Innovations Issue
asphaltPRO PRODUCTION – PROFESSIONALS – PRODUCTS
How to Pave a Port with a little help from LPS stations
• World of Asphalt Preview • RoadScan 230 Feet High • How to run IDEAL-CT • IC + TMTP = QC/QA • 3D Print Maintenance • Let’s Calibrate the Plant • Solve Unstable Concrete
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COME AND JOIN US FOR WORLD OF ASPHALT 2022 MARCH 29-31, 2022 Nashville, Tennessee BOOTH # 2020 Gencor Industries is excited to exhibit again at World of Asphalt. It is the perfect opportunity to visit us and discover our new products and latest innovations. The Gencor team will be ready to discuss our products and benefits to help you increase your productivity and profitability. We look forward to seeing you in Nashville!
CONTENTS
asphaltPRO March/April 2022
DEPARTMENTS
18
EDITOR’S LETTER 6 – Saved By Zero
SAFETY SPOTLIGHT 8 – Protect Drivers with Dash Cams By AsphaltPro Staff
MIX IT UP 10 – How to Fix Core Damage By John Ball
THAT’S A GOOD IDEA 12 – Give Pavers Good Guidance By John Ball
PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE 14 – 3D Asphalt Printer Repairs Cracks By Emily Newton
30
40
PROJECT MANAGEMENT 18 – Asphalt Creativity Solves Concrete Instability By Sarah Redohl
WOMEN OF ASPHALT 24 – National Organization Expands WofA Goals By Amy Miller and Sandy Lender
FEATURE ARTICLES
Innovations Issue
asphaltPRO PRODUCTION – PROFESSIONALS – PRODUCTS
INTERNATIONAL SNAPSHOT 26 – International Smartpaving From Wirtgen Group
PRODUCT GALLERY 50 – Paving Parts By AsphaltPro Staff
NEW TECH 56 – Heat the Longitudinal Joint for Optimum Density By Sarah Redohl
OFF THE MAT
30 – Tight Timeline, Tighter Tolerances on Port Project By Sarah Redohl 34 – Mayo Construction Hits Spec with High Tech Intelligent compaction and paver mounted thermal profiling assist in quality paving in Bottineau County By Bryce Wuori 40 – Three Tips for Successful Plant Calibration By Joe Higgins and Ted Christian
60 – Use Overtime Effectively By AsphaltPro Staff
44 – Wooten Expands North Carolina’s I-95 By Ronald Brock
HHIW
46 - Gear Up for WOA/AGG1 Offerings By AsphaltPro Staff
66 – FHWA’s IDEAL-CT
How to Pave a Port with a little help from LPS stations
• World of Asphalt Preview • RoadScan 230 Feet High • How to run IDEAL-CT • IC + TMTP = QC/QA • 3D Print Maintenance • Let’s Calibrate the Plant • Solve Unstable Concrete
MARCH/APRIL 2022 WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM
ON THE COVER
Tight spaces required strategic thinking for setting up LPS stations on Canadian port paving project. See related article on page 30. Photo courtesy of All Roads
E D I TO R ' S L E T T E R
Saved By Zero
I
n Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert, the Darvasa gas crater has been burning since 1971 when, as one story relates, it’s believed a drilling rig struck oil, ignited and was lost to the gaping inferno. Tourists visit this 230- by 100-foot pit of fire, ringed by a fence, to gawk at the disaster that emits methane in a way no amount of carbon credits can logically balance out. As fortune would have it, “new” President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov1 plans to fix it; he announced Jan. 8 that officials need to find a way to put out the fire and use the natural resources in the area to benefit his people.2 I’ve oversimplified this example of one gross GHG emitter to prove a point. We can install energy-saving lightbulbs, air-scrubbing filters, water-use-reducing commodes, and all manner of devices around our homes, businesses, and asphalt facilities to achieve green rating systems status, but such steps won’t save the planet until the big emitters are curtailed. Shall I go ahead and call out a specific communist party in China? Active volcanoes contribute to worries, as well. Then, there’s this 51-year-old flaming maw in Turkmenistan. Please don’t assume I would condone inaction on the part of small and near-nonemitters. I fully applaud the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) commitment to net zero carbon emissions for our industry. NAPA announced during the 67th annual meeting in Scottsdale four industry goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 that include: 1. Achieving net zero carbon emissions during asphalt production and construction by 2050 (scope 1 emissions); 2. Partnering with customers to reduce emissions through pavement quality, durability, longevity, and efficiency standards by 2050 (downstream scope 3 emissions); 3. Developing a net zero materials supply chain by 2050 (upstream scope 3 emissions); and 4. Transitioning to electricity from renewable energy providers in support of net zero carbon electricity generation by 2050 and reducing electrical intensities (scope 2 emissions). Continuing to transform and update green thinking throughout any industry is laudable. Defining goals—and how to reach them—for our industry to achieve more in making our pavements more resilient and more carbon neutral will pay dividends for future generations. Going after the low-hanging fruit is always a smart first step. But we cannot ignore the fact that large emitters are spewing forth clouds of emissions that could negate the small steps remaining to us. The Road Forward announced at the annual meeting is a worthy mission. I want to see all asphalt industry members succeed in reducing upstream and downstream inputs to such miniscule levels that we’re saved by zero. I also hold out hope that a road forward leads to the front door of a volcanologist who has figured out how to “scrub” carbon and sulfur dioxide from passive and erupting plumes in the Ring of Fire. Or to a person who knows how to put out the fire at Turkmenistan’s Doorway to Hell. Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender
1. This is the spelling of his name according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. 2. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/08/turkmenistan-plans-to-extinguish-vast-gas-crater-firedubbed-gateway-to-hell
6 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
March/April 2022 • Vol. 15 No. 6
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/.
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Protect Drivers with Dash Cams BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
W
hen a driver following one of Carolina Sunrock’s haul trucks claimed the truck ran a red light, the company was able to show the State Highway Patrol video footage exonerating their driver. This was made possible through Carolina Sunrock’s investment in fleet dash cams from Lytx Inc., San Diego. Used by more than 1.3 million drivers worldwide, Lytx dash cams can be used to capture video from a number of viewpoints, including front, rear, cargo, cab, left and right views. “Although there are many benefits, the ones we hear about most often are the visibility into risky driver behavior, the ability to reward and recognize drivers for excellent driver skills, and the overall protection of the drivers, the fleet, and brand,” said Lytx Senior Product Marketing Manager Ofelia Chernock. Another Lytx customer, Sunstate Equipment Co., Phoenix, uses Lytx’s Driver Safety Program. Since it began using Lytx four years ago, the construction rental equipment company has relied on the system to exonerate its drivers 110 times. One thing that supported the Sunstate leadership team’s decision to use Lytx was the effectiveness of the program in exonerating its drivers. In the last four years, they have been able to prove the innocence of Sunstate drivers. “Even a small fender-bender with a property damage total of $1,000, if contested, can become a $50,000 claim that can take months to resolve,” Chernock said. The cloud-connected cameras provide real-time access to live streamed video and up to 100 hours of recorded video per vehicle. Locating relevant segments of footage is made easier by search filters, including time and date, location, and events. Drivers can tag events manually, such as safety concerns, near collisions and weather conditions, by pressing a blue button on the Lytx dash camera. Managers can then find and review these tags within the Lytx dashboard. What sets the Lytx dash cam system apart is its machine vision and artificial intelligence (MV+AI) technology to automatically detect more than 60 risky driving behaviors inside and outside the vehicle. Lytx’s MV+AI technology has learned to identify and log these types of events based on more than 120 billion miles of commercial driving data from all types of vehicles and road conditions. This extensive database is made even more accurate through professional human review to validate and categorize driving behaviors. These events the MV+AI technology can identify include cell phone use, seat belt use, speeding, inattentiveness, eating and drinking, smoking, failure to stop at intersections, weaving within or departing from lanes, and unsafe following distances, among others. It’s also possible to use Lytx’s MV+AI technology to monitor these events in the form of metadata without the need to record video of the driver. “When our MV+AI detects risks, the DriveCam event recorder can issue real-time audible alerts to help drivers redirect their attention in the moment to avoid potential collisions,” Chernock said. “Our alerts focus on the moments that matter, using MV+AI technology to identify critical risks while avoiding the distraction and fatigue that can occur when alerts are overly frequent or inaccurate.”
8 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
The system can also be configured to trigger real-time, in-cab audio and light alerts to help drivers immediately self-correct risky behaviors. Drivers can also review their own video and performance metrics after the drive to self-coach for continuous improvement from within the Lytx driver app. Managers will also have access to detailed reports, tracking the duration of persistent behaviors and the percentage of drive time those behaviors consume. The dashboard also offers customizable reporting on fleet safety, with industry benchmarks, progress against internal metrics, and return on investment analysis. Furthermore, footage captured can also be used for safety training with individual drivers or throughout the company.
"EVEN A SMALL FENDER-BENDER WITH A PROPERTY DAMAGE TOTAL OF $1,000, IF CONTESTED, CAN BECOME A $50,000 CLAIM THAT CAN TAKE MONTHS TO RESOLVE."—OFELIA CHERNOCK Lytx can also be used to locate, track and manage fleets in real time. Its GPS-based fleet tracking software tracks vehicle locations and enables full trip replays either in map view or from the camera system. Companies can also set up custom geofences to monitor vehicles entering and exiting designated areas and track arrival and departure times. This set of features can help reduce fuel consumption by tracking idle time, based on reporting from vehicle engine control modules (ECM). Lytx also offers a Department of Transportation (DOT) compliance service to help users comply with Electronic Logging Device (ELD) mandates and improve Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores. Since all Lytx’s cameras are compliant with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations and are equipped with an ECM connection, its ELD system requires no additional hardware, outside of a device (i.e. cell phone) that clients can use to check the driver app. Lytx’s Hours of Service (HOS) system audits and compiles all HOS records, whether from ELDs, paper logs, time sheets or all three, into a single source. Fleet managers can receive real-time HOS violation alerts, in addition to next day detailed reports on driver logs and remaining hours. Drivers can use the Lytx driver app to record ELD HOS status and track when they are on and off duty, and when they are due for a break. Drivers can also use the app to complete vehicle inspections as part of Lytx’s Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR) management service, which streamlines electronic and paper DVIRs into one platform so it’s easier to identify inaccurate or missing data. The system also helps managers analyze data to see the source of CSA violations so they can take action to improve scores.
COME AND JOIN US FOR WORLD OF ASPHALT 2022 MARCH 29-31, 2022 Nashville, Tennessee BOOTH # 2020 Blaw Knox is excited to exhibit at World of Asphalt. It is the perfect opportunity to visit us and discover our new products and latest innovations. The Blaw Knox team will be ready to discuss our products and benefits to help you increase your productivity and profitability. We look forward to seeing you in Nashville!
MIX IT UP
How to Fix Core Damage
BY JOHN BALL
T
aking core samples for quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) is a destructive process, but there’s a right way to fix the pavement after coring. To give your new pavement its best chance at long life, repair the core damage with best practices. STEP 1. Dry the hole with a cloth. Taking the core sample requires the use of water, and that water will present adherence problems for tack and mix if you try to patch directly. Your first step is to dry the hole as best you can. STEP 2. Tack the base and sides of the hole with appropriate tack material. STEP 3. Bring hot-mix asphalt to the project in a cooler that can hold its temperature. Use a trowel or other hand-held tool to deliver mix directly to the hole without making a mess around the edges. You want to pile the mix about half an inch higher than the pavement surface to allow for compaction. STEP 4. Compact the material into the hole with a hand tamper. Core sampling is a necessary evil in the field and sealing up the pavement afterward is vital to the life of the pavement structure. Make sure your QC/QA team is performing their best practices.
John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire. He provides personal, on-site paving consulting services around the United States and into Canada. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458 or tqpaving@yahoo.com. 10 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
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T H AT ' S A G O O D I D E A
Give Pavers Good Guidance BY JOHN BALL
I
f your paver operator is having difficulty guiding off of an inadequate guide bar on the paver, you can build your own. In these pictures, you can see the team has attached a vice grip on a bracket to the lip of the hopper. The vice grip holds the metal guide bar. The team has wrapped yellow tape every six inches to help the operator keep track of his spacing. You want the guide bar to line up with your extensions on the back of the screed. You’ll place one of these on each side of the hopper. Notice that the bracket allows the team to fold the metal bar inward, against the hopper for safe travel. John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire. He provides personal, on-site paving consulting services around the United States and into Canada. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458 or tqpaving@ yahoo.com.
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PAV E M E N T M A I N T E N A N C E
3D Asphalt Printer Repairs Cracks BY EMILY NEWTON
Editor’s Note: The 2015 article, “Here’s How 3D Fabrication Enhances Asphalt Practices,” posited the asphalt paver was—and still is—the original 3D printer of roads. Now researchers at University College London have developed a drone-carried 3D printer to deliver asphalt to cracked pavements, “printing” a repair job in real time.
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esearchers at University College London have developed a 3D printing system that allows the printing of asphalt. This technology steps into a new realm of possibilities for 3D printing, which has been used to manufacture everything from toys to tools. Even more fascinating is how researchers made asphalt printing possible and what it could mean for the future of construction and civil engineering. One of the challenges that 3D printing technology has overcome is functionality with a variety of materials. Plastic worked great initially because it is easily malleable and widely available. Modern 3D printing technology can print with metals, carbon fiber and paper, among a host of other materials. Recently, asphalt joined the list. The asphalt 3D printer the team at UCL developed had thrilling results. UCL’s project is part of a more extensive, five-year program including other universities around the U.K., called Self-Repairing Cities. The program focuses on developing drone and 3D printing technology that can autonomously repair and maintain pavements. The materials research at UCL could have a monumental impact on the materials industry at large.
OVERCOME VISCOSITY
The team at UCL published a paper titled “3D printing of asphalt and its effect on mechanical properties,” which goes into detail about their design process, the printer itself, and the findings of their research. The most significant practical problem the team faced was getting the asphalt to print reliably. Asphalt requires heat to flow, so it doesn’t naturally agree with 3D printers. 3D printing works best with materials that maintain a consistent viscosity so they can be pumped through the printer’s extruder without experiencing clogs or leaving gaps in the print.
