that can be inhaled by nearby workers. The standard (29 CFR 1926.1153) requires employers to limit its workers’ exposure to and provide protection from silica dust. Employers have the option of following a control method laid out in Table 1 of the construction standard or they can measure workers’ exposure and decide which dust control methods will reduce workers’ exposure to the permissible exposure limit (PEL).
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safety spotlight Check out AsphaltPro’s article, New NIOSH Software Measures Silica Exposure FAST, online at www.theasphaltpro.com for more information about measuring respirable crystalline silica levels.
HOW SILICA DUST IS COLLECTED
According to OSHA, the main types of engineering controls for silica are wet methods and local exhaust ventilation. Wet methods involve applying water or foam where the dust is generated to prevent it from getting into the air, whereas local exhaust ventilation removes dust by capturing it where it is created.
Another engineering control is isolation, which separates employees from silica dust. For example, the worker can be seated in a properly ventilated cab on heavy equipment. For example, a grinder, walk-behind milling machine or jackhammer must be operated with either a water delivery system or a shroud and vacuum dust collection system. If using water to suppress dust, you must ensure an adequate supply of water, hoses are intact, and that the spray nozzle is working and pointed at the point of dust generation. OSHA’s Small Entity Compliance Guide for the Standard for Respirable Crystalline Silica for Construction doesn’t dictate a minimum flow rate, but states that the equipment must apply water at the flow rate specified by the manufacturer. If using a dust collection system, it must have a filter with 99 percent or greater efficiency and a filter cleaning mechanism, and it must be able to maintain the air flow recommended by the manufacturer. On the job, be sure to check that the shroud is intact and properly installed, the hose connecting the tool to the vacuum is intact without any kinks, the filter is cleaned or changed to prevent clogging, and bags are regularly emptied to avoid overfilling.
SILICA COLLECTION FOR MILLING
Within the world of asphalt, Rigsbee said, the lion’s share of silica dust comes from sweeping and milling operations. The most common containment method for sweeping and milling, Rigsbee said, is spraying water onto the dust. However, after OSHA passed 29 CFR 1926.1153 in 2017, reducing the amount of dust allowed from 250 micrograms per cubic foot to 50, water alone may no longer be sufficient to suppress silica dust to the standard. “To give you an idea, if you have more dust onsite than the size of Abraham Lincoln’s forehead on a penny, you are now over the limit and could be fined by OSHA for tens of thousands of dollars,” Rigsbee said. That dust is also hydrophobic, meaning it fails to mix with water. Pair that with the stricter requirements, and even contractors using wet method can struggle to contain silica dust. To combat this, some companies choose to add a silica dust suppressant, such as Chemek’s NeSilex, to the water to break down the barrier between the dust and water. According to Steve Howard, safety and facilities manager at Wirtgen America, Antioch, Tennessee, its milling machines use water and a vacuum system to control dust. The vacuum system
10 // July 2019
Silica dust suppressants, such as Chemtek’s NeSilex, break down the barrier between dust and water to aid in silica control. The top photo shows dust suppression with NeSilex, the bottom photo, without. Photos courtesy Chemtek Inc. captures dust particles from the cutter house, transports them through a hose, and ejects them out the end of the conveyor. Wirtgen was a part of the Silica/Asphalt Milling Machine Partnership, which was comprised of the National Asphalt Pavement Association, manufacturers, labor, academia and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The partnership “worked to design, test and implement engineering controls for milling machines that effectively reduce potential silica exposure below OSHA’s new proposed permissible exposure limit,” according to NAPA’s website. “During those tests, we realized that water was a good method and the vacuum system was also good, but baghouses were not proven to be effective,” Howard said. “Baghouses work at an asphalt plant, but they are more equipped for that at a stationary plant. Not only would there be a whole big attachment on the milling machine, but also someone would have to get rid of that material at the end of the day and risk exposure then.” “All milling machine manufacturers currently offer water and dust extraction on their milling machines,” said Matt White, North American sales manager for milling and RS at BOMAG, Ridgeway, South Carolina. “This system redirects the silica dust away from the operator onto the conveyor belt versus reducing the actual particle count in the dust.” White said that recent tests performed by BOMAG have indicated that dust particles could potentially remain in the air, on the surrounding job site, for hours after the milling machine has passed. That’s why BOMAG has developed its Ion Dust Shield for its 4-foot class machine.
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safety spotlight According to White, this new system reduces the volume of PM 2.5 and PM 10 sized particles during the milling process by at least 80 percent and reduces the operator and jobsite worker’s exposure significantly. “Our new system removes the specific size dust by clumping or sticking it together by positively charging the particles, allowing them to be collected by the filter,” White said. BOMAG plans to introduce its Ion Dust Shield in the American market in the fall of this year. The system is recently available on milling machines sold in Europe. “We’re preparing for the direction the industry is heading, insuring improved jobsite worker safety,” White said. “Regulatory agencies aren’t going to make the standards any less stringent.” Regardless of the system you employ, Howard reiterates that it’s imperative to use the vacuum system while milling. “The employer has to make sure they use and maintain the system correctly,” Howard said. “If you have the system, you should use the system. If it breaks, you need to get it fixed.”
SILICA COLLECTION FOR SWEEPING
“Most operations don’t create that much uncontrolled really fine dust,” said Brian Giles, product manager at Schwarze Industries, Huntsville, Alabama. What does create a good amount of the troublesome fugitive fines is equipment driving on top of larger particles, such as sand and powders and crushing them into dust. “The best role for the sweeper to play is to remove those larger particles to prevent from getting crushed into fine particles.” Giles said the key to control fines generation is keeping the area clean. Once the particles become dust, he added, there’s only so much a sweeper can do. “Catching the fine stuff is almost like catching smoke,” he said. Giles estimates a sweeper can’t efficiently control anything smaller than a PM 10, as it becomes airborne when anything comes close to it. That’s where the wet dust control method is integral, to cluster those fine particles into larger particles that the sweeper can pick up and reduce any fugitive emissions from the sweeper. For open air activities that generate dust, such as pavement milling operations, Giles said wetting down those particles is a must. If the sweeper follows closely enough behind the mill that is using adequate water, Giles said it may not need to use its own water to suppress the dust, though that is always an option if needed. Micro milling, Giles said, is another game entirely. “Regular milling makes chunks, not powder,” he said. However, Giles compares the wetted down dust behind a micro mill to soupy black snow. For that, he recommends a vacuuming process along with traditional sweeping. According to page 43 of OSHA’s compliance guide, slurry generated by wet methods should be cleaned up before it dries using a wet vacuum. Vacuum manufacturers’ operator manuals typically provide instructions for changing dust bags and filters. For example, Rigsbee said, this could involve disposing of dust bags and filters in sealed, impermeable containers, such as heavy-gauge plastic bags, to prevent the release of dust particles into the air. OSHA’s compliance guide states never to sweep or use compressed air on dried slurry. If slurry dries, they instruct immediately wetting it down and cleaning it up with a wet vacuum.
12 // July 2019
Some states may have more specific requirements for disposing of silica dust, so it’s best to contact your state Department of Environmental Protection or your regional office of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for more information. – BY SARAH REDOHL
Dispose of Dust Collection Bags If using dust collection as a method to protect workers from respirable crystalline silica dust, changing out the dust collection bags is inevitable. According to Eric Massinon, business development manager at Chicago Pneumatic Power Technique, one bag can last for an entire day on the job before requiring replacement, depending on the media being worked. In January of this year, Chicago Pneumatic released its new CDP 10 dust collection system kit to help protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica during common construction tasks. The kit includes a vacuum suction unit, 21-foot suction hose, universal shroud connector, three dust collection bags and three bellows. For the CDP 10 dust collection system, the bags should be changed when filled to 25 percent (2 to 3 inches full). The bags allow visibility to see the level of dust inside of them. The bags should be sealed and disposed of properly following local applicable environmental legislations for disposing of silica dust, CP said. As seen in the photo within this sidebar, a belt will tighten around the top of the bag to seal it in place. The CDP 10 comes with three bags, and additional bags and filters can be purchased at any dealer for CP. The filters used on the CDP 10, which has the capacity of 99.58 percent filtration of exhaust air, can and should be washed out and reused, CP said, adding that they should be replaced after a couple of cleanings. A vacuum indicator notifies the operator of a clogged filter. CP reminds us that operators should wear dust masks any time they are exposed to respirable crystalline silica dust.
CP released its new CDP 10 dust collection system kit to help protect workers from exposure to crystalline silica during common construction tasks.
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Solve your problem
Solve Micro Surfacing Messes
Any preservation, maintenance, or new construction project can end up with tack or sealer on a residential landscaped area or a commercial lot’s curb and gutter if the crew isn’t careful. Of course, it takes more than telling all crewmembers to be careful to keep projects clean and pristine. Best practices apply. If your problem centers around the preservation crew getting callbacks to clean gutters, curbs, landscaping, edging, etc., then you can take a page from the Transportation Research Board (TRB) seminar on Building Better Micro Surfacing and Slurry Seals, held April 24, 2019, with members of the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP). Specifically, Tim Harrawood of Vance Brothers spoke of some best practices that can prevent micro surfacing, or other sealing, problems your crew might experience.
The Problem:
While your crew may only experience one or two of these problems at a time, each can result in a callback from a property owner or city inspector. That’s extra time, equipment mobilization, material use and man hours you probably didn’t work into the original estimate that comes out of the project’s bottom line. • Liquid material such as slurry sealant, tack emulsion or the mix used in micro surfacing drips—or even spills—between nurse trucks or other storage tanks and the equipment working on the project, resulting in splotches or messes on nearby drives or grassy areas. • Liquid material such as slurry sealant, tack emulsion or the mix used in micro surfacing gets on the utility caps, drains or other features that are to remain unpaved or unsealed. • Liquid material such as slurry sealant, tack emulsion or the mix used in micro surfacing ENGINEERING gets on the gutter panel alongside the lane to be preserved/maintained.
The Solution:
Both photos courtesy Bergkamp Inc., Salina, Kansas. 14 // July 2019
ENGINEERING
Training is a big factor in preventing callbacks, of course. For paving back-to-basics, our staff worked with Paving Consultant John Ball of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire, to develop an online course that helps new crewmembers get up to speed on what’s expected of them, how to perform simple tasks, and how to be a productive part of the team. You can also prevent callbacks by sweating the details at the beginning of the project. • Plan ahead and stage equipment for the project to prevent leaving any drips or splotches behind. For example, if you will need to have a 1,000-gallon tank of sealcoat material on the project site to supply a 250-gallon sealcoat tank with wand, make sure you position ENGINEERING the feed tank on the final area to be sealed. Any drips during transfer of material can be covered on the way out. If this setup isn’t an option, plan ahead and stage equipment so it’s on heavy duty tarps that can catch any drips to prevent marring nearby areas. • Before beginning work, place heavy paper or 30-pound roofing felt (depending on the type of preservation work you’ll be doing) over manhole covers and such utility caps. Put this felt over drains and any other features that should remain clean and unsealed. After the micro surface paver has passed the area, lift the felt to reveal a clean drain, utility cover, etc., with straight, gorgeous lines. • During work, keep gutter panels clean by operating the spreader box correctly. WatchENGINEERING the material/mix consistency and you’ll have a good chance of cutting a straight line along the gutter. If the mix is more fluid than you anticipated, you’ll want to set the box over a bit. Stay off the gutter about 2 inches and see if that gives you enough material to work over to the edge with your hand tool. – BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
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Mix it up
Rejuvenate Your RAP Binder A technical report on ReGen® rejuvenating additive
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Using recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) is one way to help drive down mixture costs. Too much RAP has been known to make some asphalt mixtures stiff and brittle, which in turn will result in poor performance of the pavement. Creating a design that balances and optimizes the cracking and rutting performance of a mix is one way to allow an asphalt producer to find innovative ways to add more RAP while maintaining performance. During design, if the performance test results are low, a typical fix would be to decrease the RAP content or increase the asphalt binder content; the latter being more expensive. An innovative alternative is to add a rejuvenator to the mix that reactivates the RAP binder and enhances the overall performance. Blacklidge Emulsions looked at volumetrics and performance of plant-produced mixes with increasing RAP content and its rejuvenating product, ReGen®. ReGen was developed to restore reclaimed asphalt binder to a highly durable and age-resistant state allowing the use of more RAP in road construction projects while improving pavement performance.
PROJECT SCOPE
Three mixes were produced at Duval Asphalt’s Philips Highway asphalt plant with components outlined in Table 1. Each mix used a PG52-28 asphalt binder with 35 percent, then 45 percent and then 60 percent RAP. The 35 percent RAP mix was used as the control and did not contain ReGen. The 45 percent and 60 percent RAP mixes were
An innovative alternative is to add a rejuvenator to the mix that reactivates the RAP binder. 16 // July 2019
Figure 1. Hamburg Wheel Tracking Test Deformation Plot properly dosed with ReGen based on Blacklidge’s recommendation. ReGen was introduced from a tote connected to the asphalt binder line and a custom in-line injection system. Duval Asphalt’s custom system ensured a thorough blending of the rejuvenator into the binder prior to introduction into the mix.
PERFORMANCE TESTING EVALUATION COMPLETED BY ASPHALT TESTING SOLUTIONS & ENGINEERING (ATS)
Rutting: The rutting for all mixes per AASHTO T 324 was minimal and well below the industry standard maximum of 12.5 millimeters (See Figure 1). None of the mixes displayed signs of stripping through visual inspection or a stripping inflection point (SIP). The high RAP and ReGen mixes performed just as well as the 35 percent RAP control mix. Cracking: The Illinois Flexibility Test (I-FIT), AASHTO TP 124, for each mix resulted in
Flexibility Indexes (FI) above 4.00. Increasing the RAP content from 35 percent to 60 percent would normally result in lower FI due to the high recycled binder replacement and the stiffness of the binder. The addition of ReGen to the 45 percent and 60 percent RAP mixes resulted in comparable performance to the control mix; for not only the FI, but also strength and fracture energy. Durability: Each mix was conditioned with short-term oven aging (STOA) and longterm oven aging (LTOA) per AASHTO R 30 for Cantabro Testing. STOA of the plant-produced mix consisted of two hours at compaction temperature prior to compacting triplicate specimens. The target air void content was 7.0 +/- 0.5 percent in lieu of 4.0 percent as prescribed by AASHTO TP 108. Using the higher air void content is more representative of a new pavement, giving an indication of the durability of the mix in the beginning of its life. For LTOA, the compacted specimens were placed in an 85oC force-draft oven for five days. These specimens were also
Mix it up There was no statistical difference between the three mixes and in terms of mass loss for both the STOA and LTOA specimens. compacted to 7.0 +/- 0.5 percent air voids for comparison purposes. There was no statistical difference between the three mixes and in terms of mass loss for both the STOA and LTOA specimens. The average mass loss of each mix, even after LTOA, was under 10 percent with the exception of the 45 percent RAP mix, which was 10.9 percent. The maximum mass loss for a dense graded mix is typically around 10.0 percent with specimens compacted to 4.0 percent air voids. Since these specimens were compacted at 7.0 +/- 0.5 percent air voids, they would be expected to have a slightly higher mass loss result.
