State of the Asphalt Industry
Stay Safe: Spraybar Strobes Get Productive Online Extreme Plant Maintenance Know When to Change Plates Groovy Ways to Optimize the Cut DECEMBER 2011
table of contents
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12 Adding 3D control lets contractor mill more precisely. See related article on page 12. Photo courtesy of Trimble.
December 2011
Departments Letter from the Editor 5 State of the Audience
Articles
Foaming asphalt for pavement construction is just one of the many topics in this month’s state of the industry overview. See related article on page 32. Photo courtesy of Wirtgen America.
12 Tidewater Gets Bonus with 3D Milling by Jeff Winke
Around the Globe 6 Safety Spotlight 8 Dangers Hide in Job Cutbacks by AsphaltPro Staff 10 Expand Your Illumination by John Ball Producer Profile 18 Westlake Recycles in Wine Country by Sandy Lender Equipment Maintenance 22 How to Manage Screed Plate Wear by John Ball Equipment Gallery 52 State of Engine Sizes Here’s How It Works 56 Deister’s Horizontal Screening Plant with Feed Conveyor Last Cut 57 International Oil Growth by AsphaltPro Staff
26 Plant Checks Now Mean Uptime Later Part I: Drum Plants by Cliff Mansfield 32 State of the Asphalt Industry: an Overview in Five Parts by Sandy Lender 40 Public Reacts to Pavement Preservation Measures by Paul Fournier, edited by AsphaltPro Staff 42 Control Overhead on the Web Online auctions improve contractor profitability through better equipment inventory management by Paul Hendrix 44 State of Industry Training by Sandy Lender
22 Learn how to minimize screed plate wear where you can. See related article on page 22. Photo courtesy of Top Quality Paving.
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46 Optimize Drum RPMs for Best Cutting Pattern by Steve Ricke 48 International Milling by AsphaltPro Staff
Resource Directory 58
on the cover
On The Cover…Canadian company Westlake Paving & Aggregates upgraded to the largest RAP King sold to date so they could take on more complex mixes with RAP, RAS and WMA. See related article on page 18. Photo courtesy of CEI Enterprises.
49 State of the USDOT by AsphaltPro Staff 50 California Unites Under One Asphalt Banner by AsphaltPro Staff 51 Nine Gifts that Employees Can Use by Ernie Kaplan
Winter maintenance starts with a detailed plant checklist. See related article on page 26. Photo courtesy of CEI Enterprises.
www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 3
DECEMBER 2011 • Vol. 5 No. 3
2001 Corporate Place Columbia, MO 65202 573-499-1830 • 573-499-1831 www.theasphaltpro.com publisher
Chris Harrison associate publisher
Sally Shoemaker sally@theasphaltpro.com (573) 499-1830 x1008 editor
Sandy Lender sandy@theasphaltpro.com (239) 272-8613 graphic design
Kristin Branscom Ashley Eaton operations/circulation manager
Cindy Sheridan business manager
Renea Sapp AsphaltPro is published nine times per year: January, February, March, April/May, June/July, August/September, October, November and December by The Business Times Company, 2001 Corporate Place, Columbia, MO 65202 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 or Business Times Company staff, 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 and $175.00 all other countries (payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank). Single copies available $17 each.
The State of the Audience I’m one of those people who intersperses Christmas songs with “normal” music as early as September. Friends who stop by or who ride in my car before Halloween could be subjected to Bing Crosby at the drop of a hat. While my friends may not be thrilled with my musical stylings, I have a parrot who whistles along. The more the song swings, the happier the bird is. When I’m in my office typing articles from which you can glean a new asphalt mixing technology or new paving technique, the parrot is the audience for the tunes. What has that to do with the state of the asphalt industry, which is this month’s theme? Audience. When you’re preparing a new mix for a state project, the DOT QA inspector is your audience. When you’re setting up the work zone, the traveling public (read: the consumer) is your audience. When you’re preparing a brochure that details what a small carbon footprint your HMA plant and the WMA pavement it can create has, the neighbors, the local media and your representatives in Congress are your audience. This issue of AsphaltPro outlines industry trends that offer you golden opportunities to put your company’s message, whatever it may be, in front of your audience—such as the local media and state agencies. With RAP taking more room in base through surface course mixes, your company’s use of high RAP makes you an environmental steward worthy of interviewing and worthy of awarding projects to. Remember your audience as you educate those in your marketplace of items like porous asphalt pavement. It’s the logical choice for parking lots and LEED project developments, but you don’t want to harp on that at an elementary school construction day. The elementary school students want to see shiny equipment and hear how you make rock and tires and oil into the cool spongy playground surface out back. MPOs and city planners at a town meeting want to hear how well you can build a stormwater runoff solution for them. With the many positive products the asphalt industry has to offer at this point in history, the state of our industry is poised for marketplace domination. We still have fiduciary concerns with Congress acting like that elementary class mentioned above. Back on Nov.18, Obama signed a slew of appropriations into law. One of them provides $39.14 billion for the highway program for FY12, which is almost $2 billion less than it had in FY11. In good news, highway-related emergency relief funds, which the United States needs a record amount of right now, have $1.66 billion set aside for them. The TIGER program will happen again in 2012 to the tune of $500 million, so watch for a project that encapsulates What America Needs near you. The high-speed rail nonsense that I consider in direct competition to highway maintenance and capacity has no money designated for it in the 2011 congressional transportation appropriations. I just detailed what happened on one day in preparation for FY12. The House and the Senate release ideas and statements concerning short-term and long-term bills and how to pay, or not pay, for them almost daily. Too much changes too quickly to offer a state of funding in a monthly publication with a monthly deadline. For that kind of news, I invite you to follow us at http://twitter.com/AsphaltPro and on our facebook page. We only report the tidbits that are of interest to asphalt professionals. Our audience is you. At this time of year, I’d like to take a minute to reach out to the AsphaltPro Magazine audience—our readers and advertisers—and wish you all a Merry Christmas, the happiest of holidays and a peaceful, prosperous New Year. May 2012 bring you joy, good fortune and a safe asphalt construction season.
Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 5
around the globe
Industry News and Happenings from Around the World Africa
According to a press release from the South African Department of Energy, the Department expressed concern in mid-October over shortages of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and bitumen. The shortage has had a negative effect on road construction, as well as other economic activities. The department believes there is a need to accelerate decisions on LPG import infrastructure.
China
• The multinational construction equipment manufacturer, Shantui, based in Shandong, China, introduced its SD52-5 crawler bulldozer during the 11th Beijing International Construction Machinery Expo (BICES 2011) in mid-October. The company introduced 39 other pieces of equipment in its biggest exhibit space ever—3,510 square meters. • Cummins, Inc., and Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd., announced Oct. 20 a joint-venture partnership to manufacture mid-range engines at a new facility to be built in Liuzhou City, Guangxi Province, in southern China. Engine production begins in 2013 with engines based on Cummins mid-range engines meeting Tier 2 and Tier 3 emissions. • During the month of September, China exported more than 21,000 megatons of bitumen. Source: Petrosil’s Bitumart
France
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France, issued a statement concerning asphalt cement (AC) Oct. 20. The agency assigned occupational exposures to straight-run AC and its emissions to the Group 2B classification, meaning it is “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”This puts road paving in the same classification as cell phones and coffee. Source: NAPA
Germany
• Astec Industries has purchased manufacturing and office space in Hameln, Germany. The entity has been named Astec Mobile Machinery GmbH and will be staffed by German engineers, service techs and sales staff. Roadtec is taking the lead in developing the facility; however, plans are that it will eventually be the European hub for most Astec Industries companies. • While Germany’s bitumen prices fluctuated from week to week this fall, the country’s bitumen consumption saw an increase of 8 percent during the month of August. From January to mid-November, the country had consumed 1.79 million tons of bitumen. Source: Petrosil’s Bitumart 6 december 2011
Spain
Argus Media’s Europe/Africa Bitumen Conference takes place in Barcelona, Spain, May 16 through 17, 2012. Visit http://www.argusasphalt.com/index.html.
United States
For updates, opinion and links concerning funding legislation, fast news, quick deadlines, etc., be sure to check the blog at www.TheAsphaltForum.blogspot.com, our facebook page or http://twitter.com/AsphaltPro. We’d love to connect more often!
Alabama
The National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) hosts its Test Track Conference Feb. 28 through 29, 2012, in Auburn. Visit the Upcoming Events at http://www.eng. auburn.edu/research/centers/ncat/ for details.
California
Make reservations now for the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s (NAPA) 57th annual meeting in Palm Desert, Calif., Jan. 22 through 25. Visit the association’s newly named website at www.asphaltpavement.org for information.
Colorado
Come to Denver for the 39th Annual Rocky Mountain Asphalt Conference and Equipment Show Feb. 22 through 24, 2012. Visit www.rmaces.org for all the info.
Idaho
Safety Items: ECCO, Boise, Idaho, has just released its updated product guide with six new lines of directional LEDs along with new beacon, minibar, Safety Director™ and worklamp categories. Download the catalog for free at www.eccolink.com.
Illinois
At the end of October, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn appointed Ann L. Schneider, who has served as the acting secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) since July of this year, to secretary of IDOT.
Kentucky
The annual PAIKY Winter Training School is scheduled for February 1-3, 2012, at the Downtown Louisville Marriott in Louisville, Ky. Visit the http://www.paiky.org/ homepage for information.
Massachusetts
Brookfield Engineering Laboratories, Middleboro, Mass., invites readers to check out its updated website at www. brookfieldengineering.com. The site features an intuitive menu bar to direct you to products, services, support, education and more.
Missouri
The Missouri Asphalt Pavement Association (MAPA) hosts its annual conference and equipment exhibits Jan. 9 through 11 at the Holiday Inn Select in Columbia, Mo. Watch www.moasphalt.org for details.
Nevada
You have plenty of time to prepare for this change: the show management for CONEXPO-CON/AGG and IFPE has announced that the mammoth event will be held March 4 through 8, 2014, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
New Jersey
Prevent Blindness America and Uvex® launched in October the Eye2Eye initiative, which aims to improve eye safety in the workplace and reduce the more than 800,000 work-related eye injuries that occur every year. Uvex is a leading safety eyewear brand of Honeywell Safety Products, Morris Township, N.J.
New York
Stone Construction Equipment, Honeoye, N.Y., is one of eight companies that achieved “milestone status” with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) in November. The company, which makes walk-behind and ride-on compaction equipment, has been a member of AEM for 25 years. Check it out at www.stone-equip.com.
North Carolina
Prepare for the industry’s largest asphalt offering at the World of Asphalt. The conference and exposition will be held March 13 through 15, 2012, in Charlotte, N.C. Visit http://www.worldofasphalt.com/ for reservations and the conference schedule.
Tennessee
• Astec, Inc., Chattanooga, has crews working hard this fall constructing a new building for use during the annual Astec Advanced Customer Schools. The new 5,460-square-foot building will house two halves of a Double Barrel® Drum for a new hands-on class. • The 18th annual C&D World, which is the annual meeting of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), will be March 25 through 27, 2012, at the Nashville Convention Center. Visit www. cdrecycling.org for more information or contact mbohan@mining-media.com.
Washington, D.C.
As of press time, Congress and President Obama had successfully repealed the 3 percent withholding mandate set to go into effect January 2013. The tax withholding would have allowed the government to withhold funds that contractors needed for cash flow and project completion. For up-to-the-minute funding and legislative updates that impact the asphalt industry, follow http://twitter.com/AsphaltPro.