The team at UCL found that asphalt in particular changes viscosity under pressure in a non-linear way, making it challenging to predict how viscosity will change during extrusion. To get around asphalt’s unpredictable viscosity, they molded cast asphalt into tiny, millimeter-scale pellets. These pellets are processed through a specially designed extruder (which was also 3D-printed). Inside the extruder, the pellets pass through a heat gradient that gradually softens and essentially “melts” them into a liquid form at the tip of the extruder. This way, the liquid asphalt comes out of the extruder consistently. This design could be revolutionary for not only the Self-Repairing Cities project, but also for construction at large. While studying the 3D-printed asphalt, the UCL team discovered that it was nine times 14 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
more ductile than cast asphalt (see Figure 6 in UCL’s original paper). This high ductility suggests that 3D-printed asphalt could be more durable than cast asphalt. High ductility is helpful for the 3D printing process, but if 3D-printed asphalt is more malleable and resistant to fracturing, 3D-printed roads could experience less breakage. Ideally, the 3D-printed asphalt would flex under stress, rather than cracking. Instead of a crater-like pothole, it might bend into a shallow bowl. Additional surface treatments could be added to the road surface as well. However, it is important to note that the UCL researchers found that 3D-printed asphalt has a similar fracture strength as cast asphalt, despite its higher ductility. Currently, 3D-printed asphalt can be stretched and shaped more, but cracks under the same amount of stress. As more research is conducted surrounding this technology, materials scientists are likely to focus on increasing that fracture strength alongside ductility.
FUTURISTIC PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE
If a high-strength, high-ductility, 3D-printed asphalt could be developed and mass-produced, it could shape the future of civil engineering. For example, combine UCL’s 3D printing technology with a manufacturing robot being developed by a Harvard graduate. The Addibot is designed to repair scrapes in ice rinks, and inventor Robert Flitsch aims to develop the robot further so that it can repair asphalt. In the future, we could see robots like Addibot equipped with UCL’s asphalt 3D printers roaming the roads to repair potholes and cracks. These autonomous road-repair bots could function around the clock, allowing them to catch pavement failures before they achieve a low pavement condition index (PCI) score. In the future, we may see road repair robots taking care of potholes in a fraction of the time a maintenance crew or even pothole patching machines require. The developments underway in 3D printing asphalt technology are a glimpse into the future of construction and civil engineering. 3D-printable asphalt is a breakthrough in materials science and engineering, with applications that could lead to safer, more durable roads. The potential for autonomous road repair presents advantages to explore over conventional pavement maintenance. While it may be several years or more before this autonomous 3D printing technology matures to the mainstream, it could one day revolutionize construction. Emily Newton is a construction writer with over five years of experience covering stories in the industrial sector.
WEB EXTRA Watch a video of the drone-with-printer in action on YouTube. https://youtu.be/mcK1xGfDWg0
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P R OJ E C T M A N AG E M E N T
Asphalt Creativity Solves Concrete Instability BY SARAH REDOHL
M
aine’s Bangor International Airport boards around half a million passengers each year on up to 20 daily departures. When the concrete beneath its runway began to buckle, making the repairs in a timely manner was of the utmost importance. Northeast Paving, a civil contractor headquartered in Bangor, Maine, was up to the task. “Throughout the years we have done a majority of the paving at BIA,” said Northeast Paving Engineer Devon White. In 2021, Northeast Paving won the bid to repair BIA’s Runway 15/33. Northeast Paving Chief Estimator Greg Schaub said that, prior to the start of the contract, there were two areas of the existing runway that had heaved as a result of an Alkali-Silica Reaction (ASR) in the concrete. Also known as “concrete cancer,” ASR is a swelling reaction that occurs in concrete over time. Given sufficient moisture, the concrete’s highly alkaline cement paste reacts with the amorphous silica found in many common aggregates. BIA’s concrete runway was placed in the 1950s as part of Dow Air Force Base.
“This reaction caused the existing concrete to expand and with no place to go it started to buckle,” Schaub said. To resolve the issue, Northeast Paving took a creative approach. During the course of a 48-hour shutdown, its crews demolished two 300-foot-long concrete strips running transversely across the runway where the heaving was most severe and replaced them with 14 inches of P-209 aggregate base and surface asphalt. “The P-209 blend of stone and asphalt will work as a large-scale expansion joint of sorts to relieve pressure and heaving due to pressure,” White said. Ultimately, the asphalt strips aim to reduce swelling caused by ASR.
BREAK CONCRETE, FAST
Because the runway upon which Northeast Paving would be working is BIA’s only runway, the entire airport had to shut down for the work to be performed. “Shutting down the entire airport isn’t an easy thing for BIA to do,” Schaub said, so having weekly meetings in the month leading up to the job provided an opportunity to discuss methods, timeframes and logistics. “They needed to feel comfortable that we could get the job done in a tight timeframe.” Schaub thinks that Northeast Paving’s history of working at the airport not only helped give the client confidence that they could perform the work, but it also gave Northeast’s crews “an idea of what we were up against.” The full airport shutdown did make traffic control a bit easier than it otherwise would have been, added Northeast Paving Engineer Marshal Deckers. 18 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
Northeast Paving hired Pavilion Drainage Supply Co. to use its Wirtgen CB 7000 Guillotine Drop Hammer on the underlying concrete.
“On a normal airport job, we’d have to block off every entrance point for aircrafts,” Deckers said. For this job, he added, it was more important to mark the runway as closed down in such a way that it was visible from the air, rather than setting up barriers on the ground. “If you have moving aircraft while you’re working, you need more barricades and better delineation.” White said this includes Notice to Airmen or Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) issued stating that the runway will be closed, as well as flashing trailer mounted Xs as a visual indicator of a closed runway for potential approaching aircraft. Not having to set up so many barriers on the ground ended up saving the crew a small amount of time, which was particularly precious given that the crew would have a mere 48-hour window to complete the project. During the estimating phase of the contract, Schaub said Northeast Paving evaluated several different options to remove the existing concrete. “Breaking up the concrete with traditional hoe rams on excavators was evaluated but determined to be too time-consuming of a process,” Schaub said. During a previous job Northeast performed at BIA in 2008 to rubblize the concrete Air National Guard’s heavy duty apron, the company tried to use a resonant breaker—particularly near the fuel tanks—with the hope that it would cause less impact to the subgrade. However, Schaub said, the resonant breaker was unable to break the concrete all the way through, so they ended up using a guillotine on that job anyway.
The crews would need to create two troughs running transversely across the runway, located ¾ of a mile apart. The troughs were 14 feet wide at the top and 10 feet wide at full depth, with the 24-inch depth varying from 15 to 18 inches of the existing concrete and 5 to 9 inches of existing HMA. This provided a 2-foot ‘shelf ’ on either side along the runway’s surface at varying depths between 5 to 9 inches. “We milled the shelf all the way down to the concrete,” White said. “The HMA on the runway is variable depth in regards to its transverse profile, with 5 to 9 inches on centerline and 2 to 4 inches on the shoulder.”
“THE P-209 BLEND OF STONE AND ASPHALT WILL WORK AS A LARGE-SCALE EXPANSION JOINT OF SORTS TO RELIEVE PRESSURE AND HEAVING DUE TO PRESSURE.”—DEVON WHITE
A paver was used in lieu of a typical grader or dozer to place the subbase because the trench was too narrow to accommodate Northeast Paving’s graders and dozers.
For the 2021 job, Northeast Paving hired the same subcontractor who helped them in 2008, Pavilion Drainage Supply Co., Pavilion, New York. “After conversations with Pavilion and having worked with them to rubblize that apron in 2008, we were confident that they could get the concrete broken up and ready for removal much faster than we could ourselves,” Schaub said. During the week prior to the 48-hour shutdown, Northeast Paving was allowed to saw cut the perimeters of the troughs during short windows from midnight to 6 a.m. to minimize the amount of work they needed to complete during the runway shutdown. “When the saw blade cut all the way through the concrete, the pressure gave and the saw cut pinched together on our 54-inch saw blade,” White said. “The water we were using to cool the saw blade shot up like a geyser! That shows just how much pressure was built up.” Ultimately, it took two extra hours to remove the saw blade with jackhammers and patch the area, which was thankfully located along the runway’s shoulder. When the 48-hour project window arrived, the saw cutting was complete and Northeast Paving’s crews were ready to hit the ground running Oct. 4, 2021, at 6 a.m.
“Creating that shelf prevents having joints stacked straight over one another all the way through,” White said, “so it ties back into the existing runway a bit better.” Once Northeast Paving’s Wirtgen 220 asphalt milling machine had finished milling the asphalt in the troughs, the Wirtgen CB 7000 guillotine drop hammer got to work on the concrete below. The roughly 250 cubic yards of concrete was then removed from the troughs using a Cat 349 Excavator. In total, the concrete removal took just four hours, and that included a 90-minute breakdown of the guillotine. Even despite the breakdown, White said the speed of the demolition portion “set the tone for the rest of the project.” The crews then placed between 5 and 9 inches of P-209 aggregate subbase in two lifts using its 8-foot Cat AP655F paver with Carlson screed. “A paver was used in lieu of a typical grader or dozer because the trench was 10 feet wide at the depth at which the stone was being placed,” White said, “and we did not have access to a small enough grader or dozer to efficiently place and grade the material.” They even tried removing the ends of the cutting edge on a dozer in an attempt at fitting it in the trench, but were unsuccessful. On the plus side, White said, placing the subbase with a paver turned out to be a much cleaner operation in regards to site cleanliness and spilled stone. As a result of BIA’s experience with concrete, the airport has particularly stringent testing requirements for any concrete placed at the airport. “Thankfully, this job didn’t have concrete on it, so those didn’t apply to us,” Schaub said. For the time being, BIA is opting for asphalt.
ALL ABOUT ASPHALT
Then came the five lifts of asphalt, totaling 14 inches thick, loaded with a Weiler E2850 transfer machine. WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM | 19
P R OJ E C T M A N AG E M E N T The three lower lifts were between 3 and 4 inches, compacted. “These lifts were placed at varying depths due to the tapered construction of the runway going into the shoulder sections,” Deckers said. The base course lifts, he added, were placed in large-depth increments to accelerate the construction process given the intense time constraints. “The base course aggregate usually has density requirements, but given the time frame, we came to an agreement on density in the field by looking for any issues while ‘proof rolling,’” White said. However, Schaub added, “We were able to achieve compaction better on this job than on normal jobs because it was constrained on both sides.” The surface lift was placed at a depth of 2 inches for a better-riding exposed layer. One strip required 400 tons of asphalt, and the other, 310 tons. The mix was produced by Northeast Paving’s HMA plant and quarry in Hermon, Maine, only a few miles away from BIA. “The proximity and nighttime production capability of this plant makes supplying our Bangor Airport paving projects very convenient and efficient,” Deckers said.
“When the saw blade cut all the way through the concrete, the pressure gave and the saw cut pinched together on our 54-inch saw blade,” White said.
Schaub said that the prevalence of granite ledge in the region, and the ability to operate its own quarry, helps Northeast Paving secure high quality weightbearing stone for its mixes.
The HMA used—a P-403 12.5 mm mix with PG76-28 called for in the specifications—was an airport-specific mix intended for heavy aircraft traffic. The mix design Northeast Paving used on the project was one that had been applied recently and effectively on previous BIA projects, another time-saving decision. On standard airport paving projects, Deckers said, a small test strip is required immediately prior to paving. Using a mix design that had previously been used with success at BIA eliminated the need for that step.
“BY GAINING EXTRA HOURS WITH THE EXPEDITED DEMOLITION PHASE, THAT GAVE US EXTRA TIME TO LET THE FOUR LIFTS OF PAVEMENT COOL BETWEEN EACH PLACEMENT.”—DEVON WHITE
It turned out that the most significant challenge, given the project’s time constraints, Deckers said, “was ensuring the HMA was properly cured and suitable for super-heavy aircraft, as there were multiple lifts placed within 24 hours.” “Going into the project, we thought that the biggest variables in relation to time would be the demolition of concrete and the cooling of HMA lifts,” White said. “By gaining extra hours with the expedited demolition phase, that gave us extra time to let the four lifts of pavement cool between each placement.” 20 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
To load the paver as it laid the P-209 aggregate subbase layers, the crew loaded the paver in the trench with a haul truck in front of it, and a loader dumping into the haul truck from the side.
The five lifts of asphalt, totaling 14 inches thick, was loaded into the paver with a Weiler E2850 transfer machine.
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P R OJ E C T M A N AG E M E N T The crew finished paving the final lift at 10 p.m., eight hours before the runway was set to reopen, so the surface would have enough time to cool. After the paving was completed, the crew performed a shallow ⅜-inch deep, ½-inch wide sawcut along the joints on both sides of the troughs and sealed it with hot rubber to act as a minor expansion joint, with the goal of reducing transverse reflection cracking. They also had a substantial amount of cleanup, including the removal of a bypass road they created in order to access the further trough. Electricity had to be restored to the lights on the taxiway, White said, and airport inspectors had to ensure all “foreign object debris” had been removed. The sealing, which the airport requires for all asphalt, as well as the striping, were performed by the airport’s own maintenance crews, since it would be easier to coordinate with their own crews and expedited Northeast Paving’s portion of the project.
During the shutdown, the airport’s maintenance crews took the opportunity to make miscellaneous repairs and the airport’s engineering firm surveyed the runway for future projects, though everyone gave the paving crews ample room to get their work done safely. Northeast Paving dedicated two crews to the project at all times, running two 12-hour shifts per day. “They worked around the clock to complete the project during the tight 48-hour window,” Schaub said, “making sure the airport operations would not be impacted more than absolutely necessary.” Ultimately, Northeast Paving’s crews were able to clear the runway two hours early. White attributes this to proper planning, communication and execution by Northeast Paving’s team, its subcontractors, the engineering firm, and BIA staff. “We finished at 4 a.m. on a Wednesday,” White recalled, “and already planes were taxiing up to get on the runway.”