Table 1. Mix Design Components
CONCLUSION Overall, the higher RAP mixes (45 percent and 60 percent with ReGen) showed little to no difference in performance compared to the 35 percent RAP control mix in terms of Hamburg Wheel Tracking, Illinois Flexibility Test and Cantabro Du-
rability Test. All mixes performed well; showing that theENGINEERING addition of ReGenCONSTRUCTIO is an innovative way of increasing the mix RAP content, creating a cost-effective solution to an expensive product, while maintaining performance. – BY ASPHALT TESTING SOLUTIONS & ENGINEERING LLC ENGINEERING
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Pavement maintenance
Due to the shallow depth of milling, only 650 tons of material were estimated to be removed. Only two trucks were cycling in and out of the job. All photos courtesy Wirtgen Group.
Micro Milling Provides Formula 1 Retexture A milling drum configuration unique to Wirtgen—along with the company’s Level Pro system— enabled micro milling and enhanced friction on the Formula 1 Circuit of the Americas (COTA) race track south of Austin, Texas. Austin Bridge & Road, headquartered in Austin, used Wirtgen Group equipment to construct the high-performance track in 2012, and again used specialized Wirtgen products April 2018 to refresh the driving surface that had been affected by the expansive clays Tex-
A
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as can boast. The crew started with diamond grinding and switched over to micro milling. “After six years, with movement from underneath, plus wear and tear from the racing tires, traction became an issue,” said Tom Chastain, milling application specialist, Wirtgen America. “The owner wanted to return traction to the track, so they first tried diamond-grinding it, but the racers didn’t care for the excessive smoothness. As the owners wanted a different texture on the track, they got us out here with the micro drum.”
The driving surface was plagued by both undulations (bumps) and a loss of traction, said Wirtgen district sales manager Clifford McCarty. “It was a little of both,” he said. “As time went on, the track settled, so in some spots we had dips and swirls.” They merely needed to correct the surface for two final races, and then the owner would resurface the track in late December 2018. “The owner wanted to restore texture in the surface, and remove ‘bumps’ as best we can,” said Mike Kuhn, general
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Pavement maintenance
superintendent, Austin Bridge & Road. “There were some situations where the bumps were too high compared to the depth of the wearing course, so we had to make adjustments so we didn’t take too much structure out of it. Our goal is to leave at least one inch of surface course.” “With a race track, you have to anticipate corrections like this,” Chastain said. “TheSERVICE & ENGINEERING wear and the tear on CONSTRUCTION the track takes a toll, andTRAINING the ground movement makes it worse. With any race track you will see some sort of corrective maintenance necessary, just to keep it going, before coming back to resurface.”
The operator dials in the precise milling depth at the console. “The track has only 1.5 inches of… special mix that Formula 1 specified for its friction courses, so we have only an inch and a half to work with, and we are being careful not to get in between those two layers.”
The operator can also monitor depth and other controls from a side console.
On Circuit of the Americas track are Tom Chastain, milling application specialist for Wirtgen America, Mike Kuhn, general superintendent of Austin Bridge & Road Inc., and Cliff McCarty, district sales manager for Wirtgen. 22 // July 2019
DRUM TAILORED FOR
MICRO MILLINGCONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
SERVICE & Micro milling was performed using an LA 6 XTRAINING
2 drum, that is, 6 millimeter bit spacing with a “double strike” behind. The 7-foot, 2-inchwide double-strike drum has teeth placed 180 degrees apart on each side of the drum. “With a standard drum, you have one impact per revolution of the drum per tooth, but on the micro millingCONSTRUCTION drum we have two teethSERVICE & ENGINEERING hitting the same line spacing 180 degreesTRAINING apart,” Chastain said. It’s fitted with 748 cutting tools rather than the 168 that a standard milling drum has. The 6-mm tool spacing of these super-fine “micro” milling drums enables them to produce a very finely textured road surface with a maximum ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION milling depth of 1.2 inches (3 centimeters). SERVICE & TRAINING Moreover, Wirtgen’s FCS Light Flexible Cutter System allows Austin Bridge & Road’s W 210i the flexibility to swap out the micro milling drum for a conventional drum. The milling drums on these cold milling machines can be accessed from the side and are simple to remove, according to the manufacturer; SERVICE & ENGINEERING they’re lowered ontoCONSTRUCTION a specialized, wheeled TRAINING drum skid for easy withdrawal from the cutter housing, and the replacement is installed just as easily. With FCS, a drum change takes Austin Bridge & Road no more than two hours, transforming a conventional cold mill to a super-fine micro mill, or back again. At COTA, cutting depth ranged from 1/8 to 1/2 inch. “The track has only 1.5 inches of surface mix on it,” Chastain said. “It’s a special mix that Formula 1 specified for its friction courses, so we have only an inch and a half to work with, and we are being careful not to get in between those two layers.”
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Pavement maintenance
Build an Asphalt Track The original 2012 paving at the $400 million COTA took a little over four months. Each lift of asphalt was specifically designed to meet the standards of the sanctioning body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and the rigors of the central Texas climate. Specs demanded that the two top courses be placed in echelon to eliminate cold joints. Compaction at the paver was required in advance of the rolling train. For this critical, high-visibility application Austin Bridge & Road selected four Vögele Super 2100-2 asphalt pavers with AB 600-2 TP2 screeds, and a host of Hamm vibratory and pneumatic compactors, including HD+ 90 VV-S rollers with split drums, and GRW 280 rubber-tired rollers. The base course was designed to support the vertical forces of the cars. The binder or intermediate course was designed to support the horizontal forces of the cars during acceleration and breaking, and the wearing course was designed to provide grip at high speeds. The overall design of the asphalt mix for the 3.4-mile-long track is crucial to the performance of the car. The 3.4-mile track features 20 turns— some extremely sharp—plus inclines and a straightaway. Width varies from 32 to 52.5 feet and it’s designed to accommodate speeds approaching 200 mph. The maximum change in elevation is nearly 133 feet. To build, the project crew excavated approximately 10 feet of Texas clay the entire length of the track. A black 30 mil polyethylene liner was then placed along the length of the grade as a separation layer. Then, 7 feet of sandy, clayey loam select fill, 1.5 feet of pit-run clayey sand, and 6 inches of crushed recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) was placed with conventional equipment.
24 // July 2019
This was followed by 6 inches of crushed limestone flex base and 3.1 inches of HMA base course; these layers were placed by a single Vögele Super 21002 paver. The subsequent 2-inch binder course and 1.6-inch wearing course were placed by three Super 2100-2 pavers in echelon, fed by a single material transfer vehicle, resulting in a total asphalt pavement depth of 6.7 inches. A total of approximately 80,000 tons of HMA was placed on the track. Approximately 10,500 tons of surface mix were placed on the wearing course alone. When the paved run-offs and verges are included, a total of 21,000 tons of critical wearing course were placed. The surface mixture is a highperformance friction course with a high level of skid resistance, and asphalt cement is present at 6.5 percent of the mix. At PG82-22, the liquid asphalt was highly modified with SBS polymer. It could be considered a Superpave mix, very similar to a stone matrix asphalt, with high binder content and gap-graded aggregate, providing rock-on-rock contact with minimal fines. This surface course had a very tight specification for smoothness, 2 mm over 4 meters [0.08 inch over 13 feet]. Meeting those specs on the top layer meant each lift below also had to be super-smooth. The 3.1-inch-deep base course has a PG 64-22 binder with a smoothness spec of 4 mm over 4 meters (0.16 inch over 13 feet), while the 2-inch-deep intermediate lift has PG 76-22 liquid asphalt, with a little SBS modifier in it, and a smoothness spec of 3 mm over 4 meters (0.11 inch over 13 feet). After six years of races and scorching hot summers, friction of the surface course was enhanced for the duration of the 2018 season, in advance of a fresh surface course at the end of the season.
After six years of races and scorching hot summers, friction of the surface course was enhanced for the duration of the 2018 season, in advance of a fresh surface course at the end of the season. The contractor achieved at least three times the performance per day that had been written into the contract. “On Day 1 we did 14,000 square yards,” Chastain said. “The next day we did 12,000 square yards. I think we are well above what the anticipated square yardage was going to be on a daily output.” The track is 50 feet across, and where necessary, milling took place from outside edge to outside edge. Despite its specialized mission, for micro milling at COTA, standard W6 Wirtgen cutting tools were used. Several days into the project, the mill had cut 27,000 square yards, but had yet to change a tooth. The complete area of the project was 45,000 square yards, but due to the shallow depth of milling, only 650 tons of material were estimated to be removed. Only two trucks were cycling in and out of the job. “One or the other is sitting most of the time,” Kuhn said. “We’re only dumping six to eight loads a day. We’re not talking about volume, but precision.”
LEVELING SYSTEM MAKES IT EASY
Austin Bridge & Road’s new W 210i is served by two leveling systems, an outboard multiplex system that uses multiple sensors at the
four corners of the cold mill, and the Wirtgen Level Pro system integral with the cutter housing. The COTA micro milling started off using the multiplex system, which was cutting too deeply, and switched over to the Level Pro automatic leveling system exclusively. “The multiplex system was correcting too much and we were getting too far into the asphalt,” McCarty said. “We were smoothing out the bumps too much with the multiplex, and cutting as much as an inch down. We didn’t want to go down an inch and then have only a half-inch remaining in the driving course.” Level Pro works off vertical milling depth cable sensors mounted at each cutter housing side plate, left and right. It also works off sensors in the two “smart” hydraulic lifting cylinders at the side plates. An ultrasonic sensor, which functions without making contact, can scan both the height of the side plate and the reference surface next to or in front of the drum. A slope sensor permanently mounted to the machine is used for creation of surfaces where relative references can’t be used. Level Pro’s integration with Wirtgen’s Parallel-to-Surface (PTS) technology allowed the automatic system to initiate the milling process at the maximum depth right from the start. The operator activates the Level Pro system at the flick of a switch, and all four crawler track units of the large milling machine are lowered. When the milling drum assembly reaches the surface, the lowering speed is reduced, and the milling drum slowly penetrates the material down to the set depth. The automatic process contributes to preventing excessive cutting tool wear or even failure when starting to mill. “We set the depth at an eighth of an inch, and if it needs to get deeper, the automation corrects it to a quarter-inch or half-
inch,” McCarty said. “We’re not doing any corrective slope; just doing an eighth-inch on each side.” Once micro milling had textured the pavement, the mill would return to areas with elongated bumps to remove those using the multiplex system. “After we make the initial
pass over the entire track with micro milling, we’ll come back in running multiplex to take the bumps out as best we can,” Chastain said. “Even if we don’t take the entire bump out, we try to smooth it out and dull the crest to give the driver a smoother ride.” – BY TOM KUENNEN
2018 Friction Texturing Total length of track: 3.4 miles Width of track: 50 feet Total area milled: 45,000 square yards Short tons milled: 650
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 25
AND YOU KNOW WE DO THIS... You know Astec for durable, reliable equipment with proven performance. A pioneering team with decades of experience and a culture committed to putting the customer first has culminated in a range of options including drum styles, baghouse styles, and silo styles which allow you to configure the precise plant for your needs. Only Astec offers a complete line of portable, relocatable and stationary asphalt plants from 80tph to 600tph. Astec manufactures both Astec and Dillman brand equipment.
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project management
Blend to Mend Des Moines tries out emulsion and rejuvenation with winter recycling N
Not every recycling project requires precision measuring and national specifications. Yet officials at the City of Des Moines know you might as well do a project right to give the end user the best repair for the best price point. Enter the use of additives to condition aged reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and unused hot-mix asphalt (HMA) from previous paving seasons. Here’s how the city of Des Moines put its process to the test in spring 2019 when temperatures were low and the wind was breezy. As contractors know, HMA isn’t available all year round in certain parts of North America. Des Moines is one of those parts. For the city workers who are responsible for maintaining streets, using material they already have on hand is a financially smart move. For
28 // July 2019
the April 3, 2019, test project discussed herein, Street Supervisor Kevin Decker, Shawn Kannenberg and Josh Frey used stockpiled material as step one. “HMA isn’t available at that time of year,” John Kida said. He’s the technical sales manager-midwest for Collaborative Aggregates, Wilmington, Massachusetts, and the individual who brought the Delta S rejuvenator to the test project for step 2. The city workers already add an emulsion liquid to their recycle material; Kida wanted to show them a better alternative. “They’ve already paid for the asphalt and millings that are stockpiled. The liquid materials only add about $25 per ton, so it is financially worth it.” The reason to add liquid materials to the recycling process centers on oxidation and age. In the case of the stockpiled material
The KM T-2 from KM International heats the material without the flame coming into contact with the recycle material or the additives. All photos courtesy John Kida, Collaborative Aggregates
Rubberized asphalt for better roads.
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project management
The workers for the City of Des Moines don’t need to weigh the materials precisely for the recycling operation. Here, the loader operator feeds a bucket of one-season-old, crushed millings to the T-2’s hopper.
The City of Des Moines workers break up and crush their old millings and pavement chunks prior to recycling through the KM T-2.
