The Innovation Issue
asphaltPRO PRODUCTION – PROFESSIONALS – PRODUCTS
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• Trauma Kit Wins National Award • Improve Surface Aggregate • Start Your Plant Right
MARCH/APRIL 2020 WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM
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CONTENTS
asphaltPRO March/April 2020
departments
32
Editor’s Letter
6 – Innovate With Elbow Grease
Safety Spotlight
8 – Lakeside Industries Takes Action with Trauma Kits By Melanie Foister
TRAINING
10 – Schooling in 2020 By John Ball
MIX IT UP
12 – TRB Discusses Driving Surface Aggregate Specs By AsphaltPro Staff
PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE 16 – Preservation Company Leverages Maintenance Expertise By Scott Knighton
22
46
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
22 – Koss Construction Builds Perpetual Pavements in Oklahoma By Sarah Redohl
INTERNATIONAL SNAPSHOT 30 – Australia Designs Safety By AsphaltPro Staff
PRODUCER PROFILE
38
32 – Morgan Asphalt Invests in Eco-Friendly Asphalt Plant By Sarah Redohl
PRODUCT GALLERY
52 – Pave with New Parts, Asphalt Equipment By AsphaltPro Staff
NEW TECH
62 – Autodesk Improves Efficiency at Superior Bowen By Sarah Redohl
OFF THE MAT
66 – Financial Terms for the Plant Manager By Ken Monlux
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS 70 – Eagle’s 1200-25 CC Portable Impactor Plant
ONLINE UPDATE 71 – AsphaltPro Online
Feature articles 38 – Start Your Asphalt Plant Motors How to warm up, start up your HMA plant in sequence for the day’s best productivity By A.J. Ronyak
The Innovation Issue
asphaltPRO PRODUCTION – PROFESSIONALS – PRODUCTS
Morgan Asphalt Clears the Air in Utah
44 – Verify Instrument Readings By Clarence Richard 46 – Find Asphalt Exhibitors at CONEXPOCON/AGG 2020 in Las Vegas By AsphaltPro Staff
Sneak Peek at CECA
• Trauma Kit Wins National Award • Improve Surface Aggregate • Start Your Plant Right
MARCH/APRIL 2020 WWW.THEASPHALTPRO.COM
on the cover Morgan Asphalt worked in harmony with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality for a streamlined permitting process. See related article on page 32. Photo courtesy of Morgan Asphalt
editor’s Letter Innovate with Elbow Grease
A university student working on her senior project asked me what I look for in an editing or writing candidate, and I realized that my answer, while honest, sounded trite. I want in an employee what everyone in this industry wants: someone who pays attention to the details to enhance our quality. This edition of AsphaltPro magazine provides extra focus on innovation, but let’s remember the solid foundation of an honest day’s work that makes the world go ’round. We have two articles in particular this month that exemplify this point. Paving Consultant John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving and Training, Manchester, New Hampshire, and he’s shared his experiences at this year’s Roadtec Paving Professional Workshops in Chattanooga (page 10). Production Consultant A.J. Ronyak is the proprietor of Odor Controls Group, Cape Coral, Florida, and he’s shared back-to-basics plant start-up information (page 38). Both of these professionals in our industry offer a solid foundation and background information that teaches best practices for paving or producing hot-mix asphalt (HMA). They also provide the link—the next step—to automation and controls that innovators in our industry have developed to make jobs easier for operators and to make results more refined. What we see in the pages of AsphaltPro is a marriage of theory and practice. We see technical innovations and tried-and-true elbow grease blending and working hand in hand to succeed. With the largest tradeshow in the United States taking place March 10-14 in Las Vegas, innovations involving new iron, new services, new technology, and more will be the talk of CONEXPO-CON/AGG. I welcome you to write in or post on our social media platforms about the items you find most interesting. And I welcome you to share the best practices you and your crewmembers teach and train regularly, whether technology offers an “upgrade” to your manual efforts or not. I’d like to hear how you put theory behind technological muscle to enhance the overall performance of the innovations and new services in the marketplace today. If you’re in Vegas, stop by booth GL31400 in the grand lobby to see your AsphaltPro magazine staff. Pick up information about our online training course, Asphalt Paving 101, and let’s talk asphalt! Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender
March/April 2020 • Vol. 13 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/.
6 // march/april 2020
At ALmix, we offer a full line of asphalt mixing plants, products and components designed from our customers’ perspective. We take the time to understand your operation—including your goals and unique challeneges—and work with you to customize the optimal solution for your business. Then, we build everything in-house the right way, deliver and assist in the setup of your equipment and continue to stand by your side to provide service and support whenever you need it. Start a conversation with us and find out what you’ve been missing.
safety spotlight
Lakeside Industries Takes Action with Trauma Kits company to asphalt plants, equipment maintenance shops, pavers, and foreman trucks for the paving, grade, and traffic control crews.
FIELD TRAUMA KIT CONTENTS
LEFT: At the awards ceremony, sponsored by Wirtgen Group, Lakeside Industries accepted the award for the trauma kit their safety professionals engineered. From left: Jay Winford, incoming 2020 incoming NAPA chairman; Sandy Lender, editor of AsphaltPro magazine; Cal Beyer, director of risk management for Lakeside; and John Harper, outgoing NAPA chairman. RIGHT: In addition to the development of the Field Trauma Kits, Lakeside has added trauma training to the basic first-aid training offered every two years to employees and supervisors. Editor’s Note: In the 2019 Operational Excellence category, Lakeside Industries Inc., Issaquah, Washington, was awarded the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s (NAPA) Asphalt Operations Safety Innovations Award for the development and implementation of the Field Trauma Kit for Worksites. AsphaltPro magazine is proud to sponsor the industry’s safety award and to share this article, which describes the company’s innovative kit. Lakeside Industries Inc., Issaquah, Washington, is well known in the construction industry for its proactive approach to incident and injury prevention. First-aid training and supplies have been an essential part of this proactive approach, providing all crews and supervisors with the tools to handle a first-aid situation, if necessary. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched the “Stop the Bleed” campaign October 2015. It was designed to teach advanced knowledge and hands-on skills to stop bleeding in traumatic injuries from gunshots and terrorism. Members of the Lakeside Risk Man-
L
8 // march/april 2020
agement and Safety Team decided this would be useful protocol to incorporate into our existing first-aid training, which already included cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AED). Lakeside decided to purchase trauma kits for the field crews of mobile paving, grade adjustment, and traffic control operations, as well as those at fixed production facilities, including rock crushers, asphalt plants, and equipment maintenance shops. However, many of the commercial kits did not include all of the tools required for intermediate life support. Many of the kits that the team found included the basic first-aid kit supplies with additional gauze or a splint, but did not include the tourniquet or other supplies necessary to aid in a traumatic injury. After much research of the commercially available kits, the risk and safety department decided to develop its own field trauma kit. This trauma kit was designed specifically for the first aid of a traumatic workplace injury, such as puncture wounds, lacerations and amputations. Lakeside has currently distributed over 90 of the field trauma kits throughout the
Lakeside sought guidance for the contents of the field trauma kit from our first-aid trainer, who was an emergency medical technician for the Seattle Fire Department. We described our concerns and needs with him and brainstormed together the contents for the kit. The field trauma kit consists of the following: • 10-gallon waterproof, yellow dry bag (protecting the contents from all elements our crews may face) • CPR face mask • Universal aluminum splint • Tourniquet and permanent marker • Eight rolls of 4 ½-inch width gauze • Foil Mylar rescue blanket • 6-inch elastic bandage • Triangular bandage • Three pairs of rubber gloves • Instant cold pack • Medical tape • Medical scissors • 12 non-woven, all-purpose square gauze bandages • Safety glasses • Five yards of self-adhesive cohesive bandage All contents for the kit were purchased online and the total cost was less than $60. The trauma kit was built for less than the commercially available kits were selling for and satisfies the needs in case of a traumatic injury.
NAPA’s next Safety Awards program opens Aug. 1, 2020, with a submission deadline of Oct. 15, 2020. Visit www. AsphaltPavement.org/Awards to apply. The first version of the field trauma kit included anticoagulant, which the current model of the kit does not include. We decided
TRAUMA KIT, TRAUMA TRAINING
The total cost of each kit was less than $60. the anticoagulant bandage was not necessary after the risk and safety team attended other trauma first-aid classes. Additional gauze and flexible wrap were added to replace the anticoagulant bandage in our current kit.
In addition to the development of the field trauma kits, Lakeside has added trauma training to the basic first-aid training offered every two years to employees and supervisors. This trauma training includes “Stop the Bleed” training, and a tutorial of how to use the contents in the kit. Since the development and distribution of the field trauma kit, Lakeside’s employees have expressed their gratitude for the additional first-aid supplies. The crew leaders regularly review the contents of the kit with their crews and conduct toolbox talks to keep the knowledge and skills fresh. The field trauma kits have been used in response to firstaid incidents within our company and by employees responding as “good Samaritans” to render first-aid at the scene of a motor vehicle collision that they come across in their travels or commute. Lakeside received NAPA’s 2019 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovations Award for
the development and implementation of the field trauma kit during a ceremony at the annual meeting Feb. 5, 2020. This award is given for safety practices that are above and beyond normal safety practices. Lakeside is very proud to have been honored with this award and appreciates the opportunity to share the development and contents of the field trauma kit with fellow construction companies. – BY MELANIE FOISTER
Melanie Foister is the risk management and safety coordinator for Lakeside Industries since 2012. She was instrumental in the development and deployment of the field trauma kits. She is a member of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and the director of communications for the Lakeside Women of Asphalt. Her husband Luke is a topside operator for a paving crew at Lakeside. She is one of the co-authors of the company’s multi-generational children’s safety book. Melanie has a master’s degree in education and previously taught school before joining the Lakeside Industries family.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 9
Training
Schooling in 2020 Your peers continue to place a priority on training. The recent Paving Professionals Workshops at Roadtec in Chattanooga were sold out, as happens every year. All four sessions had some repeat customers sending new hires, of course, but out of the four sessions, we had more new people this year than in the past five years. Also, we had more folks who have only been paving one to five years than I’ve seen at the workshops before. Companies out here recognize how important it is to teach the basic—as well as the fine tuning—skills to equipment operators. You can’t just go into automatics and advanced technology without knowing the basics. Your competition in the field is showing operators the theory behind automation, and then showing them how to run automation. It’s smart to do classroom training first before you send a worker into the field where the heat is on and someone’s possibly yelling at them. In the classroom, they can learn the theory, the what and the why behind paving (and rolling). Knowing the reasons for setting the depth crank, the paving speed, the paving width and so on plays a part in developing a top quality worker. To help contractors teach these vital steps, I worked with AsphaltPro to create an asphalt paving training course that you can show to your new workers—or your veteran workers—in a classroom setting or out in the field. I encourage you to check out the previews for the Asphalt Paving 101 under the training tab at AsphaltPro.com so you can see the kind of basics and the kind of delivery we offer to the workers. It’s that method of training that can get a new worker started and can take the frustration out of his day. When the classes at each Paving Professionals Workshop split into groups for electronics and automation training upstairs and screed/classroom training down-
Y
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Brian Horner of E.D. Etnyre & Co., Oregon, Illinois, presented information on best practices for getting a good bond.
John Ball at Top Quality Paving and Training and Scott Hall of Preferred Materials taught everything from basics to full-depth paving info to the students at the Roadtec Paving Professionals Workshops in January and February 2020. stairs, I was surprised by how little the participants knew about the electronics. But if you think about it, we as an industry haven’t given the new guys enough time with it. As an industry, we’ve got to broaden our horizons. We can’t allow operators—
whether they’re a veteran operator who knows how to nudge a switch to dial in perfect slope or not—to ignore or turn off the automation just because they haven’t become comfortable with it. We can’t allow them to fail. They want to work easier, with
agers and foremen, it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re offering the operators the opportunity to learn. If the OEM’s dealer doesn’t know how to run the automation, then find someone who does and bring that person to your crew to train the workers until they become proficient in it. Make sure your employees use the tools—such as automation—that you’ve paid good money for. Those tools are designed to improve pavement performance and bring you ride spec and bonuses. They’re doing none of those things if your workers are uncomfortable using them. – BY JOHN BALL
In the Roadtec Paving Professionals Workshop auditorium, students can learn the theory—the what and the why—behind paving, before going out to apply their new knowledge on the equipment. less stress, with less guessing and more confidence. We can help them if we show them why the automation needs to be set a certain way, and the show them how to set it. We can give them confidence if we explain why
slope matters, and then show them how to set it. And so on. Let’s get workers comfortable with the use of the microprocessors and computers onboard paving equipment. As man-
John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving and 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.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 11
Mix it up
TRB Discusses Driving Surface Aggregate Specs The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Transportation Research Board (TRB) hosted presented the webinar Driving Surface Aggregate: Improving Performance and Sustainability in late 2019. Presenters Steve Bloser and Eric Chase of Penn State University and Bethany Kunz of U.S. Geological Survey provided an overview of driving surface aggregate (DSA) and how it can improve the performance and sustainability of unpaved, low-volume roads. While most AsphaltPro readers pave with asphalt binder mixes, some may be called on to place a DSA roadway in site-specific areas. Here’s how DSA works and some tips for its success, based on the Nov. 13 presentation. At this time, counties and agencies use a wide variety of aggregates when surfacing unpaved roads, sometimes with no materials testing or formal spec. This results in suboptimal materials on the roadway and early failure or a need for extreme maintenance schedules. Of course, agencies aren’t using suboptimal surface aggregates out of apathy. Budgets are tight, some quarries aren’t set up to prepare this specific type of aggregate, and not all agencies understand—yet— that DSA is a necessity. The presenters explained that “most road aggregates in use today were created for drainage under pavements, and were not intended to be used as a driving surface.” To solve all this, DSA is an aggregate spec designed to achieve maximum compaction and resist erosion. It includes requirements for gradation and other material characteristics and requirements for placement.