Dangers Lurk in Job Cutbacks by AsphaltPro Staff
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hen the state DOT runs short of funds for long-term projects, contractors within the state may have to expand their operations to survive. They place a higher value on employees with multiple skill sets. Purchasing or renting a piece of equipment to perform a new side of the business may preclude hiring a new employee, which puts the onus on remaining workers to get the new job done. For a 60-year firm working in two eastern states, expanding the business to include milling operations started with disastrous effect. For the first night of milling on a federally funded state highway project, the company had a safety crew and a milling crew on site. According to the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program report, the milling crew’s main task, as you would expect, was to conduct the actual asphalt milling operation. That night, they were scheduled to mill 2,400 linear feet of asphalt for each of the three travel lanes and breakdown lane. FACE reported that the milling crew arrived on site between 8:30 and 9 p.m. with the equipment needed for the milling task. This included, but was not limited to, a cold planer, water truck, sweeper, skid-steer loader and two light towers. The company hired 13 tri-axle dump trucks to collect the millings. During a 10-minute “break” when crew members filled the milling machine’s water tank and performed other maintenance tasks, one of the ground men offered to paint the guideline for the next milling pass. This task is as simple as using a paint stick to connect the skip lines on the existing pavement, but it became a tragedy for this crew. The ground man walked to the northern boundary of the section to be milled, turned to face the oncoming traffic and started walking in the southerly direction toward the start line as he painted the guideline. For some reason, the driver of a 14-wheel tri-axle dump truck that was next in line to be loaded chose that time to back his truck closer to the milling operation. FACE reported that at approximately 1:20 a.m., while backing, the dump truck’s rear right dual wheels struck and ran over the victim. (See Figure I below.) By the time the driver realized what he had done, it was too late to save the man. Emergency medical services declared him dead at the scene. How does a company prevent this kind of tragedy among its crews? New operations will present new dangers. How do you cover everything in the daily toolbox talk? The NIOSH FACE investigators of this incident offered several recommendations, one of which we’ll spend some time reviewing. 8 december 2011
Safety Recommendations
First, they recommend employers develop, implement and enforce an internal traffic control plan (ITCP) specific to each construction site to help protect workers on foot. Second, they recommend employers ensure backing protocols are in place. Make sure designated individuals are assigned as signalers to direct backing vehicles. Equipment operators and ground workers must have some form of communication. Most construction vehicles have limited visibility areas. Blind Area Diagrams are available on the NIOSH website at www.cdc.gov/ niosh/topics/highwayworkzones/BAD/imagelookup.html. They also recommend employers ensure work zones are properly illuminated. Remember that your work zone at night is only as wide as the light around you. They recommend that if construction equipment doesn’t already have such devices, employers should consider installing monitoring technology on construction vehicles to assist operators in detecting workers on foot within blind areas. Finally, they recommended using the buddy system. According to FACE investigators, employers should implement a buddy system for employees working on foot around mobile construction equipment. Given the cutbacks in construction employment during the past few years, the buddy system may be suffering in your neck of the woods. NIOSH FACE investigators wrote: “When workers are focused on a task, it may be difficult for the workers to recognize or react to moving equipment….A buddy system, where co-workers are assigned to spot one another, especially during tasks that will bring workers on foot in close proximity to mobile vehicles, would allow workers to focus on their tasks while a co-worker watches for the movement of equipment and other hazardous situations.” Many safety tools could have helped this worker, and the staff at AsphaltPro hopes those tools are now of help to other workers like him. Our sympathies go out to his family and co-workers, and we hope his tragedy serves to help others in the future.
Expand Your Illumination by John Ball
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he team at APAC Midsouth has put innovation and safety together with its tack wagon. The mechanic, Bob Guly, invented a way to make the whole spraybar, including extensions, on the company’s Etnyre tack truck unmistakably visible. As you can see in the pictures here, Guly put a 12-inch vertical piece of steel on the end of the spraybar extension with a steel plate to hold it in place. At the top of the steel bar are two separate, white strobe lights. When the spraybar is extended, the strobe lights not only help the tack operator see exactly where he’s spraying right up to the edge of the road at night, but they also show other workers and passing vehicles exactly where the spraybar ends. The other lights Guly installed include the yellow strobe and round white strobe next to the ladder. As the tack truck backs into position, workers and drivers in lanes adjacent to the work zone will see a white strobe, a yellow strobe, a white strobe, and then the pattern mirror itself. Something else noteworthy about the APAC Midsouth tack wagon is its cleanliness. The driver answers to the name Billy Bob, and he’s stenciled that name on his truck with pride. It’s an eight-year-old vehicle, but you’d never guess it. He goes over his truck before and after each shift to keep it well maintained. Even the spray nozzles remain nice with a reliable triangle pattern because this operator takes the time to clean and maintain his equipment. As I’ve said before, a clean machine is a safe machine. The crew at APAC Midsouth has added extra lighting to make their tack wagon even safer. John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving. For more information, contact him at (603) 624-8300 or tqpaving@yahoo.com or visit www. tqpaving.com. 10 december 2011
Billy Bob is proud of the equipment he operates and takes good care of it. This eight-year-old tack truck is clean as a whistle, which keeps it operating safely.
The strobe lights at the end of the spraybars allow the operator to see to the edge of the road when extensions are swung out.
A 12-inch vertical piece of steel clamps onto the end of the spraybar extension and holds two strobe lights at its top.