The second batch of recycle mix, containing 1 gallon of CSS-1 tack and 1 gallon of Delta S rejuvenator, is rolled nicely at 112 E. 33rd Court. The workers saw an improvement in workability and tightness of compaction when working with Batch 2 after working with the control batch. 30 // July 2019
Des Moines has on hand, Kida explained it’s mostly unused hot-mix gathered during the prior paving season. “This material is spread out,” Kida said. “Then when it cools, they break it up and push it up into a pile. Using their own crusher, they will crush about 100 tons at a time to use in the recycler to patch potholes and utility cuts.” The recycler the City of Des Moines uses is a KM T-2 Asphalt Recycler from KM International, North Branch, Michigan. It has a 2,600-pound capacity and can recycle up to 4 tons every hour for the workers. The recycle from the pile is loaded into the KM T-2 with a loader, and then, current practice for Des Moines is to add 1 gallon of CSS-1 tack emulsion to the unit. The unit recycles millings without direct flame impingement on the material, keeping emissions worries out of the picture. For the test project, the team made mix at about 20-25 minutes per batch, according to Kida. Michael Blake, director of marketing for KM International, explained that the rotating drum and dump feature of the recycler are hydraulically controlled. Once the restored asphalt mix is ready, it’s poured into a loader, which feeds it into a 300oF hotbox before being transported to the project site. “We sell a PG64-22 in 3-gallon bags,” Blake said. “We recommend using 1 bag per load in the recycler. When you’re making mix in the T-2, the bag will melt during the agitation and the liquid will evenly encapsulate the aggregate. Our in-house testing has concluded that PG64-22 asphalt cement is the ideal additive for the mix design that goes into the T-2. The 3-pound bags meet the standard 3-5 percent mix design requirements for asphalt cement used at asphalt plants.” The Delta S rejuvenator is a new concept. It has a flash point of 500oF (260oC), making it a viable candidate for introduction to the T-2’s drum. As mentioned above, there’s no flame impingement, but workers want to be aware of flash points when adding materials to elevated temperatures. “Each unit comes with a hand-held infrared thermometer,” Blake said. “When the front of the unit is 300-350oF, that’s when you introduce your additive. When the unit is 400oF in the front and 350oF in the back, the mix should be ready.”
project management
From left, Josh Frey and Shawn Kannenberg (with material), introduce the Delta S rejuvenator to the T-2 drum for restoring the binder in the recycle material. It is best to introduce additives when the front of the unit is measuring temperatures in the range of 300-350oF, according to KM International’s Michael Blake.
The workers for the City of Des Moines made a control batch of recycle mix with 1 gallon of CSS-1 tack emulsion at 340oF. Here it’s poured to a waiting loader bucket.
The final batch of recycle mix, containing 2 gallons of CSS-1 tack and 1 gallon of Delta S rejuvenator, is dumped out for raking into place at 112 E. 33rd Court. The workers saw no difference in workability and compaction between Batches 2 and 3. 32 // July 2019
For the test project this spring, City of Des Moines workers made a control batch of recycled mix treated with 1 gallon of CSS-1, heating it to approximately 340oF. This mix was placed on a patch at 3301 Jefferson Street. During the project, the ambient temperature was 39oF and the sky was overcast. The site experienced 15 mph winds. Kida shared that the “mix appeared to be dull and very stiff.” He explained that while the mix compacted to an acceptable degree, it resulted in “a very open graded surface.” The second batch included treatment with 1 gallon of CSS-1 and 1 gallon of Delta S rejuvenator, heating to a temperature between 300-340oF. This mix was placed on a patch at 112 E. 33rd Court. During the project, the ambient temperature was 54oF and the sky was overcast. The site again experienced 15 mph winds. Kida shared that the “mix coming out of the recycler had a nice sheen to it and was easier to move. Mix was coming out of the hotbox at 290oF with a noticeable improvement in workability and compaction. The material was packed tighter and the surface was smoother.” The final batch included treatment with 2 gallons of CSS-1 and 1 gallon of Delta S rejuvenator, again heating to a temperature between 300-340oF. This mix was placed on a patch at 112 E. 33rd Court as well. During the project, the ambient temperature was 57oF and the sky was overcast. The site again experienced 15 mph winds. Kida shared: “Due to the size of the patch, more material was needed; it seemed to be a good spot to do a side-by-side comparison. No additional benefit was noticed by adding the second gallon of CSS-1. Compaction and workability were the same.” The City of Des Moines doesn’t weigh the material as it is added to the KM T-2. For the type of patching performed, such precision isn’t required. The workers are getting a restored recycled product by adding 1 gallon of CSS-1 and 1 gallon of Delta S per 1 ton of one-season-old millings. “Roughly, 16 pounds of liquid is being added for 1 ton of material, 8 for the CSS-1 and 8 for the Delta S,” Kida explained. In the end, the City of Des Moines has a way to revive its material and provide patching for its end users no matter what time of year. – BY SANDY LENDER
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The Astec Phoenix burners achieve ultra-low emissions performance by employing best fuel-air mixing technology. This is the Phoenix Talon, installed. Photo courtesy Astec Inc.
Industry Incorporates Sustainability At Asphalt Production Plants PART I Editor’s Note: During the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) annual meeting on Marco Island, Florida, February 2019, a committee on which I serve discussed the fact an elected representative had asked our industry how we could improve sustainability. The representative wanted to know how the asphalt industry would work to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, address climate change and so on. The asphalt industry al-
34 // July 2019
ready works with sustainable practices to lower GHGs and keep an already low carbon footprint in check. Recently, a member of the Astec Inc. family, Malcolm Swanson, P.E., gathered information for an 11-page document outlining some of the industry’s sustainable practices. For this warm-mix asphalt (WMA) edition of AsphaltPro, we’ll share Part I of Swanson’s paper, which includes information on our industry’s use of WMA.
I
If you do a Google search on “sustainability,” you will find many different definitions. Among those you will find it stated that the most common definition is, “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” If we view our business operations by that definition, it means that we will operate in
such a manner as to be able to continue to operate uninterrupted indefinitely as far as that is affected by the availability of resources and environmental conditions….I think you will agree that operating with sustainability as one of our key principles is not burdensome, but is hugely beneficial in several ways. The asphalt paving industry already had a great record and story to tell concerning sustainable operating practices before sustainability was seen as having the level of importance that is attributed to it today. The industry did not need the threat of climate change to adopt certain sustainable operating practices, because these practices just made good business and common sense. Some of the most notable examples are as follows: • Recycling old asphalt pavements • Paving with warm-mix asphalt • Using better combustion systems • Enhance/improve energy use • Enhance/improve material use Because asphalt pavements are 100 percent recyclable, reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), is a valuable raw material that is relatively inexpensive and readily available, particularly in urbanized areas. Warm-mix asphalt (WMA), as contrasted with traditional hot-mix asphalt (HMA), went mainstream after 2004 and now accounts for a major share of all new pavements. As the name suggests, WMA is made and laid at considerably lower temperatures than HMA. The reduced temperature means it can be made with less fuel. Conservation of energy resources and less combustion-source emissions are natural outcomes of replacing HMA with WMA. The use of WMA also virtually eliminates evaporative emissions from the liquid asphalt cement (AC) at the asphalt plant, during the truck haul to the job, and in the paving operations. The road-building industry has moved rapidly into WMA because it makes sense. Another good example of applying common sense to a sustainability issue is the advent of fundamentally better combustion systems. When the 1970 Clean Air Act became law in the United States, many combustion processes suddenly had to be cleaner. Industry responded with the introduction of combustion modification technologies such as Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR), also referred to as Flue Gas Recirculation (FGR), staged combustion, water injection, ammo-
nia injection, and post combustion treatment technologies like after burners, regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs), and catalytic oxidizers. These technologies, though fairly effective in reducing emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), tended to cause decreases in fuel efficiency and power output. Therefore, they actually caused increased GHG emissions. The design of burners used in drying stone aggregates in the paving industry were not much affected by the Act, due to the industry’s relatively small size and environmental impact, until the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1990 in the United States. About that time, Astec Inc. received an order for a very large asphalt plant to be built in Southern California. Empowered by the new Act, California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District tightened its limitations on NOx emissions to the point that there were no burners available to the industry that could stay under the annual NOx and CO emission limits for such a large plant. Although Astec had recently manufactured other asphalt plants for California paving contractors, successfully using FGR for NOx reduction, the NOx reduction levels required for the new plant were not achievable with FGR. Astec engineers designed a completely new burner that did a fundamentally better job of combustion than traditional burners. It was a version of a pre-mix natural gas burner that did a better job of mixing fuel and air, and used aerodynamic stabilization and flame shaping to produce a compact flame. The improved combustion did the NOx reduction job without FGR or any of the other combustion modification technologies and it was more fuel efficient than conventional burners. This burner was the predecessor of today’s Astec Phoenix® Phantom and Phoenix® Talon II burners. Better efficiency means the contractor’s fuel bill was less than it would have been otherwise. It also cleaned up the CO emissions to almost nothing. It made good sense to do well what had not been done so well before.
Check out the article “Use Low NOx Burners to Decrease Emissions” at www.TheAsphaltPro.com.
Early in the 2000s, Hauck Manufacturing Company worked with patents for a number of lean premix burners and three-stage burners. Honeywell Thermal Solutions, Rockford, Illinois, now owns and manufactures the Hauck brand, including the MegaStar4 pictured here. Photo courtesy Honeywell Thermal Solutions As a society and as an industry, we do not seem to fully recognize the synergy between practicing sustainability and our profitability. There are probably things done in the name of sustainability and climate change mitigation that do not meet the test of common sense or business sense; but as far as I have seen, such ideas are usually not good for sustainability either. In most instances, the things we would do to try to slow climate change make good common sense and business sense even without a climate change issue. If we run our businesses better, including being wise with our use of energy and materials, we will improve our profitability and, at the same time, we will operate in a more sustainable way. I think the plants in the industry are generally run wisely; nevertheless, as I travel around the United States and abroad, I continue to see overlooked opportunities. Why not look at asphalt plants and how they should be operated through the lens of sustainability? I have found that, when I look at the design of even mature tried-and-true equipment from a different perspective, I see opportunities I had not seen before. In Part II of this article, appearing in the August issue, we’ll discuss some of those opportunities in depth. We’ll take a look at additional ways to reduce combustion source emissions while reducing the fuel spend through the enhanced and improved use of energy and materials at the plant. – BY MALCOLM SWANSON, P.E.
Malcolm Swanson is the vice president, innovative products, for Astec Inc., Chattanooga.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 35
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Meet the state exec
Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association’s Kevin Burke III T
The Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association (IAPA), Springfield, Illinois, was first formed in 1938. Now, the association includes 51 producer and 133 affiliate members, representing roughly 95 percent of the state’s total asphalt tonnage. Kevin Burke III has been IAPA’s executive vice president for five years and has more than 25 years of experience in the asphalt industry. AsphaltPro spent time getting to know Burke and learning how IAPA promotes the asphalt industry in the state of Illinois. What are the top two or three ways you have increased membership in the association? Illinois has always had a very large number of plant mix members, although it’s declined a bit in recent years due to consolidation. Many of our member companies are family-owned and operated. When someone does sell, they tend to sell to another Illinois member rather than a bigger national contractor. Since I’ve been here, our membership has increased by 20-30 members, primarily at our affiliate member level. We have different categories for our affiliate members: asphalt suppliers, emulsion suppliers, major suppliers, regular members, associate members and consultants/engineers. Most of our plant mix members are usually contractors doing work for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Illinois Tollway and local governments. We also have smaller paving contractors without plants who do more commercial and private work. We bring in new members by reaching out to participants/attendees at other events. If a new technology impacts the asphalt industry, we try to get those organizations to join, as well. When our plant mix members work with a potential affiliate member, they’re very good at encouraging them to join IAPA. In what month do you hold your annual meeting? Do you have a trade show/expo in addition to your annual meeting? Our annual meeting is held in March. We usually have 500 or 600 people attend—a lot of our members, but also a large contingent of IDOT and Tollway employees, government officials, local agency officials and legislators. On our first day, we do a morning meeting for quality control managers that around 100 people attend to get updates on what IDOT is looking at and what they should be aware of for the upcoming construction season. Then, we have a board luncheon that we also invite the presenters to. We have technical sessions that afternoon and our scholarship reception in the evening. The next morning, we have more general sessions, usually about funding and polit-
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Kevin Burke III has been IAPA’s executive vice president for five years. ical topics. Sometimes we’ll have a politician come in to talk about what’s going on at the Capitol. We also have a presidential luncheon to give out our different awards. Each year, we honor a Person of the Year, Most Active Member, QC Manager of the Year, and contractors that received IDOT or IL Tollways Asphalt Paving Awards. The Person of the Year is a non-association member, usually from a university or state agency, who has supported IAPA over their career. This year’s recipient is Illinois DOT’s Acting Secretary Omer Osman. Our Member of the Year was Susan Green from Cat Global Paving. She’s helped with a lot of equipment issues, specifically intelligent compaction, and chairs our equipment committee. The QC Manager of the Year was Andy Gerretse from Ogden Avenue Materials who is responsible for the multiple HMA testing round robins in IDOT District 1. The HMA testing round robin allows the contractor to compare its results with the department’s test results, which is critical for contractors to get bonuses versus penalties in IDOT’s percent within limit acceptance specification. We started our trade show three years ago and it’s gone over very well. We had 18 to 20 vendors in our first year and this year we maxed out at 32 spaces (our venue has limited space). We always have good participation from our affiliate members. What other activities does the state association hold for members as fundraising events, and to what are those funds applied? Each year members are asked to donate to our scholarship program to award scholarships to students from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, the University of Illinois-Chicago, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Lakeland College and Bradley University. The scholarship program started back in the ’80s when our members recognized the need to have good quality people join the asphalt industry. Thanks to our Scholarship Chairperson, Mike Vondra of Reliable Asphalt, we have raised the necessary funds to expand the program in recent years. Last year, we awarded 16 $2,000 scholarships.
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Meet the state exec
1. Andy Gerretse of Ogden Avenue Materials receives the IAPA QC Manager of the Year award. Pictured, left to right: Kevin Burke (IAPA EVP), Omer Osman (IDOT Acting Secretary), Andy Gerreste and Anne Bigane Wilson (IAPA VP). 2. Susan Green of Caterpillar Global Paving receives the IAPA Most Active Member award Pictured, left to right: Kevin Burke (IAPA EVP), Omer Osman (IDOT Acting Secretary), Susan Green and Anne Bigane Wilson ( IAPA VP). 3. Omer Osman of IDOT receives the IAPA Person of the Year award. Pictured, left to right: Kevin Burke (IAPA EVP), Magda Nuri Osman, Omer Osman, Anne Bigane Wilson ( IAPA VP) and Paul Loete (IDOT Director). 4. IAPA announces its Marshall R. Thompson Endowment efforts. Pictured, left to right: Imad Al-Qadi (UIUC Bliss Professor of Engineering), Omer Osman (IDOT Acting Secretary), Marshall Thompson, Anne Bigane Wilson (IAPA VP) and Kevin Burke (IAPA EVP). As part of that scholarship, the students do a research project or report on an asphalt-related topic. It’s our way to get young engineers, technicians and construction managers interested in our industry. We also encourage our members to hire them as interns while they’re in school or as employees when they graduate. Our most recent initiative that we just announced at our annual meeting in March is to raise funds to endow a professorship at University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign in the name of Marshall R. Thompson. Marshall is a professor emeritus at U of I, but he’s known as the father of pavement design here in Illinois, but also across the country. We just began our efforts to raise $500,000, and within the first couple of weeks, we’d already raised more than $200,000. We should easily reach our goal, because Marshall helped so many people across the country get started in this industry. If we raise $1 million, we will endow a chair position rather than a professorship. Does IAPA hold educational seminars or webinars for members throughout the year? Most of our training happens during the November and December and wraps up by March since plants start opening up around April and shut down before Thanksgiving. Most of our training is webinar-based, where we have our affiliate members and other experts present on various topics on a monthly or bimonthly basis. Our QC managers group meets every other month during the construction season to keep up to speed on what’s going on with IDOT and the Tollway. Right now, Illinois DOT is looking at implementing a balanced mix design approach, including the Hamburg Wheel Tracking Test and the Illinois Flexibility Index Test. That’s going to be a major discussion point as contractors collect and share that data. Since I-FIT is a new test, everyone needs to understand its impact, identify any issues with it, and see what still needs to be resolved. We also offer specialized training, as needed. We’ve been working with IDOT to work out how to use intelligent compaction as a quality control measure. In May 2019, we offered training related to Veta software needed to evaluate IC data and also offered ProVAL training for IRI smoothness specifications. All of our technical training and certificate training required by IDOT for QC managers is through Lakeland College.