T
Gradation PERCENT PASSING Sieve Size
DSA
1.5"
100
1.0” 0.75”
100 70 to 80 (5)
30 to 65
40 to 50 (7)
#8 25 to 40 (6) 15 to 30
#40 #200
50 to 78 37 to 67
#10 #16
SD LTAP
100 65 to 95
0.5” #4
FP-14
10 to 15
15 to 25 (5)
13 to 35
8 to 14 (4)
4 to 15 8 to 15
Values in parentheses are allowable deviations (+/-) from target values. FP-14: Standard Specification for Construction of Roads and Bridges on Federal Highway Projects. FP-14, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Lands Highway, 2014 SD LTAP: Gravel Roads Construction & Maintenance Guide August 2015, South Dakota Local Technical Assistance Program and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Source: TRB 12 // march/april 2020
DSA MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS
Bloser explained that the high humidity level ever-present in Pennsylvania means they don’t want a lot of moisture in the pavement. This affects the plasticity index (PI) that can be tolerated. Their spec calls for a maximum PI of 6. The DSA fines passing the #200 sieve must be crushed rock. Pennsylvania requires the resistance to abrasion be less than 40 percent, as measured by the LA Abrasion Test. Soundness must be less than 20 percent loss as measured by the sodium sulfate soundness test. And the pH should rest between 6 and 12.5.
DSA PLACEMENT GUIDELINES
It will come as no surprise that DSA must be placed at optimum moisture to achieve optimum compaction. The moisture will be measured by a standard proctor test; haul trucks must be covered. While the presenters spoke of the possibility of tailgate spreading and getting a smooth finish from a skilled blade operator, they agreed that placing DSA with a motor paver provides the uniform, controlled, well-mixed lift necessary. The tailgate spreading operation tends to segregate aggregate, and not all grader operators have the fine skills necessary to achieve the smooth slope of the perfect road. For compaction, use at least a 10-ton vibratory roller. A minimum 6-inch lift will compact to 4.5 inches.
TWO TRIALS OF DSA
Researchers took the DSA challenge to Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Indiana and Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont. In Indiana, they placed a limestone DSA with a paver in a single, 6-inch lift, compacted to 4.5 inches, for a 1.5-mile section. In Vermont, conditions presented limited paver availability, grades up to 14 percent, few quarries in the vicinity and different parent material for the DSA (in this case: schist rock). They placed the aggregate via tailgate spreading in an approximately 6-inch lift, compacted to 4.5 inches, for a 0.75-mile section. They considered Green Mountain National Forest a “good test case for remote sites with similar challenges.” Twelve months after placement, they measured sediment runoff with a rainfall simulator and dust production with a vehicle-mounted particulate matter meter. The rainfall simulator was a 100-foot-long piece of equipment with eleven 10-foot risers. Atop each riser were two rotary Web Extra at www.TRB.org/Centennial: The Transportation Research Board celebrates its 100th anniversary this November. Congratulations to TRB from the AsphaltPro magazine family!
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Mix it up Dust Production .8
Traditional aggregate Driving surface aggregate (DSA)
Average dust production (mg/m3)
Total sediment produced (lbs)
Sediment Runoff 4
3
2
1
0
Muscatatuck National Green Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, IN Forest, VT The bars represent average of three simulated rainfall events at 0.6-inches per 30 minutes per section. Source: TRB
Traditional aggregate Driving surface aggregate (DSA)
.6
.4
.2
.0
Muscatatuck National Green Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, IN Forest, VT The bars represent average of three runs per section. Error bars represent standard deviations. Source: TRB
Road Surface Condition Washboarding
Site Indiana
Vermont
Raveling
Rutting
Potholes
Section
Mean depth (mm)
Rating a
Mean depth (mm)
Rating
Mean depth (mm)
Rating
Rating b
Overall Rating
Traditional
0
10
17
6
8
8
10
8.5
DSA
0
10
10
7
8
8
10
8.8
Traditional
1.6
9
7
8
4
9
10
9
DSA
0
10
3
9
7
8
10
9.3
All ratings on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being best condition No potholes were observed on any section; therefore, all sections received a rating of “10.” NOTE: 25.4 mm=1 inch Source: TRB
a
b
nozzles that produced the equivalent of 0.6 inches of rainfall in 30 minutes. As seen in the graph, from the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, they collected nearly 3 pounds of sediment from the traditional aggregate surface and almost half a pound of sediment from the DSA surface in the test sections; from the Green Mountain National Forest, they collected approximately 1 pound of sediment from the traditional aggregate surface and almost half a pound of sediment from the DSA surface in the test sections. Kunz shared with the audience: “At Muscatatuck NWR, each mile of DSA-surfaced road could be expected to produce approximately 13 pounds of sediment per 0.6-inch rain event, while each mile of traditional aggregate would produce more than 143 pounds.” To gather data on dust produced on the surfaces, researchers used a laser photometer mounted on the tailgate of a work truck. It measures particulate matter in five size ranges at one measurement per second. As seen in graph 2, the average dust production
14 // march/april 2020
for traditional and DSA aggregate surfaces had a wider disparity at the Indiana site. Researchers also evaluated the road surface condition of three 25-foot sub-sections for each DSA and traditional aggregate section for washboarding, raveling (loose material), rutting and potholes (see Road Surface Condition table). Researchers found the process of laying the DSA with a motor paver was superior to tailgate spreading; it assisted the DSA’s mixing, compacting and holding together. The researchers concluded: “A more intentional approach to aggregate selection and placement can reduce long-term costs and health/environmental impacts.” “Site-specific considerations can help guide targeted installations of DSA to maximize benefits,” the presenters concluded. “Specifying higher quality aggregates, DSA or otherwise, and improving aggregate placement methods are critical for the long-term success of unpaved road networks.” – BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
PAVEMENT maintenance
For Innovative Roadway Solutions success means taking advantage of new innovations, even if they present a challenge to current processes. The company partnered with Neal Manufacturing, a division of Blastcrete Equipment LLC, to help meet quality and efficiency needs on specialized highvolume highway and shoulder applications. All photos courtesy of Neal Manufacturing, a division of Blastcrete Equipment LLC
ENGINEERING
Preservation Company Leverages Maintenance Expertise The hardest part of a project for most contractors is the bid. Balancing customer specs with overhead costs to produce a number both sides are comfortable with takes skill and a deep understanding of an operation’s capabilities. Partnering with industry-leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to provide efficiency-optimizing equipment can give contractors an edge in the bidding process. But a tool is only as good as the hand wielding it—or, in the case of asphalt preservation applications, the one applying it. In this competitive industry, a successful bid requires expert leveraging of experience and equipment to provide quality results with no waste. For Innovative Roadway Solutions—a pavement preservation specialist operating in Texas, Missouri and the surrounding states—success also means taking advantage of new innovations, even if they present a challenge to current processes. This was the case when the company began using OnyxTM, a high-performance mastic sealer produced by Ingevity and specified by several departments of transportation in its operating area. To apply Onyx efficiently, Innovative Roadway Solutions needed an OEM partner with not only the experience to produce reliable equipment for the high-aggregate mixture; it needed a man-
T
16 // march/april 2020
ufacturer willing to listen and custom-engineer machines for speENGINEERING cialized high-volume highway and shoulder applications. The company turned to Neal Manufacturing, a division of Blastcrete Equipment LLC, for a solution to help them maintain their reputation for quality and dependability and still be able to submit competitive bids. With more than 30 years of experience, Innovative Roadway Solutions always strives to provide affordable preventative mainteENGINEERING nance applications that extend the longevity of asphalt roadways. In 2017, the company became part of Lionmark Construction Companies—a privately held group specializing in pavement preservation and road and bridge construction. The acquisition extended Innovative Roadway Solutions’ service area and gave the company a chance to grow, doubling its size in just two years. One thing that remained constant throughout the growth period, though, is the company’s commitment to harnessing the latest ENGINEERING technology and products for the benefit of its customers. New and existing employees worked together to ensure Innovative Roadway Solutions remained just that—innovative. As they grew service offerings, they looked to incorporate processes and products popular across Lionmark’s area of operation.
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PAVEMENT maintenance There were a few bumps in the road when it came to integrating the new product into its service lineup.
THE PATH TO PRODUCTIVITY
Innovative Roadway Solutions began working with Onyx, a frictional mastic surface treatment quickly gaining popularity with DOTs across the U.S. It offers high durability with frictional characteristics achieved from improving micro texture on the pavement surface.
As Innovative Roadway Solutions made the transition to Onyx applications, the team worked with Neal Manufacturing to upgrade the pumps on some of their existing equipment to a more reliable hydraulic piston pump. Onyx was one such product. Introduced in 2012, the frictional mastic surface treatment quickly gained popularity with DOTs across the United States. It’s designed to offer high durability with frictional characteristics achieved from improving micro texture on the pavement surface. Fast drying times makes it popular with contractors and motorists alike, while the consistently black color offers striking contrast for aesthetic and safety benefits. For Innovative Roadway Solutions, the high-performance product looked to revolutionize pavement preservation processes in terms of durability and affordability. “Onyx was starting to show up on the spec sheets for DOT projects in numerous states, which are about 95 percent of our business, but even where customers weren’t specifically asking for it, we recognized its value for certain applications,” said Kevin King, president of Innovative Roadway Solutions. “The product bridged the gap between a fog seal and slurry seal, allowing us to offer customers another solution that would extend the life of their road surface without breaking the bank.”
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“Contracts with government agencies at the city, county and state level aren’t easy to get,” King said. “It’s not just about the lowest bid, though that is definitely a part of it. It’s about reputation. The high aggregate composition of Onyx requires a stronger pump than other spray applications. To maintain our reputation for quality and dependability and still be able to submit competitive bids, we needed specialized equipment that provided the volume and precision that customers required.” When it came to pump design, Innovative Roadway Solutions turned to Neal Manufacturing and its parent company, Blastcrete Equipment LLC. Both companies have long histories of pump innovations. Since the 1950s, Blastcrete Equipment has been at the forefront of shotcrete pumping technology—introducing several equipment designs over the years that revolutionized applications in refractory and construction applications. Neal Manufacturing has similar claims to pump fame in the pavement preservation industry. Before its merger with Blastcrete in 2013, the company made significant innovations to hydraulic piston pumps to allow more efficiency and longevity for use with asphalt sealcoating products. Once the companies began operating out of the same facility in Alabama, engineers continued to expand pump capacities for a number of applications. This combined experience and continued innovation earned Innovative Roadway Solutions’ trust. “When dealing with high-aggregate products, Blastcrete provides a unique expertise…” King said. “Their pumps are originally designed to handle robust, difficult materials. When they integrated that technology with Neal Manufacturing equipment—which already had excellent pumps for traditional preservation coatings—we knew we were working with a winning team for developing high-aggregate pavement preservation equipment.” As Innovative Roadway Solutions made the transition to Onyx applications, the team worked with Neal Manufacturing to upgrade the pumps on some of their existing equipment to a hydraulic piston pump. Neal Manufacturing’s heavy-duty aggregate pump (HDP) system offered a fast transfer rate—up to 150 gpm—but, more importantly, produced enough pressure to move mixtures with up to 10 pounds of sand per gallon. “Asphalt maintenance has a very limited season—only about seven months in some of the states we work in—so we need to make every minute count,” King said. “Neal Manufacturing’s equipment is simple, easy to use and durable. With it there’s less cleaning, less maintenance and fewer clogs, saving us valuable minutes every day.” To truly maximize its potential on high-volume projects, though, Innovative Roadway Solutions needed more than a heavy-duty pump—it needed a reliable system with the precision to meet government agency specs.
MILES TO GO Innovative Roadway Solutions worked with Neal Manufacturing to retrofit one of its existing high-volume application trucks with the HDP
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PAVEMENT maintenance
Innovative Roadway Solutions worked with Neal Manufacturing to retrofit one of its existing high-volume application trucks with the HDP system and spray apparatus. It also bought a new 3,000-gallon truck system from the OEM. Equipped with the Generation IV 150-gpm pump, the new truck provided productivity like never before.
“We were bidding on projects with specified application rates, but, at first, we didn’t have a way to monitor that with the Neal Manufacturing system,” King said. “We had the right equipment…but the trucks had to be modified to meet our customers’ standards. With Neal Manufacturing’s reputation for customized solutions, we knew we had the right partner to help us develop the appropriate equipment for our operation.” True to their reputation, Neal Manufacturing listened to exactly what Innovative Roadway Solutions needed and engineered a metering system to work in conjunction with the contractor’s high-volume road maintenance vehicle. The system combined information for four load cells positioned on the corners of the tank with a component that measures distance to provide an accurate application rate. The OEM also included an on-board printer to provide immediate results when necessary. “It’s not always easy to find a manufacturer that’s willing to collaborate,” King said. “Often what you see is what you get when it ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTIO comes to pavement preservation equipment. Or you have to wait a while for the updated model to come out. Having Neal Manufacturing on our team meant that not only did we get the upgrades we needed quickly, but they’re now standard and will be available on the next high-volume vehicle we buy.” With the new system, Innovative Roadway Solutions could accurately assess application rates and ensure uniform distribution, alENGINEERING CONSTRUCTIO lowing the contractor to remain a competitive bidder with agencies across its area of operation.
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
With a metering system custom-engineered from Neal Manufacturing, Innovative Roadway Solutions could accurately assess application rates and ensure uniform distribution of the surface treatment, allowing the contractor to remain a competitive bidder with agencies across its area of operation. system and spray apparatus. It also bought a new 3,000-gallon truck system from the OEM. Equipped with the Generation IV 150-gpm pump, the new truck provided optimum productivity. The basic design also provided a number of features that made application more user friendly for Innovative Roadway Solutions crews. In-cab controls allowed drivers to control spray bar height for optimum control as weight shifted during application. This on-board system was also capable of controlling individual heads to provide more precision and flexibility for applications on narrow surfaces. However, the precision required by DOT and other agencies still needed to be accounted for.