LEARN MORE SISTER CREW EARNS SHELDON G. HAYES FOR NORTHEAST PROJECT
Eurovia Atlantic Coast, dba Northeast Paving, and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 12, were named the winner of the 2021 Sheldon G. Hayes Award for their work on I-70 in Washington, Pennsylvania. The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), Greenbelt, Maryland, announced Jan. 26, the winner and finalists of the 2021 Sheldon G. Hayes Award for excellence in construction of an asphalt pavement. The award, bestowed annually since 1971, recognizes the country’s highest quality highway pavements. The winning project, performed by Northeast Paving teams in Pittsburgh, involved resurfacing 18 miles of I-70 with all mixes incorporating warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technology and the surface mix incorporating 15% reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). The team lost one month of production to COVID delays in the state but made up that time by the end of the project with teamwork and dedication to best practices, finishing on time and under budget. Management offered thanks to PennDOT for
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partnership in safety initiatives to ensure a safe work environment for all on this project. They also thanked the men and women of the safety, quality control, production, laydown, estimating and additional departments at Northeast Paving. Finalists for the award were Seaboard Construction Co. and the Georgia Department of Transportation for I-95 in Camden County; and Shelly & Sands Inc. and the Ohio Department of Transportation District 5 for I-70 in Muskingum County. The Sheldon G. Hayes Award winner and finalists are determined through a two-year evaluation process. All highway pavement projects using more than 50,000 tons of asphalt are eligible for consideration. Initially, the project must win a Quality in Construction (QIC) Award, which is determined by numerical scores given by an independent pavement engineer on the basis of how well the contractor met specifications and achieved density on the finished pavement. All pavements that meet a benchmark figure earn the QIC Award. The year after a project wins a QIC Award, it is eligible for consideration for the Sheldon G. Hayes Award. The top-ranked projects from each year are tested
Northeast Paving management accepts the Sheldon G. Hayes award from NAPA 2021 Chairman Jay Winford at the 67th annual meeting in Scottsdale. Photo courtesy of Northeast Paving for smoothness, and then visually inspected by an independent pavement consultant with many years of experience in the industry. This year, the evaluator praised all the candidates for their highquality construction practices, which resulted in smooth, safe and durable pavements. At NAPA’s 67th annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, the winner and each finalist were presented with an award for their achievement. “The asphalt pavement industry is committed to building quality pavements that deliver high performance and drivability to the public,” said James Winford, NAPA 2021 chairman.
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WO M E N O F A S P H A LT
National Organization Expands WofA Goals BY AMY MILLER AND SANDY LENDER
KNOWLEDGE
ith new goals developed by the working groups and a new administrative director in place, the Women of Asphalt (WofA) dove into 2022 with energy and drive. Since its beginning in 2017, the organization has grown to more than 2,000 members with 12 state branches, operating with only volunteers until Jan. 3, when Arpine Baghdasarian officially began her duties as administrative director. She will be responsible for helping plan, develop and implement WofA's programs, marketing strategies and communications. Prior to joining WofA, she worked in strategic business development and marketing at several companies. Most notable are her marketing efforts for the Solid Waste Association of North America, the American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials, and the American Bakers Association. “In my marketing and communications experience in infrastructure, which is the foundation for America’s economic prosperity, I have learned that it is important to keep employee retention top of mind,” Baghdasarian told AsphaltPro. “As our nation has growing transportation needs, the communication we create at WofA will empower women to take professional action as we highlight careers in the asphalt industry to increase the number of women in the industry and support their paths to help them get to where they ultimately want to be.” Baghdasarian had the opportunity to develop a well-rounded skill set that includes digital strategy, branding, search engine marketing, copywriting, audience research and analysis, web analytics, social media, and mobile marketing. While her primary focus is on digital marketing, her skill set is balanced out by successful work experience in print, direct mail, creative design, audience research, and sponsorships. In 2015, Baghdasarian was recognized as a LAGRANT Foundation awardee for outstanding achievement in promoting diversity in the field of communications. Her academic accomplishments include earning her master’s degree in Strategic Communica-
In the area of knowledge, the organization will host four webinars in its “Conversations to Lead and Inspire” series. The webinars are focusing on mental health, diversity, self-improvement and negotiations. Leaders are also excited about WofA’s upcoming participation at World of Asphalt. Along with having a booth, located in the exhibition center foyer at booth L-1010, they are hosting two educational events. The first session, scheduled for 8 to 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 29, is “A Tale of Two Sisters.” In this session, speakers Cidalia Luis-Akbar and Natalia Luis, co-owners and CEOs of M. Luis Construction Co. Inc., will share how they run a business in the asphalt industry as immigrant women. They will offer a dynamic discussion as two sisters who overcame many obstacles and hurdles to grow their parents’ business into a successful and impactful company. Learn how those experiences influenced the direction and vision of their company today. National Asphalt Pavement Association President Audrey Copeland will moderate the session. The second session, scheduled for 2 to 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 29, is the popular “Women of Asphalt Roundtable.” As in previous years, the roundtable event will provide lively discussion focused on diversity and inclusion where you will gain insight into ways to attract and retain diverse employees. Sheila Barkovich will moderate the session. WofA will also host the highly popular booth event Tuesday, March 29, from 4 to 5 p.m. where they will be greeting members— new and old, and giving away their featured Women of Asphalt t-shirt for 2022. Lastly, they are excitedly beginning to plan an inaugural conference with a date TBD in 2023 or 2024.
W
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Arpine Baghdasarian took the helm as the administrative director of Women of Asphalt Jan. 3, 2022. Photo courtesy of WofA
tion from American University. She also holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and Communication Studies from Towson University. “My goal as the administrative director for WofA is to foster our existing, well-established relationships within our community while also engaging in new member relationships. Now that the dust has settled a bit, I’m looking forward to presenting fresh, useful and interesting content to our audience via social media, our website and beyond. I have always believed that digital marketing, coupled with storytelling, is the future. Hopefully, my knowledge and competence in both areas will help lift the WofA brand and make us more available to women across our nation. In the meantime, I hope this gives you a better idea of who is behind the scenes as you keep up with all of WofA’s future endeavors.” Along with the hiring of Baghdasarian, the WofA board of directors began a new strategic plan, which was created at the annual board retreat in October 2021. After review of the mission statement and discussion of their vision for the organization, the board landed on three goal areas: knowledge, community and awareness. These core areas encompass the future ideas, growth and meaningful programs the board believes will achieve the mission, which is simply to empower women in asphalt careers. Each area is led by members of the BOD.
COMMUNITY In the community goal area, the organization plans to add four more state branches, create two virtual opportunities for women across the country to come together, and continue to improve and support the mentoring program established in 2020.
Baghdasarian spoke about the mentoring program in depth: “It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on our nation’s and industry’s workforce. It’s crucial now more than ever for our industry to recruit and retain women and help them to succeed. WofA’s Mentorship Program provides a platform to create supportive relationships that foster growth for both mentors and mentees.” She explained that the organization’s mentors have a wide range of skills, backgrounds and experience levels, which is part of what makes the program so meaningful. “Mentors have experience in every aspect of our industry, and we focus on pairing mentees with mentors who have the skills and experiences that benefit the mentee. As a part of the program, mentors are asked to meet with their mentee monthly to discuss a wide variety of topics. The program offers tools, resources, guidance and suggestions on what they can discuss but it is up to each mentor and mentee to decide what they want to focus on and then set specific goals. Mentors often share knowledge, advice, and experience on navigating various situations, sharing their network, and providing ongoing feedback.” In the asphalt industry, professionals might not always recognize their talents or their growth from experience. The mentoring program prompts participants to look inward and recognize their abilities, skills and insight not only for their own sake, but to also share with others. “Don’t underestimate your experience and the value you can offer others,” Baghdasarian said. “Women in the asphalt industry appreciate support and help, especially those beginning or changing careers, and your experience is a very valuable resource. Both female and male mentors can be incredibly impactful. Our industry employees have vast knowledge and are proud of what they do. The mentorship program is a way to share knowledge and experience with each other. As we kick off 2022, we are proud to announce that we already have 58 matches, with a total of 116 participants in the program. We have a fantastic group of participants this year.”
AWARENESS In the awareness goal area, the group continues to promote workforce development, collaborate with public and private enti-
ties to promote association and workforce needs, identify and encourage workforce development programs that encourage entry into the industry, and continue to promote the organization to all who work in the asphalt industry. The BODs will be soliciting new volunteers to help with the recently established goal areas and credit their prior success to the support of volunteers across the Unit-
ed States who helped launch previous programs. The board also credits the support and opportunity for growth to industry partners who sponsor WofA financially, with in-kind services and through support of their employees’ involvement. WofA is a community of professionals building not only awareness, but also a safe and knowledge-filled space for women to excel in the asphalt industry.
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I N T E R N AT I O N A L S N A P S H OT
International Smartpaving FROM WIRTGEN GROUP
O
n the almost 70-meter-tall and 785-meter-long Aftetal Bridge west of Bad Wünnenberg, Franz Trippe GmbH crews from Schmallenberg in the Sauerland region, faced specific weather conditions and stringent quality requirements. Management chose Vögele machines and digital solutions: WITOS Paving Docu, including RoadScan and Jobsite Temp for the job. The project, due to be completed in Spring 2022 for client Landesbetrieb Straßenbau Nordrhein-Westfalen (Straßen.NRW), is building a bypass around Bad Wünnenberg, in Westphalia, to relieve traffic congestion. The new B480 is part of a large-scale traffic corridor to make the Hochsauerland region more accessible. The most demanding section of this large-scale project, the Aftetal Bridge, presents constant wind, which rapidly cools paving mix. Franz Trippe GmbH approached the project with digital support. “We have been giving a high priority to digital processes for years,” Managing Director Stefan Trippe said. “For example, we work with our own cloud solutions and rely on 3D technology in a lot of our machines to make us even more efficient and accurate and to meet increasing demands on quality and costs.” To keep an eye on temperatures when paving the B480, and to record job site processes accurately, the company chose the relevant solutions from Vögele: WITOS Paving Docu, including the RoadScan non-contact temperature measuring system and the new Jobsite Temp app. WITOS Paving Docu allows paving and machine data to be recorded via smartphone and analysed at the end of the day. In combination with RoadScan, contractors can also record and analyse paving temperatures. During paving, current temperature data can be viewed via the display of the paver operator’s console. The new Jobsite Temp app furthermore enables the foreman and other users to access temperature data and supplementary data via smartphone in real time: among other things, it shows current pave speeds, screed width, the positioning of the paver and the position of the mix transfer point including delivery note information. “By combining WITOS Paving Docu with RoadScan, we created the conditions on the one hand for checking paving temperature continuously under the difficult weather conditions and on the other, for meeting the quality and documentation requirements,” Trippe said. The contractor paved a 3.5-centimeter-thick surface course up to 12 meters wide on two sections, measuring some 2 kilometers each, ahead of and on the Aftetal Bridge. The crew used a Vögele SUPER 1800-3i paver with AB 500 TP1 extending screed to place two lanes. In the high compaction variant with tamper and pressure bar, the screed offered precompaction, which reduced the number of roller passes required. The contractor used the MT 3000-3i Offset PowerFeeder to prevent paver interruptions. “The machines enabled us to facilitate smooth processes, stop the mix cooling down and create conditions for a high standard of paving quality,” Trippe said. “In combination with WITOS Paving Docu and Jobsite Temp, we were also able to view all the relevant data on a smartphone at all times, determine the ideal compaction window, take counter-measures if necessary and record all the processes associated with paving accurately, quickly and paper-free.” 26 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
All temperature and paving data are visible with the WITOS Paving Docu and Jobsite Temp applications from Vögele, enabling Paving Supervisor Dennis Voss to coordinate all processes.
Working almost 70 meters up, the paving team paved the surface course with the SUPER 1800-3i road paver and MT 3000-3i Offset PowerFeeder.
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After trying out the LPS robotic total station system in the summer of 2021, All Roads purchased two stations for their port project. All photos courtesy of All Roads
TIGHT TIMELINE, TIGHTER TOLERANCES ON PORT PROJECT
T
BY SARAH REDOHL
The United States isn’t the only country experiencing supply chain issues. Our neighbor to the north is facing challenges of its own. “Shortages have been a topic of conversation across Canada,” said Denis Labelle, operations manager for All Roads Construction Ltd., Surrey, British Columbia. “A lot of goods at the port just aren't moving because trucks aren’t available to offload it.” Labelle attributes a large amount of the backlog to the major flooding the Vancouver area experienced before Christmas. The 2021 Pacific Northwest Floods, particularly in southern British Columbia, resulted in severe disruption of the transportation corridor linking Canada’s largest port, in Vancouver, to the rest of Canada. “We had kilometers of highway under water and washed away, bridges collapsing as water undermined the piles,” Labelle recalled. Stranded people were getting picked up by helicopters. There was a $30 limit on the purchase of gas. One of All Roads’ recent projects in
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the city of Abbotsford saw nearly two weeks of work washed away. “It was nuts.” Despite the hectic events, All Roads crews continued to do their part to shore up Canada’s supply chain for the future. All Roads is subcontracted by CXP, the design build team awarded this work, to perform all milling, grading, concrete work and asphalt paving on the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s $400 million CAD project, which expands and improves its Centerm terminal. Along with improving traffic flow in and around the port, the project first and foremost aims to increase capacity at the port to support Canada’s growing trade demand for goods shipped in containers. Construction began in 2019 and is expected to wrap up by the end of 2022. “It’s a very high profile project with a tight schedule,” Labelle said. In total, the project calls for 120,000 tons of asphalt to rehabilitate the terminal’s existing pavement, expand the terminal by 15 percent, pave a new overpass on Centennial Road, and reconfigure Waterfront Road to create a continuous port road from Canada Place to Highway 1.