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Who else is on the IAPA team? We have a small staff, including myself, Office Manager Robin Dobbins, and our accountant, Penny Williams. About how many member asphalt projects do you visit per year? 20 Member asphalt open house events per year? 10 State agency or DOT meetings? More than 50. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being none at all; 5 being very much), how much of a threat to your members’ market share/livelihood is the concrete industry in your state? 4. We’ve always had a very competitive industry in Illinois. Historically, in the ‘50s and ‘60s, a lot of new roads were built out of concrete and asphalt was used for overlays and local roads. The concrete industry has always been strong in Illinois and they’ve tried to push the department into using their product, so it’s very important for us to explain why asphalt is a more cost effective and high-performance product. Over time we’ve been able to get more full-depth asphalt pavements built in Illinois, partially because of Marshall Thompson and what he’s done for our industry. Currently, we’re seeing a lot of rubbilization of those older concrete roads to prepare for placing HMA over the rubblized concrete. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being none at all; 5 being very much), how much difficulty are your members having in finding qualified workers for their asphalt paving or production crews? 4. Like everyone else, the workforce in Illinois is seeing a lot of people with many years of experience begin to retire and there hasn’t been as many people entering the construction trades. As I said, most of our members are family-owned and operated, but it isn’t just the owners who are second- and third-generation with that company. A lot of the employees are, too. But, we aren’t seeing as many of the younger generation taking on those roles. That’s why we expanded our scholarship program to encourage people in university settings to enter our industry. However, workforce development in Illinois isn’t as big a challenge as it is in other states. First, we are a union state. Most of our construction employees on the job are coming from union halls, so that’s not where our workforce development issues are. We face more challenges in fulltime employees, like QC managers, estimators and plant managers.
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Meet the state exec many plant tours in Illinois, but we did one last year with four or five legislators in Chicago and we plan to do another one in the southern part of the state. The association as a whole is part of the Transportation for Illinois Coalition, which also includes the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association and the Association of General Contractors - Illinois, trade unions, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and trucking groups, among others. TFIC has been around for 10 to 15 years to advocate for sustainable infrastructure funding in Illinois. Our members participate in TFIC’s Lobby Days and other initiatives to reach out to legislators.
Each year at its annual meeting, IAPA hosts a presidential luncheon to give out a number of awards. Each year, they honor a Person of the Year, Most Active Member, QC Manager of the Year, and contractors that received IDOT or IL Tollways Asphalt Paving Awards. The other reason why workforce development has not severely impacted contractors is IDOT’s funding for its annual highway program is significantly down from where it needs to be and where it was five or 10 years ago. Our members historically have placed over 15,000,000 tons per year. For the past several years, our members have only placed around 12,000,000 tons per year. Could you give an example of a way your state APA assists members with workforce development? Our scholarship program is our biggest effort. This is such a significant challenge that it can’t be done by only one group. The whole industry with the help from our traded unions has to push this initiative. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved even at the high school level to teach kids that trade school is a way to get a good job making $60,000 to $80,000 starting out without accruing a lot of debt. There’s definitely some work to be done to communicate that opportunity. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being none at all; 5 being very much), how involved are your state elected officials in transportation issues such as funding and infrastructure improvements? 5. Illinois’s infrastructure is vital to our nation’s economy. We have more than 140,000 miles of roads, tens of thousands of bridges, and all Class I railroads come through Illinois. Legislative leaders in Illinois haven’t raised transportation fees since the ’90s. Instead, they’ve done capital builds every 10 years or so, mostly funded by non-sustainable revenue using bonds. We’re working with legislators and the new governor to put together a more comprehensive package that will be more sustainable, but the legislature has to figure out the best way to provide that sustainable funding for our state’s infrastructure. Then, on the federal level, we still haven’t seen an increase in revenue for the Highway Trust Fund. The interstates built in the ’50s and ’60s have served their useful life. It’s time to figure out how to reconstruct them and how we will fund that reconstruction. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being none at all; 5 being very much), how involved are your asphalt members in transportation issues such as funding and infrastructure improvements? Our members all have very good relationships with their legislators. Historically, we haven’t organized
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GET TO KNOW KEVIN BURKE III
Why did you join the asphalt industry? I have a B.S. in Chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis. Immediately after college, I started working for IDOT in their chemistry lab, first with traffic paints and other miscellaneous highway materials. In 1996, I moved into IDOT’s bituminous chemistry lab, where I was responsible for setting up the first PG binder lab at Illinois DOT. I left materials in 2000 for IDOT’s local roads and streets division. What do you see as the most important part of your job as an executive vice president of a SAPA? The most important thing is communicating with our members. Part of it is supporting their company in resolving issues, but also to communicate new technologies, benefits and innovations that contractors should be looking at to make them more efficient and improve operations. What is the most challenging part of your job? We can advocate for funding, and we do, but obviously our SAPA doesn’t have control over the DOT budget. However, that’s still the biggest challenge we’re facing right now, due to the limited amount of work available. Contractors have equipment and plants idle. We are nowhere near capacity in Illinois, in terms of total tonnage. Another challenge is balancing the needs of our contractors and those of the DOT. What do you find most enjoyable about your job as an executive vice president of a SAPA? To me, it’s our members. We’re very unique because so many of our plant mix members are family-owned and operated. Those people are so committed, to their company, to their family, to our state, and to IAPA. They’re so enjoyable to work with, and they really are trying to provide the best product at the best price for the taxpayers. What has been the most rewarding experience for you during your time as the executive vice president? When I was at the DOT, I knew the local agencies very well, but I didn’t know the contractors all that well. Going to the other side to be the executive vice president of IAPA, I’ve enjoyed getting their perspective and understanding that side of the industry better. I also really enjoy working with the other state execs. Everyone is so hard-working and if you need something, they are there to support you. And, most likely they’ve gone through what you’re going through.
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44 // July 2019
Y
Your plant may use a mechanical foaming process or a chemical or plant-based additive to produce warm-mix asphalt (WMA) mixes. Either way, the end goal for producing a WMA pavement mix can be multifaceted. The asphalt industry has, as a collective, learned of multiple benefits of producing and placing WMA. If you’ll pardon the pun, some of those benefits are seeing roadblocks. For example, you don’t necessarily want to change out mix designs four and five times per shift. This means Producer ABC may elect to run the easy mix with no WMA technology if he doesn’t have to use a more complex design on a given day. Unfortunately, this means he doesn’t get the extra energy and environmental benefits of the technology that he already enjoys as an asphalt mix producer. There’s a reason he might choose avoidance, you see. Switching mix designs throughout the day might be cumbersome if he doesn’t have the right equipment for the job. Cost is a roadblock if the department of transportation isn’t willing to offer an incentive for trying out a new process, new additive, new blend, etc. Running a WMA all day isn’t worth the hassle if not all of his customers and their inspectors are willing/able to understand the temperature differential. You get the idea, so let’s look at what some experts in the industry have to say about overcoming the roadblocks to reap the benefits of WMA production.
BENEFIT BACKGROUND
When producing WMA pavement mixes, you lower the temperatures with which you’re working, thus the temperatures of the final products. As asphalt mix producers know by now, lower production temperatures result in decreased fuel consumption, less energy use, fewer emissions possibilities and better air quality overall. Vice President of Engineering Mike Varner at Astec Inc., Chattanooga, shared that the trend in the use of additive technologies in particular shows “[t]he industry is willing to accept and continue to test and use new technology; there remains momentum towards reducing fuel consumption by lowering mix temperature, which in turn lowers both process and fugitive emissions; and additives often are capable of going lower in temperature than mechanical foaming.”
Here the foamed asphalt is still bubbling. With the expansion rate this will fill 100 percent of a 1-gallon can. However, just after a few minutes, due to the rapid foaming expansion through the Accu-Shear, it will consolidate down to approximately 15-20 percent of the full can volume. Photo courtesy Stansteel
Those particular benefits are happening, obviously, at the plant. When we look at the paving train, we often see ease of movement and ease of compaction with WMA pavement mixes. One of the constant benefits out in the field is the continued performance of the mix after long haul times and during cooler ambient temperatures of early spring and late fall. Varner suggested: “In the case of mechanical foaming, with the technology—being relatively low cost—there is a tendency to use it as a compaction aid, which is good.” He pointed out that some contractors are prone to use that benefit without lowering temperature, though, which is a positive for compaction, but does not help fuel consumption or emissions. These benefits overall make the use of WMA a no-brainer, right? Dennis Hunt, the senior vice president of Gencor, Orlando, pointed out a majority of producers who run WMA do so with foaming equipment. “From the foaming perspective, it works,” Hunt said. “It’s tried, it’s true, it’s proven.” The use of mechanical methods— and other methods—is proven by the most recent National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) Asphalt Pavement Survey on Recycled Materials and Warm-Mix Asphalt Usage (Information Series 138), which the team at NAPA shared in Figure 1 on page 48. With proven technologies in place, roadblocks seem illogical. What’s happening may be deemed bureaucratic or financial, but there are options for success in the ongoing WMA trends.
SPECS AND SENSE
Hassan Tabatabaee, Ph.D., the global technical lead at Cargill Anova Asphalt Solutions, headquartered in Minneapolis, shared that the low-bid specification system, when coupled with a lack of performance-related incentives, has hindered the growth of WMA use. Now, this is in relation to chemical WMA production, which carries a price-per-ton the mix producer must pass on to the agency/owner. Tabatabaee prepared a written statement: “In the current industry environment, often there is little economic incentive to use WMA unless mandated, as contractors often cannot afford to use these additives solely for their sustainability benefits.” Lance Brooks, sales manager at Ingevity, North Charleston, South Carolina, explained, “Agencies look for quality mixtures that perform well. Contractors look for technologies that are easy to use and have proven performance.” Since 2004, WMA technology provider Ingevity has demonstrated how customers can benefit economically from the comprehensive benefits of warm mix across all 50 states and multiple countries. The company’s Evotherm® additive is designed to enable contractors to consistently meet specifications for density, for example, in addition to offering other environmental and performance-related benefits. “In general, most customers are looking for help in improving the ease of mix compaction on the grade with the mix temperature that of traditional hot mix temperatures,” Ivann Harnish said. He’s the commercial director for Road Science®, a division of ArrMaz, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “There is little interest in decreasing mix and compaction temperatures. Among contractors, it’s about achieving density more easily, faster and consistently.” He believes in the use of Road Science’s AD-here® ULTRA line of WMA additives, which combines a compaction aid and adhesion promoter additives, to help contractors achieve target densities more easily.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 45
“A recent trend in WMA additive technology is the rollout of products that offer secondary features such as compatibility with a wider range of asphalt modifiers, and features related to improving plant and paving crew comfort and safety by reducing odors and the health hazards associated with the additives themselves,” Harnish said. “This is a trend in the right direction because it not only offers terminals and mix producers greater additive versatility, but also safeguards the hardworking industry workforce we rely on to build and maintain our infrastructure, and keep the goods and services that power our economy moving.” Odor suppressants join the rejuvenators and anti-stripping agents on the market today. “Many current and emerging technologies, such as new warmmix additives and rejuvenators, rely on precise introduction of liquid additives at the hot mix plant into the asphalt binder prior to injection into the drum,” Tabatabaee shared. “Therefore, asphalt producers will be well-served by incorporating versatile additive injection systems (i.e. capable of running anywhere between 0.1 to 3 gallons per minute), and additive tanks at their asphalt plants. Furthermore, as the performance hurdles to use of higher recycled content in HMA decrease—due to emergence of new additive technologies—producers will be well served by investing in removing operational hurdles to reliable use of higher recycled content, such as upgrading drum flighting, expanding RAP blend sizes, and RAP fractionation capabilities (See articles on how to implement these concepts at www.TheAsphaltPro.com).” One of the companies that has provided producers the ability to jump over performance hurdles is Stansteel®, headquartered in Louisville. CEO Lennie Loesch spoke of the evolution of “green” WMA kits over the years. His company “went about developing an engineering system for what we call ‘dynamic foaming’ resulting in proven warm-mix technology…” What his team developed was a dynamic foaming system with a number of elements that could mix liquid—whether water or other chemicals—with the liquid asphalt and avoid laminar flow in the piping system of the combined material, Loesch explained. “As with combining any other ingredient with either the liquid asphalt or the hot mix, it needs to be proportioned precisely, accurately, repeatably and variably based on different production rates, different tons per hour and different percentages of the base AC required. Therefore, the Stansteel design of the Accu-Shear® Dynamic Foaming System took all of these factors and more into account when configuring all of the equipment that was needed. Stansteel/Hotmix also provides a sampling device [which situates inline] after combining the liquids to prove that expansion and foaming have dynamically occurred.” Loesch pointed out that as chemical companies find favor with government agencies, “there are going to be a number of chemicals that are added to the hot mix and, rather than producers fight it, they will adapt and charge more for their mix because the government specifying agency calls it out in the specification.” On the other hand, for private mixes, savvy producers will likely elect to run a less-modified mix—one with fewer additives, thus lesser cost. “Because this was anticipated an upcoming factor, the Stansteel Accu-Shear was developed to handle combinations of liquids or multiple materials at the plant.” Loesch said. “In some cases, there are five or six different liquids that can be easily switched
46 // July 2019
back and forth, depending on what was specified by the agency. This could be a liquid chemical, a cutback liquid, or water foaming. This is done seamlessly through a combination of the pumping and metering systems blending the Accu-Shear and then dispensed with liquid asphalt to mix properly with the liquid and subsequently coat the aggregates, recycle, dust and more.