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Since 2017, Innovative Roadway Solutions has completed approximately 25 contracts specifying Onyx. The majority of these have been with local, state or federal agencies, requiring a high degree of precision, quality and dependability. ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTIO “We’re still submitting the low bid for these projects,” King said, “but at this point, some of these agencies are more like our loyal customers. They know we will get the job done quickly, efficiently and to spec.” For one such project, completed for the Paris District of Texas DOT (TXDOT), Innovative Roadway Solutions applied 767,331 square yards of Onyx in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day weekend. As part of the overall job, crews used the Neal ManufacENGINEERING turing equipment to apply the mastic sealer to 207,748 square CONSTRUCTIO yards of parking areas, boat ramps, main grounds and RV spots at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake Jim Chapman at Cooper Dam, commonly called Cooper Lake. Sources reported, the application didn’t disturb visitors and surfaces were dry enough to resume normal traffic in time for the holiday. “This is a great time to be in the asphalt maintenance industry,” King said. “The process is changing. New ENGINEERING products are comingCONSTRUCTIO out. Experienced manufacturers are stepping up to provide the equipment we need to leverage these to our customer’s advantage. It’s an ideal environment for Innovative Roadway Solutions to continue growing and continue pushing ourselves.” – BY SCOTT KNIGHTON
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Project management
Koss Construction performed the second designed perpetual pavement project on US-69, containing five lifts of asphalt totaling 14 ¼ inches.
Koss Construction Builds Perpetual Pavements in Oklahoma T
The goal of every pavement project is to build a high-quality roadway that will offer a smooth, safe ride for as long as possible. The concept of a perpetual pavement puts a hard number on that goal: 50 years. According to the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA), a perpetual pavement is defined as “an asphalt pavement designed and built to last longer than 50 years without requiring major structural rehabilitation or reconstruction, and needing only periodic surface renewal in response to distresses confined to the top of the pavement.” To construct a road built to last half of a century—or longer—the Oklahoma Department of Transportation awarded the winning bid to Koss Construction, Tope-
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ka, Kansas, for the state’s second perpetual pavement project. The $24.5 million would utilize the perpetual pavement concept on a 5-mile section of US-69 south of Eufaula, Oklahoma. US-69 has an average daily traffic count of 16,000. As a major trucking route between Kansas City and Dallas, one third of US-69’s ADT is truck traffic.
Koss Construction was founded in 1912. More than 90 percent of Koss Construction’s jobs are for government agencies, the majority of which are state DOTs. The company operates throughout the Midwest, in Arkansas, eastern Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
“Perpetual pavement is something we are very interested in, as an agency,” said ODOT Division Engineer Jamie Malmstrom. “It makes a lot of sense from a maintenance standpoint.”
PERPETUAL PAVEMENTS: A BRIEF HISTORY
Although the term “perpetual pavement” wasn’t introduced until 2000, pavement engineers have been producing long-lasting pavements since the 1960s. Many of these pavements, APA said, were the products of full-depth or deep-strength asphalt pavement designs. In fact, Oklahoma has its own history with long-lasting HMA pavements. According to a pamphlet produced for APA in the early 2000s, two sections of Interstate
“We tend to work in rural areas where there isn’t a high volume asphalt plant nearby. To reduce drive distance and to operate at the volumes we deal with, a portable plant works best for us.”—Mark Haines 40 in downtown Oklahoma City offered early examples of the benefits of perpetual pavements. First constructed in 1967, the sections withstood heavy traffic for more than 30 years. “Each of the sections has been overlaid, but the base course structure has not been touched,” the pamphlet reads. “Although they are 33 years old, they look like new.” Oklahoma’s first designed perpetual pavement project was completed in 2006 on SH-152. “That pavement is working and it’s changing minds,” said Larry Patrick, executive director of the Oklahoma Asphalt Pavement Association (OAPA). “SH152 is coming on 14 years old, and outside of a slide area and bridge approach issues caused by subgrade issues, the pavement has not needed any maintenance at all.” The perpetual pavement concept is one OAPA has been working hard to promote. “New ideas take time,” Patrick said. “There’s more interest in perpetual pavement than ever before in the state.”
Since Koss began the state’s second perpetual pavement project, Oklahoma has already seen the start and completion of its third perpetual pavement project, on the Kickapoo Turnpike east of Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority created the new turnpike to connect I-44 Turner Turnpike to I-40 to alleviate traffic in Oklahoma City.
FULL DEPTH ASPHALT
According to the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), the perpetual pavement concept relies on the use of multiple layers of asphalt to extend the useful
Permeable Friction Course, PG 76-28 (1.25”)
Stone Matrix Asphalt, PG 76-28 (2”)
14.25”
Base Mix (Polymer - Modified Asphalt), PG 76-28 (3.5”)
Base Mix, PG 64-22, 25 Percent RAP (4”)
Base Mix, PG 64-22, 25 Percent RAP (3.5”)
Local endangered wildlife limited Koss’ time frame to natural daylight hours. life of a roadway: “The pavement design begins with a strong, yet flexible bottom layer that resists tensile strain caused by traffic, and thus stops cracks from forming in the bottom of the pavement. A strong intermediate layer completes the permanent struc-
tural portion, and a final layer of a rut-resistant asphalt mix yields a surface that lasts many years before scheduled restoration.” For US-69, this was achieved in five lifts. The first lift was 4 inches of base mix with PG64-22 and 25 percent RAP, followed
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 23
Project management
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Koss Construction made 214,000 tons of asphalt for the project with its 400-TPH portable asphalt plant from Astec Inc. by 3 ½ inches of base mix with PG64-22 and 25 percent RAP, and then 3 ½ inches of base mix using polymer-modified asphalt (PG76-28) with 28 percent RAP. The fourth lift was 2 inches of stone matrix asphalt (SMA) with PG76-28, and the final lift was 1 ¼ inches of permeable friction course (PFC), also with PG76-28. The top two lifts contained no RAP.
The project spanned 4.9 miles across four travel lanes—two in each direction—for a total of 19.6 lane miles. According to Koss’ Chief Engineer Mark Haines, the primary difference between this and traditional paving jobs was the sheer volume of material. “The volume of
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rock, sand and asphalt cement to pave that thickness, versus a pavement of 8 or 9 inches, is substantial,” Haines said. Koss Construction made a total of 214,000 tons of asphalt for the project with its 400-TPH portable asphalt plant from Astec Inc., Chattanooga. Haines said the project’s volume of material required very active management of materials in and out of the plant site. Under normal circumstances, Haines said a daily check of what materials are on hand is enough. On this job, Haines had to be more acutely aware of what materials were on site, checking stockpiles by the truck-load. “Dealing with two different grades of liquid AC and four different mix designs while managing our stockpile of materials was a
challenge,” Haines said. “We had to be very tuned in with our production demands.” The use of SMA was also new to Koss Construction. The SMA for US-69 utilized warm mix, but did not contain celSERVICE & ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION lulose fibers. TRAINING “SMA isn’t very common in Oklahoma, but it’s being used more and more often,” Haines said. Koss looked to EST Inc., Oklahoma City, for its SMA mix design, in addition to doing some test batches and trials with SMA in its own lab. Koss does all of its own internal quality control and testing. The final lift was a permeable friction course. According to Patrick, the use of PFC is common on Oklahoma’s high volume roads. Its 20 percent in-place air voids allow water through so it leaves the surface quickly. “With the climate in Oklahoma, we can
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Project management
The existing pavement on the job had included concrete travel lanes and asphalt shoulders. They crushed the concrete on-site for use as an 8-inch-thick aggregate base beneath the 14 ¼ inches of asphalt. The 36,000 tons of RAP milled from the shoulders was used on the project. see extremes throughout the year,” he said. “Spring rain and tornadoes, extreme heat in the summer, and winter snow and ice. One worry was the PFC may not like a snow plow or that the deicing effort would plug up the pavement, preventing proper drainage, but neither of those issues have been observed.” “The permeable friction course is amazing,” Malmstrom said. “When it’s raining, you don’t get any spray, there’s no hydroplan-
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ing, and the stripe still looks fantastic even when it’s pouring.”
ONE PROJECT, TWO PAVING SEASONS
Koss began work on US-69 in June 2018 and completed the project just before Christmas in 2019. The only task left to complete is the placement of permanent striping when the weather warms up in Oklahoma this spring.
The existing pavement on the job had included concrete travel lanes and asphalt shoulders. “The road was severely faulted and had a lot of random cracking,” Haines said. “It was in poor shape.” In 2018, the Koss crew placed a temporary 2-inch overlay across the northbound travel lanes and part of the shoulder to accommodate north- and southbound traffic, divided by a temporary concrete barrier. “The pavement was in such poor condition, we didn’t think it could make it through another year of traffic,” Malmstrom said in regards to the temporary overlay. The crew could then begin work on southbound US-69. They first milled the asphalt shoulder with a Wirtgen W2000 milling machine. The 36,000 tons of RAP used on the project was the same material that was milled from the shoulders. They crushed the concrete on-site for use as an 8-inch-thick aggregate base beneath the 14 ¼ inches of asphalt. Because ODOT had specified the placement of geotextile beneath the aggregate base, Koss had to manipulate the material to the side so they could excavate down to the project’s grade lines and place the geotextile. As they did so, Koss determined that some of the existing subgrade wasn’t stable and would require stabilization. ODOT issued Koss a change order to stabilize isolated areas with Portland cement. “We only stabilized about 10 percent of the subgrade, but it was enough to be a big headache,” Haines said. Koss was working under a tight timeline and isolated subgrade instability would hold up the crew’s progress. “We tried our best to manipulate the material to dry it out, but during Oklahoma’s rainy season it would rain before we could get it dry enough to work with. Getting that change order allowed us to get that stability back and also expedited construction.” After those isolated areas had been stabilized and the geotextile and aggregate base was placed, the crew could begin paving the southbound lanes. During the 2018 season, the crew placed the first four lifts of asphalt. In 2019, the crew moved all traffic to the southbound lanes to repeat their efforts on the northbound travel lanes and 18-footwide median. “We were definitely under the gun getting the final lifts on,” Haines said.
ARTIFICIAL HEAT MEETS DEADLINES
To meet its deadline while meeting ODOT’s specs, Koss Construction hired Dustrol Inc., Towanda, Kansas, to artificially heat the pavement for the fourth lift on the northbound side and the 1 ¼-inch final lift across the whole project. “The spec for SMA and permeable asphalt requires a surface temperature of 60 degrees or higher,” Haines said. “That’s hard to get in Oklahoma in the second half of November and early December.” Dustrol used the large propane heaters it uses in its own hot-in-place recycling operations to bring the surface temperature of US-69 up to spec. “They can’t do hot-in-place recycling at that time of year, so this is a way they can keep their people busy and help us meet our specification requirements,” Haines said. “It isn’t something we’ve done in the past, but we’ve known others who have used artificial heat to do this.”
According to Koss’ Field Operations Manager Shane Griggs, the distance between the heater and the paving train depended on a number of factors, including cloud cover, ambient and overnight temperatures, and pavement temperatures. “It would be as close as 50 feet and as far away as several hundred feet,” Griggs said. “Our target was 60 degrees Fahrenheit. If the ambient temp was 40 degrees and the sun was out, the heater would get the pavement up to 60 degrees and the sun would maintain that heat. Paving at ambient temps below 40 wasn’t an option.” Local wildlife also presented a challenge to the crew’s timeline. The location is inhabited by the critically endangered American burying beetle. When temperatures dip below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, adult beetles bury themselves in the soil until temperatures rise above 60 again and they can begin mating. The beetles are also nocturnal creatures, meaning nighttime light could disrupt their activities.
“We weren’t allowed to use any artificial light before sunrise or after daylight hours,” Griggs said. This limited both Koss’ ability to fire up the plant early so mix would be ready at 7 a.m. and site clean-up and equipment maintenance time at the end of the day. “We had to be very efficient with our daylight hours.” Koss Construction performed all aspects of the project, sub-contracting out only traffic control, striping, erosion control and some assistance with soil excavation. The same crew performed all paving work throughout the project’s two-year span. US-69 may have been Koss’ first perpetual pavement project, but Haines hopes it won’t be the last. “This was a good-sized job for us, but not too big to handle,” Haines said. “It’s the type of job we’d like to see more of.” “If we’re going to be doing full depth replacements, I think we’re going to be looking toward perpetual pavements,” Malmstrom said. – BY SARAH REDOHL
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www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 27
AND YOU KNOW WE DO THIS... You know Astec for durable, reliable equipment with proven performance. A pioneering team with decades of experience and a culture committed to putting the customer first has culminated in a range of options including drum styles, baghouse styles, and silo styles which allow you to configure the precise plant for your needs. Only Astec offers a complete line of portable, relocatable and stationary asphalt plants from 80tph to 600tph. Astec manufactures both Astec and Dillman brand equipment.
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International snapshot
Australia Designs Safety Austroads has released the document “Inclusion of Recent Road Safety Research into the Guide to Road Design: Summary of Research Reports.” While the release of a new publication may not seem like glamorous news, it’s laudable to see this report documents a review of 30 recent Austroads research reports for potential impact on the Guide to Road Design. The Road Design Task Force assessed how the reports could influence road design and traffic management with an eye toward safety. In the end, Austroads states: “To assist in incorporating research into the Guides, a procedure has been developed for Task Forces, that outlines the process from inception of the research project to amending the Guide. This process enables a consistent method to be followed and outcomes of research to be brought into practice in a timely manner.” You can download a free pdf of Publication no. AP-R610-20, published Jan. 21, 2020, at the austroads.com.au website.