In 2021, All Roads was able to pave 30,000 tons; they hope to finish the remaining 90,000 tons by September of this year. The project is tricky not only because of a particularly tight timeline, but also because the need for the port to keep as much space available as possible for shipping containers limits the amount of space in which All Roads’ crews are able to work at any given time. “Ports are busy with containers constantly coming in and out, so we only had certain small areas in which to work,” Labelle said. “They won't give you another area until each area is complete, so they can move containers to that area.” The average area in which All Roads’ crew is working is around 7,500 square meters (80,700 square feet). “That isn’t a lot of space when you’re putting in all kinds of concrete structures, milling 12 to 18 inches of existing asphalt at full depth, and paving,” Labelle said. Plus, they’re working under very tight specifications, including a 5 millimeter (1/4 inch) tolerance for elevations and cross falls of less than 0.5 percent. “The tolerances are very tight,” Labelle said. “When you’re stacking containers as high as they do, there’s not a lot of room for grade without risking those containers falling over.” All Roads knew it would need top-notch technology to achieve that level of accuracy. That’s why they decided to use their Millimeter GPS system from Topcon Positioning Systems, Livermore, California. “The design is so tight that to do it without technology would be rolling the dice,” Labelle said. All Roads first invested in the Millimeter GPS two years ago when they had a 26,000-square-meter (280,000-square-foot) parking lot for CP Rail where Ford was parking vehicles after they came off the train. “It had very tight grading with curved swales without a lot of fall,” Labelle said. When he reached out to equipment dealer Brandt Tractor about renting a grader for the project, Brandt recommended using Millimeter GPS to achieve those tight tolerances. “We demoed it and were floored with how well it worked and how much aggregate it saved us,” Labelle said. “We were sold after that job.” However well Millimeter GPS had worked on previous projects, the tight areas in which All Roads was working proved problematic on the port project. “We had so many trucks and traffic in that small area that we were constantly breaking the connection between our Millimeter GPS and our paver,” Labelle said. “That created some down time for us, because we were constantly having to reset it or move it.” For the first 15,000 tons of paving on the port project, All Roads made the Millimeter GPS system work. “We weren’t aware of any technology that would help us,” Labelle said. Then, they had another conversation with Brandt, who recommended they use a Local Positioning System (LPS) robotic total station. After trying out the system in the summer of 2021, All Roads purchased two stations for their port project.
A CLOSER LOOK AT LPS
According to Topcon, the LPS setup uses a robotic total station to track an on-machine prism and uses radio communications to track the machine’s real-time position. Millimeter GPS, on the other hand, uses land-based laser transmitters alongside global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology. The crux of the issue with the Millimeter GPS system on this project was that they couldn’t raise the devices any higher while retaining accuracy. “With the LPS system, you can elevate it as high as you’d like without sacrificing accuracy,” Labelle said. If mounted at a greater height,
Labelle said switching to the LPS system wasn’t too onerous for the company and its crews because it is similar enough to Millimeter GPS. Furthermore, they already have the staff in place to design surface files, set up the systems, and troubleshoot if need be.
All Roads is the first paving company in Canada, and among the first in North America, to use LPS robotic stations on an asphalt paving job, according to Labelle.
he added, it’s much less likely an object will break the connection between the station and the paver. He had a tree stand-type platform fabricated to attach each LPS system 15 to 20 feet up the light poles around their working area at the port. The LPS system also isn’t affected by tall buildings or trees. “We’ve done projects with Millimeter GPS where we’ve hit a heavily wooded area and we lose signal so we have to put up a string line to finish the project,” Labelle said. “The LPS system doesn’t require that signal, so it makes it way more efficient.” “The only downside is you need an LPS system for every prism you have,” Labelle said. For example, with two pavers on the port project, they needed three LPS systems. Labelle also said the LPS system wouldn’t be practical for big highway paving jobs because it only works 450 meters (1476 feet) away from the WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM | 31
nally, as well as someone with surveying experience who can implement the design file into the equipment, ensure the technology is working as intended, and troubleshoot as needed. All Roads has had these resources in place ever since it began using SmoothRide two years ago. SmoothRide scans the existing roadway, then creates a design based on the existing elevations, and tracks the paver’s location within that area so it knows how thick to pave. However, Millimeter GPS and LPS are instead based on the design the client has provided, giving you a set elevation. “I take those elevations and input them into Millimeter GPS or LPS and those systems tell me where that elevation is,” Labelle said.
According to Topcon, the LPS setup uses a robotic total station to track an on-machine prism and uses radio communications to track the machine’s real-time position.
“It all relies on the same Topcon software and equipment, which our guys are very familiar with, so they picked it up quite easily,” Labelle said. However, he added, “If you buy the system and just throw it at the crew, they will fall on their face.”
RETURN TO PORT
The average area in which All Roads’ crew is working is around 7,500 square meters (80,700 square feet) to maximize available space for shipping container storage.
robotic station. Furthermore, once you lose the lock on the prism you have to physically set it up again. In that scenario, Labelle would still use Millimeter GPS, if needed. Although each Millimeter GPS transmitter has a range of around 200 meters, All Roads has five transmitters. “We can set the others up ahead to make sure we have that consistency without having to stop,” he said. “But for anything like a port or a parking lot or a municipal road that calls for high levels of accuracy, I would definitely go with LPS.” Another difference between Millimeter GPS and LPS is the setup. Labelle said the setup for the LPS system is less than half the time compared to Millimeter GPS because there’s no need to add control points. “That usually takes us a couple hours before starting a project,” Labelle said. “With LPS, you set up on one control point on the site and then you’re good to go.” However, he added, the setup process is similar enough to Millimeter GPS that it wasn’t a big learning curve for All Roads’ crew. “If you want to get into Millimeter GPS or LPS, you need to have the proper team in place to do it,” Labelle said. He recommends having someone who can design surface files, either a subcontractor or inter32 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
Labelle estimates that 30 percent of the asphalt on the port terminal is new construction; the remaining 70 percent is rehabilitation of existing paving. Throughout the duration of the project, All Roads will have milled 90,000 square meters (nearly 1 million square feet) of asphalt with its Wirtgen 210i milling machines. After milling 12 to 18 inches, they work on the curbs and gutters. Then, they usually work on the access roads while other contractors perform the civil, electrical and crane installation. Although the length of time All Roads has in a given area depends on that particular area’s scope of work, each area requires at least a few weeks, of which four to six days fall within All Roads’ scope of work. When it comes time to pave, All Roads hauls in asphalt from its plant in Vancouver, just 27 kilometers (17 miles) from the port. According to All Roads President Rod Stephens, the port’s mix designs called for both a 19 mm nominal Superpave mix for the lower asphalt courses as well as a 12.5 mm nominal surface course Superpave mix, both with design ESALs greater than 30 million. “The Superpave system recommends a one grade high temperature bitumen binder bump for slow moving traffic and a two grade high temperature bump for standing traffic,” Stephens said. Typically, he added, container terminal traffic is considered slow moving, whereas areas such as security booths and truck gates would be considered as having standing traffic. “The base climate bitumen binder grade typically used for the connecting city streets in the Vancouver area is a PG64-22.” So, All Roads needed multiple mix designs utilizing three different binders for this project, PG64-22, PG70-22 and PG76-22. Not only does this create storage management challenges, Stephens said, but tanker truck delivery became a challenge too. “The PG70-22 and PG76-22 had to come from refineries in Edmonton, Alberta,” Stephens said. “So, winter weather logistics creates a huge risk in transporting the material between October and March.” To mitigate this risk, while remaining ready to pave in appropriate weather windows, All Roads suggested the use of aramid fiber reinforcement for certain portions of the pavement structure on the project as an equivalent for these polymer modified asphalt binders. After extensive testing was completed to demonstrate that a single dose of 65 grams per ton of aramid fiber reinforcement provides an equiva-
lent asphalt mix to using PG70-22 and a double dose of 130 grams per ton is an equal alternative to using PG76-22 polymer modified binder, the design team accepted this solution. To ensure the accuracy and transparency of the fiber usage, All Roads purchased a fully automatic doser from Surface-Tech called a Sentinel. The Sentinel has a hopper system which controls the dosing of the fibers and an Allen Bradley PLC (programmable logic controller) system that interfaces with the variable speeds (TPH) of the asphalt plant. “For transparency in our quality control documentation, when the shift is over a detailed printable report is produced showing the total fiber dosed with start and stop times,” Stephens said. Another challenge All Roads had to overcome on the project was meeting such design criteria in such limited space with only one access point in and out of the area. “It makes grading and paving very difficult when you consider where the designed high points and low points end up in that specific area,” Labelle said. “The port gave us an area to work in, and the design is not considered during this process, which challenges how you are able to build the specific area.” Ultimately, All Roads placed three lifts of asphalt—90 mm (3.5 inches), 75 mm (3 inches), then 50 mm (2 inches) for a total of 215 mm (8.5 inches)—as well as the 150 mm (6 inches) gravel subbase. All Roads must submit build elevations after every section they pave, including gravel, base lift, intermediate and top lift. “Tight tolerances from the bottom up on this project ensures we’ll have a smooth surface and meet those elevations,” Labelle said. “And the accuracy gets tighter as you go up, from 10 mm on the gravel aggregate to 5 mm on top lift.” Thankfully, the LPS robotic total station has made meeting tolerances easier on every level. “I’m super happy with how the process has gone so far,” Labelle said. “In my opinion, this is one step away from automating our pavers.” All Roads is the first paving company in Canada, and among the first in North America, to use LPS robotic stations on an asphalt paving job, according to Labelle. The company’s interest in using the latest technologies has long set them apart. They’ve previously pioneered the use of a notched wedge joint in British Columbia and were the first in Canada to use Topcon’s SmoothRide technology, he added. They’ve also garnered interest as a pioneer in Millimeter GPS. “People from all over the U.S. and Canada are calling us to ask about it,” Labelle said. They recently did a milling project for Lafarge at the Vancouver Airport. “Even though they have their own milling crews, they brought us in because of our use of Millimeter GPS. Then word got around that we were doing airports and we were brought in to mill an air strip in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.” Labelle believes the use of Millimeter GPS and LPS will become increasingly popular on asphalt jobs in the coming years. “I can’t predict the future, but I think Ministries of Transportation across Canada will probably start putting incentives out there to use this technology in the next few years,” Labelle said. “In five to seven years, I think some will start specifying it on certain projects with tight tolerances. Once the ministries of transportation, especially in Ontario, hop on the bandwagon, the rest will fall into place and begin specifying it.” “All Roads has decided we want to lead that trend,” Labelle said. “When it does come, we will be ahead of the curve.”
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MAYO CONSTRUCTION HITS SPEC WITH HIGH TECH Intelligent compaction and paver mounted thermal profiling assist in quality paving in Bottineau County
M BY BRYCE WUORI
Modern-day paving projects are introducing multiple project requirements with more difficult specifications. It is not uncommon to find projects that have a combination of longitudinal joint density, mat density, profile milling, recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) mix design, and other requirements that all must be satisfied within the project scope. Mayo Construction Inc., Cavalier, North Dakota, understood the Highway 5 project located in Bottineau County was a modern-day paving project that would require serious attention to detail to be successful. With the number of project variables this specific project generated for the paving team, it was evident that the use of technology tools and best paving practices would be a necessity to develop a high-quality project. Mayo Construction implements paving technologies such as the paver mounted thermal profiler (PMTP) and intelligent compaction (IC) as quality control tools for improved quality in paving operations. The Hwy. 5 project Mayo Construction took on is a good example for us to focus on due to its many difficult project requirements. This specific project required a mat density average of 92% (See Figure 1), a joint density average of 90.5% (See Figure 2), a ride specification and used a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 45 mix design with 10% RAP produced from ¾-inch milling on the project roadway. Modern-day projects like this have a lot of moving parts that must be managed accurately to be effective. With the use of technology tools and best practices, contractors can significantly increase success rates on paving projects by eliminating variations in the field.
PROJECT ALTERATIONS FOR IMPROVED QUALITY
Project design requirements don’t always match up with the best available option for the proposed field and paving conditions. It can be difficult to understand and design a project with the number of unknown variables that can become present in the field during construction. If the contractor can present an option that will satisfy the requirements of the project—and the agency accepts it—everyone wins. When the parties involved in the project can work together toward a common objective, the quality of the road will increase for the end user and owner. The Hwy. 5 project produced a few of these situations, and the team members involved on the project were able to work together to find effective solutions. The first project alteration for improved quality on the project was allowing Mayo Construction to pave a 1-inch leveling course and a 2-inch wear course for the asphalt section. The original project design of two 1.5-inch lifts of asphalt prevented the necessary correction to the existing roadway section and brought up concerns with asphalt density and rideability of this designed section. 34 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
Willow Designs Notch Wedge System includes the notched wedge joint maker and a tow-behind rubber-tire roller.
The second project alteration for improved quality allowed Mayo Construction to increase the RAP mix design from 10% to 14%. With the inconsistency in the RAP source from the milling operations due to the ¾-inch proposed milling procedure, the contractor was allowed to adjust the RAP content to improve overall mix volumetrics, which included meeting required air void content. Working together for a common goal and understanding what variables will build a better road for the user is a must on all projects. Interactions like these are key in building long lasting smooth roads within our infrastructure system.
MILLING FOR RIDEABILITY
Milling operations for the Hwy. 5 paving project called for a ¾-inch milling depth across the entire roadway section. Mayo Construction discovered early in the milling operations that the specified ¾-inch milling depth proposed on the project was producing an inconsistent RAP source for the project and the proposed RAP mix design. Check out the article “Paving with RAP” in the February issue for tips on RAP sourcing.
Ted Billadeau, the quality control manager for Mayo Construction, commented, “This was the first time we had milled such a shallow depth of asphalt roadway to be reincorporated back in the mix design. The total ¾-inch milling performed on the centerline of the project was approximately ½ inch of asphalt and ¼ inch of chip seal, while the shoulder milling depth was averaging zero to ½ inches and was all chip seal material and very little asphalt. The varying depth of milling from centerline to shoulder can produce inconsistent RAP material.”