This is an example of a producer blending several different liquids at the plant site. Photo courtesy Stansteel
The Accu-Shear with insulated and jacketed lines is designed to allow the use of multiple liquid additives. Check out the Here’s How it Works feature from the July 2016 issue for details. Photo courtesy Stansteel “Advances in asphalt technology have the potential to deliver benefits to us all, but we can only realize those benefits if we adopt a more forward-thinking approach to asphalt design,” Cargill’s Tabatabaee also shared. “Leading research institutions are
LEFT: Here a double drum roller compacts WMA, which incorporates Road Science’s AD-here® ULTRA additive during late season paving in Nebraska. Photo courtesy Road Science® . RIGHT: The Generation 3 Warm-mix System is designed to ensure heated liquid AC encounters two water spray nozzles within the system. As water flashes to steam and mixes with liquid AC, it foams and expands through an orifice plate and into the mixing device. Check out the Here’s How it Works feature from the March 2018 issue for details. Photo courtesy Astec making significant investments to support this change, as we are beginning to see progressive state transportation agencies experiment with new performance-based approaches (See Balanced Mix Design on www.TheAsphaltPro.com).” Consider the efforts from industry and agencies for the success of warm mix. These days, DOTs often allow the use of WMA to be a contractor option. Does Producer ABC want to produce a WMA for all of his customers on a given day? He may get his best performance when doing a long production run of one mix, but he must take all of his customers into consideration. Not all customers understand—or have been educated on—the benefits of the warm mix product. If he has not educated all customers on its benefits, the FOB customer may be concerned about low temperatures, and so on. Producer ABC will want to have technology in place to switch mixes more easily and to accommodate multiple customers while gaining the benefits of warm mix as often as he can. As Tabatabaee pointed out: “…within the low-bid, specification-driven U.S. system, there are tangible economic benefits to using WMA as hot-mix compaction aids, helping contractors achieve density bonuses, especially in colder climates, and when used early and late in the paving season….The recent trends toward development and adoption of performance based balanced mix designs and specifications offers an opportunity for agencies to incentivize trial and introduction of innovative technology such as rejuvenators and alternative warm-mix technology, while limiting their exposure to risks of failure.” As mentioned above, rejuvenators add another element to the story. Their purpose is to restore properties to the aged, oxidized binder in the reclaimed material, be that reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) or reclaimed asphalt shingles (RAS). By softening or restoring the “hardened” binder, rejuvenators can make it possible to get more effective use of the binder. “Another area related to a trend is the development over the last few years of rejuvenators,” Loesch shared. “These rejuvenators are properly added and metered and proportioned to the amount of
RAP or shingles that are added to the mix.” In the early days, Loesch remembers, some producers were encouraged to merely spray rejuvenators into the base of the slat conveyor or onto the recycle belt or stockpile. “Of course, this…did not account for any irregular coating or for any changes in production rate or in percentage of RAP or RAS added to the material. The Stansteel team has designed over 45 different combinations of pump skids and metering devices for these rejuvenators and other liquids. One size does not fit all.”
PRODUCERS MIX
To get mixes right-sized and on-trend, producers can turn to any number of OEMs for storage options and blending units. It’s wise to start with the additive supplier, as you’ll learn next, to ensure all materials will be compatible with all seals and components. “With the advent of the Accu-Shear Advanced unit, many customers are choosing to create their own PG grades by on-site blending,” Loesch said. Road Science’s Harnish said, “For mix producers who are thinking of using and storing a WMA additive, it is of the utmost importance that they consult with their additive supplier to fully understand what types of storage tanks, pumps, gaskets and line materials are recommended for proper additive storage and handling. You want to make sure that your equipment is suitable to ensure ease of handling of the additive, and that the materials are compatible with the additive chemistry to avoid other issues from arising.” Astec’s Varner said, “Most of the technologies have now been sufficiently engineered so as not to have significant impact on plant components and processes. The best technologies take plant configurations and processes into account so that the introduction of the technology is no more difficult than delivery of any other additive. Frankly, the onus is with the technology provider to minimize the need for plant personnel to accommodate the technology.” Be that as it may, there are combinations of technologies and materials coming into vogue. Loesch pointed out: “For any combination of
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Figure 1. Survey Says
reasons, it seems as if there are more and more government specifying agencies that are requiring many different grades of liquid AC. We have had a report from one state that, for a given location, the state is requiring 11 different PG grades of asphalt. Now, let’s say each of the grades would require a chemical additive added at the asphalt terminal; does that mean the asphalt producer will need 22 to 25 different liquid AC storage tanks?” Stansteel’s liquid AC plant site blending experts suggest using the Accu-Shear to add latex or other additives to create multiple PG grades at the plant. “This has multiple benefits in that [the producer] is creating [the blend] in a very accurate manner and does not have a chance for many of the ingredients to settle out, since agitation is also required for many of the chemicals and additives that are combined with the liquid AC,” Loesch said. “Another huge benefit is that they only create the amount needed and more expensive PG grade asphalt does not have to be wasted on jobs just because that is what is remaining in the AC tank. Of course, another huge benefit is that the producer does not have to buy three, five or 10 more AC tanks to store all the different liquids as required by the government specifying agency. Just the capital cost alone with the maintenance and heating costs and more could be prohibitive.” Ingevity’s Brooks explained further: “In general, DOTs and agencies test for rutting, cracking and moisture resistance in their pavements. During the construction process, consistent compaction (density) is critical for contractors. An additive like Ingevity’s Evotherm allows agencies and contractors the ability to achieve these goals while seeing the added benefits of the lowest temperatures, ease of use, and proven performance.” He reflected on the past and the future of WMA: “Over the last 15 years, we have seen an increase in the adoption of WMA by agencies, as well as increased contractor usage of the technology. It is exciting to see WMA enable contractors and agencies to achieve their goals.”
HISTORICAL REMINDER
Aspects of WMA’s history and basic componentry can get lost over the years. Let’s take a quick look back at the concept’s fame. NAPA included a press release on its website when the industry won a Construction Innovation Forum (CIF) NOVA Award in 2013 for its work to speed the deployment and uptake of WMA. Formed in 1987, CIF is an international, non-profit organization that encourages and recognizes construction innovations. CIF created the NOVA Award in 1989 to recognize and advance significant innovation in all areas of the construction industry around
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the world. Nominations come from all segments of the industry and represent the efforts of owners, contractors, architects, engineers and others to improve the industry. The award nominations represent proven cost savings and quality improvement on actual projects. NAPA stated WMA encompasses a range of technologies used to reduce the production and placement temperature of asphalt pavement mixtures. According to the Federal Highway Administration’s Every Day Counts program, the reduction is 30-120oF below traditional HMA. According to the CIF NOVA Award official video presentation, the reduction is 30-75oF below traditional HMA. NAPA continued, stating, a variety of environmental, worker safety, and construction benefits have been realized through the adoption of WMA. It was introduced to the United States from Europe in 2004. Since that time, the United States has become the leading adopter and proponent of the technology. By 2010, the FHWA named WMA as an Every Day Counts initiative as a proven technology with environmental and construction benefits. In selecting warm mix to win a 2013 NOVA Award, the investigators cited its ability to improve compaction, reduce fuel or energy use, improve worker comfort, lengthen the paving season, and reduce overall paving costs.
Sources Included Astec Inc., Chattanooga—Mike Varner, VP Engineering Cargill Anova Asphalt Solutions, Minneapolis—Hassan Tabatabaee, Ph.D., Global Technical Lead Gencor, Orlando—Dennis Hunt, Senior Vice President Ingevity, North Charleston, South Carolina—Lance Brooks, Sales Manager NAPA’s Asphalt Pavement Survey on Recycled Materials and Warm-Mix Asphalt Usage 2017 Road Science®, a division of ArrMaz, Tulsa, Oklahoma—Ivann Harnish, Commercial Director Stansteel®, Louisville—Lennie Loesch, CEO
EQUIPMENT ON THE LINE Gather insight from the pipeline industry’s construction, refurbishment FROM ASSOCIATION OF EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS
Another thing I’ve seen is that more equipment is available to rent than when I first started in 2011. A great example is the trailer-style vacuum excavator. We don’t operate this type of machine on an everyday basis, so I really can’t justify purchasing one. The challenge has been: Where can I go to rent one? Meeting people from leading manufacturers has been really helpful. Now there are a few vendors out there who have added vacuum excavators to their rental fleets.
Andy Baldwin manages Appalachian Pipeline’s 500-plus-piece fleet of equipment.
A
Andy Baldwin has been the equipment manager for Appalachian Pipeline Contractors in Hendersonville, Tennessee, since June 2011. Prior to assuming that role, Baldwin worked in the auto parts industry for nearly 20 years. “My experience in auto parts, having a basic understanding of different types of machinery and their related components, made me a good fit,” Baldwin said. Baldwin now manages Appalachian Pipeline’s 500-plus-piece fleet of equipment ranging from trucks, skid steers and excavators to boring machines, pipelayers, sandblasting pots and numerous attachments. Baldwin talked to ICUEE about some of his biggest lessons learned since joining the pipeline industry nearly eight years ago, along with what he thinks it will take to continue succeeding as an equipment manager.
Q
What are some of the biggest pipeline industry trends right now?
We’re seeing a lot of new pipeline construction, as well as the refurbishing of existing lines. We’ve put in a lot of bids on “take-up and relay” projects where we’re removing old 10-inch lines and putting 16-inch lines in their place, or maybe going from a 16 to a 20. In either case, the existing pipe is too small to handle the volume that needs to run through it.
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Q
What are your biggest lessons learned thus far as an equipment manager?
Technology can be really helpful, but you have to do your homework and make sure you’ll get a return on your investment. For example, we’ve tried a couple of different telematics solutions, primarily for equipment tracking. The issue we’ve always run into is that, because of the specialized work we do, our equipment sometimes sits for longer periods of time. If it’s not being started and operated every day, especially in the colder northern climate, the telematics device seems to put a bit of a draw on the battery. Since our primary focus is productivity and downtime, that’s a concern for us. Another issue we’ve had with telematics is that a lot of our equipment is older. We aren’t able to capture as much of the machine performance data as we’d like in order to really see the benefit of telematics. That will change over time, of course, as we replace and upgrade elements of our fleet.
Q
Do you have any advice for your fellow equipment managers?
When I first came into this industry, I didn’t know all that much. Plus, I was all by myself; nearly everyone else in the company was out on jobsites. I knew what a dozer was and what an excavator was, of course, but I knew I had a lot to learn. That’s why I attended my first ICUEE in 2013. Now the show has grown to include a lot more of what we uti-
“I look at equipment and technology, not just for what it is designed for, but what our company can use it for.” lize as a pipeline company. I’m looking forward to the show this year to see what else is new and different, and would encourage others to attend as well. I like to think outside the box. I look at equipment and technology, not just for what it is designed for, but what our company can use it for. For example, we’ve started using pole trailers for hauling pipe on the right-of-way. They are compact, but can carry the weight. I think it’s important for equipment managers to really challenge themselves and think creatively. My other piece of advice is that it’s important to build a long list of resources. That’s another reason I like ICUEE. I’ve been able to meet a lot of people from a lot of companies, some of which I was never even aware of. When I first became an equipment manager eight years ago, I only had a couple of mat companies I dealt with. Now I have six or eight. The more people you know and the more options you have, the better you can be as an equipment manager. You can see the latest equipment and technology for the utility and construction industries at ICUEE - The Demo Expo, Oct. 1-3, 2019, in Louisville, Kentucky. Registration is now open.
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international snapshot
RetroTek fitted to front of Istanbul Municipality Transportation Department vehicle
International Reflectivity During the Intertraffic Instanbul 2019 tradeshow, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Department (Istanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi, Ulaşım Daire Başkanlığı) sought answers to quality control questions. Joe Turley, the CEO of Reflective Measurement Systems, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, discussed with the department the use of the RetroTek-M Dynamic Road Marking Retroreflector to assist them with the assessment of pavement conditions and performance of the Municipality road network. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality chose the RetroTek retroreflectometer over traditional dynamic side-mounted systems. It fits to the front of a vehicle. The company describes it as “a major advantage on the very congested road network around Istanbul…. the RetroTek simultaneously assesses the retroreflectivity of the road line markings on the left and right of the traffic lane travelled including any center lane markings/messages/symbols. The RetroTek system is not integrated into the vehicle so it can be easily removed and attached to other vehicles fitted with a standard square front tow hitch bar.”
D
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Left to right: Joe Turley, CEO Reflective Measurement Systems (RetroTek Technology); Mr. Barış Pulur, deputy traffic director of transportation department for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; and RetroTek’s Turkish Representative Mr. Ahmet Metin Dilemre, general manager, Dinarkom, Mühendislik Trafik İşaretleri Ltd. Şti. The maintaining of good quality pavement markings is more important than ever in ensuring that vehicles driven by humans and equipped with Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) and upcoming autonomous vehicles can operate safely on all road networks. The requirement for quality, reliable and affordable pavement assessment to industry standards has never been greater. The RetroTek technologies are ready to meet that challenge, according to the manufacturer.e. For more information, contact Joe Turley at joeturley@reflectivesystems.com. – FROM RETROTEK TECHNOLOGY
COMMITTED TO PAVING JUST LIKE YOU Over 60 years of experience, five laboratories across the globe, and a team of industry-leading chemists and civil engineers. All dedicated to asphalt paving technologies. This commitment to our industry is what enabled us to develop Evotherm®, the world’s leading WMA additive, and it’s what helps us understand what you need to get the job done right. Learn more:
EVOTHERM.COM
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 53
PennDOT partnered with Northeast Paving to place high-RAP mix on Old Brick Road.
Pennsylvania Partnerships Place High-RAP Mix PennDOT partners with paving contractors to place high-RAP mixes on the state’s low-volume roads BY SARAH REDOHL
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In addition to using up RAP stockpiles and repaving roads that would otherwise go unrepaired, the hybrid method frees up PennDOT resources for other projects, because hybrid projects such as this one only require the pugmill and one operator from PennDOT.
W
When Northeast Paving, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, won a bid to repave a few miles on Interstate 70, the company also agreed to take on a unique project alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on SR3021 and 3021, more commonly known as Old Brick Road. These so-called hybrid projects—of which Old Brick Road is the first—aim to solve a number of challenges. They will allow PennDOT to use its abundant reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) stockpiles, free up DOT resources and staff for maintenance projects, and allow roads that would likely go unrepaired to be repaved. Hybrid projects also open up these jobs, which would normally be performed by DOT staff, to paving contractors. “The real benefit of hybrid jobs is that they don’t tie up equipment, manpower, and other PennDOT resources,” said Scott Young, Special Advisor for Strategic Transportation Initiatives for PennDOT. “This hybrid approach provides us an opportunity to get this work done when department resources aren’t available. All it requires from us is the pugmill and operator.” Young has been with PennDOT for nearly 40 years, and has been involved in RAP for almost his whole career. “Now, I’m trying to migrate those best practices throughout the commonwealth,” Young said. “Hybrid projects like this are our attempt to do that, think outside of the box, and help districts and counties expand their recycled asphalt programs.”