A
– BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF
ATS ASPHALT / BITUMEN
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REMOTE CAPABILITY Monitor Your Data on the Go
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Roughly 80 percent of Utah’s total population lives along the front of the Wasatch Mountain Range.
Morgan Asphalt Invests in Eco-Friendly Asphalt Plant Tooele County, located less than 20 miles west of Salt Lake City, is among the fastest growing counties in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It’s the county where Spencer Parkinson, manager of business development at Morgan Asphalt, Salt Lake City, grew up. “My dad could commute to Salt Lake City in 25 to 30 minutes,” Parkinson recalled, “which was often faster than some people who lived just outside the city limits.” In addition to an easy commute on I-80, Tooele County also offers room for growth that is in short supply in more developed areas of the Wasatch Front.
T
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The Wasatch Front, a term used to describe the metropolitan region running along the front of the Wasatch Mountain Range, is home to roughly 80 percent of Utah’s total population.
Utah’s population is projected to swell from 3 million in 2015 to nearly 6 million in 2065, according to the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. The rapid growth of the region itself closely mirrors that of Morgan Asphalt. Morgan Asphalt was founded in 1996 by
Thom Morgan, who still serves as the company’s CEO. Thom’s son, Matt Morgan, is the company’s president. Today, the company employs more than 200 people during peak season and has five mainline paving crews, one milling crew, ten grading crews, ten excavation crews and three utility crews. Morgan Asphalt primarily serves the large residential and commercial market. “The question that arose was, ‘At what point does it make sense to supply our own asphalt, versus buying it from other producers?’” Parkinson said. When they began speaking with plant manufacturers, the general consensus was installing
Morgan Asphalt’s plant is located in an area of Utah that is seeing significant residential and commercial growth. more than 150,000 tons per year was the tipping point. “We were well beyond that point,” Parkinson said, installing more than 300,000 tons each year for the last few years. The company began working with Gencor Industries, Orlando, to establish its first asphalt plant, located in Magna, Utah. Their 400-TPH Gencor drum plant officially opened June 14, 2019. “Morgan Asphalt is a company that is not afraid to take risks when it comes to their company growth and competition,” said Reed Ryan, executive director for the Utah Asphalt Pavement Association (UAPA). “It has been great to see them take ownership of their own journey as they continue to compete in a very tough and tight market here in Utah.” Parkinson said having its own plant has been a game changer for the company. “In Utah, there’s a huge gap between the big
suppliers and people like us,” he said. “Putting in our own plant has helped us move up the chain a bit and position ourselves in a way that makes us much more competitive.”
GOING GREEN WITH GENCOR
“The state-of-the-art equipment we invested in makes our plant one of the cleanest and most environmentally friendly hotmix asphalt plants in the state,” Parkinson said. “Air quality is a big concern for people living here.” According to the American Lung Association’s 2019 State of the Air report, the Wasatch Front is ranked as the 14th most polluted metropolitan area in the country. “Even though we are considered a rural western state by many people, air quality is a unique challenge in Utah because the large majority of the state’s population is centered along the Wasatch Front,” Ryan said. “This entire stretch of cities is also
bound on both sides (for the most part) by major geographical features (mountains & the Great Salt Lake) which force Utah into being, in reality, the eighth most urbanized state in the Union.” Due to the natural geographic features, this heavily populated area experiences temperature inversions where cold air is trapped in the valley, along with particulate matter. According to Ryan, UAPA’s members have responded to these concerns, with many members introducing state-of-the-art hot plant technologies, using cleaner fuel sources to power their plants, working with commercial aggregate crushing and conveying equipment vendors to innovate methods of mining and stockpiling their virgin and RAP aggregates, and by building strong working relationships with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, including the Utah Division of Air Quality.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 33
Producer profile
LEFT: Morgan Asphalt’s 400-TPH Gencor drum plant officially opened June 14, 2019. RIGHT: The company also invested in a custom inventory management system from Superior Industries.
LEFT: Morgan Asphalt employs more than 200 people during peak season and has five mainline paving crews, one milling crew, ten grading crews, ten excavation crews and three utility crews. RIGHT: Morgan Asphalt has invested in a KPI-JCI horizontal shaft impact crusher with associated screening equipment on site for crushing and screening RAP. Morgan Asphalt now serves on UAPA’s board of directors as a producer member. “Utahans see pollution as a threat to their health and their families’ well being,” Parkinson said. “The last thing people want to see is smoke belching out into the air. We’re members of the community—we live here, too—and we’re committed to doing what’s best for our community.” According to Parkinson, Morgan’s plant is the first and only HMA plant in Utah to implement ultra low NOx (nitrous oxide) burner technology. “The ultra low NOx burner technology results in 86 percent lower NOx emissions than the industry av-
34 // march/april 2020
erage and 46 percent lower than the nearest competing HMA plant in the state,” Parkinson said about the performance of Morgan’s Equinox combustion system from Gencor. They also purchased Gencor’s “Green Machine”—the Ultrafoam GX2—for warmmix asphalt (WMA) production. It is designed to inject steam into the foaming process using only the energy of the pump or head supplying the liquid asphalt cement (AC) and water. “The Green Machine allows us to batch asphalt at a lower temperature, using less natural gas to heat the material,” Parkinson said. Morgan Asphalt also invested in microdenier bags for their baghouse. Microde-
nier fibers are designed to provide high-efficiency filtration, capturing more dust than other fabrics. “If you drive by our plant today, you can’t even tell it’s running,” Parkinson said. “Just yesterday, someone asked me when our plant would be up and running. When I told them we already were, he said it didn’t look like it.” The plant is also equipped to use recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), and has a horizontal shaft impact crusher, with associated screening equipment, on site for crushing and screening RAP from KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens, Yankton, South Dakota. On average, Morgan uses 15 to 25 percent RAP in its mixes.
quired a gravel pit in Grantsville, Utah. “Once that was in place, we could proceed with establishing our own hot mix plant.” Morgan Asphalt then purchased property for its plant northwest of Salt Lake Valley and sought the appropriate permits.
“The Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Salt Lake County and the Army Corp. of Engineers were really helpful and supportive,” Parkinson said about the plant permitting process, adding that he believes the permitting process was
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construction industry’s premier, real-time Morgan Asphalt purchased Gencor’s “Green Machine”—the Ultrafoam GX2—to inject steam into the foaming process using the energy of the pump or head supplying the liquid asphalt cement (AC) and water for warm-mix asphalt (WMA) production. In addition to being forward-thinking from an environmental perspective, Morgan Asphalt also planned ahead for maximum efficiency. Although they only expected to need four silos in the near future, the company went ahead and invested in the six silos they anticipate needing. “We felt the need to invest in the kind of state-of-the-art equipment Gencor offers,” Parkinson said. “The staff at Gencor has been so supportive. They’ve gone above and beyond to get us up and running.” The company also invested in an inventory management system custom-developed for their plant by Superior Industries, Morris, Minnesota. “The system allows us to more efficiently truck in and dump the aggregates we need to make asphalt in one location of the plant and then sort them to their appropriate sections of the plant,” Parkinson said.
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BRIGHT FUTURES OUT WEST
Before the company could invest in its asphalt plant, they had to establish an aggregate source for the plant. In 2017, they ac-
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www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 35
Producer profile
According to Parkinson, Morgan’s plant is the first and only HMA plant in Utah to implement ultra low NOx (nitrous oxide) burner technology.
LEFT: Although they only expected to need four silos in the near future, the company went ahead and invested in the six silos they anticipate needing. RIGHT: Morgan Asphalt’s plant is located northwest of Salt Lake Valley. 36 // march/april 2020
Download a free plant permitting case study at theasphaltpro.com/ digital-downloads/
expedited by Morgan Asphalt’s investment in environmentally friendly equipment. Morgan Asphalt was lucky to be able to staff its new plant with experienced employees. “We didn’t actively pursue anyone, but once word got out that we were putting in our own plant, quite a few people came forward to work with us,” Parkinson said. “I think the ones we hired are among the best in the state and their experience was integral to getting our new plant off the ground.” Morgan Asphalt also established its own lab for quality control/quality assurance testing. They worked with Terracon, Olathe, Kansas, and CMT Engineering, West Valley, Utah, for their mix designs. In 2019, they produced standard APWA mixes, half-inch PG58-28 and PG64-22 mixes with 15 to 50 percent RAP. This accounts for roughly 90 percent of the mix required by Morgan Asphalt’s own paving crews. “Since our plant is fairly new, we’re still getting our feet under us,” Parkinson said. “This is a new area for us and we knew there would be bumps and bruises along the way, but things have gone way better than expected and we know they will only continue to improve, moving forward.” The company is already looking to sell more mix to outside sources. Parkinson said the location of Morgan Asphalt’s plant, in an area experiencing rapid growth and with easy access to both Highway 201 and I-80, should assist them in that goal. Three of Utah’s four main growth areas are right in the neighborhood of Morgan Asphalt’s new plant. In addition to residential growth, the area is also ripe for commercial growth. The Utah Inland Port Authority is working to establish a dry port on 16,000 acres of land northwest of Salt Lake City. A dry port, also known as an inland port, is a type of trade hub relying on air, truck and train transportation for transshipment of goods from seaports to inland destinations. According to the Utah Inland Port Authority, the area near Salt Lake City is ideal for this type of development due to its location
at the intersection of two interstate freeways, major national railways and an international airport. Morgan’s own asphalt plant was integral both to the company’s growth and to meet emerging demands in the area. “We
were maxed out,” Parkinson said. “Having our own plant allows us to be more competitive than we’ve been in the past and it helps secure the long term viability of the company and our future success.” – BY SARAH REDOHL
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 37
How to warm up, start up your HMA plant in sequence for the day’s best productivity
Step five is to start up the slat conveyor. With this component running, open the control house door or step outside and listen to it running. Listen for anything that sounds “off” or “different” from other mornings. All photos courtesy of Eagle Crusher, Galion, Ohio, and Tresco Companies, Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
Start Your Asphalt Plant Motors
W
BY A.J. RONYAK
With the proliferation of automation and robust plant controls, a newbie plant operator should be able to step into the control house and click the mouse over the button labeled “Startup Plant” to make the day begin. But there are steps he needs to make sure have happened first. Most asphalt plant controls manufacturers and plant original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who build controls into their systems will have the series of motors coming online in a logical pattern that keeps your operator from sending dry rock to the silo or blowing up the baghouse, but does your operator know why?
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Does he understand that the asphalt cement (AC) pump should warm up and circulate before delivering liquid to ensure there are no slugs of cool AC traveling around? There’s theory and logic behind starting up an asphalt plant. Bringing the air compressor up before throwing a flame in the drum matters. Whether you’ve customized the controls so plant startup requires multiple clicks of the mouse—giving your operator time to listen to components and feel the vibration of slingers and conveyors—or you’ve purchased a system that starts with one click and moves through the startup protocol on its own, you
want to know why you’re warming one piece before another. You want to know the method behind the madness. Let’s pretend you have a plant with blending automation. That’s downright essential these days. What we’re going to focus on with this article is getting all the mechanicals going, and then go to the computer for the mix design. Depending on the weather, time of year, area of the country you’re in, and so on, your start-of-day will fluctuate. You may be turning the lights on in the control room at 3 or 4 a.m., depending on whether or not you had rain or frost the night before. Thinking about the night before, if the RAP bin isn’t enclosed, it should have been emptied. I’m one who believes you never leave the RAP bin full overnight. The recoverable AC in the RAP congeals with condensation and other elements. Depending on how fine the RAP is, it could develop a crust that your ground man will have to break up. Throughout these steps, we’ll look at a couple other tips for shutting down the night before, but let’s focus now on the morning startup.
Step One. Turn on the air compressor to build up air throughout the plant. You shouldn’t see a surge of power here unless you’ve got a bad belt or something else the mechanic should take a look at. Back in the day, I had three different air compressors for the large plant I ran. One was dedicated to the baghouse, one was dedicated to the silos and gates, and one was dedicated to the rest of the plant. You get the air compressor going to get the plant full of air.
Step Two. Turn on the AC pump to circulate liquid back into the tank you’re pulling from. You’re putting the pump in circulation mode at this time. When you turn it on, watch the amperage. It should spike and then level off. If the needle peaks and stays buried, something’s wrong. A cold AC pump requires attention from the ground man. The newbie plant operator has no business running around trouble-shooting componentry so, send the ground man to the pump with an infrared or space heater, depending on safety regulations for your operation, if the AC pump has a tough time getting going. He just needs to put some heat around the pump; he’s heating the cast iron metal. You’ll want to make sure you have hot oil at this point as well. The hot oil pumping through jacketed lines is the lifeblood of the plant.
Step Three. Turn on the screen decks for both virgin and recycle material. When shutting down the plant the night before, you should have emptied the decks, but some stray material might be waiting to shake off. When starting up these big motors, you’ll see a power surge. Web Extra at TheAsphaltPro.com: Check out the article “Vary Your Energy Use, Increase Your Utility Savings.”
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 39
When you start the burner, set it on “low fire” at first to slowly warm up the drum, ductwork and baghouse. Earlier start-up steps will have ensured the drum is empty of sand or dry aggregate from the night before. Now you’re warming the plant to bring it up to production temperatures.
Step Four. Turn on all conveyor belts including the collector, incline and weigh scale belts. With this step, you’re warming up the conveyor belts; you want them fairly dry and you want the weigh conveyors zeroed out. If the belt is soaking wet, guess what happens to material you feed to it? That material will slide off the incline and your whole operation goes to crap. Get the belts warm and dry. Whatever little bit of material was laying on the belts from the night before needs to move on to the screens at this point. This is why you’re starting up in a particular sequence. Move old material along. Then zero out the virgin weigh scale belt and the RAP weigh scale belt. (You’ll zero them out again right before making mix.)