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The paving team at Mayo Construction Inc. had great success implementing the PMTP as a quality control tool in the field. “The Topcon system was very user friendly and easy to manage in the field,” Billadeau said. Technologies like the PMTP assist the users in identifying quality control parameters for paver and roller setup. Without technologies like intelligent compaction and the PMTP it is almost impossible to see thermal segregation behind the paver or areas on an asphalt mat a roller may have accidently missed. Technology tools are designed and developed to assist the user in understanding variables that are difficult to identify with conventional means in the field. The desire to use technologies as quality control tools in the field is steadily increasing within the paving industry. When paving technologies can be applied and managed properly, users will develop enhanced quality in the field and produce more project success. Caterpillar AP1055F paver with SE60 screed and PMTP
Mayo Construction performs a slate of best practices during milling operations and understands the importance of producing a good RAP source for the RAP plant mix. The one best practice the milling operation performed that assisted immensely on the Hwy. 5 project was the use of a milling machine with a 14-foot mill head. This allowed the RAP source to be managed more accurately in the field with a single machine performing the pavement extraction and allowing one single pass in each lane from the milling machine to reduce inconsistencies and improve rideability of the milled surface. Precise milling operations will produce more consistent RAP sources and increase the ride of that existing roadway for the paving operations. Inconsistencies in milling sections on the roadway and RAP sources from the extraction operations can ultimately result in reduced rideability and inconsistent RAP plant mixes on the project. Performing best practices during the milling operations will assist in making any RAP paving project go more efficiently from start to finish. These practices and procedures are confirmed by projects that produce large amounts of success like the Hwy. 5 project.
THERMAL PROFILING
The paving team at Mayo Construction incorporated a Topcon FC6000A thermal profiling unit mounted on a Caterpillar AP1055F paver and SE60 screed. Having the ability to monitor the thermal uniformity of a newly placed asphalt mat with a thermal profiler is game changing when it comes to quality control. This is especially true when paving with RAP mixes and in cooler ambient paving temperatures. Being able to see what happens to the uniformity of the mix behind an asphalt paver as project variables such as plant production and paver speed are modified, will ultimately assist the quality control team in finding the “sweet spot” in the operations where quality can be achieved. PMTP technology also assists in training and showing paver operators the importance of keeping consistent paving speeds and reducing paver stops. Paver stops create thermal inconsistencies in the asphalt mat and impact the performance of the rolling train, which is very crucial in constructing smooth uniform dense roads. Bumps in the road can be developed from paver stops and roller stops. Eliminating the number of these stops will increase better average densities and build a smoother road. Billadeau said, “We always try to match the paver speed with the plant production rate to minimize pave stops. Being our first time using the PMTP, we did not know what to expect. Once the PMTP system was set up, the paver screed and speed were adjusted to maximize the consistent temps across the mat behind the paver. The final PMTP and IC data was immediately turned over to the DOT for their use after the project.” 36 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
INTELLIGENT COMPACTION
The Mayo Construction paving team has used IC technology on many mainline projects over the past few construction seasons, including the Hwy. 5 project. “Basically, each roller operator can watch the screen to see the areas compacted and set up rolling patterns,” Billadeau said. “This system ensures that the entire roadway gets rolled as consistently as possible while not missing any areas.” FIGURE 1. TABLE 430-13 EXPLAINING NDDOT REQUIRED PAVEMENT DENSITY ADJUSTMENT FACTORS FOR FAA 44 AND 45 ADJUSTMENT FACTOR
AVG. PAVEMENT DENSITY1
1.05
> 93.6%
1.03
93.1% - 93.5%
1.00
92.0% - 93.0%
0.98
91.0% - 91.9%
0.95
90.5% - 90.9%
0.91
90.0% - 90.4%
0.85
89.5% - 89.9%
0.70
89.0% - 89.4%
North Dakota DOT’s required pavement density states the engineer is to apply adjustment factors from Table 430-12 for lifts of pavement placed on aggregate base, reclaimed material or cold in-place recycle material. Table courtesy of NDDOT FIGURE 2. NDDOT REQUIRED JOINT DENSITY CONTRACT PRICE ADJUSTMENT PER LINEAR FOOT
JOINT LOT % MTD
$0.40
> 91.1%
$0.20
90.6% - 91.0%
$0.00
90.0% - 90.5%
$(0.20)
89.0% - 89.9%
$(0.60)
88.5% - 88.9%
$(1.10)
88.0% - 88.4%
$(1.80)
87.5% - 87.9%
$(3.60)
87.0% - 87.4%
Table courtesy of NDDOT
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Having consistent rolling patterns and the use of IC can be a key step in developing uniform and smooth asphalt roads. The rolling train for the Hwy. 5 project consisted of a Caterpillar double steel drum roller in the breakdown position, a Caterpillar pneumatic roller in the first intermediate position, a Dynapac double steel drum roller in the second intermediate position and a Dynapac double steel drum in the finish rolling position. With cooler ambient paving temperatures and the difficult density requirements this project specified, the paving team used a combination of technology, experienced roller operators and good quality equipment to successfully achieve required density on the Hwy. 5 project.
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Management commented, “Our Crews at Mayo Construction work very hard and take pride in doing the best they can. The employees understand that it takes the entire crew from the flaggers and pilot car to truck drivers, dump man, paver and screed operator, and everyone through the final finish roller operator to accomplish a smooth ride on ride spec projects. Their commitment to achieving a bonus ride is through dedication and working as a unified team for a common goal.” The management team in the field that assisted in a successful project consisted of: Ted Billadeau, quality control manager; Jon Newman, project manager; and Stuart Uhlenkamp, project superintendent. Establishing common goals that team members can strive toward is a great way to develop team unity on your next paving project. When a contractor takes pride in what they do, as Mayo Construction does, this passion reflects through in the workmanship of the road being constructed. Team unity, common goals and pride in workmanship will help produce a high-quality constructed road. The Hwy. 5 project for Mayo Construction is a prime example of this theory in practice. Recognized in North Dakota for delivering the best ride quality project in 2021, Mayo Construction has a lot to be proud of. The project received the North Dakota Ride Quality Award, which is presented by the North Dakota Department of Transportation and the Dakota Asphalt Pavement Association. This was announced at the Dakota Asphalt Pavement Association Conference in January 2022, but the award will be given to Mayo Construction at the North Dakota Asphalt conference March 2. “It’s always rewarding to be recognized by the industry for a job well done,” Billadeau said. The paving team at Mayo Construction recorded a 33.4 IRI on the eastbound lane and 30.6 IRI on the westbound lane. Other project successes included achieving a 93.3 average for the mat density and a 90.7 average for the joint density. Mayo Construction used the Willow Notch Wedge System on the project and implements this tool on every project that requires joint density. As evidenced by these numbers, hard work pays off. The Mayo Construction team balances best practices in the field, quality control with technology tools, team unity and dedication to continuously develop successful paving projects. Bryce Wuori is the owner of Wuori Consulting and the developer of PaveWise™ and Dynamic Density Design. He studied construction engineering at North Dakota State University and holds a Master of Project Management. For more information, contact him at bryce.w.wuori@gmail.com.
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After moving abrasive materials through the asphalt plant, you’ll see minute changes in equipment settings. To continue producing quality mixes on spec, you want to ensure all components stay in calibration. All photos courtesy of WEM Automation
THREE TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PLANT CALIBRATION
O
BY JOE HIGGINS AND TED CHRISTIAN
Our asphalt plants produce many thousands of tons of asphalt each year, with few breaks in the action available during the peak season. Moving hard, dusty, and abrasive materials like virgin aggregates and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) through a plant takes its toll on your equipment. Things naturally will change and move over time. It’s inevitable. Therefore, it is important to ensure your plant is calibrated properly to produce the consistent, quality product you are after. A well-executed calibration process not only saves you time, but it can also draw your focus to areas of your plant that need attention or items that need to be replaced. Before you start up your plant for the season (or shut down for routine maintenance in warmer climates) here are a few calibration tips to help keep your plant operating efficiently and effectively.
CHECK YOUR VIRGIN AGGREGATE AND WEIGHBRIDGE ALIGNMENT
It becomes an enormous, if not almost impossible task, to get a well calibrated and “dialed-in” plant if we aren’t certain our virgin aggregate and 40 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
RAP weighbridges are in proper alignment. These weighbridges are the primary determining factor of a successful plant calibration and achieving your desired results. Always start here and give this critical area an adequate amount of your time and focus. Make sure to complete the work on your weighbridges before you start tackling your liquid asphalt cement (AC) flow calibration procedures. If you don’t, you may find yourself revisiting and reworking things on your plant and performing calibration procedures more times than you care to. Always make sure of your weighbridge zero values and calibration accuracy before chasing AC variances in production. Remember, all other materials and setpoints rely upon aggregate weighbridge accuracy. At times, verifying that your idler roller alignment is within acceptable tolerances on your weighbridges can seem a bit tedious, but it is essential. Even a variation of 1/16 of an inch beyond the recommended settings can have a significant impact on proper flow and the composition of aggregate material reaching the drum.
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Check for significant belt movement or your belt tracking from side to side as material goes up the belt. If you see this, it can be an indication you have a weighbridge alignment issue. A belt that lacks proper alignment, or isn’t trained properly, will not allow for an accurate reading by your loadcell(s). As we all know, bad or inaccurate loadcell readings equate to mix that is not made to your desired specifications. Without getting too far into the weeds or specifics here on alignment procedures, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for your equipment should be able to provide you detailed, step-by-step instructions on the process of proper idler alignment for the specific model you use. If you don’t already have it readily available, we strongly recommend you contact them and get a copy of these instructions sent your way. There are also some good videos and tutorials available online if you are up for a little search.
MAKE SURE YOUR CALIBRATION POINTS END UP IN A LINEAR FASHION ON YOUR GRAPH
Now it is time to get out your ruler and start to fine-tune those graph skills. When completing your calibration graph, it is recommended to use a minimum of three calibration points, although four is preferable (points 0 – 4). All points on your graph should line up with your zero (initial) point. As long as your points on the line are within a pixel or two you are in good shape. Your midpoint reading should represent your typical running range (tons/hour) for the plant. Otherwise, your calibration could be off without you knowing it. We can’t stress enough that it is important to insure you have a linear line on your calibration graph. A non-linear
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This image shows an example of four plot/test points on a calibration graph in the desired linear fashion.
line could indicate you have a loadcell or belt alignment issue, which we discussed above. Don’t settle for anything but a straight line.
CALIBRATE YOUR BINS
When starting with the calibration of your virgin aggregate and RAP bins, you must maintain a consistent material bed depth throughout the process. Why? Changes in the bed depth on your belt, of course, mean a different aggregate flow rate. Thus, achieving an accurate, consistent measurement during the bin calibration process will elude you if material bed depth varies. As an example, when you move or adjust your bin gate opening, your flow rate changes, so you will need to recalibrate your bin at that new opening level. As a side note, at times, during the season, you may find a need to open up a gate and clear out a large piece of material or obstruction in a bin. Even if you mark the gate opening setting and “put the gate back to where it was,” you will want to recalibrate that bin, generally at the end of your run. Why should you recalibrate? If your gate opening is off even by as little as 1/8 of an inch from its previous setting, (which is hard to see and can be the width of your reference mark), it can make a significant difference on the flow rate of a bin and your numbers will reflect that accordingly. Another important point regarding this part of the process is to check and verify your material no-flow indicators are all in place and functioning properly. These indicators play a very important role in ensuring a proper matrix of aggregate (versus just the proper amount of aggregate) reaches the weighbridge and your drum mixer. These three tips are just a few out of the many important pieces to a successful and essential plant calibration procedure. We hope you find them useful. This process has many variables involved and is time consuming for sure. But if you “plan your work, then work your plan,” make sure you are precise and methodical with your methods, the overall time spent will be less and the results well worth the effort. Joe Higgins, senior controls technician, has been with WEM for over 13 years, helping asphalt customers with their technical controls questions and support. Ted Christian, strategic account manager, has actively been involved within the asphalt industry for over 25 years.
WOOTEN EXPANDS NORTH CAROLINA’S I-95
S
BY RONALD BROCK
Serving as the main connection for major destinations along the Eastern Seaboard, I-95 is an important transportation corridor for freight trucks and leisure travelers alike. The 18-mile stretch between the North Carolina cities of Dunn and Fayetteville, alone, sees an average daily traffic volume of 60,000 vehicles. Adding complications for this busy section of I-95 is the fact that it hasn’t seen major upgrades in five decades. In anticipation of steady traffic increases in the area, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) hired the team at S.T. Wooten, Wilson, as the lead contractor for a $400 million design-build job to widen the stretch and bring it up to modern-day engineering standards.
EXPANSIVE ROADMAP
S.T. Wooten is working with the NCDOT to add two lanes in both directions of I-95 between exits 55 and 72, bringing it to eight total lanes. The northern 3-mile stretch of the project, which was designed by the NCDOT, began construction between fall 2019 and spring 2020. Together with design firm partner RK&K Engineering, S.T. Wooten laid out the remaining 15 miles of the project, which is now underway. In total, it will require approximately 1.4 million tons of asphalt and 50,000 cubic yards of concrete to complete the additional lanes for this job. To construct the project, crews are placing 12 inches of Class IV aggregate (870,000 tons) in conjunction with a geosynthetic fabric to stabilize the subgrade, 10 inches of aggregate base course (690,000 tons), and 12.5 inches of asphalt (1.4 million tons) to construct the new lanes along with a minimum of 6 inches of asphalt overlay on the existing travel lanes. Along with these materials there is also 50,000 cubic yards of concrete required for bridge construction, box culverts, concrete barrier rail, and curb and gutter. There are two nearby plants providing asphalt for this project. Roughly 80,000 tons have come from S.T. Wooten’s Clayton plant, which is situated near the I-40/NC-42 interchange. Most of the remaining asphalt will come from another S.T. Wooten plant in 44 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
The S.T. Wooten team anticipates its new Intrame plant located in Benson will provide about 1.3 million tons of asphalt for the I-95 widening project. Photos courtesy of Largemouth PR
Benson, which was recently assembled. Manufactured by Intrame, this new plant includes some fresh design features such as a single wagon silo system that is helping increase efficiency in production. Twelve bridges are also being built or replaced as part of the I-95 upgrades. Along with the installation of roundabouts to eliminate stop conditions at some interchanges, a new ramp will be added to connect I-95 North to NC-295 South.