MIGRATE BEST PRACTICES
The hybrid project for which PennDOT worked alongside Northeast Paving was located in southwest Pennsylvania, in Engineering District 12. “Old Brick Road was in need of paving, but there wasn’t enough money to repave it out of the county budget,” Young said, “so the stars aligned.” The project, located in district 12’s Washington County, was funded through PennDOT’s central office so it could be done at no cost to the county. Old Brick Road is a rural, low volume commercial road that fit the criteria PennDOT has for jobs of this type: a maximum average daily traffic count of 3,000 with less than 10 percent truck traffic. It was also located adjacent to its RAP source, I-70, which Northeast Paving milled before trucking the materials to the yard PennDOT would be using to store stockpiles and produce mix with its Pugmill Systems portable pugmill plant. According to Northeast Paving Superintendent Ralph Tedesco, trucking material to the stockpile site was a big job to coordinate. In total, they hauled 23,280 tons of RAP and 89,207 gallons virgin asphalt cement (AC) to the stockpile site (an average of three tankers per day). Once they had built a decent-sized pile of 12,000 tons, Northeast began screening the RAP through a 2-inch sieve shaker. Operating
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On this job, the plant averaged around 240 tons per hour, which was then loaded into Northeast Paving haul trucks and taken to the paving crew on Old Brick Road. with multiple piles of RAP in a smaller space than usual presented a challenge to overcome. “If we had to do it all again, I think we’d bring in a crusher and crush the material all down into one pile, rather than having a milling pile, a good pile, and a bad pile,” said Northeast Paving Superintendent Scott Kuhn. “We had a very small area to work with.” However, it wasn’t long before the mix was on its way to the paving crew on Old Brick Road. The Pugmill Systems plant can produce up to 400 tons of cold mix per hour. On this job, the plant averaged around 240 tons per hour, which was then loaded into Northeast Paving haul trucks and taken to the paving crew on Old Brick Road. “From the screened pile, it was only 35 or 40 minutes until we were placing that mix with the paver,” Tedesco said. Although the Old Brick Road hybrid project involved Northeast Paving to perform the milling, crushing, hauling and paving, Young said each hybrid project could take a slightly different form. “Perhaps sometimes the contractor will provide crushing, trucking and placement, sometimes they might only do placement,” Young said. “It also opens the box for us to think about things in a different way.”
THE CORE OF CONCEPT
PennDOT purchased three Pugmill Systems plants to help it achieve its goal of including RAP in more projects at higher percentages while keeping quality top of mind. It plans to purchase a third pugmill in the coming year. All of the DOT’s pugmills are shared among Pennsylvania’s 12 engineering districts. According to Young, the six counties that make up District 1, in northwest Pennsylvania, have been using pugmills for the last 35
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years. Six of the districts have already begun paving with RAP on around 60 different projects. Young estimates that the DOT places an average of 100,000 tons of this high-RAP mix per year. Although all of those jobs were internal DOT jobs, Young expects that to change as the DOT implements this hybrid project concept piloted in District 12. “Based on [the Old Brick Road] project, I’m sure folks in other districts will reconsider how they do high-RAP paving jobs, moving forward,” Young said. District 12 is not only new to the hybrid project concept, but also to the process of using pugmill to produce high-RAP mixes. Transportation Equipment Operator Specialist Dave Demyanovich visited District 12 to teach local DOT staff how to set up, calibrate, and use the pugmill. Demyanovich has been running machines like this for 13 years and is the Commonwealth’s subject matter expert. “This type of project was unfamiliar to us and to this district,” Kuhn said. “We like to try new things and it was interesting to see how the guys from Erie County [in District 1] were doing this. The Erie were really nice to work with and knew the equipment really well.” The experience employees from Erie County brought to the table also helped PennDOT specify their Pugmill Systems plants to suit their specific needs. According to Jared Allen, vice president of Pugmill Systems, Columbia, Tennessee, PennDOT came to the table with a handful of well thought-out changes to make to the machine. For example, PennDOT wanted the machines’ parts to be ones that their maintenance division already had in stock. They also added specific safety stickers and textured paint to prevent slips and falls, mounted fire extinguishers in specific locations, and added a duplicate control system.
There are the touch screen controls, as usual, and then a manual set of controls in case, for any reason, the primary controls were to go down. “We were excited to work with PennDOT on this project because it makes a lot of sense,” Allen said. “It’s fun for our people to build custom plants, especially for someone who has experience and knows what they want.” “[Pugmill Systems] was really accommodating with the addons we asked for and helped us work through design issues,” Young said. The pugmill PennDOT used can be used to produce a cold mix asphalt product with either recycled asphalt, virgin aggregate, or a combination of the two. PennDOT performs a compatibility study with the RAP material that will be overlaid on the low-volume road. “We keep track of each pavement’s history at PennDOT,” Young said. “We also take samples and create parallel mix designs to make sure we’re on the right track.” In some instances, they will use some virgin aggregate (usually 57s or 67s) alongside the RAP to add structure. The Old Brick Road, which required 10,500 tons of RAP in total, did not require the addition of virgin aggregate. Excess millings from I-70 were stocked for other PennDOT work. PennDOT added 9.8 gallons of E8 oil and 1 to 1.5 gallons of water per ton. This resulted in a working temperature range for placement between 90 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
ASPHALT PLANTS AND
COMPONENTS
According to Tedesco, any handwork with this type of mix would leave a bit of a shadow. However, this job didn’t require much handwork at all and any shadows were easy to roll out.
PAVE PAST CHALLENGES
Paving with this 100 percent RAP mix was quite normal, Tedesco said. What was unique, however, was the layout of the job. The low volume road would not be wide enough for trucks to pass each other and back up as usual. Sometimes, Tedesco said, trucks had to back up for a mile and a half to get to the paver. The width of the road also prevented traffic from passing in one lane as the other was paved. Since the entire road had to be closed anyway, both PennDOT and Northeast Paving thought it would be best to pave the 23-foot-wide road in one pass. “If we hadn’t, I couldn’t imagine the mess haul trucks backing up that far might leave on the side of the road that had already been paved,” Tedesco said. The Northeast Paving crew used a Caterpillar 1055 paver, which can go out to 19.6 feet wide, and they added 2-foot extensions with auger extensions on each side so they could pave the entire road in a single pass at a depth of 4 inches. “We were paving so much mix that we needed a new truck every 50 feet,” Kuhn said. Then, that truck would need to pull out and another truck would need to back up to meet the paver. How the mix came out of the dump truck presented another challenge. “Normally, mix starts to flow out when the truck gets one quarter of the way up,” Tedesco said, “but with this mix, the trucks had to get about halfway up before it would start trickling out. What we found was that the beds should be raised
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halfway up and once it begins to flow, the bed should be dropped back down to avoid overflow.” The rolling process was also a bit different. “For this asphalt, you want it to set up a bit before rolling it,” Kuhn said. The two Caterpillar 435 rollers needed to stay around 45 minutes behind the paver. Otherwise, it may bring [binder] to the top of the mat and create a bleeding problem. “Staying that far back can be difficult for roller operators who are used to being right behind the paver, so it’s a bit of a learning process.” Due to the nature of the mix, the 6-foot wide rollers tended to create creases that were rolled out in subsequent passes. The rolling pattern that PennDOT helped them establish included four passes with two Hamm steel drum rollers and two passes with a rubber tire roller. For this type of job, PennDOT also taught the crew the importance of using a non-nuclear gauge because it can measure the moisture in this type of mix. Two months after the road was paved, Northeast crews applied a chipseal to ensure the road was sealed up prior to winter and prevent chlorides from infiltrating the mat. “We ended up with a great product,” Young said. “The road looks great. I ran this road several times after it was paved and the mat looked fantastic.” Based on the project’s success, Young said the concept will likely be expanded statewide. PennDOT has a long-range plan to identify low-volume roads like Old Brick Road that meet its criteria for high-RAP mixes and are located near capital projects that could supply RAP. The plan also aims to identify the RAP network in each county and outline how
Once they had built a decent-sized pile of 12,000 tons, Northeast began screening the RAP through a 2-inch sieve shaker. From the screened pile, it was only 35 or 40 minutes until the crew was placing that mix with the paver. much material is required on each qualifying job. Currently, the state has more than 1 million tons of clean RAP available. “District 12 has a lot of rural roads like this one, so if it holds up with the traffic on it, I think this will become something they do a lot,” Kuhn said. “It’s a great way to get rid of millings.”
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VERMONT TRIALS WHEEL-PATH FIX
T
BY IAN ANDERSON
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), with headquarters in Montpelier, has typically employed common preventive maintenance treatments such as bituminous crack fill sealant, micro surfacing, various seals, ultra thinlays, hot-in-place bituminous overlays, and more. These treatments have proven to be effective. Their costs, however, can be fairly expensive, depending on the treatment and roadway type. The average winning bid price was approximately $1.6 million to treat an approximate average of 12 miles of state maintained highways from 2009 to 2011. Many state maintenance departments are investigating ways to repair deteriorated roadways at lower costs. VTrans Operations division has contracted with S.T. Paving Inc., Waterbury, Vermont, through a Category II Maintenance Rental Agreement (CAT II MRA) to address several distresses along four sections of roadway in central Vermont in a cost-effective manner. The project repaved a 40-inch wide area around the right wheel paths in each direction, rather than repave the entire roadway surface. The goal of the project is to eliminate water penetration, stop further failures, repair and improve the ride, and extend life of the existing pavement. These goals will further improve safety in these areas by: 1. eliminating water retention and hydroplaning; 2. reducing roughness for cars and bicyclists; and 3. eliminating snow retention, thus reducing the amount of salt needed for winter maintenance to clear the roadways. This report outlines the effectiveness of the process used, as well as the 40-inch skid box on the sections of U.S. Route 2. Site visits with observation of rutting and cracking show an improvement in performance over the period of this study and allow for an extended service life of this roadway segment.
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PROJECT SPECIFICS
This project was set in two different locations along U.S. Route 2 in central Vermont. The first began at the Middlesex Maintenance Garage at mile marker 0.0 and extended eastward 3.2 miles. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Approved Work Plan (2012) states that along the first section, there were an observed 114,580 linear feet of ruts and cracks in what was believed to be a Marshall mix design pavement. The second section began at the intersection of VT Route 100 and extended eastward 2.8 miles. Along the second section, there were 14,113 linear feet of cracks and ruts. The four test sites were located along the first section. Mile markers for the beginning of each test site were recorded. Cracking and rutting were analyzed in 200-foot sections. Table 1 shows the mile markers of the test site locations.
Table 1. Project Mile Marker Test Site Locations Test site visits were conducted pre-construction, during construction, post-construction, and twice annually thereafter. The results of each survey were analyzed in the office and the subsequent data recorded. There were only two cracking surveys administered: once before construction and once after construction. Rutting readings were taken every 50 feet, starting with the beginning mile marker for each test section. Readings were taken on the eastbound left and right wheel path and identical readings were taken for the westbound lane.
Figure 1. Construction From top to bottom, the construction of each test section began with milling the rutted wheel path a width of 40 inches and a depth that was necessary to achieve a level surface. A broom followed immediately behind the mill to clean the cut. The S.T. Paving crew then tacked the cut and paved the sections with a 40-inch skid box. The final steps were to lute the edges and roll each section flush with the adjoining pavement.
Table 2. Average Rutting (inches)
Figure 2. Test Sections Observed April 2014
Test Section 1
Test Section 2
Test Section 3
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Table 3. Average Cracking (feet) The pavement used in this study was Type IV 50 Blow Marshall Bituminous Concrete Pavement. The binder used was PG52-34. Construction of the pavement was applied through a five-step process. 1. Cold planing at variable depths at a width of 40 inches (to the base of the rutting) 2. Sweeping before the application of the emulsion tack coat 3. Applying the emulsion tack coat, which was rapid setting RS-1(h) 4. Paving at variable depths using the 40inch skid box 5. Rolling for compaction Initial conditions before construction began were taken in spring 2012, then twice during construction—once after the milling of the westbound lane May 14, 2012, and once after the milling of the eastbound lane May 21, 2012. At TS1, the post-milling readings were missed due to the paving operations being earlier than expected. Additionally, at test site 4, there was no repair to the eastbound lane. Table 2, on page 61, shows the average rutting for each lane in each test site throughout the pre- and post-construction process. The cracking summary preand post-construction are shown in Table 3, above. It is important to note that the cracking results are only for the repaved area in each lane. The site was visited March 2013 and July 2013 to evaluate the repair and to measure rutting in each test site. Photographs and general observations were made at each visit. Figure 2, on page 61, shows each test site during an April 2014 visit. Because the only sections milled and paved were around the right wheel paths for both lanes, the only way to measure the effectiveness of the 40-inch pave box is by comparing the milled sections preand post-construction. The data suggest the repaved section is performing well and maintained rutting values less than the pre-construction over the test period. The westbound
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lane also has similar results for overall rutting. Paving for both directions was completed June 1, 2012. The percent reductions of all cracks are shown in Table 4. Test site 2 showed an increase in fatigue cracking post-construction, likely related to the westbound lane fill being underflush with adjacent pavement and the eastbound lane fill being overflush with adjacent pavement.
Table 4. Cracking Percent Reduction
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this study was to examine and evaluate the constructability, overall performance and cost effectiveness of using this repair method. Research personnel assessed the existing pavement condition prior to construction to document all distresses, construction practices, and visited the sites annually to document any failures. Overall, the performance of the skid box (repaving only under the right wheel path) was effective in reducing cracking as well as repairing rutting. The data from this project suggest that using the 40-inch skid box to repair distressed sections is a viable alternative to repairing and repaving an entire section of road. Rutting was significantly reduced and remained so for the entirety of the project; the total cracking within the repaved project sections was reduced as well for the period of this study. Dr. Ian Anderson is a research engineer with the Vermont Agency of Transportation, Montpelier. For more information, contact him at Ian.Anderson@vermont.gov.
JOB SITE PLANNING FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL PAVING Part Two of AsphaltPro’s “Best Practices for Residential and Commercial Paving” series. BY SARAH REDOHL
Here we see members of Duval Asphalt and Asphalt Testing Solutions & Engineering LLC (ATS) double-checking the mat with a straight edge to ensure top quality. They had 1.5 inches of binder and 1.5 inches of surface in which to meet specs on this project. Photo courtesy ATS.