Tidewater Gets Bonus with 3D Milling by Jeff Winke
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entury Drive Highway winds its way through a dark-green pine forest and leads to the Cascade High Lakes recreational area in Oregon. In the warmer months, traffic gets heavy, and includes a fair amount of bicycle riders enjoying the scenery along the way. Until recently, bicyclists were relegated to the edge of the road while four-wheel traffic dangerously whizzed by on its way to a number of lakes, campgrounds and small resorts at the foot of the Cascade Mountains. The Western Federal Lands Highway Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) put out a bid to have 10.5 miles of the forest highway resurfaced, as well as widened and realigned in some areas. Because 5-foot-wide paved shoulders were added to accommodate bicycles, the project was jokingly referred to as the $7 million bike path. However, the FHWA would soundly argue that the increased traffic combined with the age of the two-lane road 12 december 2011
called for the work to be completed, regardless of the enhanced safety for bicyclists. The finished paved width of the highway is 32 feet, including the paved 5-foot shoulders to accommodate cyclists. Tidewater Contractors, Brookings, Ore., won the project bid. As the general contractor, Tidewater was responsible for this two-season project. The company has been in business since 1978 and has a focus on highway construction with adjunct ready mix and asphalt paving operations. Tidewater Contractors’ first step was to check the existing survey control network on the national forest road project. These are the ground surface points that were used for survey staking and grade control. “We used a Trimble® SPS930 Universal Total Station to verify the points and confirm the quantities,” Mark Mann, project engineer with Tidewater Contrac-
tors, stated. “This is all necessary prep work for creating an accurate 3D road model.” The Federal Highway Authority provided original ground model and staking note data in digital format. That data with the data Mann collected at the site were used for creating the 3D design model for the project. “I began by building a 3D road model for the project that we used for both survey stakeout and grade checking, which is something I do with all road projects,” Mann said. “I’ve been working with Trimble survey equipment since 1999 and have been taking the digital design to the field for use directly with the survey equipment and grade checking to construct a project, which provides us with a pretty substantial payoff by itself.” Additionally, Tidewater examined the scope of the work to be performed and saw beneficial opportunities for machine control. The company developed a “value engineering
proposal” for the project to include the use of 3D machine control. The proposal, which FHWA accepted, specified that Tidewater and the government would share in cost savings due to the reduced survey staking reaped by the technology. “We didn’t tear up any pavement at first because it required that we replace it with temporary asphalt, so we spent the first season installing culverts, building walls… most of the work outside the existing pavement,” Mann said. “All the major roadwork needed to be completed by September 15th, so that gave us a very short season to complete all the work through the finished paving.” In addition to facing a short construction season, they were working during the high recreational period when the road use is at its heaviest. “We needed to be extremely productive,” Mann said. “To do this, we decided to implement machine control technology to eliminate a good deal of the survey staking and ensure the highest finished paving quality—this was the first project where we implemented machine control.” Mann had been researching 3D machine control for several years, attending user conferences and studying the trade magazines. “I attended the Trimble Dimensions User Conference and attended a session on 3D milling,” Mann said. “This was right before we were to begin tackling the substantial amount of milling on the South Century Drive project.” In the session, Mann learned that the Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System can be installed on milling machines for accurate milling at variable depth and slope without string lines. Mann spoke with the Trimble 3D milling expert at the conference and got some positive feedback. “So when I returned to Oregon I met with our authorized Trimble rep.” The rep agreed that the South Century Drive Highway project was well-suited for “intelligent 3D milling” technology due to the advantages of variable depth milling. With a traditional 2D control system, the machine mills to a constant depth and essentially copies the old surface. With the Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System on the cold planer, the 3D control system varies its mill depth according to the 3D design. It’s designed to match the design profile with +/-5mm accuracy. Throughout the entire length of the road, the design called for the existing pavement and base to be milled at 5-inch and 8-inch depths. “We saved a considerable amount of time and additional work by using the Trimble GCS900 on the milling machine with the Trimble SPS930 Universal Total Station, and milling to the design 14 december 2011
With the Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System on the cold planer, the 3D control system varies its mill depth according to the 3D design. Tidewater Contractors was able to mill and finish grade up to 12,000 square yards of road surface at a 3- to 12-inch depth in one day.
profile at variable depths from 3 to 12 inches,” Mann stated. “It increased our production because we milled only what was needed. And we used less asphalt during paving because there were no low spots or unevenness that required filling in.” Mann explained: “With fixed-depth milling, the machine does not cut to design so further grading work is required and you don’t know where the design line is. You often cut more or less than is required to achieve grade. This calls for another cut/fill process with a grader. “On the other hand, with 3D milling, you’re milling to a design profile and eliminating the cut/fill process by the grader as is required in fixed-depth milling. This is the critical point that without 3D milling technology would not be practical: We were milling to the design profile, not a fixed depth.” With the accuracy of the milling, the grading of the subgrade was more efficient. Using a single-mast Trimble GCS900 Grade Control System with the SPS930 Universal Total Station for the mill and motor grader, Tidewater Contractors was able to mill and finish grade up to 12,000 square yards of road surface at a 3- to 12-inch depth in one day. The time-saving advantage with the machine control systems helped overcome considerable delays caused by a subsequent problem with a rock source for the project. “In our testing we discovered that the crushed volcanic basalt rock we were planning to use in the asphalt mix had degraded over winter,” Mann said. “It’s very rare to see this happen but we couldn’t use the stockpile percentages per the original mix design, which required crushing additional aggregate.”
The issue was discovered when Tidewater couldn’t achieve compaction in its initial test strips. “This is a national-standard superpave mix design and maintaining aggregate gradations on the mix design is crucial,” Mann stated. “The FHWA recognized that the aggregate problems were not our fault.” But the snafu did cause delay while Tidewater waited for additional aggregate to be crushed, tested and stockpiled. “There’s no question in my mind that had it not been for the use of machine control that this project would…have slipped into a third year, which would have had a substantial cost impact to the government,” Mann concluded. “We estimate that the use of 3D machine control for milling and grading saved us 11 days on the project.” With the challenges of a brief season, the variable depth milling challenge and the issues with the crushed rock, Tidewater Contractors was still able to pull the rabbit out of the hat. “We finished the last of the paving and the pavement striping in snow flurries that led into five days of continuous snow,” Mann stated. As Mark Mann looked back on the project, he pointed to several accomplishments. “First, we received a smoothness bonus of $127,397….I was also very pleased with the support we received from our Trimble dealer. They came out while the project was ongoing and installed the systems and tailored the machines to the project and the work styles of the operators without interruption to the work-in-progress. Once the mill was calibrated and field-tested, we didn’t have to touch it again.” Jeff Winke is a business and construction writer based in Milwaukee, Wis. For more information, contact him through www.jeffwinke.com.
Westlake Recycles in Wine Country by Sandy Lender
18 december 2011
A haul truck accepts mix from one of two 100-ton storage silos at Westlake’s upgraded facility.