Step Five. Start up the slat conveyor or bucket elevator. These are big motors again. Make sure you listen to the conveyors. Physically open the control house door and listen to the conveyors out there. When you start up the slat conveyor, listen to it. You can hear if a bearing’s going out or if a slat’s about to tear off. Learn the sounds of your plant when it’s running smoothly and you’ll be well aware of a sound that’s “not right.” If you see a funky amp reading on the screen, you need to call for the ground man’s help. It’ll be natural to see an initial spike because some material might have been left in the tail end of the slat conveyor the night before. Sometimes it takes a little effort to “bust loose” and move, so you’ll see that initial peak. If the plant operator made a mis-
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take shutting down the night before and buried the slat’s tail in mix, you’ll probably trip a breaker trying to start this motor. Moral of the story: Empty the slat before shutting down. If you have multiple silos, also start your crossover conveyors at this time. Check the flop gates. Open and close the batchers to make sure everything is operating correctly. Listen to the flop gates going back and forth. When switching from filling silo 1 to filling silo 8, a malfunctioning flop gate means you’ll have mix piling up on top of the silos. That’s an expensive, potentially dangerous, mess you can avoid if you listen for proper operation now.
Step Six. Open and close silo gates. Bring the loader operator or a dump truck over to pull a plug of mix out of full silos to make sure HMA is flowing correctly. You might think a silo is empty, but a portion of mix that fell out of a batcher in the night could be sitting in the bottom of the silo, waiting to cause a quality control problem. Dump that into the back of a truck for the RAP pile.
Step Seven. Start the exhaust fan. This involves a pair of giant motors. As I mentioned with other amp indicators, if you see the amps peak without recovering, something’s going wrong. The folks at Libra Systems Inc., Harleysville, Pennsylvania, have their PlantWise drum mix control system set up so you can pull up a screen that monitors 32 analog inputs in a color-coded range. If you’re in the red range, you know something’s going wrong and you
ASPHALT PLANTS AND Your final step before turning to the blending controls is to top off the cold feed bins and RAP bins.
COMPONENTS
have the option of clicking on the component on the screen to see what’s happening. You have the option of making notes for maintenance or shutting down if it’s something serious.
Step Eight. Start the drum. You’ll start the drum or drums with the discharge chute in the dump or “on the ground” mode. If it was emptied last night, all is well, but you might have some dry rock and sand in there. Being in “dump” mode means the sand or dry material cycles out without contaminating future mix in the silos.
Step Nine. Set the drum burner on “low fire.” This step is to slowly heat up the drum and baghouse. You’re sending warmed air through the ducts and into the baghouse. This step is vital. You don’t want any moisture in that baghouse. You want dry dust in there.
Step Ten. Top off and zero out. At this point, the loader operator should top off the cold feed bins and fill the RAP bin(s), and the plant operator should zero out the virgin and RAP weigh scale belts again. With your 10 steps in sequence to starting up the asphalt plant, you’ll finally look at your screen(s) in the control house to ensure everything is up to the proper temperature for making today’s mix. Make sure you’ve selected the appropriate silo to accept product and turn your attention to the blending system. By following a consistent, logical pattern for plant startup each day, the successful plant operator moves air, heat, and energy through the system without missing vital steps or sending material to a road block. Of course, there are controls systems on the market that will start components in a sequence with the push of one button. Plant operators still need to understand what they’re doing and why. They need to understand the need to empty slats at the end of Thursday to make startup painless on Friday, and so on. They need to learn to listen for smoothly flowing bearings when specific motors begin moving the slat conveyor. And so on. These 10 steps for starting the HMA plant take the plant operator back to the basics for best plant operation.
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contact tarmac at 816-220-0700 or info@tarmacinc.com
A.J. Ronyak is the proprietor of Asphalt Solutions, Cape Coral, Florida, and a veteran asphalt plant operator. For more information, contact him at (623) 853-2273 or nosmellasphalt@msn.com.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 41
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Verify Instrument Readings
V
BY CLARENCE RICHARD
Verification is an important step in any process. It’s the law when it comes to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lockout/tagout and confined space procedures. You might not realize it, but you do it when crossing the street. You do it when you double-check your restaurant receipt. I do it when looking at instrumentation. When I can’t verify an instrument reading, I put it in my “to be verified” column. Let me share an example where verifying burner efficiency saved fuel, and then talk about verifying by cross checking measurements when weighing materials.
VERIFY WEIGHT
VERIFY BURNER INFO
Recently, two asphalt plant technicians were unable to stabilize burner performance on a used, 100-MBTU, gas burner at a 200-TPH drum mix plant. As the plant had worked over the years, the burner settings had been changed from the initial factory settings. When I arrived to consult with the team, we trusted in the settings, but needed to verify performance with a combustion analyzer. I made suggestions to change the settings. The operator, manager and process engineer had trouble believing the new setting would work. Again, we trusted the setting and verified that the burner was performing well. Running their continuous mix asphalt plant at 200 TPH usually would indicate a 30 percent firing rate. The new firing rate was only 20 percent. Their energy bill was now cut by a third. They further verified by asking: “Why is the material being heated to a temperature that required two-thirds the throttle required before?” In a nutshell, it’s oxygen. Oxygen (O2) should run between 11 percent and 14 percent with CO under 250 parts per million (PPM). Previous burner technicians had adjusted the O2 to 17 percent, but we only need enough O2 for complete combustion. The standard practice is to introduce just enough Excess Air (EA) to insure complete combustion. The rate of 17 percent O2 allows much more air to go through the process than if we slow down the air flow to 14 percent O2. At 17 percent, we are heating volumes of air pouring out the stack at 200 degrees F. Furthermore, all of that cold EA coming in cools the aggregate we want to heat and dry, resulting in additional fuel use and cost.
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Indicators show material is flowing through smoothly and the scale is weighing appropriately.
Indicators show the bin is partially bridging because the speed picked up to compensate for less material flowing per cubic foot. The same symptoms apply when material becomes less dense.
Switching gears, continuous weighing is a constant quality control (QC) challenge. The important thing is reliable feedback. The volumetric method of weighing (monitoring the speed of the auger, rotary valve, belt, etc.) is not always adequate. Sometimes belt scales, impact plates and mass flow meters are not as fail proof as the application requires. Continuous weigh devices, within limits, can do an excellent job for some applications. Depending on the product being weighed, gravimetric rate readings should be viewed with skepticism. If material sticks to the weigh bridge resting on the load cell, the rate indication will increase without the rate really increasing. When we have problems—whether it is an issue with product hanging on our load cell weigh bridge, the scale needs maintenance, or we are assuming volumetrically—we find neither the volumetric nor the gravimetric method is working for us. In this case, cross checking one against the other can raise red flags or reassure us that the process is being measured and controlled to specifications. Volumetric measuring does not work when your bin runs empty or when bridging occurs. It may not work well enough if your product density changes, such as with pulverized recycled asphalt shingles. When volumetric alone does not get the job done, the combination of cross checking gravimetric with volumetric may cause many red flags as your process is continuously running. Compare a volumetric indicator with a gravimetric indicator. When calibrated, they should read nearly the same. When the readings are not nearly the same, taking actions like cleaning the weigh bridge, filling the bin, clearing a rock from a belt scale or mass flow meter or impact plate, or stopping the process may be required. The point is to trust, but verify information you read from the instrumentation. Clarence Richard is controls engineer, EZ- Flo Scales and Controls, Minnetonka, Minnesota. For more information, contact him at (952) 939-6000 or visit www.ez-flo.us.
C
Find Asphalt Exhibitors at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2020 in Las Vegas
CONEXPO-CON/AGG is the largest construction-related trade show in the United States. With 2.5 million square feet and 2,800 exhibitors at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017, the trade show can be overwhelming. To make it easier to discover exhibitors related to the asphalt paving and asphalt production industries, AsphaltPro has highlighted vendors specific to our industry in the following pages. We’ve also put together a map, highlighting asphalt-specific exhibitors, to simplify navigating the extensive trade show floor, on page 47. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which organizes the trade show, has put together an extensive exhibitor directory, as well as an event app for iOS and Android devices. There is also additional information about related educational sessions available on the event website, conexpoconagg.com. Make sure you also pay a visit to the AsphaltPro booth (GL31400), located in the Grand Lobby, to visit with our team in person. Have a safe and productive show!
Central Hall C3-C5 Astec, Inc. Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C30336 2
Astec Inc., a division of Astec Industries, is a world leader in the production of both warm and hot mix equipment technology, support and training and is the only manufacturer in the world to offer a complete line of portable, relocatable and stationary asphalt plants from 80 tph to 600 tph. In addition to its focus on equipment technology, Astec Inc. is committed to providing world-class sales, service, parts and technical support. At ConExpo 2020, Astec will highlight its depth of product offerings with displays featuring the 1/8 scale model of a complete Astec M Pack® relocatable asphalt facility, the Voyager™ 140 ultra-portable compact asphalt plant, and the new Astec Versa Jet™ burner. Astec will also be displaying a Vacuum Assisted Thermal Desorption System developed in partnership with Envirosoil Limited and SiloBot™ Inspection Service, a safer solution for silo inspections.
Eagle Crusher Company, Inc. Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C31045 3
Eagle Crusher Company Inc. is a worldwide leader in the manufacture of a complete line of heavy-duty impact crushers, portable crushing and screening plants, jaw crushers, cone crushers, and conveyors for the concrete, asphalt, aggregate, and recycle markets. The company provides innovative, quality products and exceptional aftermarket service and support. The Eagle Crusher UltraMax® series of plants delivers high production rates, quality, uniform spec product, and minimum down time for maximum profitability, according to the manufacturer. Ask about their Quad-Axle 1200-25 CC, 3260 Jaw Crusher and Raptor Cone Crusher Line, all new at ConExpo.
E.D. Etnyre Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C31031 4
The Etnyre company is a world leader in the manufacturing of asphalt distributors trucks, aggregate chipspreaders, lowboy trailers, vertical emulsion storage tanks, asphalt transports and live bottom belt trailers. Located in the heart of the Midwest, Etnyre manufactures, sells and services products for the asphalt paving and asphalt preventative maintenance industries.
Heatec, Inc. Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C30336 5
Heatec Inc. manufactures and markets a broad line of heaters and liquid storage tanks. These products are used at facilities that produce and supply materials for road construction, mostly asphalt plants, asphalt terminals, and emulsion terminals. Its products include hot oil heaters, asphalt storage tanks and fuel storage tanks. Heatec also makes complete polymer systems for asphalt terminals and emulsion plants. Other asphalt products include fuel preheaters, booster heaters, calibration tanks, barrel melters, truck load-out systems, etc. Heatec will have on display a polymer blending system and a vertical auto heater in their booth, C30336, at ConExpo 2020.
Kenco Engineering Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C31046 6
CONEXPO-CON/AGG & IFPE 2020 will be held in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center and Festival Grounds on the following dates/times: Tuesday, March 10: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 11: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 12: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, March 13: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 14: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Kenco Engineering, Inc. designs and produces long-life wear parts for the asphalt, aggregates, recycling and road construction industries. Kenco uses a combination of unique processes and better materials to reduce overall maintenance costs and increase uptime when compared to OEM components. Whether you maintain front end loaders, asphalt plants, asphalt pavers, material transfer vehicles or crushers, Kenco can save you time and money. Discuss your asphalt silo, paver floor, screed, jaw crusher, HSI crusher, cutting edge, or bucket armoring needs at booth C31046.
2020 MAP GRANDY LOBBY 1 AsphaltPro Magazine
Westgate Convention Center
North Hall
CENTRAL HALL 2 Astec, Inc. 3 Eagle Crusher 4 E.D. Etnyre 5 Heatec, Inc. 6 Kenco Engineering 7 KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens 8 Roadtec 9 Stansteel 10 TransTech Systems
Silver Lots 1&2
15
17
18
2 5 7 8 10 6 9
14
Silver Lot 3
1
Central Hall
16 12 13
SILVER LOT 3 17 ALmix 18 Green Patch 21 Pavijet/Hitek SOUTH HALL 1 & 2 LOWER LEVEL 19 Libra Systems
BRONZE HALL 11 Process Heating 20 ACE Group
Grand Lobby
SILVER LOT 1 &2 12 Ammann 13 Asphalt Drum Mixers 14 Gencor Industries 15 Reliable Asphalt Products 16 Wirtgen Group
Bridge Meeting Complex
4 3
19
South Hall 1 & 2 Lower Level 21
Bronze Hall/Lot 11 20
KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C30336 7
KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens are part of Astec Industries’ Aggregate and Mining Group. The company’s wide range of product lines, including crushing, screening, material handling, washing and classifying, track-mounted, stationary and portable equipment, offers comprehensive solutions for a variety of markets that no competitor can match. With an authorized dealer network that spans around the globe, KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens deliver an unwavering commitment to meeting the needs of its customers.
Roadtec, Inc. Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C30336 8
Roadtec, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, manufactures and markets a complete line of cold planing and recycling equipment, material transfer vehicles and asphalt paving machines. These products are sold all over the world through an extensive combination of dealers and direct sales managers. All of its products are built to the highest standards, emphasizing simplicity, productivity, versatility and accessibility.
Stansteel-Hotmix Parts Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C32977 9
Stansteel helps hot-mix asphalt producers make their asphalt plant run better by re-engineering and reconditioning weak components. By integrating newer technology into a 10-, 20- or 40year old asphalt plant, it can be upgraded to produce the same quality hot-mix as a brand new plant. Stansteel Used Equipment helps select valuable components or plants to upgrade and restore asphalt plant capabilities. Hotmix Parts & Service has been providing replacement and emergency parts and service support for every brand and type of hot-mix asphalt plant produced in North America. You’ve heard for years “Anything for an Asphalt Plant - New - Used - Parts - Components - Field Service”… from controls and components to complete hot-mix asphalt plants.