At World of Asphalt 2019, Brian Hall presented a seminar of best practices for residential and commercial paving. Hall, a territory manager with LeeBoy, Lincolnton, North Carolina, visits up to a dozen paving jobs each week. On those jobs, he’s noticed the temptation to overlook underlying deficiencies—for example, with the binder course—as if they won’t impact the final product. “It does matter,” Hall said. “If you have less than best practices even on the parts that don’t show, your surface will show that. When you stop worrying about the little things, the big things suffer.” Here, we share some of the insight Hall presented in the second of a three-part series devoted to best paving practices for residential and commercial jobs. Our first segment of the series covered job descriptions on the paving crew. This article outlines the best practices of planning, and the final segment in the series will detail best paving practices on residential and commercial jobs. “Quality paving starts with proper planning,” Hall said. And it starts from the moment you bid a job. “Estimators need to take everything into consideration.”
Particularly important with commercial and residential paving is making sure to notify residents or customers. “You don’t want to have to deal with or tow any cars the day you start paving,” Hall said. He also recommends having a pre-job meeting before each shift to discuss the previous day’s successes and shortcomings and talk through the upcoming shift. Hall said this is a great opportunity to encourage workers to take ownership of each job. It’s also a good time to make sure each person knows their responsibilities. Make sure everyone is wearing proper personal protective equipment (PPE). Each person should be wearing long pants, work boots, gloves, hard hats, safety vests and sunscreen, Hall said. And, of course, follow safety best practices, such as never walk between the haul truck and the paver and do not talk on a cell phone while operating any equipment. “If you have to make a call, like to the plant or something, stop your machine,” Hall said. “Everyone’s ultimate goal has to be to bring home everyone you started the shift with.” Your equipment should be in proper working order. All safety decals should be clean and visible. Hall offered a reminder that manufac-
A
64 // July 2019
turers sell replacement safety decals for their machines. To keep your equipment in top shape, Hall recommends a daily maintenance routine, taking care to check all hydraulics, fuel, etc. “When you have asphalt arriving isn’t the time for surprises,” he added.
PLANNING THE PROJECT
Project specifications, asphalt tonnage, grade conditions and paving width are all key to planning your project effectively. Prepping the site and your equipment is also important.
PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS
Of course, you will also need to know the project specifications. What type of job is it? Will you need to tack the surface? If so, what’s the rate? Will there be inspectors on the job? What compaction numbers are you looking for?
ASPHALT TONNAGE
The asphalt tonnage will influence the rate of paving, so it’s imperative to know the output of the asphalt plant and that they will be able to supply all the asphalt you will need. If not, make sure you have a plan B. You should also
know the route from the plant to the job site, how long it takes to drive, and how many trucks you have. All of these factors dictate the speed of paving. Ideally, there will always be a truck ready to load the paver. If ever the crew must stop paving, Hall recommends keeping the hopper 25 percent full. The top of the material will cool between loads, holding heat for what’s beneath it. “That crust insulates everything underneath,” Hall said. “When the new load of asphalt comes, it will reheat that crust and everything will flow smoothly through the paver.” Having asphalt in the hopper also means you always have asphalt in front of the screed. Hall also recommends ordering asphalt in tons, not in truck loads, since the plant will not know the tonnage of your trucks. If you have a 500-ton job, Hall recommends mentioning the total tonnage but only asking the plant for 250 tons. “Then, if things are going well, you can call the plant and ask for the other 250 tons,” Hall said. “Communication with the plant operator is the key.”
Pro Tip: For a project that will require 500 tons today, let the plant know you will ultimately require 500 tons, but start the shift requesting the first 250 tons. Communicate with the plant operator to make sure that the mix you’re using is right for the depth you’re paving, Hall said. A general rule is the depth should be three times the size of the smallest aggregate. If the aggregate is too big, the screed will drag over the larger aggregate, making a terrible noise and crushing it up.
GRADE CONDITIONS
“We’re not always dealing with a milled surface,” Hall said. “We may have to do a leveling course, there might be bumps, low spots, potholes or alligator cracks to deal with before paving.” In the event of rutting, you should mill it down to grade to get a flat surface or pave a leveling course. Hall said, for the leveling course, simply put the screed down and feed asphalt through it until it fills the low spots. Of course, this doesn’t solve the underlying problem, but this gives your crew a flat surface to work on. “It’s not always easy to see a problem until it rains, so take a straight edge with you to see where those fixes need to be,” Hall said.
PAVING WIDTH
Knowing the size and layout of the job will help you determine how many passes, and at what width, to pave. “These aren’t just rectangle parking lots anymore,” Hall said. Regardless of the variety of modern parking lots, with all their parking spot cutouts, trees, and other obstacles, some things remain consistent. You will pave with the fewest number of tie-ins. You will plan a route for trucks to come in and out so they can avoid driving over the fresh mat. You will plan ahead so you will pave your way out of the lot rather than get stuck in a corner. You will make it easy for your roller operator to stay busy, thus keeping the drums hot, without forcing him to track over tack or dirt. All of these things can easily be achieved if you have a plan.
Teach Your Crew What it Takes to Pave a Bonus-Worthy Mat
SITE PREPARATION
You should also prepare the site for your own success. Is it free of dust and debris? If not, your tack will not stick. Tack is an emulsion—asphalt mixed with water—and when the water evaporates, the asphalt will help the new asphalt stick to the old asphalt. Hall said 95 percent of the surface must be tacked for the coat to be effective. “Otherwise you’re just throwing away money,” Hall said. Too little, and you risk seeing raveling and slippage. Too much, and you risk it bleeding through, which “doesn’t look good and takes your friction course away, so it’ll be very slick when it rains.” If tacking old, oxidized asphalt, Hall recommends 55/1000s of a gallon of tack per square yard (nearly 6 ounces).
EQUIPMENT PREPARATION
As time has gone on, Hall has seen more and more residential and commercial pavers with grade control equipment. Take time to set those controls up and to set up your string lines. Since the screed is the money maker, Hall said, it’s key to set it up right. Zero out the electric screws or hydraulic screws. Set the end gates to meet the job requirements, spray the screed with ecologically friendly material before heating it up, and make sure the extension is in line with the main screed all the way out. Check that the angle of attack is consistent on both sides, that the crown is set to the correct value, and the tow point adjustment is at zero. This should take about 30 minutes to get set up.
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Asphalt Paving 101
In this course, your crew will learn: • How to stay safe on the job site • How to build a takeoff ramp • How to determine fluff factor • How to determine yield • How to prep for real paving in the real world • How to maintain equipment the right way • Job responsibilities for each paving crew member • and so much more…
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www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 65
product Gallery
Find New Parts for More Tons W
We’re deep into paving season now. If you find yourself in need of components or updates at the asphalt plant, the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) listed on the next few pages have parts, pieces, controls, software and whole plants to enhance your bottom line.
Ammann
Ammann Group, Langenthal, Switzerland, celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019. The business was started in Switzerland and now has operations around the world. It entered the North American market a few years ago with the introduction of key asphalt mixing plants, including those that incorporate high percentages of RAP. Check out the article, RAP Management LLC Does it First, on www.TheAsphaltPro.com to learn about one in operation right now. The Ammann ABP high recycling technology (HRT) asphalt mixing plant is designed for manufacturers who need to incorporate large proportions of RAP without sacrificing production capacity and quality. The ABP HRT plant features both warm and cold recycling systems that can be used simultaneously. The striking visual difference between the ABP HRT and traditional plants is the vertical stacking of the RAP-bearing components; the configuration is designed to reduce wear and sticking, and shortens the travel distance of hot RAP material. The plant has a production capacity of up to 440 U.S. short tons per hour and can use foamed bitumen, pigments and other additives. Ammann also offers its UniBatch plant, ACM Prime plant and the RSS 120-M shredder. For more information, visit www.ammann.com.
The satellite silo system from Astec allows operators to establish a retail location away from the parent plant.
Astec
Astec Inc., Chattanooga, announced just prior to WOA its satellite storage systems. “Stand-alone mix storage systems allow operators to establish a retail location within a transportation radius of the parent plant. These storage systems enable users to expand into a location that does not yet justify a plant, while the smaller footprint of the silo system can accommodate installation at small sites that can’t support a full plant. Satellite silo system components include a truck unloading hopper (to receive mix from the trucks to fill the silos), inclined drag conveyor, long-term storage silos with anti-segregation batchers, traverse conveyors to deliver mix into the selected silo and controls.” For more information, visit www.astecinc.com/SatelliteSilo.
ClearSpan
The ABP high recycling technology (HRT) plant from Ammann Group 66 // July 2019
ClearSpan Fabric Structures recently released the exclusive Armor Shield Cover, which is a 29-ounce architectural vinyl building cover that is designed for ultimate durability. ClearSpan stands by the durability of this new cover with a 30-year warranty. The protective membrane consists of seven layers, including a sturdy base fabric, multiple layers of protective coating and dual-sided PVDF top coat that increases durability and repels dirt, all to create a long-lasting tensile fabric of the highest quality. The cover is both mildew resistant and flame retardant, according to the manufacturer. This new material has gone through rigorous testing, and withstood over 900 pounds in a grab strength test, surpassing the maximum strength capacity of the testing machine. The high-tensile strength allows users to customize structures with architectural design elements without compromising the integrity of the building. The new Armor Shield Cover is available to outfit ClearSpan’s extensive line of building styles in white, gray, tan and green. A
Delair
The new Armor Shield cover material from ClearSpan is available now. 12-ounce poly cover accompanied by a 20-year warranty is also available for all ClearSpan buildings upon request. For more information, request a quote.
CWMF
CWMF Corp, Minnesota, announces the official release of its new product line, the Honey Badger Rap Crusher. The Honey Badger Rap Crusher is equipped with replaceable AR steel wear liners and a ½-inch steel pulverizing hopper. The Honey Badger rotor assembly includes 3-inch premium grade cast carbide hammers, a precision-machined shaft, ¾-inch rotor disks and grease lubricated pillow block bearings. Included is a two-way valve hydraulic power pack that allows for easy interior access but, most importantly, performs a controlled close of the hopper top so that safety is never compromised. CWMF offers two models, the HB-30 and HB-40. The HB-30 has a feed opening of 23 x 31 inches, a 50-horsepower TEFC motor, and rated at 20-50 tons per hour. The HB-40 has a feed opening of 23 x 35 inches, a 60-hp TEFC motor, and rated at 30-60 TPH. To get the RAP to the proper size, CWMF offers ½-inch, ¾-inch, 1-inch, 1-1/4inch and 1-1/2-inch AR steel grates in both models. Portable and stationary setups are available. The Honey Badger portable chassis is also equipped with a CWMF Tremor shaker and conveyor to get RAP processed on-site at any asphalt location. For more information, call (877) 457-3938
The Honey Badger Rap Crusher is designed to crush RAP in any asphalt location.
Delair, headquartered in Toulouse, France, introduced a new model of its popular long-range UAV, the Delair DT26, which offers an easy-to-integrate architecture for adding user-specified sensors and other payloads to the platform. The Delair DT26 Open Payload model features a removable container which can hold up to 3 Kg of extra payload and be connected to a power supply of up to 140W. It allows drone users to add specialized sensors for specific imagery needs, such as ultra-high resolution, multispectral and hyperspectral, thermal and oblique imaging capabilities. An optional cargo rack can be used to transport any type of items up to 3 Kg over the long distance range the UAV supports. The Delair DT26 Open Payload model is supported by a technical diagnosis service that helps customers evaluate the compatibility of their specific payloads with the UAV’s architecture. The Delair DT26 features a long endurance flying range of up to 135 minutes, enabling it to operate in BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight). The integrated communication system supports both command and control as well as video datalink connectivity via radio or 3G cellular, and a maximum range of 30 km. It comes with flexible mission planning and control software. The Delair DT26 Open Payload model offers typical deployment time of under 8 minutes. It can be launched in small spaces via its catapult take-off mechanism and features highly accurate belly landing capabilities, according to the manufacturer. Fully configured it weighs 17 Kg and features quick assembly components. For more information visit to www.delair.aero.
Epiroc
Epiroc, headquartered in Commerce City, Colorado, showcased its hydraulic attachments in the National Demolition Association (NDA) live DEMOlition event at the Demolition Rockies convention, March 23, 2019, in Aurora, Colorado. Back by popular demand, the second annual hands-on demonstration event offered attendees the opportunity to test and operate a variety of demolition equipment. One specific Epiroc hydraulic attachment featured in the demo was the SB 202 hydraulic breaker. The SB hydraulic breakers are designed for demolishing light concrete structures and asphalt pavements. They come standard with an integrated water port for dust suppression to enhance operator safety and to assist in compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) final silica rule regulations. SB breakers require minimal routine maintenance, which makes them a cost-effective option with minimal downtime. The SB 202 breaker is designed for the 5,500- to 13,000-pound carrier weight class. Epiroc hydraulic attachments are supported by the North American Competence Center in Independence, Ohio. The facility combines a customer center, repair shop and configuration center, and parts and supplies warehouse with a team focused solely on hydraulic attachments to support the U.S. and Canadian attachments market. For more information, call (844) 437-4762.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 67
product Gallery
The TCI serrated cutting edge from Kenco is designed to penetrate old and hardened RAP piles more easily than a standard flat blade.
MINDS’ DrumTronic asphalt plant automation and control software screen
Kenco
information clearly, such as how delays and timing can be shown over a graphic representation of material flow and plant. By standardizing on a system, the company was also able to reduce the amount of time it was spending on operator training and orientation. With DrumTronic, the company had the ability to move personnel from plant to plant without re-training. The MINDS system is highly customizable and has a consistent interface on drums, batches, hybrids plants, or even bitumen terminals and emulsion plants, “When they opened the door in the control house, it was an identical screen that they had from their old plant,” said the plant maintenance manager. With more than 30 personnel who would need to know how to operate the plant software, this was a huge time savings. For more information, contact (866) 938-1124.
Kenco Engineering Inc., Roseville, California, offers its Kenco Tungsten Carbide Impregnated (TCI) serrated cutting edge. The serrated edge design allows buckets to penetrate hardened reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) piles without using teeth. “Designed to give some of the benefits of teeth along with the benefits of a straight cutting edge, the Kenco serrated Tungsten Carbide Impregnated (TCI) cutting edge will penetrate old and hardened RAP piles more easily than a standard flat blade, but won’t leave trenches in the yard floor the way teeth will. Though trading some overall wear life for better penetration, the Kenco serrated design still gets the benefit of our unique TCI process. Get the best of both worlds with the Kenco serrated TCI cutting edge, good penetration with good wear life.” For more information, contact Paul McDowell at (916) 782-1796.