PRODUCER PROFILE
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hen management for Westlake Paving & Aggregates, Ltd., Kelowna, B.C., upgraded its construction business this summer to produce mixes with recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technology, they took the neighborhood into consideration. Of course that neighborhood includes a marketplace ripe for RAP and WMA use. First, the company added a 180-ton-per-hour RAP King from CEI Enterprises, Albuquerque, N.M. A spokesperson for CEI stated this is the largest RAP King they’ve sold, per components. “Westlake wanted the 180 TPH production rate because it matched the market well and gave them a plant capable of making complex mixes.” The RAP King is fitted with an Astec Gen. II Green system for making WMA. In addition to a five-bin virgin aggregate system, the crew uses a graded RAP system with RAP separated into three sizes along with asphalt shingles. Westlake Paving & Aggregates operates the plant. It has its own paving and milling operations, as well as its own haul trucks. Since it was founded in 1966, the company has provided hot mix paving and resurfacing services and products from its hot mix plant. Crews perform work for everything from service stations to tennis courts, from driveways to roads. The company also specializes in crushed and base gravel, grading and compaction, site
Notice the chain link fencing next to the virgin aggregate bins and leading to the RAP bins just out of the frame. Caution-yellow fencing along the RAP feed conveyors keep workers from straying into dangerous areas, and conveyor covers serve a dual purpose of mitigating dust and keeping hands away from belts.
preparation, and more. It’s a member of the Aggregate Producers Association of British Columbia and has been a construction member of the B.C. Road Builders & Heavy Construction Association since that non-profit organization’s establishment in 1966. Management knows how to keep up with the times, including the use of RAP in mixes to conserve natural resources and stretch finances. The team saved a little more time and maintenance money by selecting the “Shaggy Dog” self-cleaning drum system for the RAP King. The Shaggy Dog is a specially designed and heat-treated chain sections that are installed in the mixing chamber of a RAP King drum dryer/ mixer to mechanically keep build-up from accumulating on the inner drum. As the drum rotates, the chain creates a dynamic action that sweeps through the shell to prevent build-up. Other components the Westlake team selected include an asphalt cement (AC) system that uses two 20,000-gallon CEI vertical asphalt tanks, a used Heatec hot oil heater and a MicroMotion™ meter from Emerson Process Management. The drum burner is an Astec Whisper-Jet fired on natural gas. Two 100-ton Astec silos make up storage and loadout. Plant operator Ron Boyle controls it all with Astec TC2000 controls in an Astec control house with a Motor Control Center room. With noise mitigation in the burner and covers over the aggregate feed junctures, the
team has a quieter and cleaner operation than it would without. That’s good thinking anywhere, but especially when you’re in the heart of the Okanagan Valley, where many of Canada’s best vineyards and wineries do business. The neighbors have some classy clientele. The neighbors include Mission Hill Family Estate. In October of this year, it was named “Winery of the Year” at the InterVin International Wine Awards Competition, topping the list of more than 300 wineries entered in the competition. The 11-year-old family estate offers events beyond the typical open house. Traffic near Westlake Paving & Aggregates often includes attendees of a Mission Hill culinary workshop or special 16-week courses to qualify for the International Sommelier Guild. Those people don’t want aggregate dust on their cars. One way the plant operator controls dust is by returning baghouse fines to the drum as 200s. As mentioned above, another way is by covering conveyors where possible. Covering conveyors also leads to a safer work environment. If you look at the photo of the conveyors and aggregate bins (picture above), you’ll notice the covers and fencing prevalent anywhere a worker could fall or reach into a dangerous situation. These are just a few examples of the ways Westlake managers, such as Operations Manager Ken Fleming, are committed to providing a safe environment for personnel. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 19
Another spokesperson for CEI Enterprises, Albuquerque, N.M., explained another way Westlake managers work to ensure a safe plant. “Westlake did a pretty neat thing in their MCC room. They are very pro-active on safety and have added an additional feature, which is the ability to lockout/ tagout entire sections of the plant by running a steel lockout cable through blocks of panels in the MCC room. The cables remain attached, at-the-ready, at the tops of the panels.” (You can see the cables—coated in red vinyl—in the photo below. From safety for workers to consideration for neighbors, the Westlake upgrades show off the company’s best production practices. The upgrades also ready the company for the increasing RAP percentages trend.
Westlake’s pro-active stance on safety led to the addition of running a steel lockout cable through blocks of panels in the MCC room. The red cables remain at-the-ready at the tops of the panels so plant operators can lockout/tagout entire sections of the plant if necessary. 20 december 2011
Here is the scalping screen for the RAP system. A conveyor running under the three RAP bins carries RAP and drops it onto this scalping screen. Correctly-sized RAP makes it through the screen and drops onto the second conveyor. The second conveyor carries the RAP to the drum mixer. As the RAP exits this last conveyor and enters the RAP inlet on the drum mixer, any remaining oversized material falls away via a chute.
This scalping screen is dedicated to the virgin aggregate. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 21
Equipment maintenance
How to Manage Screed Plate Wear by John Ball
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e all keep track of expenses carefully these days, and that includes what we spend on replacement parts for our machines. To control the wear on screed plates, thus keeping that cost down, crews have to mind their best practices. But there are some things you can’t control when it comes to the back end of the paver. You need to know what to watch for to get screed plates replaced efficiently for top quality paving. First, when you receive a new screed plate from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts department or a parts distributor, it will only be ½ to 5/8 inch thick. (It can be anywhere from 18 to 42 inches wide, and lengths vary, too.) When the plate has worn to less than ¼ inch, it’s time to put a new one in place. How long it takes to go from ½ to ¼ depends on factors you can control and factors you can’t.
On the bottom: This Carlson electric screed plate is ½-inch thick, 10 feet long and 27 inches wide. Notice the ducktail on the back that keeps the screed from making a mark in the mat if the haul truck bumps the tractor; this is unique to Carlson screed plates. On the top: This LeeBoy burner screed plate is 3/8-inch thick, 8 feet long and 15 1/2 inches wide. Because it’s a shorter and lighter screed plate, it doesn’t weigh as much as a screed plate for a larger paver, thus it won’t wear as fast.