NAVIGATING ROADBLOCKS
Traffic volumes have been the biggest challenge for crews in the I-95 work zone due to consistent vehicle travel during all hours of the day. Like S.T. Wooten’s nearby project on I-40 in Raleigh, there are several haul-
ing and lane closure restrictions to keep in mind. Project managers have had to be strategic about the schedule to keep construction moving forward with the least disturbance for drivers. While nightwork schedules allow crews to complete certain activities when there are fewer people on the road, the project’s design helps support general traffic control in the work zone. Broken up into four major project phases, vehicles have been routed through middle lanes in the early phases of construction and then will move to the outside lanes during the final phases to avoid complete shutdowns of the interstate. Wet weather has been another issue for crews to overcome—especially being in the sandhills region where water often builds and settles. Waiting for rainwater to subside can
S.T. Wooten crews and 20+ subcontractors will improve the 18-mile stretch of I-95 between the North Carolina cities of Dunn and Fayetteville, overlaying existing pavement with asphalt, widening the highway from four lanes to eight between exits 55 and 72, building or replacing 12 bridges, installing roundabouts, and adding a new ramp to connect I-95 North to NC-295 South.
cause delays with paving and other activities. Project managers have had to continuously monitor and plan ahead based on the weather, adding work shifts or rearranging work times to ensure the project schedules stay on track. Labor shortages have been an industry-wide obstacle since before the pandemic and it’s something the team has had to address as the I-95 project kicked into high gear this past year. Having anticipated some of those challenges this past winter, S.T. Wooten has been able to put contingency plans in place to help maximize the schedule for the benefit of the project and the crew members. Part of the commitment to employees is keeping safety top-of-mind in the work zone, which is a heightened concern with large projects like I-95. Heavy traffic and high noise levels mean everyone needs to be on high alert. Keeping things organized on site and having good communication between crew members goes a long way. The professionalism crews have shown in avoiding any close calls is a testament to the dedication and training they devote to taking personal responsibility for safety. For general public safety and to help with traffic management, I-95 has been designated as a smart work zone. Digital sensors, moni-
toring cameras, speed limit signs and message boards have been set up throughout the site to help monitor traffic conditions. Information is routed through the NCDOT Statewide Operations Center to alert emergency service teams when there’s an accident and re-route traffic when necessary.
ALL ONE TEAM
S.T. Wooten’s success on the I-95 project so far can be attributed to the leadership of project managers and hard work every day from construction crews. The buy-in from everyone on the project, from crew members to contractors, has helped us weather any storms and manage the unique dynamics brought on by the pandemic. The project is on target for its 2024 deadline and by the end of it, several hundreds of construction workers from S.T. Wooten and 20+ subcontractors will have had a hand in it. They should all take pride in the benefits their efforts are bringing to countless travelers coming up and down the East Coast in the years to come. Ronald Brock is a project manager at S.T. Wooten, Wilson, North Carolina.
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M
BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
Many state asphalt pavement associations (SAPAs) offer regional tradeshows where an asphalt professional can get his or her equipment “fix” during annual meetings, but the big events with corporate money backing fancy displays of iron and information typically happen at such tradeshows as World of Asphalt and AGG1. The most exciting displays are usually planned out for CONEXPO-CON/AGG years, but you must admit, asphalt equipment manufacturers know how to roll out eye-catching iron at the co-located WOA/AGG1 event. This year, that event takes place at the Nashville Music Center in downtown Nashville, March 29-31. And according to Brittany Weltcheff, show manager, World of Asphalt, people appear to be more than ready to leave lockdown status to attend. Mid-January, she could see attendance numbers already looking up. “Currently, registration is trending ahead of our last in-person show, which was held in 2019 in Indianapolis,” Weltcheff shared. “We see people are excited to come back together and meet in-person.” Vendors appeared ready to greet the influx of registering attendees. As of press time, the WOA/AGG1 tradeshow had 363 exhibitors mapped out on the third level of the convention center. This is where, according to the show’s official website, manufacturers and service providers in the aggregate, asphalt, pavement maintenance, and traffic safety industry sectors will come together to showcase their latest products and technologies. Some attendee favorites may have new logos—I'm looking at One Astec specifically—but new and familiar OEMs have spacious booths to showcase product offerings for the asphalt and aggregate manager who’s been doing his or her shopping online the past two years.
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It’s time to get out and kick the tires again. Finally. “Exhibitors have been waiting almost three years to come back to the leading asphalt trade show and conference and they are excited to connect with attendees and share the latest advances for asphalt equipment and services,” Weltcheff said. “Currently, exhibit space for World of Asphalt 2022 is sold out, and a waiting list has been growing.” Many exhibitors have mini events, prize drawings or special guests at their booths, including your AsphaltPro magazine staff. Our popular “Ask the Expert” series is back. Stop by booth L1005 Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 to ask your plant and production questions of Malcolm Swanson of e5 Engineers, Chickamauga, Georgia. Or stop by the booth Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 1:30 to 3:30 to ask your paving questions of Bryce Wuori of Wuori Consulting, Bismarck, North Dakota. Another event to put on your calendar takes place Wednesday, March 30, from 4-5 p.m., when a select group of OEMs are participating in a reception on the tradeshow floor. The AsphaltPro supporters who are part of the Rock and Road Reception are Bomag at booth 3502, CWMF at booth 2756, Dynapac at booth 3522, Reliable Asphalt Products at booth 3040, and WEM Automation at booth 3461. They’ll have free beer and expert-filled conversations for you. While there’s plenty of knowledge to be gained from experts in the exhibit booths on the tradeshow floor, attendees will get the most from the WOA/AGG1 experience by attending seminars as well. The show organizers state they have lined up 150 education sessions between the People, Plants, and Paving conference and the AGG1 conference, which are offered in-person only this year.
“In March 2021, we held the People, Plants, and Paving conference virtually to ensure that our audience was able to learn best practices and new and innovative skills they needed as essential workers,” Weltcheff said. “We heard from our audience that while they appreciated the digital conference given the circumstances at the time, they are excited and ready to get back to in-person education where they can network and connect more easily with other industry professionals.” Getting back to in-person education, information-gathering, networking and purchasing is the name of the game for WOA and AGG1 2022. Find all the exact details for registration and travel tips, seminars and sessions, exhibitor listings, and things to do after the show at the official website https://www. worldofasphalt.com/visit/about-the-show. And check out a special list of asphalt-centric exhibitors who partner with AsphaltPro on the pages to follow.
Brittany Weltcheff is the show manager for WOA. Photo courtesy of Association of Equipment Manufacturers
ASPHALTPRO PARTNER EXHIBITORS
While there are over 360 exhibitors between the WOA and AGG1 show floors, a select group of them have partnered with AsphaltPro Magazine to ensure you have a leading source of quality content and information all year long. Those exhibitors are listed below to make them easier for you to target when you get to the event. Please let them know you saw them in our pages and please thank them for supporting a news and information source that supports your industry.
ADM—3131
Pain Point to Solve: ADM empowers contractors to improve their bottom lines by enabling them to efficiently produce their own hot-mix asphalt, saving material, driver, and work-site labor costs. What’s at the Booth: Expert industry specialists will be on hand to demonstrate how to customize the perfect asphalt plant with standard ADM components to meet individual producer’s needs.
AMMANN AMERICA—1710
Pain Point to Solve: Cost and quality are priorities. Ammann plants use advanced technology that reduces operating costs. Ammann’s unique approach to heating/ mixing yields high-quality asphalt. What’s at the Booth: Scale models of the Ammann ACP ContiHRT and Ammann ABA UniBatch asphalt mixing plants will be available for review.
ASPHALT MATERIALS—4062 Pain Point to Solve: Asphalt Materials’ core business strength is the research and development of asphalt binders and emulsions for the asphalt industry since our formation in 1956.
ASPHALTPRO—L1005
Pain Point to Solve: AsphaltPro Magazine offers technical, how-to information to enhance the vertically integrated asphalt contractor’s bottom line. What’s at the Booth: We have four “Ask the Expert” sessions in addition to information
about our Asphalt Paving 101 online paving course at the booth this year. Stop by to grab a magazine while supplies last and stay a while to learn practical, useable tips for paving and production from experts at the booth.
ASTEC INDUSTRIES—2602
Pain Point to Solve: In 2021, the company officially rebranded. With all the brands under one name, Astec continues to serve as a primary resource for all Rock to Road solutions. What’s at the Booth: M-Pack asphalt mixing plant, asphalt terminal, RX-505 cold planer, SB-3000 material transfer vehicle, RP-175 and RP-195 highway class asphalt pavers, CP130 paver, J20 Ranger jaw plant.
BOMAG—3502
Pain Point to Solve: Our pavers produce a consistent, high-quality mat backed by our machine technology and support solutions, regardless of any job site challenge.
CHOOSE ATS
FOR SAFE, SMOOTH ASPHALT The Rolling Thin Film Oven (RTFO) test simulates short-term aging by measuring the effect of heat and air on a moving film of asphalt binder. The ATS RTFO meets ASTM D2872 and AASHTO T240 and will be an irreplacable tool in determining binder quality. • Sealed high-temperature bearings located outside of the heat zone for zero maintenance & durability • Silicone rings in the carousel allow for easy installation of bottles and prevent damage • Bottom tray & elements easily accessible for cleaning and upkeep
www.atspa.com | +1-724-283-1212 | sales@atspa.com
WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM | 47
What’s at the Booth: BOMAG is a market leader in the field of asphalt, infrastructure, and compaction of soil, asphalt, and refuse, servicing a worldwide network of asphalt experts. Attendees can enter to win a pair of BOSE SoundLink Wireless headphones. Winner will be drawn and notified Thursday, March 31, via phone or email.
BROCK—1967
Pain Point to Solve: Our vision is to be known as having the best quality, service and relationships in the industry. Being exceptional in those three things helps us be a pain point eliminator for our customers. What’s at the Booth: As a new entry to WOA, we will have a simple backdrop display staffed with knowledgeable industry veterans excited to visit with customers and friends. We will be handing out BROCK logo koozies while supplies last!
CARGILL—3105
Pain Point to Solve: Provide cutting edge, bio-based, sustainable asphalt technologies, tailored to your needs to help you build better roads and keep people safe without compromising costs. What’s at the Booth: Visit Cargill’s Asphalt Solutions Innovation Lab, featuring innovative Anova® asphalt additives that fit the BMD framework, are easy to implement and cost effective. A YETI cooler will be given to randomly drawn winners each day. Sign up at our booth and grab a rejuvenating drink while there. AsphaltPro Magazine brings back the popular “Ask the Expert!” Stop by booth L1005 in the lobby any time to grab: • a free copy of the magazine • info about our Asphalt Paving 101 online course And put these times on your schedule! • 9:30-11:30 Tuesday & Wednesday—Ask the Production Expert with Malcolm Swanson of e5 Engineers • 1:30-3:30 Tuesday & Wednesday—Ask the Paving Expert with Bryce Wuori of Wuori Consulting
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CWMF—2756
Pain Point to Solve: Offering solutions through clear communication is just one of the ways we help our customers solve any challenges they are working with. What’s at the Booth: Honey Badger RAP crushing hammermill; 4-ton, patented silo batcher; and trunnion and tire display of our drums. CWMF will be one of the sponsors for the Rock and Road Reception!
COMMAND ALKON—2010
Pain Point to Solve: In the asphalt industry, success depends on a network of partners. Command Alkon’s technology helps digitize operations and provide seamless interactions with supply chain trading partners. What’s at the Booth: CONNEX Dispatch, Ruckit, Apex, Libra Solutions, CONNEX Platform We’ll highlight our new CONNEX Dispatch solution at the show. Come by to learn how to connect sales, operations, production and field personnel in real time with this cloud-based solution.
DYNAPAC—3522
Dynapac North America, Fort Mill, South Carolina, features administrative, customer support, and parts distribution facilities for soil and asphalt rollers, compact equipment, pavers, and feeders.
EAGLE—2002
Pain Point to Solve: Eagle Crusher engineers its equipment to meet producer’s specific needs, operate reliably day in and day out, and exceed expectations on TPH and product quality. What’s at the Booth: See the RapiDeploy-1000. Experience the same great set-up and operational ease of RapiDeploy-500, with the added power of our UltraMax-15 impactor for higher production.
ELEMENT SIX—1657
Pain Point to Solve: Our premium MasterGrade™ carbide provides extreme wear resistance and longer tool life, reducing costs in reclaiming and road milling operations. What’s at the Booth: Information and samples about MasterGrade™ and our new HD™ Series tools, designed for the tough, abrasive conditions of your reclaiming and road milling operations.
Visit the Element Six booth #1657 to collect one of our new HD™ Series baseball caps and hard hat stickers. Made for the long run!
GENCOR—2020
Pain Point to Solve: Gencor designs, engineers, and manufactures complete stationary and portable drum mix, batch plants, and components up to 700 TPH and more.
GREENPATCH—3148
Pain Point to Solve: GreenPatch® is a highperformance cold patch product designed to repair and maintain roadways while using RAP and sustainable additives.
KENCO ENGINEERING—1746 Pain Point to Solve: Kenco alloys and TCI products are designed to extend wear life and reduce downtime in all the processing phases of the asphalt and aggregate lifecycle.
MEEKER—3012
Pain Point to Solve: We now provide turnkey or modified turnkey solutions to producers: We make, install, and start up equipment as part of a total project investment. What’s at the Booth: We will be showing our Freedom Air Series Reverse Air baghouse and our Liquid Vision Tank valve control and level system.