MINDS
A highway construction firm in the United States that operates many asphalt plants was using multiple asphalt plant automation systems prior to 2019. The various plant control software was not compatible with each other, making it difficult for the firm to understand at a company-wide level how its plants were performing in relation to each other, ensure production standardization and accuracy across its operations, and train plant staff. In 2009, the company made the switch from its multiple plant control systems to the DrumTronic software for asphalt plant automation and control from MINDS Inc., Boisbriand, Quebec. MINDS’ customizable asphalt plant software was designed after consultation with plant operators to allow plant managers to get a quick and clear understanding of their operations, and handles everything from simple blending to total plant control. The construction firm saw immediate improvements from switching to the MINDS software beyond the simplicity of having one plant control solution instead of several. The simplicity of use is thanks to the way DrumTronic was designed to communicate all the metrics that operators need to understand, to prevent confusion and misinterpretation of data. MINDS prioritized symbolizing
68 // July 2019
PHCo
Process Heating Company, Seattle, offers its Lo-Density® Hot Oil Circulating Heater systems to provide automatically controlled, even-temperature heat-transfer fluid. The systems offer unique benefits for asphalt plants, including lower operating costs, improved product quality, reduced maintenance, longer heater life and enhanced sustainability, according to the manufacturer. With the PHCo indirect heating systems, heat from electric energy is transferred to the oil, which then carries it to the area or process where it is needed. Using PHCo’s unique Lo-Density patented CoilLock-design heating elements, which reside within a drywell, the units dissipate controlled heat as low as eight watts per square inch on the heater’s sheath. This is designed to eliminate coking or carbonization of the transfer oil. Because the drywell-style elements are accessible from outside of the system, they also may be serviced without draining the heater. Each Hot Oil Circulating Heater is a complete system that includes a properly sized, vented expansion tank with a sight glass and a low-level shut-off switch. Like all fluids, heat transfer oil expands when heated. The expansion varies with the temperature to which it is heated. For example, 100 gallons of oil at 50° F will expand to 114 gallons when heated to 450° F. The expansion tank permits expansion of oil as it is heated, without exposing hot oil to air.
For more information, call (866) 682-1582 or visit www. processheating.com.
Topcon
The hot oil heater from Process Heating Company
Topcon Positioning Group, Livermore, California, announces the next generation flight planning system for its rotary-wing aerial UAV offering—Intel® Mission Control Software. The new software is designed to facilitate automated flight planning, managing missions, and data handling for the Intel® Falcon™8+ Drone–Topcon® Edition and its available payload options. The software is designed to increase accuracy with advanced mapping features that allow operators to set project parameters and prepare missions using presets for 2D areas like polygon, corridor and city grid, as well as 3D structures like towers, buildings and facades. “Operators can take advantage of 2D and 3D map views with the ability to import more precise project details and parameters, including restricted airspace, and support to adapt flight planning over difficult terrain,” Charles Rihner, vice president of planning for Topcon Emerging Business, said. Additionally, the software includes automatic pre-flight safety and system checks while in mission planning. The flight planning software is also designed to improve data handling and export to support easier data processing. For more information, visit Topcon at topconpositioning.com.
It functions as an oil seal to accommodate the increased volume of expanded oil in a quantity of colder oil, which comes into contact with a limited amount of air. The low temperature of the oil seal will contribute to the long service life of the oil. A secondary function of the expansion tank is to provide a means for the escape or intake of air as the oil level in the tank rises and falls. The system also includes an exchanger built to ASME standards, covered with high density insulation and an aluminum jacket. There is a motor-driven, special high-temperature centrifugal pump for circulating heat transfer oil, and a UL-listed industrial control panel in a weatherproof enclosure, with standards that include a programmable time clock for early morning startup, main indicating controls, and over-temperature controls. Also contained in the package are additional features on these heaters, including a strainer for easy cleaning, shut-off valves for the system and the fill lines, and strategically located air purge valves to assist in filling the system. PHCo Hot Oil Circulating Heater systems are completely pre-wired, pre-plumbed, and ready for installation. With fluctuating energy prices, efficiency becomes critical to the cost of doing business. One PHCo customer, F&R Asphalt of Easley, South Carolina, replaced its diesel-fired hot oil with a PHCo electric hot oil heater in 2009. The diesel system had burned 800 gallons of fuel per week, and F&R Asphalt was paying $4.00 per gallon—resulting in weekly fuel costs of $3,200 (an annual cost of $166,400). After switching to the PHCo electric hot oil heater, the customer was able to reduce heating costs to $210.10 daily, for an annual cost of $76,686—and an annual savings of $89,714. Given today’s energy costs, with diesel fuel at approximately $3.00 per gallon and industrial electricity costs at about the same as 10 years ago, the data is still relevant.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 69
off the mat
Workplace Violence Costs You Money A
Analysts have attempted to calculate the financial impact of violence in the workplace. Many of the statistics are calculations of the financial impact in the national aggregate, relying on workers comp reports, law enforcement reports, numbers compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, etc. Such a methodology arrives at a minimum cost of many tens of billions of dollars per year for American industry. While such information is important, most business leaders are more interested in are the possible financial impacts on their organizations. This answer is contingent on many variables, such as the size of the organization, the nature of the violent incident, the type of industry it is, etc. However, it is possible to identify specific types of financial impact.
violence, how many people it impacted and your organization’s daily revenues. This impact is persistent and slow to resolve. Cleanup and restoration of the site—This impact is contingent upon the nature of the violence. Rise in health care premiums triggered by a greater need of psychological services—Even workers not directly affected by the violent incident will often experience an increase in anxiety and other negative impacts. Increase in workers comp premiums—These premiums are calculated based on the size of the workforce, the nature of their jobs and your organization’s claims history. Violent incidents with injuries will raise the claims history index of your organization and result in an attending increase in premiums.
PRE-COSTS OF VIOLENCE
Before we examine the specific financial impacts of workplace violence, there is an important issue to discuss. Worker-on-worker violence does not happen in a vacuum or out of the blue. In nearly all cases, abusive supervisory styles, bullying and a sense of injustice have been part of the workplace culture. In turn, these elements of workplace culture are always associated with multiple hidden costs to the organization. Actively disengaged workers are less productive, intentionally undermine morale, call in sick more often, can perpetrate acts of passive or active sabotage, and contribute to employee turnover. This is the point: By the time a violent incident occurs, your organization has already been paying the hidden costs of the circumstances that have brought it about, often for years.
WHAT TO DO AFTER A VIOLENCE INCIDENT
Differences in the size of the organization and the nature of the violence make it difficult to establish a useful range of financial impact for every case. However, the categories of impacts listed below will be true across the board. Given the many variables, it’s not practical to suggest figures, but the reader can easily apply the following impacts to their organization. Critical incident debriefing for affected workers—Survivors of violent events at work, even those with no physical injuries, often struggle to regain a sense of normalcy. Facilitating such an experience for impacted employees is not only a moral and ethical obligation; it’s in the best interest of all concerned. In most cases it will require outside facilitators. Temporary closure of the facility because of the incident—You can arrive at a ballpark figure for your organization by multiplying your estimated daily revenues by the number of days your facility will be closed. This could be anywhere from one to three or four days. Revenue lost to decline in productivity—Again, the magnitude of this impact is dictated by several things, including the nature of the
70 // July 2019
By the time a violent incident occurs, your organization has already been paying the hidden costs of the circumstances that have brought it about. Litigation costs—These costs have risen substantially in the last decade. Jury awards of several million dollars are not uncommon. Replacement costs for up to 10 percent turnover in the workforce—Studies have shown that employee turnover spikes after violent incidents. Human resources professionals tell us that the cost of turnover can be between two-thirds to twice the annual salary of the person being replaced. You can apply the math to your organization. There are other wildcard impacts not listed above, such as a possible impact on shareholder value, a public relations effort to counter negative publicity, etc. When you consider all the ways a violent incident at your workplace can impact your organization’s bottom line, prevention programs just make good sense. –BY GARY SHEELY
Gary Sheely is an associate of the Safety Institute and Tactical Confrontation Specialist focusing on workplace violence issues. For more information, visit www.safetyinstitute.com.
Here’s how it works
Step 2
Step 1 Mount FORTAʼs Ranger feeder to your continuous or truck-mounted slurry or micro surfacing equipment.
Fill the feeder with Surface-EXT.
Step 3 Set the dosage rate on the dispenser.
Step 4 Turn on your machine and start the pugmill. Ranger will begin to add fiber to the pugmill at the same time the AC is added to the mix.
Step 5 As Surface-EXT disperses throughout the mix, it bonds to itself and creates a matrix to hold the aggregate together.
FORTA’s Surface-EXT Fiber & Ranger Feeder A
A properly-applied slurry seal or micro surfacing treatment will last an average of three to five years, depending on the state of the underlying surface. However, FORTA Corporation, Grove City, Pennsylvania, aims to extend the life of slurry seal and micro surfacing treatments by an additional three years with its Surface-EXT alkali- and acid-resistant glass fiber and its Ranger feeder. Here’s how they work. First, FORTA’s Ranger feeder must be mounted to any continuous or truck-mounted slurry or micro surfacing equipment. Once attached, the Ranger can remain on the machine at all times, whether or not fiber is being used on that project. When fiber
is required on a job, the contractor will fill the feeder with Surface-EXT pre-chopped fiber. Next, he will set the dosage rate on the dispenser, normally between 0.15 and 4 percent of the dry aggregate weight with most users adding around 0.2 percent. The feeder is controlled with the same controls as the rest of the pugmill components. The fiber is added on the front side of the pugmill, at the same time that the AC is added to the mix. Using Surface-EXT does not require any change to mix design and does not change the way paving crews operate. To prevent the fiber from falling to the bottom or rising to the top of the mix, Surface-EXT has the same density and weight as the aggregate. As it distributes evenly through-
out the mix, Surface-EXT creates a matrix that holds the aggregate together. This results in increased durability and flexural strength to reduce cracking and other distress. For more information, contact Brian Engstrom at bengstrom@fortacorp.com or (724) 350-1330.
SHOW US HOW IT WORKS
If you’re an original equipment manufacturer with a complex product, let us help you explain its inner workings to asphalt professionals. There’s no charge for this news department, but our editorial staff reserves the right to decide what equipment fits the parameters of a HHIW feature. Contact our editor at sandy@theasphaltpro.com.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 71
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GTB-5358K | Cedarapids Stationary Recycle System
8’6” x 14’ skid mounted single bin with Grizzly as well as Vibrator Pneumatically adjusted feed gate Folding 36” x 30’ incline feed conveyor with 10HP Dodge drive package
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GTB-5359 | CMI PTD400 Portable Counterflow Drum Plant
Portable C.M.I. Model PAB-432 – Four (4) Bin 10’ x 14’ Cold Feed System with 30” wide feeders, 5 HP shaft mounted drives and a nominal 30” wide integral collecting conveyor with bi-folding head section. This cold feed system is
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Astec, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 15, 19, 23, 26
Minds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
B & S Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Pegasus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
CEI Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Process Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chemtek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 63
Pugmill Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
CWMF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Reliable Asphalt Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover
E.D. Etnyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Roadtec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Fast-Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Stansteel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 72
Gencor Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Systems Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Green Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Tarmac International, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Heatec, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover
Top Quality Paving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Ingevity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Willow Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Kenco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Wirtgen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 73
new tech
Kokosing Complies with Lockout-Tagout L
Lockout-tagout, the process of ensuring machinery is properly shut off and unable to start again before maintenance and repair work is completed, should be standard in our industry. However, what should be common knowledge isn’t always common practice. Making it easy for employees to follow best safety practices means they are more likely to do what they should to stay safe and keep their coworkers safe on the job. That’s why Kokosing Materials Inc., Fredericktown, Ohio, developed its field ID lockout/tagout program. The program, which won NAPA’s 2018 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award, is based on a mobile application that has digitized and centralized the company’s lockout-tagout (LOTO) policies and procedures. The app gives employees step-by-step instructions to properly lockout a machine. Then, they’re required to verify they’ve completed all steps. Once repairs or maintenance is complete, they jump back into the app to “unlock” that machine. Everything related to LOTO is completed electronically—no paper copies—and all lockouts are recorded for later review in the system. By placing all of those procedures in every employee’s pocket, via their smartphone, compliance with lockout procedures has increased. “Our employees are absolutely complying with lockout-tagout procedures more than they used to,” said Kokosing HSE Director Chuck Mull. “With 22 facilities, there isn’t always direct supervision around. It’s a relief to know our teams are being safe out there when it comes to lockout-tagout because they know how to handle it properly.” In the past, Mull would write up LOTO procedures in Word documents that employees would need to track down before performing any maintenance or repairs. When production has unexpectedly stopped and you’ve got trucks backing up, finding a PDF is often not a top priority. Personally writing out LOTO procedures for every piece of machinery was also time-consuming for Mull, who would often have to travel to that plant to take photos before writing up the procedure. Now, if Mull needs to prepare a new procedure, he selects its features from the presets available on the backend of the Field ID system and it’s ready to go in 5 minutes. Kokosing worked with eCompliance, Toronto, formerly known as Masterlock Field ID. Mull had learned about Masterlock at a conference and began working with them to build a custom app for Kokosing’s lockout-tagout procedures. Along the way, Mull and his team offered input on features that would be useful for its employees. For example, Kokosing has also color-coded various types of hazards within the app. Blue is associated with pneumatic hazards and red is associated with electrical hazards. Another benefit of the app is its simplicity has enabled Kokosing to prepare lockout procedures for less hazardous equipment, like dump
74 // July 2019
Within the app, users can see a list of all assets at any location. They can also see an image of that asset, recent activity, and lockout/ tagout procedures. trucks. It has also made employees more proactive when it comes to preparing LOTO procedures for new equipment. In the past, Mull would show up at a plant and see new systems that were already a month old that he wasn’t aware of that didn’t yet have a written lockout procedure. “Now, when they get a new piece of equipment, they automatically ask us for a new lockout procedure,” Mull said. “Guys are bringing to our attention hazards that the safety group hasn’t even recognized yet. They aren’t relying on the safety department to tell them what to do. They’re bringing stuff to us.” This is in stark contrast to employees’ implementation of the program when it first began. “A lot of the guys aren’t tech savvy,” Mull said. “Getting used to using their smartphones to follow the procedures and getting comfortable with that aspect of it was a challenge at first.” Initially, employees would look for the LOTO book out of habit, but after using the app a couple of times, their confidence in the new program grew. Kokosing also has a two-day annual review of lockout procedures to ensure everyone knows the proper way to comply. The Field ID lockout-tagout program has been so successful, Mull said, that it is now being utilized within other divisions of Kokosing Inc. “Since we started using the Field ID lockout-tagout program, our culture has really changed in regard to lockout-tagout,” Mull said. – BY SARAH REDOHL
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