With the harder granite in Georgia, they can be replacing screed plates three times a year.” — Chuck Deahl What you can’t control
The screed plate wears out because of the hardness of the aggregate in the mixes you pave with. There are other factors that contribute to how quickly or how slowly it wears, but we start by looking at the hardness or softness of the rock in the mix. My friend Chuck Deahl, the national account and training manager at Bomag Americas, gave some advice on that. “The soft limestone in a large part of the state of Illinois could well give us a 1-year screed life,” Deahl said. “With the harder granite in Georgia, they can be replacing screed plates three times a year.” 22 december 2011
Notice the curve on the back end of the LeeBoy screed plate. That curve is unique to LeeBoy plates and is designed to keep the screed from digging into the mat on turns. You would see this on an 8300 or 8310 paver from LeeBoy.
Notice the nose of the LeeBoy screed plate is straight across. The Carlson screed plate nose has a bow to it to push the head of material, to plow through it.
Be aware that you can save a hundred dollars or more when buying screed plates from aftermarket suppliers, but sometimes the bolts aren’t in the right place. Your mechanic has to cut out the bolts and put them in the right place. He has to re-weld the screws to the main frame that hold it onto the tractor. The money you saved on the part might be lost in downtime and mechanic’s labor, so be sure to ask plenty of questions to buy with assurance. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 23
I like to tell the crews I work with that you can get about 125,000 tons out of a screed plate on average. Just remember that a big-stoneno-sand mix scars a lot, and that’s not something you can control. Another thing you can’t always control is the depth of the layer. If you go level at ½-inch or less, you’re dragging a sheet of metal down the road and creating a lot of friction for the screed plate. Think of it like sandpaper. Even if you’re sanding a smooth board, you eventually wear out the granules on the paper. The same concept happens with the screed. Deahl suggested contractors keep a close eye on the screed when paving thin courses. “On thin lifts of 1 inch or less, like overlayments or scratch courses, continually monitor and daily string line the wear on the screed,” he said. “To maintain a screed and maximize its life, we should string line the screed before the start of each job and periodically during the job.”
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The string line that Deahl suggests will show you if there’s uneven wear on the screed plate, which calls for machining from your mechanic or a fast replacement.
What you can control
Things you can control to protect the life of the screed include good paving and good maintenance practices. Think about the angle of attack. You want to align the tow-point cylinder correctly so you don’t cause the nose of the screed to go too far up or too far down. If the tow-point is set too low, thus the angle of attack is too low, the nose of the screed goes down. This causes the nose of the screed to wear out faster than the rest of the plate. If the tow-point is set too high, thus the angle of attack is too high, the nose of the screed goes up. This causes the tail of the screed to wear out faster than the rest of the plate. Deahl suggested crews pay close attention to the flow of material throughout the project. “The tow-point of the paver has to be set so that we have the proper flow of material, and maintain the proper head of material, in front of the screed. “Maintain the auger sensors and check daily to see they are set in the direction of the lifepile of material. This gives us proper flow and distribution of the material in front of the screed. By maintaining the proper amount and flow of the material, we allow the screed to wear evenly and not be put in a bind with excessive material build-up.” Something else the paving crew can keep control of is the temperature of the screed plate. For electric screeds, this is as easy as watching the temperature gauge. For burner screeds, this takes a little more attention. Burner screeds often have two fire burners that blow heat directly onto two spots of the screed plate. The heat spreads out from there. If the paving crew forgets and leaves the burner screed on all day, the constant high heat concentrated in those two spots will take the temper out of the screed. The fire eventually warps the screed plate. To avoid this, I recommend crews turn the burners off every 15 minutes or so to keep the plates from over-heating. It takes a close eye on screed plate and mat temperature to use a burner screed properly and efficiently. You may not have a choice in the type of aggregates your mix design uses, but the tips offered here can help you maximize your screed life. When you see excessive wear in one area of the plate, you’ll know to look at the tow-point cylinder and your angle of attack or to look in your material flow. Adding this knowledge to your toolkit will help you manage screed plate changes for bonus worthy pavements. John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving, Manchester, N.H. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458 or tqpaving@yahoo.com.
Plant Checks Now Mean Uptime Later Part 1: Drum Plants
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ith the paving season drawing to a close many owners’ thoughts turn to a winter repair regimen for their asphalt plants. Most asphalt plant operators have a list of trouble spots they’ve accumulated during the season, but things are often overlooked when they’ve been trouble-free. A thorough plant checklist can go a long way toward assuring that no items get neglected. What follows is my inspection checklist, developed over 19 seasons of involvement with numerous asphalt plants in various parts of North America. This first part will deal with drum mix plants and the components used therein. Please note that I am by no means familiar with every possible combination of equipment used on contemporary asphalt plants; omissions are bound to happen. This article is intended as a guideline to minimize surprises in the coming paving season. The following inspections are done with pen and paper in hand. No repairs are made at this time. The purpose of this activity is to formulate a list of observed problems and to facilitate a strategy to address them. A can of orange marking paint is handy to tag components slated for later repair. Every component should be made safe per the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lockout, tagout regulations prior to inspection. On particularly dangerous units I’ll include a reminder. To begin, I want to draw your attention to a general maintenance issue—that of oiling components. The ground man (or men) responsible for winter maintenance should examine all gearboxes and speed reducers for oil leaks and note them for repair if needed. It’s a good idea to schedule each box for an oil change during the winter months. Collect properly marked samples from each box and give them to a reputable oil analysis company that will be able to detect any abnormalities. Complete a thorough greasing regimen prior to plant restart. For electric motors, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. Each year numerous motors fail because uninformed oilers pump them full of grease. Some motors vent excess grease internally, so once enough of the stuff is pumped in failure is bound to follow. Most motor manufacturers recommend a yearly
26 december 2011
by Cliff Mansfield
greasing schedule consisting of one or maybe two pumps of the gun. Another item to remember about plant maintenance is cleanliness. When getting ready for your annual DOT inspection, remember that a clean plant may get inspected with a less critical eye than a plant that looks like it’s run by Larry, Curly and Moe. A clean and “squared away” plant is also a safer environment to work in. Safety is a solid reason for performing good maintenance, like the following.