MINDS INC.—2768
Pain Point to Solve: MINDS provides Windows-based, customizable automation control systems for asphalt plants, emulsion plants, silo load-out, full plant control and data management for the asphalt industry.
PHCO—3119
Pain Point to Solve: Improving overall production from cost, maintenance, and product quality perspectives. What’s at the Booth: Unique animated videos show how PHCo’s products work, effectively illustrating what sets the company’s LoDensity® drywell-style electric heat apart from fossil-fuel burners.
RELIABLE ASPHALT PRODUCTS—3040
Pain Point to Solve: As a single-source supplier, Reliable Asphalt provides high quality new and used asphalt equipment and exceptional customer service.
Quick Show Info • What? WOA/AGG1 • Where? Music City Center, Nashville
We will be giving away a full tuition for our 2023 Hotmix University Class held in Louisville, Kentucky.
TARMAC—2856
• When? Tues., March 29, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed., March 30, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thurs., March 31, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Pain Point to Solve: Tarmac International Inc. is a capital equipment manufacturer of asphalt plants and aggregate drying plants specializing in complete systems with control packages.
• Who? You! Plus, exhibitors listed below!
TRANSTECH SYSTEMS—3232
STANSTEEL—3002 Pain Point to Solve: How to control your entire hot-mix asphalt plant with one user-friendly, cost-effective, safe and automated system. What’s at the Booth: Stansteel-Hotmix Parts & Service will showcase Accu-Track, AccuLevel, Tank Tracker, Tank Manager, T-Trac, NiteOwl, Turbo Rap Gator, Grizzly Pumps, Pin Pusher.
Pain Point to Solve: TransTech’s PQI offers precise asphalt pavement density measurement almost instantly without the hassle of nuclear gauge regulatory training and certification.
WEILER—2940
Pain Point to Solve: Weiler offers equipment for heavy highway, commercial paving and quarry markets, including MTVs, commercial pavers, road wideners, the S200 soil stabilizer and more.
WEM—3461
Pain Point to Solve: Improve safety, quality, productivity, inventory control and energy management with smart manufacturing practices led by Industry 4.0/IoT—adding sensors to collect plant data. What’s at the Booth: WEM will have a model of the Asphalt Plant of the Future’s controls set up, with the addition of a few other products. WEM will host a reception with complimentary beer Wednesday, March 30, 4 p.m. in the booth. All are invited to learn about WEM and controls.
WIRTGEN GROUP —2302
Pain Point to Solve: With our different brands, we—the WIRTGEN GROUP—cover the entire road construction process chain: processing, mixing, paving, compacting, and rehabilitating. Stop by booth 2302 to ask about the Wirtgen, New Electric and BAM Infra electric-drive asphalt paver.
Proven Sustainability It’s the dawn of a new day for asphalt pavement. Our technological solutions add strength, crack resistance, rut resistance and fatigue resiliency to make any asphalt mix stronger and last longer. We offer easy-to-adopt solutions, verifiably proven in projects throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Take a closer look. It pays to compare.
WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM | 49
P R O D U C T GA L L E RY
Paving Parts BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
G
iven the new iron to be unveiled and displayed at the end of March, the paving product gallery has minimal new items to share this month. Keep in mind, you can visit equipment manufacturers and parts suppliers at their booths in person at the World of Asphalt 2022 in Nashville or virtually at their websites online anytime you have the need for additional information.
ASTEC
The Roadtec RP-190 highway class asphalt paver from Astec is designed to deliver a high-quality final mat product with extreme precision. The RP-190 showcases the exclusive anti-segregation design of the feed-tunnel, discharge and rear augers, solid front axle and conveyors. Designed for long-term reliability, the RP-190 includes such features as a fume extraction system, hydraulic pressure sensors and a solid steel push roller. The RP190 also features a 230-horsepower, 6-cylinder Cummins QSB 6.7 engine. The deck height is 6 foot, 2 inches with a 9-foot, 2-inch wheelbase. The operating width is 10 feet, 6 inches with an inside turning radius of 11 feet, 3 inches. The total weight of the paver is 36,700 pounds and contains a 100-gallon fuel tank and 76-gallon hydraulic tank capacity. With operator comfort and safety as a priority, the RP-190 paver offers improved visibility, reduced noise levels and easily accessible controls, according to the manufacturer. The machine features a Comfort Drive™ ergonomic operator experience with ride control tension system seats and armrest fingertip controls that move with the seats. Engineered for safety, the RP-190 also has dual operator station seats that can move hydraulically beyond the sides of the machine allowing for unobstructed, 360-degree views. The paver also includes emergency shut-off switches located conveniently at the ground level on the screed boxes, and at the operator stations. For more information visit Astecindustries.com. 50 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
The RP-190 highway class asphalt paver from Astec features the anti-segregation design of the feed tunnel, discharge and rear augers, front axle and conveyors.
ASV
ASV Holdings Inc., Grand Rapids, Minnesota, introduces a repowered RT-40 Posi-Track® loader with a Yanmar engine. Not only does the 38.2-horsepower engine add more power to the compact loader, it is also designed to improve serviceability for machine owners by allowing them to have the Yanmar engine serviced at ASV dealers. Additionally, the small-frame RT-40 showcases new comfort, visibility and performance features over its predecessor, according to the manufacturer. “With the Yanmar-powered RT-40, we are doubling down on the machine’s performance, reliability and comfort, as well as making it easier for our customers to service the engine at ASV dealers,” said Buck Storlie, ASV Holdings Inc. product manager. “The RT-40 is already a staple due to its ability to bring more power and productivity to limited-space work that may otherwise have required a fence removal or needed to be done by hand.” For more information, visit your local ASV dealer.
CASE
Case Construction Equipment is now accepting entries for the 2022 CASE Kickstart Contest, a business development program where landscape contractors enter for
a chance to win a prize package built to advance the capabilities, expertise and development of their operation. Landscape business owners are encouraged to enter the contest at CaseCE.com/Kickstart by answering a few basic questions, sharing their goals for the year ahead, and describing how they will evolve their services if they win the contest. The deadline for entry is March 31, 2022. While asphalt contractors might not think that’s important, the prize package has some cool stuff. One grand-prize winner will take home the following package: • One-year business consultation with Ken Thomas and Ben Gandy of Envisor Consulting, including one in-person session and ongoing consultation • A six-month lease on any CASE compact track loader (CTL) • A six-month attachment lease selecting from some of the most common attachments used by landscapers Five runners up will receive a six-month online training subscription from Envisor Academy. And all who enter will receive an exclusive invitation to the CASE Landscape Virtual Summit, which is an online event similar to the current CASE Live series. Representatives of CASE and Envisor will select the winning entrants. Winners will be notified in April 2022.
FE ATURED EQUIPMEN T
GTB-5521 CMI® Portable Parallel Flow Drum Plant
GTB-5503L Cedarapids®/Stansteel® 470 Ton Stationary Silo System
GTB-5519L ADM® 200 Ton Total Storage Twin Silo System
GTB-5513 Astec® 300 TPH Portable Counterflow Drum Plant
GTB-5516D Astec® 200 TPH Double Barrel Stationary Counterflow Drum
GTB-5511L Dillman® 200 Ton Each Long Term Storage Silos
For more information on the items above and more, call or visit our website. Our trusted and reliable asphalt experts will come to your site and appraise your equipment or plant. All you will have to do is sit back and let us bring approved buyers to you! Turn your surplus asphalt plant equipment into much needed plant upgrades.
Inspection Marketing Showing Sales
Make sure to visit us at booth #3002
Availability, price and condition subject to change by Stansteel®. Specifications are accurate to our knowledge, however; they are not guaranteed. All prices are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Equipment is sold on the basis of as is, where is, therefore, Stansteel® recommends inspection by buyer of any used equipment to determine suitability to their requirements.
P R O D U C T GA L L E RY CAT
The Cat® SE47 FM asphalt screed from Caterpillar is designed to provide application versatility with multiple berm options and a small footprint for starting next to curbs and obstacles. Its standard paving range is 8 feet to 15 feet, 6 inches; maximum width is 20 feet, 6 inches. Screed plates are 24 inches wide on the main and 9 inches wide on the extenders. Heated endgate option; in-line extension cylinders with full wrap around bearings; rigid frame design. It features front-mounted extenders and power berm options to create 12-inch-wide or 18-inch-wide berms with a variable height up to 4 inches. Screed operating consoles are equipped with mix height adjustment for the augers and can be equipped with Cat Grade Control to adjust conveyor ratio or conveyor material height through the display. For more information, visit your local Cat dealer.
DYNATEST
Dynatest has launched a new tool called the pavement condition index (PCI) calculation tool to do all the PCI calculations based on the international standard ASTM D6433 – 20, based on the classification of distresses carried out following the standard guidelines within the sample unit that the users define. The function is available for flexible pavements and is a licensed module within the comprehensive Dynatest pavement analysis program, Dynatest Explorer. The automated PCI calculation function is designed to calculate the PCI value taking into consideration all distresses identified, both automatically and manually rated. The PCI values can be shown in a table, a graph, or exported to excel, or shown on a map and exported to Google Earth. With this tool, users no longer perform difficult equations or create complex excel sheets that consider all the different combinations of distresses and severities and have no more calculation errors or mistakes. For more information, visit the Dynatest website.
EARTHWAVE
Earthwave, Indianapolis, presents its FleetWatcher Real-Time Executive Scoreboard functionality, a scorecard for the Materials Management System (MMS), which al52 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
lows users to see Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) displayed on their phone, tablet or computer. In real-time, users can view their tons per hour by crew or by truck, feet per minute, cycle time, trucking cost per ton (TCpT), and more. Color coding shows at-aglance what metrics need corrective action, as KPIs are automatically measured against estimated benchmarks. Metrics shaded in green are meeting their targets, yellow shading indicates those to monitor, and red shading shows underperformance. Total tons loaded is automatically compared to shift times to show users if they are ahead of schedule or behind with both a bar chart showing progress and a numerical indicator of percentage. Metrics can be graphed to quickly show performance over time. Users can select the KPIs to display and change them as desired. This instant visibility into performance allows managers to add trucks, re-route them to different plants, improve cycle times, and more to streamline productivity and profitability. Accurate information and analysis can also be used to bid future projects and win more business. FleetWatcher personnel will be in World of Asphalt booth 3566. For more information, visit www.EarthwaveTech.com.
TRIMBLE
Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB), Sunnyvale, California, announced in January the horizontal steering control functionality on the Trimble® Earthworks Grade Control Platform for soil compactors, stating it is the industry’s first automatic steering control solution for soil compactors—and the next step toward Trimble’s autonomous vision. Horizontal steering control helps operators achieve higher quality surfaces and consistent compaction. Compatibility with all soil compactor makes and models enables contractors with mixed fleets to achieve a faster return on investment. Trimble Earthwork’s Horizontal Steering Control automatically steers a soil compactor using a 3D model or compaction pass line. This helps to improve compaction productivity and quality for operators of all skill levels by controlling overlap between passes. Auto steering helps reduce operator fatigue while also minimizing over- and under-compaction. Trimble Earthworks uses the NavController III steering technology from the Trimble Agriculture Division, leveraging the company’s
20 years of steering technology and applying it to civil construction applications. In 2020, Trimble also introduced horizontal steering control as part of the Trimble Earthworks Grade Control Platform for dozers, another first in the construction industry. Trimble Earthworks Grade Control Platform for soil compactors with horizontal steering control is available now globally through the worldwide SITECH® distribution channel. For more information, visit the Trimble website.
YANMAR
Yanmar Compact Equipment announced Jan. 4 that it now paints all its equipment an eye-catching Premium Red, coinciding with the launch of its new tagline, “Together We Build.” Director of Sales Jeff Pate said: “Our dealers and our customers really like the new color.” For more information, look for Yanmar at World of Asphalt.
ZONAR
Zonar, Seattle, announced December 2021 the availability of its light duty transmission control unit (TCU), built in conjunction with its parent company Continental. The Zonar LD™ TCU is designed to meet the evolving needs of light-duty vehicles within fleets, including access to detailed vehicle telematics data and diagnostics to improve performance, efficiency, and security. The company reported light-duty vehicles make up over 60% of today’s vocational fleets, and many school districts and transit services rely on light-duty vehicles such as passenger vans to transport riders safely and reliably. The LD TCU provides these fleets with a simple plug and play telematics solution for their light duty vehicles, providing the same essential Zonar Ground Traffic Control® reporting as the Zonar V4 telematics device designed for light-duty, heavy-duty and off-highway vehicles. Data collected by the LD TCU is compressed, encrypted, and transmitted to Zonar data centers over a private VPN. This high-resolution path data allows users to see the location of every one of their vehicles, with an exact record of every action performed, during every trip. For more information, visit the Zonar LD website.
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NEW TECH
Heat the Longitudinal Joint For Optimum Density AsphaltPro discusses the continuing trend of heating longitudinal joints during construction, a practice that allows the contractor to improve density at the joint and achieve full pay. BY SARAH REDOHL
P
aving Consultant Bryce Wuori of Wuori Consulting, Bismarck, North Dakota, estimates that roughly half the jobs he consults on face a longitudinal joint density specification. “If you include the airport jobs I’m on, it’s up to 70 percent,” he said. Wuori said that the majority of states in which he works now have incentives for density on the longitudinal joint, anywhere from $0.60 to $1 per linear foot. Not only can that add up to quite a bit of incentive for contractors, Wuori said, but improving density on the longitudinal joint also produces a better road for the owner. “The longitudinal joint is typically the first place that fails,” he said, “so if you can make that last as long as the rest of the road, you’re going to get longer lasting roads.” “Pavement deterioration always starts with cracking,” said Michael Blake, marketing manager at KM International, North Branch, Michigan. “And the main cause of cracking is water penetration, which usually starts at the centerline joint.” Density issues at the longitudinal joint are nothing new, Wuori said. What is new is the growing number of agencies specifying longitudinal joint density. In the next three to five years, Wuori believes almost all jobs will specify longitudinal joint density. “In the past, we didn’t have the tools to achieve better density at the longitudinal joint,” Wuori said. “Now that contractors have the tools available to improve joint density, agencies are feeling more comfortable implementing density specifications because contractors have a good chance of achieving them.”