TransTech Systems Booth: Central Hall C3-C5 — C30947 10
Non-nuclear density testing is TransTech Systems’ expertise The founders of TransTech Systems recognized from the start that many construction, civil engineering and other disciplines continue to be handled by methods that have changed very little over the decades. TransTech responded by providing the first non-nuclear density gauge technology. Holding the original patent, TransTech strives to continue to push this technology to what the industry needs. TransTech offers soil (SDG) and asphalt (PQI) non-nuclear density options. Its flagship product, the PQI, is what put TransTech Systems on the map.
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Bronze Hall Process Heating Co. Booth: Bronze Hall — B91203 11
Process Heating Company (PHCo) has more than 70 years of experience in manufacturing 100 percent efficient low-watt density electric heating systems. Lo-Density Unitized Storage Tank Heaters, Fuel-Oil Preheaters, Hot-Oil Heaters and Rigid Tubular Drywell Tank Heaters provide unique electric heat benefits for asphalt plants and distributor trucks. These include lower operating costs, improved product quality, improved safety, reduced maintenance, significantly longer heater life and enhanced sustainability. PHCo's unique drywell-style heaters dissipate controlled heat as low as 3 watts per square inch on the heater's sheath to prevent damage to temperature-sensitive asphalt, oil and emulsion materials, eliminating the need to drain and clean the tank.
ACE Group Booth: Bronze Hall — B91513 20
ACE Group offers plant equipment such as: conveyor/elevator chains; sprockets; drive chains; buckets and slats; mixer tips and shanks; plus the RAPwrangler; asphalt crushing and recycling mills; pugmill parts; scalping decks; conveyor belts; rollers; and more. They also offer paving components such as: conveyor chain and bar assemblies; chain drive sprockets; floor plates; screed plates; rebuilt tracks; pickup machine parts; and more.
Silver Lots 1 & 2 Ammann America, Inc. Booth: Silver Lots 1 & 2 — S5254 12
Ammann America’s products include light and heavy compaction equipment and asphalt-mixing plants. Ammann America is a subsidiary of Ammann, a Swiss-based, family-owned manufacturer that celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019. On display at the 2020 event will be the new continuous high-recycling plant, the Ammann ACP ContiHRT. The plant, which utilizes Ammann’s unique recycling technology, is capable of producing mix consisting of more than 60 percent RAP. Its patented preheating process also minimizes fuel consumption and dramatically reduces the levels of CO2 and other pollutants. Other Ammann products featured at the show will be soil and asphalt compactors; light compaction equipment, including rammers and plate compactors (forward-moving, reversible and hydrostatic); and the as1 Control System – the “brains” behind Ammann’s innovative asphalt-mixing plants.
Blue Roads Solutions Booth: Silver Lots 1 & 2 -- S5065 22
Blue Roads helps asphalt producers exceed industry standards operationally, economically and environmentally by providing turn-key solutions for the cleanest burning fuel, liquefied natural gas. Its services include LNG procurement and supply, on-site infrastructure design and implementation, full-service logistics and distribution, and system control management through remote monitoring.
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Asphalt Drum Mixers Inc. Booth: Silver Lots 1 & 2 — S5455 13
The EX Series single drum counter-flow asphalt plant in conjunction with outstanding 24/7 technical support has firmly established Asphalt Drum Mixers, Inc. as one of today's most highly sought after asphalt plant manufacturers worldwide. New at ConExpo, ADM has redesigned the EX 120 with a reverse baghouse to provide even greater portability and more compact size, making it an ideal asphalt plant for demanding and remote environments worldwide. According to the manufacturer, producers looking for high portability, low capacity, and counterflow technology (with baghouse) will find the redesigned EX 120 a welcome choice. ADM also offers the Milemaker, Roadbuilder and SPL series asphalt plants. The company also offer storage silos, cold feed bins, asphalt tanks, baghouses, mineral filler silos, recycle asphalt and shingle systems, weigh conveyors, control rooms and control systems.
Gencor Industries Booth: Silver Lots 1 & 2 — S5755 14
Gencor Industries is a leading manufacturer of complete stationary and portable drum mix and batch asphalt plant and components up to 800 tph. Gencor also manufactures combustion and thermal fluid heating systems; stationary, portable, and self-erecting silo storage systems up to 350 tons; baghouses up to 120,000 cfm; complete aggregate and recycle weighing and conveying systems up to 800 tph; and mineral additive systems up to 900 bbl.
Reliable Asphalt Products Booth: Silver Lots 1 & 2 — S5761 15
Founded in 2001 by Charles Grote and Mike Mauzy, Reliable Asphalt Products is the hot-mix industry's most comprehensive asphalt plant equipment supplier. In today's competitive market HMA producers look to equipment suppliers not just for equipment, but also as a knowledgeable resource to help improve plant production capabilities and corporate profitability. Reliable Asphalt Products strives to serve by providing high quality equipment and exceptional customer service. The company is single source supplier, providing every part, component and service needed to successfully run an asphalt operation. The company supplies complete new, used and reconditioned plants; both batch and drum, portable, stationary and skid mount arrangements.
Wirtgen Group Booth: Silver Lots 1 & 2 — S5419 16
WIRTGEN AMERICA, Inc. is a member of the WIRTGEN GROUP, an internationally operating group of companies in the construction machinery sector incorporating the traditional product brands: WIRTGEN, VöGELE, HAMM, KLEEMANN and BENNINGHOVEN. WIRTGEN can offer its customers mobile machine solutions for road construction and road rehabilitation, plants for mining and processing minerals or recycling material and for the production of asphalt.
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Silver Lot 3 ALmix/Asphalt Equipment Company Inc. Booth: Silver Lot 3 — S6818 17
ALmix is the manufacturer of a new generation of asphalt mixing plants rooted in innovative technology and a supreme attention to detail. Based out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, ALmix serves the asphalt industry around the world. ALmix provides its customers with a complete range of both drum and batch type asphalt plants and auxiliary equipment, fully customized and built to last.
GreenPatch Booth: Silver Lot 3 — S6831 18
GreenPatch® is a high performance asphalt repair product designed to repair and maintain roadways while utilizing RAP and sustainable additives. Its products are the preferred cold asphalt choice of major cities, utilities, manufacturers, DOT’s, contractors and homeowners everywhere and the only no toxic VOC permanent asphalt repair product, according to the manufacturer. Asphalt manufacturers throughout the country utilize its patented liquid formula to produce GreenPatch® through their plants or portable pugmills. GreenPatch Liquid® replaces traditional petroleum solvents with a bio based softening agent allowing you to produce a no Toxic VOC cold asphalt product that is DOT approved in all 50 states.
Pavijet/Hitek Booth: Silver Lot 3 -- S6828 21
Turn your skid steer into a paving machine with the Pavijet MiniPaver. The Pavijet MiniPavers are designed for doing road repairs, shoulder work, trench work, parking lot maintenance and for paving paths and trails. They offer the potential of savings on both labor and material. Additionally, the MG7 has the capability to not only lay hot and cold asphalt, but also sand and crushed stone. Hitek Equipment Inc. has been in business for over 25 years and has always specialized in bringing unique products to the North American market.
South Hall 2 Libra Systems Booth: South Hall 2 — S62919 19
Libra Systems is the leading provider of integrated GPS truck/asset management, asphalt/concrete plant automation, truck scale ticketing, and enterprise integration solutions for the asphalt, aggregate, and concrete industries. With 50 years of industry experience, Libra offers a full array of products and services to help material producers improve quality, streamline operations, access valuable management information and achieve greater profits. Libra’s solution suite includes asphalt/concrete controls, silo safety systems, aggregate scale ticketing (attended & unattended), dispatch, truck tracking, fleet management, camera ID, self-service kiosks, web services, and quote-to-cash modules. Libra's 24/7 service is unsurpassed in the industry.
product Gallery
Pave with New Parts, Asphalt Equipment With this being the innovations edition of AsphaltPro magazine, it’s only fitting that we focus on new-to-you equipment in the product gallery. Advances in technology and electronics crop up all year long, but will take center stage in most original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) booths at CONEXPO/CON-AGG this March 10-14 in Las Vegas. If you’re one of the team members who has to stay home and hold down the fort, you can at least see a preview of some nifty paving and pavement maintenance innovations by checking out this month’s product gallery on the next few pages. Also, turn to the show preview on page 46 for a quick look at asphalt-specific exhibitors who are also partners with AsphaltPro.
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ALLEN
Allen Engineering, Paragould, Arkansas, has introduced its all-new 2020 AW16E fully electric wheel buggy with travel speeds of up to 6 miles per hour and a payload of 2,500 pounds. Its standard features include a rechargeable 48-volt lithium battery, a bucket capacity of 16 cubic feet with 90-degree dump angle and easy access to charging with standard three-prong industrial power cord. For more information, visit your local Allen Engineering dealer.
AMMANN
While most AsphaltPro readers will recognize the Ammann Group for its innovative asphalt plant products, including the new continuous high-recycling plant—the Ammann ACP ContiHRT—that will be on display in the company’s booth 5254 in the silver lots one and two, you may not know that the OEM also makes a line of soil and asphalt compactors, and light compaction equipment, which will also be on display. The OEM offers intelligent assistance systems for more efficient compaction. Ammann Compaction Expert (ACE) intelligent compaction technology is offered on selected light equipment machines. ACE
Ammann will present its Lightweight Champions in the silver lot, offering Ammann Compaction Expert (ACE) on selected light equipment machines. 52 // march/april 2020
uses intuitive LED signals to keep the operator abreast of compaction progress. Operators also can evaluate when compaction goals have been met, helping reduce unnecessary passes. ACE also helps prevent overcompaction. ACE is available on larger vibratory APH and APR plates, APA Add-On Compactors and ARR Trench Rollers. For more information, visit www.ammann.com.
BOMAG
The team from Bomag Americas, Ridgeway, South Carolina, has launched its second generation compact cold planers and will have them on display in booth 30316 in the central hall. Available in three- and four-wheel designs, the new BOMAG BM 500/15-2 and BM 600/15-2 compact mills feature a reengineered vibration-isolation operator’s station to improve operator efficiency and productivity. A new suspension seat with optional heating boasts a 45-degree slewing angle for visibility to the left cutting edge and front/ rear of the machine. The main control console is fully adjustable to fit individual operator preferences and simplified control grouping improves machine operating efficiency. Machine leveling sensors are now integrated into the side plate cylinders of the new mills. A new 7-inch, full graphic color display offers intuitive operation and leveling control for efficient mill setup. The conveyor joystick control has been repositioned for easier access, and it integrates both lifting and lowering functions for faster operation. Advancements to hydraulic system efficiency boost transport speed to 3.7 mph for three-wheel and 6.2 mph for four-wheel configurations. Maximum milling speed for four-wheel configurations
The new BOMAG BM 500/15-2 offers a maximum milling width of 19.7 inches. Check it out in BOMAG’s booth C30316.
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product Gallery is increased by more than 25 percent for both models to improve machine productivity. The BOMAG BM 500/15-2 offers a maximum milling width of 19.7 inches and the BM 600/15-2 a maximum width of 23.6 inches. Four extra cutting tools positioned at the left- and right-edge rings, plus optimal arrangement of the tools across the drum, is designed to deliver uniform, low-vibration milling and smooth milled edges. A range of standard, fine, power and trenching drum designs are available in widths from 3.15 to 23.6 inches with all featuring standard quick-exchange designs. The machines’ new, super-light conveyor design features an increased, 30-degree swiveling angle in both directions for efficient truck loading. The 15.7-inch-wide conveyor offers a discharge rate of up to 111.2 cubic yards per hour and hydraulically folds for transport. A 140.8-hp diesel engine meets Tier 4 Final (Stage V) emissions standards. Each model features improved front-to-rear weight balance, enhancing traction. Both machines offer a minimum milling radius of 9.6 inches. The machines’ new triple-setting water pump system—sprinkling, high-flow and refill/suction—is designed to allow the operator to adjust water flow as needed to extend intervals between refills. For more information, visit https://www.bomag.com/us-en/.
CASE
CASE Construction Equipment, Racine, Wisconsin, is launching a new Tier 4 Final PT240D pneumatic tire roller for the asphalt industry. With an operating weight of 21,380 pounds, a 100-horsepower Deutz engine and a compaction width of 78.2 inches, it’s built for sub-base and asphalt compaction on large-scale projects. The tire configuration is four in front, four in back with 2-inch tire overlap. It’s designed to handle up to 31,530 pounds of ballast—including steel, sand and water—to meet compaction requirements. The polyethylene water tank supplies a pressurized water feed system and holds up to 103 gallons. The PT240D also features an iso-static front axle, allowing each of the front tires to oscillate. It also features a standard automatic central tire inflation system to ensure consistent pressure to all eight tires. The PT240D achieves Tier 4 Final compliance with a fuel-efficient and maintenance-free combination diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) aftertreatment system. All fluid ports, drains and service checkpoints are grouped for simplified maintenance. See this machine on display alongside the next generation of CASE loaders (CTLs)—consisting of five CTLs and eight skid steers—at CONEXPO. For more information, visit your CASE dealer.
It makes equipment easier to track, giving you access to real-time data. According to the manufacturer, the app allows you to: • Track hours, location, fuel and utilization; • Monitor machine health; • Stay on top f maintenance; • Order parts and request service; and • Activate Product Link™ devices. For more information, download the app from the Apple or Google Play store.