COLD FEEDS
The feeders should be emptied of all aggregates for this inspection. 1. Check the bin walls in each feeder. Mark thin or damaged areas for repair. Note excessive scaling for removal as it interferes with consistent aggregate flow and can contribute to feeder stoppages. Also check the bin dividers. Mark for repair any damaged or missing components. 2. Check each bin’s flow gate and the mechanism by which it is lowered and raised. They should move freely and lock into place with a minimum of fuss. Poorly maintained gates often lead to excessive downtime when it’s necessary to make feeder adjustments and the operator discovers that nothing short of dynamite will move a bent or corroded gate. At the least, clean the gates and their guide rails and lubricate the operating mechanism. 3. Check the seal skirting around each feeder for excessive wear and note any needed repairs. Pay particular attention to what effect the skirting is having on the belt it seals. If deep ragged grooves exist where the seal contacts the belting it’s possible that the larger aggregate sizes are binding under the skirting or its supporting metal and are being forced through the conveyor belt’s cover. This is a highly undesirable condition and should be noted for correction. 4. Perform a detailed inspection of each individual feeder belt. Check for excessive wear, weather checking and any brittle or damaged sections. Examine the area where the skirting rides. If the belt is worn into the cords in these areas it’s time for a new belt. Also check the edges of the belting. Sometimes tracking
problems can seriously damage the belt, requiring repair or replacement. No matter what kind of belt lacing is used, you should examine it closely. Worn and broken components are a liability. If in doubt, mark them for replacement. Keep in mind that it’s much easier to fix the belt under an empty feeder than one under a full feeder, especially when the trucks are stacking up and time is being lost with the paving crew idle. 5. Perform a systematic examination of each feeder belt’s bearings. Use a bar and pry the head and tail shafts around. Mark for replacement any bearing that exhibits excessive movement. The same criteria apply to the troughing and support rollers. Mark any damaged components for repair. 6. Remove the guards and inspect each feeder’s drive system. Chain drives suffer large amounts of wear in the hostile environment around the feeders. If your units use this method of propulsion it’s important that you inspect the chains for excessive wear and each sprocket for signs of damage. Look for a condition called “fish eyeing” or cupping on the load side of the teeth. Mark any abnormalities you find. If your feeders are belt driven you need to look for cracked or glazed belts, excessively worn sheaves and a loose condition that requires adjustment. For mechanical variable speed drives, remove the inspection covers and check the condition of the drive belt and sheaves. 7. Flow alarms should be tested for proper operation. These little guys can be life savers when you’re making tight spec mixes or working on a pay-factor. 8. Inspect all bin vibrators or air-cannons for damage and test them for operation at this time. One way to do this, if they work off your flow alarms, is to disconnect the feeder drive chain (or belt), defeat the conveyor interlocks and turn the feeders on. If the system works the cannons or vibrators will come on. If they don’t, mark them for repair. 9. On portable feeders, inspect the tires, brake components, springs and lights. Schedule a thorough examination of the brakes and lights with your mechanic at a later time. For
now your goal is to note the obvious. This applies to each unit on a portable plant and won’t be mentioned again. 10. Give any mechanical leveling or jacking devices special attention at this time. When these components work they can drastically reduce the amount of time needed to set up the feeders after a move. This also applies to the baghouse, the oil tanks and to any other unit using these features. 11. Inspect all wiring. Mark for replacement any lead that is doubtful. This is a safety issue and could possibly avert an injury. It’s also a good idea to inspect all motor grounds for proper connection.
COLLECTING CONVEYOR
1. Inspection of this component is similar to the feeder belts. Check for excessive wear and damaged areas. Again, check the edges of the belting. Tracking problems are usually more pronounced on the collecting conveyor. Mark excessive damage for repair or replacement. As with the feeders, examine the belt lacing carefully. Worn and broken components are a liability. If in doubt, mark them for replacement. Keep in mind that a broken collecting conveyor belt can lead to prodigious piles of aggregate. 2. Examine the conveyor’s bearings. Again, use a bar and pry the head and tail shafts around. Mark for replacement any bearing that exhibits excessive movement. Check the troughing and return rollers. Mark any damaged components for repair. 3. Remove the guard and inspect the conveyor’s drive system. If you have chain drives, examine each sprocket for “fish eyeing,” marking any abnormalities you find. For belt drives you need to look for cracked or glazed belts, excessively worn sheaves and a loose condition that requires adjustment. 4. Check the condition of the belt wiper, noting any needed repairs. Important: Reinstall all guards if there is any chance your plant might run before repairs are made. Note: If you have a lime/concrete silo and pugmill system, visit www.theasphaltpro.com for additional maintenance checklists.
SCALPING SCREEN
* 1. Inspect the condition of the screen cloth. Look for the obvious: excessive wear; broken or missing wire; or wire cracking, especially around the edges where the mount bars are. It’s a good idea to have a spare screen on hand regardless of the condition of the one on the machine. 28 december 2011
2. Check the vibratory shaft bearings. Use a bar to pry these units around. Replace any which exhibit excessive movement or roughness. 3. Check all the support springs. Look for broken, missing or excessively worn components. One thing to keep in mind: spare springs, stored in your parts inventory, could well prevent downtime in the event of a spring failure on some future date. 4. Inspect the skirting between the screen and the conveyor it sits over. Leaks in this area can cause a build-up of aggregate, which interferes with the operation of the tail roll of that conveyor. 5. Check the drive system and wiring, looking for the same faults we’ve discussed on previous pieces of equipment.