METHODS TO IMPROVE JOINT DENSITY
Although longitudinal joint density specifications are becoming more common, Wuori said the process by which a contractor achieves density on the longitudinal joint often isn’t specified. One solution is the process of heating the longitudinal joint during construction. “When you reheat the joint, you’re making the bitumen and aggregates thermal again so their ability to bond increases,” Wuori said, which decreases air voids at the joint. “By heating the joint, you are ensuring the joint is around 300 degrees Fahrenheit at compaction, instead of 80 to 100,” Blake said. With an infrared heater, he added, contractors can install hot asphalt against hot asphalt, “which is going to create a seamless weld between the two lanes.” Although Wuori most often recommends to his clients the use of a notched wedge to improve joint density, he said heating the joint is also a good option. “The notched wedge is the cheapest and easiest option and one that almost always allows the contractor to hit that joint density,” Wuori said. However, he added, “from what I’ve seen, if you can reheat the joint you’re going to see better, more consistent density than with a notched wedge.” 56 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
Wuori gave this theoretical comparison: If a contractor paved a 2-inch lift with a standard dense-graded Superpave mix with a standard vertical joint, Wuori estimates they might hit the average longitudinal joint density spec of 90.5 percent density half the time. All else equal, if the contractor added a double shot of tack or J-Band at the joint (which Wuori requires on all his projects), he estimates they could hit that density 70 percent of the time. If they used a notched wedge, he estimates they could hit density 90 percent of the time. If they use both a double shot of tack or J-Band plus a notched wedge joint, Wuori estimates the contractor could be successful 100 percent of the time. He estimates the use of a double shot of tack or J-Band plus reheating would be similarly successful. And, if they used a double shot of tack or J-Band, plus a notched wedge joint, and reheating, “they will max out the incentive for longitudinal joint density every time,” he said.
LEARN MORE HERE’S HOW J-BAND CAN HELP Void reducing asphalt membranes (VRAM) beneath the longitudinal joint of a course of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavement are designed to assist in joint construction. One such VRAM is J-Band, a hot polymer-modified asphalt product from Asphalt Materials Inc., Indianapolis. “VRAM is a materials solution to centerline permeability and joint density issues,” said Jeffrey Ball, executive director of marketing and communications for Asphalt Materials. “It’s like an insurance policy to minimize the need for agencies to have to repair these joints because of longitudinal cracking, potholes, raveling, etc.” J-Band is applied by a distributor truck immediately before paving, usually as an 18-inchwide strip under the eventual location of the longitudinal joint along the final lift. As HMA is applied, J-Band will migrate upward through the new HMA to fill voids up to 75 percent of the overlay height to fend off future water infiltration. “The heat of the hot mix activates the VRAM,” Ball said. “The heat along with the pressure of the rollers helps the VRAM migrate up into the hot mix. If you core the longitudinal joint area and test the permeability, you’ll see that it's much lower because the VRAM has filled those air voids.” This process can help roads last up to five years longer, Ball added.
NEW TECH Deciding when to use which option comes down to the incentives available on the job, Wuori added, “because it’s quite a bit more expensive to reheat per foot than to do a notched wedge.” However, Wuori has been on a number of projects—all airports— that have used both a notched wedge and heat on the joint. “I think we might see the use of both across other jobs in our industry in a decade,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before contractors will have to use several tools to be successful as specs are getting increasingly more difficult.”
BEST PRACTICES OF HEATING THE JOINT
Wuori has seen all types of technologies used to heat the longitudinal joint, with paver-mounted infrared heaters being one of the most effective, particularly for mainline highway paving. At airports and jobs with smaller pulls, he’s seen other types of heat sources like those mounted on trucks. Blake estimates that the industry is probably five to seven years from widespread adoption of paver-mounted infrared heaters. KM International’s infrared heaters are usually pulled around by hand since they are most often used to reheat a longitudinal joint after construction. “In most cases, a contractor will take our infrared heater to the job site after the job has been fully completed and then reheat and recompact the longitudinal joint to get better density,” Blake said. “A common scenario we see for pavers is a customer hold-
ing a check for a project because there is an issue with the longitudinal joint.” With KM International’s infrared heater, the contractor can reheat and re-compact that joint, which Blake said should create a thermal bond between the two lanes and reduce the likelihood of any water penetration and premature cracking, if properly performed. Whether heating or reheating the joint, it’s important to ensure you don’t burn the asphalt. “You don’t typically see issues with burning the asphalt unless the paver is moving really slowly and it is an extremely hot day,” Wuori said, but added that a good rule of thumb is never to exceed the mixing temperature for the particular mix design being laid. He also recommends never heating the joint above the temperature of what’s coming out of the paver. Wuori also said it’s important to be patient with new technologies and to take the time to properly train whomever you’re going to put in charge of monitoring these new technologies. “They need to know how to set it up and how to use it correctly, but also how it works,” he said. “Training that person in such a way that they understand how important this is will help them to respect it a bit more.” Wuori stresses the importance of setting up the system correctly and having someone knowledgeable monitoring the heating system with a temperature gun to manage the process correctly. Wuori also reminds us that it will be a learning experience. “More goes into it than just getting the tools,” he said. “But once you figure it out, you can easily use those tools on one project to the next.”
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58 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
Stop by booth 2010 to see Libra in action!
MIX MASTERS Visit us at Booth 1710
THE BEST BUSINESSES DON’T JUST BUY AN ASPHALT PLANT. THEY ACQUIRE A COMPETITIVE EDGE. Why do asphalt producers turn to Ammann when investing in batch and continuous plants? The plants’ advanced technology drives ownership and operating costs lower – and profits higher. In addition, Ammann’s unique approach to heating and mixing yields higher-quality asphalt than conventional methods. Ammann has you covered with:
Get more information about Ammann plants
• Advanced heating and mixing systems • Intuitive operation • Outstanding productivity
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Ammann America Inc. 1125 SW 101st Road, Davie, FL 33324, USA Phone (954) 493 0010, Fax (954) 493 0020, info.aaa@ammann.com For additional product information and services please visit : www.ammann.com PMP-2761-01-EN | © Ammann Group
INDUSTRY-LEADING RECYCLING
O F F T H E M AT
Use Overtime Effectively BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
T
he successful contractor knows how to incorporate anticipated overtime wages into bidding and estimating. If you know a project will require 10-hour and 12-hour shifts from milling and paving crews, you will naturally work the regular and overtime hourly pay into the estimate. Where overtime might catch you off guard is when it’s unexpected. Consider the paving crew who notices segregation taking place on the newly laid mat. If they’re focused on quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA), they’ll pause and trace the problem backwards until they discover the root cause and solve it. If that problem takes time to find or involves shutting down the plant for a block of time while someone knocks trapped material out of a chute, the opportunity for unexpected overtime cannot be helped. Weigh paying one crew’s overtime for one or two hours against a deduct on a section of pavement or, worse, having to come back, mill up, and repave a section of pavement a month from project completion. Consider the paving crew that doesn’t track yield during a parking lot project and ends up requiring an extra truck—or two—as the job is winding down and dusk is closing in. Not only will the project supervisor find himself calling the plant to fire up for more mix, but he will also
60 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
be looking for some light towers and someone to deliver them to the site. This means unplanned overtime and unplanned expenses. There’s good news for the quality-minded crew and contractor. A new study by Dodge Construction Network, Hamilton, New Jersey, and construction tech company Versatile®, Los Altos, California, found that unexpected overtime can be predictable and controllable through regular job site activity measurement. According to the study, overtime is predictable at an 88% confidence level if you use proper measurement. Dodge Construction reported overtime is a persistent feature of construction sites; however, it is often unplanned and unpredictable. Despite the cost of overtime, its impact on skilled workers, and its implications for safety and other key factors on a project site, it is often applied to address immediate concerns rather than planned to maximize its effects. The study shows that to best understand overtime and its impact, data and measurement of job site activities is key. “Unique insights derived from advanced data and analytics tools will empower construction crews to build better,” said Meirav Oren, the co-founder and CEO of Versatile. “Overtime can be a very effective tool on the job site. Through the power of data, general contractors gain the ability to minimize unnecessary overtime while maximizing its strategic benefits.”
O F F T H E M AT To conduct the study, job site productivity and performance data was collected through Versatile’s CraneView®. This is a non-intrusive device mounted below the crane hook powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). Versatile analyzed data from a sample of project sites that deployed overtime to provide valuable insight into how measuring overtime can help improve productivity.
NEW
KEY FINDINGS FROM THE STUDY INCLUDE:
COUNTER FLOW DRUM PLANT 500 TPH 60FT DRUM 3 – 300 TON SILO STORAGE 500 TPH DRAG SLAT 100,000 CFM BAG HOUSE 8 BIN COLD FEED RAP SYSTEM
• 96% of days with overtime experienced a higher volume of non-productive activities during the morning hours compared to the volume of total activities during overtime; • Crane use was 6-7% better during overtime than for the same activities performed during standard shift; and • Overtime is strongly correlated to unscheduled breaks, with 63% of unscheduled breaks happening during the morning hours, or first part of the shift. “The goal of this report is to encourage conscious, intentional measurement of site activities and objective analysis to determine true best practices,” said Steve Jones, senior director of industry insights research at Dodge Data & Analytics. “This approach can help every kind of contractor with useful, actionable perspectives based on facts, rather than commonly held myths.” Check out the full findings of the study, “Measuring What Matters: Overtime Efficiency,” as a free download at www.construction.com.
FACTORY COMPLETION MARCH 2022 LOST OUR PERMIT APPLICATION WILL PARTNERSHIP OR LEASE YOUR LOCATON
CALL CHRIS 517-388-2494
"Since making the switch to Meyer Laboratory’s asphalt release agents and drag slat cleaners at all the All States Materials Group plants throughout New England more than 2 plus years ago, we are extremely pleased with the performance of the products and customer service provided. I have also received positive feedback from our paving superintendent that Meyer’s products have performed much better than our previous products used on the tools, transfer machines, rubber tire rollers and pavers in the field. Thank you again for everything - Todd Jarvis, Plant Operations Manager - Trew Stone, LLC a division of All States Material Group
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Meyer is a full-service supplier with more than 75 service reps and numerous warehouses located across the United States. We can serve any customer, anywhere and anytime.
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62 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
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We are family owned and operated for over 40 years. Our focus is meeting the needs of our customers. Our service reps are always available for installation, repairs, and product delivery. In short, we provide service where and when you need it - every time.
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EQUIPMENT CONSULTING
Field Density Management
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(701) 426-7873 wuoriconsultingllc@gmail.com WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM | 63
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BOOTH 1967
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AD INDEX ALmix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Ammann America . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Applied Test Systems . . . . . . . . . 47 Asphalt Drum Mixers, Inc . . . . 28, 29 Asphalt Materials . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Astec Industries . . . . . . Inside Front Cover, Inside Back Cover, 11 B&S Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17 Blaw-Knox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Bomag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 BROCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Butler-Justice, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Capital Asphalt LLC . . . . . . . . . . 62 Cargill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Clarence Richard Company . . . . . 65 Command Alkon . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 CWMF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 55 Dynapac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Eagle Crusher . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 elementsix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Fast Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Gencor Industries, Inc . . . . . . . . . 4
Greenpatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 HaulHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Ingevity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Kenco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Meeker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Meyer Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Minds, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 NCCP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Olson-Homestead Valve . . . . . . . 12 Pugmill Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Reliable Asphalt Products . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover Stansteel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 51 Surface Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Systems Equipment . . . . . . . . . .61 Tarmac Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Top Quality Paving . . . . . . . . . . 65 TransTech Systems . . . . . . . . . . 10 Weiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Willow Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Wirtgen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Wuori Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . 63
AsphaltPro’s advertiser index is designed for you to have quick access to the manufacturers that can get you the information you need to run your business efficiently. Please support the advertisers that support this magazine and tell them you saw them in AsphaltPro magazine.
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H E R E ’ S H OW I T WO R K S
o
25 oC
Step 1
25 C
Create samples and age them for two hours at 25 degrees Celsius. Step 3 Place the specimen in the load frame.
Step 4 Apply the load to the specimen at a constant deformation rate of 50 mm/minute until fracture.
Step 2 Enter the sampleʼs information in the dialogue boxes.
Step 5 The computer software records the load and vertical deformation, calculating the CTindex.
FHWA’s IDEAL-CT BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
O
f the cracking tests gaining popularity for their correlation to field results, the Indirect Tensile Asphalt Cracking Test (IDEAL-CT) scores near the top of the class. If your department of transportation (DOT) requires you perform this test on your balanced mix designs (BMD) or other mixes, here’s how to do it. First, create in the Superpave gyratory compactor six asphalt mix specimens of 150 mm in diameter, 62 mm in height, with 7 percent air voids (+/- 0.5 percent). Do not notch, cut or otherwise distress the puck. Next, age the specimens for two hours at 25 degrees Celsius. 66 | MARCH/APRIL 2022
To run the test, begin by entering salient information in the computer software’s required fields. Next, place the specimen on its side in the load frame. The test will be conducted at room temperature. Load the specimen at a constant deformation rate of 50 mm per minute of cross-headed displacement until fracture failure occurs. The instrumentation feeds data to the computer software, which continuously records the load and vertical deformation. It automatically calculates the cracking tolerance index (CTIndex) using the software provided with the system. This tests at least three replicates for each sample and generates a CTIndex for each sam-
ple in five minutes or less (after the twohour aging of the sample). FHWA states the test meets ASTM D8225 standards and specifications. The larger the CTIndex value, the better the cracking resistance.
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.
BUILT TO CONNECT
VISIT US AT BOOTH 2602 Power and Portability Our portable plant configurations feature a variety of components including jaw crushers, cone crushers, impact crushers and a variety of screening plants. Without sacrificing power or productivity, portable options deliver efficient and reliable performance with extra portability and adaptability.
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