HAMM
At the almost 30,000-square-foot outdoor space in booth S-5419, the Wirtgen Group will include a new compactor with padfoot drum from HAMM that offers a drum width of 84.3 inches and a weight of 46,096 pounds. The H 20i C P offers three-point articulation for optimum steering, driving safety and driving comfort. It also features HAMM’s Easy Drive, which comprises a range of features to improve ergonomic, safety-related and service-related characteristics. It’s designed to reduce complexity and enable operators to react quickly and correctly. The compactor also includes Hammtronic, which is an electronic machine management system that monitors and controls all key machine functions, with the goal of increasing safety and economy while reducing fuel use. For example, Hammtronic can automatically adjust the diesel engine speed to meet the power requirements of the individual drives. It controls startup and braking, and distributes the drive torques across the drum axis and back wheels in line with current operating data. It also controls the hydrostatic vibration drive and various steering program for the DV+ series. For more information, visit www.wirtgen-group.com or https://www. wirtgen-group.com/en-us/conexpo.
CATERPILLAR
Among the new iron Caterpillar will have on display at the festival grounds at CONEXPO, don’t forget the company’s service and solutions for asphalt paving. For example, the CAT® app for IOS and Android devices, released at the end of 2019, is designed to curb downtime and boost your bottom line with fleet management.
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The HAMM H 20i C P padfoot compactor is one of 30 products that will be displayed in the silver lot in Vegas. It’s one of the new offerings from the Wirtgen Group for North America.
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product Gallery HAMMERHEAD
For the mechanic—or operators functioning as proxy mechanics— on your crew, the team at Hammerhead Industries, Ventura, California, has released six new ANSI 121-compliant Gear Keeper® retractable tethers to increase convenience and keep tools out of the way but always accessible. Current compliance challenges often require that all tools must be tethered when working at heights. Of course this would also include smaller tools such as screwdrivers, pliers, radios, smart phones and tablets. To avoid the obvious dangers of technicians being “over-tethered,” with numerous dangling cables hanging from tool belts, Gear Keeper’s vest-mounted tethering products offer a solution. The new ANSI 121-compliant vest-mounted retractable tethers are designed to combine convenience and productivity with safe tool tethering. This low-profile Gear Keeper family of six retractable tethers is less obtrusive and cumbersome than using bulky coils and cables. Mounted in a vest pocket, the retractable cables keep valuable small gear safe and out of the way but always available for use. All of the new vest-mounted retractable tethers are attached by sturdy threaded mounts, which can be installed in vests, coveralls and any other clothing that has structure (not mesh). Included in the new vest-mounted family of retractable tethers are the RT55420 retractable smart phone tether, RT4-5622 retractable tape measure or hand tools tether, and more.
MILWAUKEE
It’s not new iron, but the news from Milwaukee Tool is about its production of smaller tools of the trade and positive growth. Milwaukee Tool is expanding its footprint in the United States with the announcement of a new vertically integrated manufacturing plant in West Bend, Wisconsin. Located 20 minutes from Milwaukee Tool’s global headquarters, the facility will manufacture new-to-market hand tools. “With a focus on core users in the electrical, plumbing and mechanical trades, our strategy for hand tools
The RX-700 from Roadtec offers a full lane width milling option. 56 // march/april 2020
from the beginning has been to disrupt the market with superior performance, quality and user-driven feature sets,” said Tim Albrecht, president of hand tools for Milwaukee Tool. With an initial expected investment of almost $26 million, Milwaukee Tool will break ground in April 2020 on the new manufacturing plant, and expects mass production to begin in early 2021. “We will continue to invest, we will continue to grow, and we will continue to change the game,” said Steve Richman, group president of Milwaukee Tool. “In 2020 alone, we will invest over $100 million, and create 350 jobs in the United States to diversify our operations and better serve the professional trades.” Milwaukee Tool currently has manufacturing and distribution operations around the nation in Greenwood, Olive Branch, and Jackson, Mississippi, as well as in Mukwonago and Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Along with the new hand tool manufacturing plant in West Bend, plans in progress to expand in 2020 include: operations in Cookeville, Tennessee, for power tool manufacturing and assembly; in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, for accessories manufacturing; and in Olive Branch, Mississippi, for a new 766,000 square foot distribution facility. While U.S. manufacturing and distribution are an integral part of Milwaukee Tool’s global footprint, the disruptive innovation for the trades all start at the global headquarters in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The company has grown from 190,000 square feet and 300 jobs in Brookfield in 2011, to 390,000 square feet and over 1,400 jobs in 2019. With an additional 329,500 square feet of space slated to open in 2020, and a recent announcement of 65 acres of land purchased in Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee Tool is positioned to stay in the heart of Wisconsin long term.
ROADTEC
Of the two new mills Roadtec Inc., Chattanooga, will have on display at CONEXPO, the RX-700 has some changes to make note of, according to Director of Sales Eric Baker. For example, the machine has a full lane option now. Stop by booth C30336 to check that out.
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product Gallery Because this is the paving-centric product gallery, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the new controls Roadtec offers on all of its pavers now. Baker said the new controls are making it easier for the operators to run the machines, of course, but also are making it easier for training new operators to get quality results. See some other surprises in the booth that we’ll cover in future issues. For more information, visit www.roadtec.com and booth C30336 at CONEXPO.
VOLVO
Volvo Construction Equipment will debut two new asphalt paver models for its North American line-up at the festival grounds in Vegas—the P5110B tracked and P5170B wheeled eight-foot pavers. They are built for heavy commercial and light highway tasks. “The P5110B and P5170B give contractors a new heavy eight-foot size class option, meeting demand for mid-size pavers that fall between our existing P4410B and 7000B series models,” said Bill Laing, product manager, road products at Volvo CE. “We also integrated adaptive Volvo engine speed technology into the 5000 series to give high productivity at a very low 1200 rpm. This results in lower operating costs day in, day out.” The 5000B series is powered by the latest Volvo D6 Tier 4 Final engine. The P5110B and P5170B pavers are fitted with a large capacity hopper to ensure continuous paving, while rolled wings help prevent material build-up and cut cleaning time. Once loaded, four sonic sensors regulate the flow and delivery of material. The P5170B also has the option of front wheel assist for added traction and grade-ability. Both models come with an UltiMat160 screed, which features extensions that can adjust paving width hydraulically from eight feet up to 16 feet. The screed’s front-mounted extension supports head-of-material control in the auger channel. The screed’s optional bolt-on extensions provide paving up to 18 feet wide. These models also have ground-level access to common service areas, filters, hydraulic test ports and fuel/DEF tanks. Greaseless bearings in the auger and conveyor and wear parts in the hopper that are easy to access and replace also make servicing these machines easy, according
to the manufacturer. Both are backed by the Volvo Lifetime Frame and Structure Warranty, which covers the tractor frame on both machines and the track frame on the P5110B for the entirety of the initial period of ownership. They also come with one year of ActiveCare Direct®, Volvo’s advanced telematics service that provides 24/7/365 active machine monitoring and fleet utilization reporting. Volvo also announced it’s bringing back its popular Million Ton Guarantee, a North American after-purchase program that gives customers of Volvo 7000 Series asphalt pavers manufacturer support for the replacement of auger and conveyor system wear parts over a five-year period. There’s more information on the AsphaltPro.com site about that. For more information, visit your local Volvo CE dealer.
WIRTGEN
Wirtgen America will have more than 30 products on display in almost 30,000 square feet of outdoor space in booth 5419 in the silver lots one and two, including the new HAMM H 20i C P mentioned above, the new Kleemann Mobicat MC 120 Z, and the new W 220 Fi and W 250 Fi large milling machines. For our paving focus this month, let’s look at the mills serving a wide range of applications at a maximum milling depth of 14 inches. Various drive concepts are available. For example, the W 220 Fi is equipped with a two-speed dual shift powershift transmission, while the W 250 Fi has an actual dual power dual engine drive. The W 220 Fi has an engine power of 801 horsepower (HP). The W 250 Fi has an engine power of 1,010 HP. Both feature mill assist as standard. In the automatic mode, the mill assist standard assistance system is designed to improve milling performance while reducing diesel, water, and pick consumption, and CO2 emissions. Mill assist also automatically controls the two-speed dual shift powershift transmission. Together with the diesel engine, the intelligent control of the two-speed powershift transmission extends both the upper and lower range of possible milling drum speeds. For more information, visit www.wirtgen-group.com or https://www. wirtgen-group.com/en-us/conexpo.
The new W250 Fi flagship model milling machine from Wirtgen is intended for high milling performance. 58 // march/april 2020
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New Tech
Autodesk Improves Efficiency at Superior Bowen How asphalt paving and maintenance companies are using Autodesk’s suite of software to improve operations
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When Superior Bowen was paving a subdivision and the city of Kansas City identified a potential problem, the asphalt contractor was thankful it had recently adopted PlanGrid. PlanGrid is a field collaboration and construction information management platform from software maker Autodesk, San Rafael, California. The city thought there might be a problem with the dirt work on the project, which had been performed by a subcontractor. Superior Bowen was able to review all of the documents and photos stored within PlanGrid throughout the course of the team’s work on the project to make it clear to the city that the issue wasn’t as severe as initially thought. “By looking back through that storyline, we saved our private development owner a lot of time and money, we saved ourselves a lot of time and money for re-work, and we saved our subcontracting partner some brand reputation,” said Brian Johanning, vice president of business development at Superior Bowen. “In sum, that saved us tens of thousands of dollars and months of time. That’s how powerful it is to have all project documents in one place.” PlanGrid is one of four solutions within Autodesk Construction Cloud, unveiled in November 2019. The other three solutions are BIM 360, Assemble and Building Connected. BIM 360 is another team collaboration and project management platform that offers more features for the team in the office, including cost management and project risk analysis, for example. Assemble makes it possible for users to condition, query and connect a variety of data, including BIM models, drawings and point clouds. BuildingConnected is a bid management platform where preconstruction teams can search for contractors and send bid invitations to them, as well as qualify and select them as vendors. The ultimate goal of Autodesk Construction Cloud is to optimize project budgets, schedules and quality, from design through construction and operations. “The driving force from the industry is the need to meet the demands of the future with our current output capability. That requires more efficiency and less waste,” said Mark Contino, vice president of North American retail distribution at Topcon Positioning Systems, Livermore, California. “We can’t do things wrong because someone didn’t get the memo. That’s where this technology can help.” In 2017, Topcon acquired PPI Group, a move which also made Topcon an Autodesk distributor. The goal, Contino said, was to bring together Topcon hardware and Autodesk software with local training, support and service. The company recently announced plans to upgrade its Topcon Solutions Store facilities to offer a variety of training opportunities, including training on Autodesk software. “When we look at the market, the problem is training,” Contino said. “We can pump out all kinds of cool stuff, but if people in the field don’t know how to use it, what good is it?”
62 // march/april 2020
PlanGrid, a field collaboration and construction information management platform from Autodesk, enables Superior Bowen to solve problems rapidly while on the job. All photos courtesy of Paul Andrews Photography Although the use of Autodesk’s products is nothing new to vertical contractors, Contino said, it is now being transitioned over to earthwork, engineering and road construction. “We can check every step of the way as we build a road, whether that’s the folks putting down the sub-base or the crew paving the road,” he said. “If there’s a problem at any stage, this makes it easier to find it before getting out in the field, eliminating a lot of potential rework and waste in the construction project.”
HOW SUPERIOR BOWEN USES PLANGRID
Prior to adding PlanGrid to its technology portfolio in 2019, Superior Bowen relied on various file storage, collaboration and communication solutions. However, each project manager and supervisor had their own folders and organizational system, which led to some confusion in an already challenging environment. “Kansas City is a unique market in the Midwest,” Johanning said. The city spans the Kansas/Missouri border, and encompasses 14 counties and 42 municipalities. “We have to make sure we meet the specs and needs of a lot of governing agencies, as well as the transportation and logistics challenges of our market. PlanGrid gives us a centralized hub for project document storage so our team can localize information in one place, instead of in disparate folders across our server and various softwares.” Johanning said the rollout of PlanGrid within their company was seamless. Autodesk carried out several rounds of training, both at the office and out in the field. Additionally, Superior Bowen’s own spirit of innovation made adoption among its staff easier.
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New Tech “The heavy civil construction industry has a bit of a reputation for lagging behind on technology,” Johanning said, “but our people have really embraced technology. They’re always looking for ways to remove bottlenecks and do things better, faster and cheaper.” Like it did during the recent subdivision project, PlanGrid makes it easier for Superior Bowen’s crews to resolve any issues out in the field, without having to return to the owner for approval or schedule or price modifications. “Having the ability to pull up the drawing in the field, red line it immediately, and share the document and photos with our folks in the office or our consulting partners has reduced our red line process from days to minutes,” Johanning said. The platform’s photo feature, he added, has been particularly useful. Each photo is geotagged and timestamped, so people can know exactly where on the job the photo was taken. Photos and documents can also be attached where needed on a plan, so if a spec sheet or grading report needs to be available for people working on that plan, the info is available immediately.
In the fall of 2019, Autodesk funded a grant program with the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) to supply contractors in need with fall protection harnesses sized for women. Johanning also said Superior Bowen’s supervisors and project managers appreciate being able to document the project from the field, on their mobile devices. “They don’t have to come back to the office at the end of the day, fire up the computer, and spend a couple hours uploading, organizing, etc.” PlanGrid has also improved operations from a pre-construction standpoint. Superior Bowen is able to get plans from engineering firms quickly and seamlessly, as well as open and store large PDFs for plans and estimates with automated organization. “For a vertically integrated company like ours, everything ties into one another,” Johanning said. “But, whether the work is performed by subcontractors or our own crews, it all translates through PlanGrid.” In the future, Superior Bowen hopes to give access to a project’s documentation within PlanGrid to the respective project owners and subcontractors on the job. “It’s incredible to have one platform for plans, specs, pictures, and other documentation,” Johanning said. “With PlanGrid, we were able to gain some consistency, and rely on a product built specifically for the construction industry.”
AUTODESK AND THE FUTURE OF PAVING
Cloud-based collaboration tools like PlanGrid are only the beginning, Contino said. “We are on the edge of a huge technological revolution in the paving business, and Autodesk is providing a lot of fuel for that engine with their product portfolio.” For example, Topcon’s RD-M1 road scanner can be attached to a vehicle and driven over a road at normal highway speeds to capture 3 million points per second. This massive point cloud can then be downloaded into Autodesk ReCap software for processing before final design work in Autodesk Civil-3D. The result is an extremely accurate digital replica of the road, used to analyze every
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crack and defect, and then make a design plan for the best surface going forward. “With the road scanning capabilities that are coming in, we are able to get so much more data than if a surveyor took traditional cross sections,” Contino said. “We can get millions of data points. Contractors haven’t seen that before.” There are similar tools emerging for use on pavement maintenance projects. The Leica BLK3D handheld imager captures 3D measurements in 2D photos in a point-and-shoot workflow. The photos are ready to measure, share in BIM 360 Docs, or export as JPG or PDF from BLK3D Web, mobile, or desktop platforms. “The BLK3D was designed with the AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) market in mind,” said Michael Liberati, Leica BLK3D’s business development manager. “In day-to-day use, heavy construction contractors can easily carry the BLK3D with them for quick measurement and documentation to digitize and replace tape measures.” Johanning thought the digital replica of the roadway would appeal to DOTs and other agencies. Contino said Topcon has been educating state DOTs about the potential of this technology. “Let’s say they need to resurface a bumpy road,” Contino said. “If they can scan it and digitize that road, they can plan out variable depth milling to take out every undulation in the road—not just the ones that show up every 50 feet where the surveyor took a cross section.” As the project is completed, the digital model can be updated with information from the paver’s grade and slope sensors or intelligent compaction data. “Once a project is complete, its owners can track the project’s historical data,” said Andrew Botkin, an account executive at Autodesk with experience in the asphalt paving industry. “Then they can see what worked well and what didn’t across different projects within the same geographical area.” Contino predicts ConExpo 2020, coming up March 10-15 in Las Vegas, will be an important trade show for this kind of technology: “I think ConExpo 2020 will be the year of the small contractor. The big guys understand what technology like this can do for them. Now and in the near future, we will see a lot of smaller contractors realizing they can’t compete if they don’t modernize.” – BY SARAH REDOHL
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off the mat
Financial Terms for the Plant Manager Financial terms aren’t sexy, but knowing the basic ones makes your job as a plant manager easier. In today’s world, business is driven by financial language. As much as you might like to limit your talk to plant performance, repair needs or weather, at some point, you’ll need to talk in financial terms. No matter your background or educational level, every plant manager needs a basic understanding of financial terms in order to discuss local plant concerns. When reading reports or participating in meetings, as the manager, you must be able to understand what is being conveyed. Is your plant in line with other sites? Are you controlling costs the best that you can? Whether or not you are directly involved in the negotiations of various cost factors relating to your plant, you need to understand the effects of the costs. Let’s use this space to review some terms that may come up in your day-to-day decision-making. In the following descriptions of financial terms, we’re focusing on the needs of the local plant manager, starting with a definition of management.
F
Management: Combined fields of policy and administration and the people who provide the decisions and supervision necessary to implement the owner’s objectives and achieve stability and growth Amortized expenses: The costs for assets such as buildings and computers, which are expensed over time to reflect their usable life Assets: Anything owned by the company having a monetary value; i.e., fixed assets like buildings, plants, machinery, and vehicles (As a plant manager, your focus is to manage local site assets. You keep the assets in good working condition, evaluate the plant for improvements and ensure all assets are in safe working order.) Break-even point: The point when a business’s revenue equals its expenditure (In most cases, the plant manager will participate in the break-even point by providing data in the budget process. It’s important to have a sense of the break-even point in order to make your day-to-day decisions.) Budget forecast: The amount of money the company plans to spend over the course of a period, usually a year Budget variance: The difference between a budget forecast and actual expenditures Capital investment: The term capital investment has two usages in business First, capital investment refers to money used by a business to purchase fixed assets such as land, machinery or buildings.
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Second, capital investment refers to money invested in a business with the understanding that the money will be used to purchase fixed assets, rather than used to cover the business’s day-today operating expenses. Cost: An amount that has to be paid or given up in order to get something. In business, cost is usually a monetary valuation of (1) effort, (2) material, (3) resources, (4) time and utilities consumed. One of the greatest champions of the practice of controlling costs was Andrew Carnegie, who is quoted as saying, “Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves.” Direct vs. indirect costs: Costs that are directly associated to the manufacture of a product. • Indirect costs cannot be directly tied to a particular product. • Direct materials cost is the cost of the materials that are traceable to the product. Direct labor: Represents the wages and fringe benefits earned by the individuals who are physically involved in converting raw materials into a finished product • Straight time: scheduled shift of time normally eight hours, paid at the straight time-rate • Overtime: request for additional time in addition to the straight time, paid at a higher rate than the straight time Depreciation: The method used to systematically move the cost of an asset from the balance sheet to the income statement over the course of the asset’s useful life Fixed assets: Assets that are difficult to convert to cash, such as buildings and equipment • Inventory is an asset, and is found on the balance sheet under current sssets, as it is usually assumed that these parts will be turned into products and sold reasonably soon. Financial reports: Reports issued by a company that describe the financial activities of the company • The financial statements are broken down into three different statements: • The income statement shows the income and expenditure of the company, including things such as depreciation, income tax, interest income, etc. These expenditures are then compared to revenue to determine gross profit. • The balance sheet statement is used to value a company and to show what it owns or owes. The balance sheet lists all assets, liabilities and shareholders’ equity attributed to the company. It is always a snapshot of one point in time. The balance sheet statement must always be in balance.
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off the mat • The cash flow statement is a summary of the actual or anticipated incomings and outgoings of cash in a firm over an accounting period. Inventory: The value of materials and goods held by an organization (1) to support production (raw materials), (2) for support activities (repair, maintenance, fuel or other energy sources held), or (3) for sale (merchandise, finished goods, spare parts) • Inventory can be valued in three ways. • The first-in, first-out (FIFO), method says that the cost of goods sold is based on the cost of the earliest purchased materials, while the carrying cost of remaining inventory is based on the cost of the latest purchased materials. • The last-in, first-out (LIFO), method states that the cost of goods sold is valued using the cost of the latest purchased materials, while the value of the remaining inventory is based on the earliest purchased materials. • The weighted average method requires valuing both inventory and the cost of goods sold based on the average cost of all materials bought during the period. Inventory shrinkage: Aggregates used in the production of hot mix need to be removed and be free of all moisture in the production process. Moisture will account from 1 to 7 percent of the total weight of the incoming aggregates. This loss may be up to 35,000 tons of material shrinkage over a one-year period. When accounting for aggregate inventory, we need to take into consideration the loss of moisture. In addition to moisture, you also need to account for any inventory that is not part of the final delivered mix. Indirect labor: Employees or workers who do not directly produce goods or services, but who make their production possible or more efficient. Indirect labor costs are not readily identifiable with a specific task or work order. They are termed indirect costs and are charged to overhead accounts. Manufacturing overhead: Includes all of the other costs incurred in the manufacturing activities. These indirect costs include repairs and maintenance, depreciation of the manufacturing equipment, utilities, salaries of manufacturing supervisors, etc. Operating expenses: Expenses such as administrative employee salaries, rents, sales and marketing costs, that occur in operating the business Operational annual budget: A plan for expenditures, to which most plant managers will be asked to contribute, required to maintain the functioning of a business Overhead: An expense that cannot be attributed to any one single part of the company’s activities ROIC: Return on invested capital is a calculation used to assess a company’s efficiency at allocating the capital, under its control, to
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profitable investments. The return on invested capital ratio gives a sense of how well a company is using its money to generate returns. Variable costs: Costs that are incurred in relation to sales volume; examples include the cost of materials and sales To the non-financial manager, financial terms can be confusing. Many times, you’ll be asked to attend a meeting with the accounting department, which may cause you some stress. Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated; if you’re not sure what they’re talking about, ask questions. I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to give a plant tour to a group of accountants or bankers. You would not believe the questions they asked. Never forget you are the expert at your plant. The accounting department houses the experts in the documenting of the cost of doing business. As a suggestion, you may want to cut out this article and file it somewhere in your office. It can be used as a resource. When the time comes for a financial meeting, take it out and review the financial terms as part of your preparation. Ken Monlux is an asphalt industry veteran with 30 years experience in all areas of operational management. For more information, see his ad on page 72 or contact him at (209) 495-1017 or kenmonlux@yahoo.com.
here’s how it works Step 1 Material passes through the two-deck feeder. Step 5 Oversized material is conveyed back to the feeder for re-crushing.
Step 4 Crushed material is conveyed across a 5- by 16-foot, two-deck screen. Step 2 Both decks of the screen send material to the impact crusher.
Step 3 The solid steel, three-bar sculptured rotor forms cubical-shaped material.
Eagle’s 1200-25 CC Portable Impactor Plant The Quad-Axle 1200-25 CC Portable Impactor Plant from Eagle Crusher Company Inc., Galion, Ohio, was specially designed with asphalt producers in mind to help them with asphalt recycling. The plant has a two-deck screen-feed system: The millings and fines go through the screen to decrease wear and tear on the impactor and increase tonnage. Here’s how it works. First, the 4- by 5-foot, two-deck feeder allows quick removal of pre-sized material from the unit prior to crushing. Material that passes through the pre-screen decks is discharged out of the plant. Both decks of the screen discharge into the impactor for crushing. The Eagle Crusher UltraMax® impactor model UM25, with a feed opening of 48-inches wide by 34-inches high, accepts material. Its rotor is 47 inches diameter by 47 inches wide.
T
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All Eagle Crusher impactor plants feature a lifetime rotor warranty on their solid-steel, three-bar, sculptured rotor. Crushed material is conveyed across a 5- by 16-foot, two-deck screen with third reliever deck to minimize screen blinding and increase overall production. Oversized material returns to the impactor for re-crushing along another conveyor. In this way, the Quad-Axle 1200-25 CC features closed-circuit crushing and screening on one chassis for production of two cubical spec products. Visit TheAsphaltPro.com for explanations of cubical importance for RAP and general purposes. When it’s time to move on, the Quad-Axle 1200-25 CC transports easily with the hydraulic retractable return conveyor and folding side conveyor, while the hydraulic lift and leveling system enables quick set up and tear down by using the hydrau-
lic run-on legs. The plant comes equipped with a removable electrical control panel featuring pre-wired receptacles for radial stackers and with a wireless remote control for feeder shutdown and all motor stop. Operators may manage the feeder speed for complete control of the flow of material into the impactor with the variable frequency drive. For more information, visit https://eaglecrusher.com/.
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.
Online Update
AsphaltPro Online Join the conversation with AsphaltPro online, on our social channels, our website and our blog. Check out our active facebook feed: facebook.com/AsphaltPro
What was the COOLEST project you worked on in 2019? Share your pictures!
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1. Downtown Cleveland’s Innerbelt Bridge (Source: Lisa StambleskyButler) 2. Early morning in central Minnesota (Source: John Fales) 3. North Bass Island, Lake Erie (Source: Adam Schaefer) 4. Downtown Houghton, Michigan (Source: Ryan LeClaire)
Headlines from the AsphaltPro blog: theasphaltpro.com/asphalt-blog
Read our top 5 tips for new laborers on the paving crew, sourced from our expert friends and followers on social media.
Nominations for ARTBA’s Hall of Fame and Leadership Program are now open. Submit before April 1!
Check out theasphaltpro.com/asphalt-blog for more updates like these!
facebook.com/ AsphaltPro twitter.com/ asphaltpro
linkedin.com/company/ asphalt-pro-magazine instagram.com/ theasphaltpro www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 71
ALL ASPHALT PLANT COMPONENTS 100% BUILT IN USA SPECIALIZING IN
disassembly, relocation, fabricate complete asphalt plants, and startup of asphalt plants
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OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT Tapping into a lifetime of experiences EXECUTIVE ADVISOR Budgeting · Logistics · Staffing appraisal Research · Special projects
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advertiser index 4 Rivers Equipment . . . . . . . . . 37 Ace Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Ahern Industries . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Almix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Applied Test Systems . . . . . . . 30 Asphalt Drum Mixers . . . . . . . . 42 Asphalt Solutions. . . . . . . . . . 55 Astec, Inc . . . . . .13, 17, 21, 25, 28 B & S Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..60 Blue Road Solutions . . . . . . . . 63 CWMF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Eagle Crusher . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 E.D. Etnyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Fast-Measure . . . . . . . . . . 30, 72 Gencor Industries . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Green Products . . . . . .45, Outsert HaulHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Heatec, Inc . . . . Inside Front Cover Homestead Valve . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Ingevity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Ken Monlux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Kenco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 KPI-JCI-AMS . . . Inside Back Cover Libra Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Meeker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 NCCP Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Pavijet/Hitek . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Process Heating . . . . . . . . . Insert Pugmill Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Reliable Asphalt Products . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover Roadtec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Speakeasy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Stansteel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Systems Equipment . . . . . . . . 51 Tarmac International, Inc . . . . . 41 Top Quality Paving . . . . . . . . . . 72 Transtech Systems . . . . . . . . . 39 Willow Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Wirtgen America . . . . . . . . . . . 15
AsphaltPro’s advertiser index is designed for you to have quick access to the manufacturers that can get you the information you need to run your business efficiently. Please support the advertisers that support this magazine and tell them you saw them in AsphaltPro magazine.
www.THeAsphaltpro.com // 73
Teach Your Crew What it Takes to Pave a Bonus-Worthy Mat
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