SCALE BELT
The ratio computer is the brains and the scale conveyor is the heart of a drum mix asphalt plant. Under certain conditions, if it’s transmitting inaccurate data to the ratio computer, this unit can break a company through out-of-spec penalties. Considering what’s at stake, this unit deserves an exacting and painstaking inspection. Because the price of failure is so high, the old adage “when in doubt, throw it out” applies to the components of this unit more than any other. 1. Begin by inspecting this unit the same way as you inspect conveyors we’ve previously discussed. Pay particular attention to any evidence of tracking problems such as ragged or frayed belt edges. The scale conveyor’s frame sometimes offers testimony of tracking problems in the early stages. Look for shiny places on the frame around the head and tail roll areas, which would indicate belt rubbing. Tracking can, and does, affect the data output from the weigh bridge. 2. Check the speed sensor (usually on the tail roll). Is it loose or damaged in any way? If so, slate it for attention. Pay close attention to the unit’s wiring. Is it damaged or brittle? If so, it should be replaced. It’s a good idea to have a spare speed sensor with new wire on hand should the unit fail in the heat of battle. 3. Check the weigh bridge for any obvious damage. Malfunctioning rollers on this unit cause inaccurate readings. Additionally, examine the three rollers above and below the weigh bridge carefully. Mark for repair any that raise questions. It’s also a good idea to schedule an examination of the ride height of the weigh bridge. Usually this is done with a string line. Consult your unit’s operating manual for the proper procedure. 4. A visual inspection of the load cell usually reveals little other than physical damage. These components either work or they don’t.
For this reason I strongly recommended that a functioning spare be kept on hand. 5. Schedule a time for a full scale belt calibration test sequence. You should check for weighed load accuracy, linearity (accuracy through a wide range of weights) and repeatability. If the unit fails any of these tests you don’t want to head into a paving season with it. * Oil as suggested above.
SLINGER CONVEYOR OR FEED CHUTE
Some plants use chutes; others use conveyors to feed the cold aggregates into the drier. Thoroughly clean the chute before inspecting the floor and walls for abnormal wear. Record any needed repairs. Due to the high operating speed a slinger conveyor, especially a reversible one, it requires a more thorough inspection than a normal conveyor. 1. Check all bearings and rollers. 2. Because this unit typically runs under the burner, you need to check the belt for any signs of heat damage. If there is any doubt in your mind about this belt replace it. In the case of vulcanized belts this is a timeconsuming process, not one you want to address in the middle of a large paving job. If yours is a laced belt and shows signs of damage, changing may take more time. It’s a good idea to stock a pre-cut and laced spare. 3. Bearings at the burner end of the slinger conveyor operate in an extremely hostile environment. High heat combined with high speed ensure that these units are a frequent maintenance item. A few spare bearings could spell the difference between downtime and nightly maintenance. If you don’t already use them, perhaps you should check into “hostile-duty” bearings designed and introduced in recent years for such applications. 4. Most slingers use training idlers. Examine them to verify proper operation. Mark for repair or replacement any that need it. 5. Oil as suggested above. This may look like a lengthy start to a winter repair regimen, but your asphalt plant will perform better for it. Start here but watch for next month’s issue of AsphaltPro for the second half of your thorough drum plant checklist. We’ll include such important items as the tank farm and the baghouse. This month’s list should keep you busy until then. Cliff Mansfield is the proprietor of CM Consulting, Odell, Ore. For more information, contact him at (541) 354-6188 or send him your question through the “Ask the Plant Expert” form on the home page at www.TheAsphaltPro.com.
State of the Asphalt Industry: an Overview in Five Parts by Sandy Lender
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he bankers who lend money specifically for the $628 billion equipment finance sector had a brighter outlook in November than they did in October, according to the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s monthly confidence index. The rise from 50.7 to 57.4 in confidence indicates an increase in optimism about business activity despite ongoing concerns about the global economic situation, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) reported. That confidence can be seen in the asphalt industry in the slight uptick in meeting attendance across the country— the 5th Shingle Recycling Forum in Dallas Oct. 27 through 28 saw its largest crowd ever at more than 320 people and the NAPA Young Leaders Conference in New Orleans Nov. 7 through 8 saw its largest crowd in several years at 65 attendees and so on. The asphalt industry’s confidence can also be seen in the incredibly busy fall season producers and contractors contend with as this issue of AsphaltPro goes to bed— Michael Hill of Thelin Recycling, Ft. Worth, installed his third Rotochopper grinder to accommodate his asphalt shingle recycling operation and so on. As evidenced by that last example, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have seen a return to new equipment purchases as companies expand to take on additional work within their skill sets and fleets wear thin the maintenance patches mechanics have put in place the past few seasons. Chris Connolly of Bomag Americas, Kewanee, Ill., discussed his company’s experience. “Compaction units are being replaced. Industry heavy tandem roller shipments have increased by 50 percent in 2011 over 2010.” The asphalt industry is also in a good state with the news the International Association for Research on Cancer (IARC) released in October. After years of study, IARC has separated asphalt road paving from mastic 32 december 2011
and roofing applications and has placed asphalt paving fume in the same “possibly carcinogenic” category as coffee and cell phones. Of course these anecdotes don’t mean an entire industry will thrive into the future if its members ignore funding issues at the federal level. Luckily, pundits spend an inordinate amount of time discussing what the American infrastructure needs and how we can best provide it. Changes in legislative ideas for transportation funding come about as quickly as changes in the weather, so readers are encouraged to follow AsphaltPro on social media platforms such as facebook and Twitter for up-to-date notices when new legislation is introduced or voted on. Readers are also encouraged to spread the good word about asphalt’s environmentally friendly and structurally sound reputation, which puts the industry in an enviable state.
Recycled Asphalt Shingles Take the Green Stage
According to Mike Kvach, who was appointed the fulltime executive director of the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA) Nov. 7, the number of companies/branches reporting the use of recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) has increased from 44 in 2009 to 61 in 2010. Numbers released Nov. 21 from a National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) and Federal Highway Association (FHWA) survey show: “Use of reclaimed asphalt shingles (both manufacturer’s waste and tear-offs) increased from 702,000 tons to 1.10 million tons from 2009 to 2010, a 57 percent increase. Assuming conservative asphalt content of 20 percent for the shingles, this represents 234,000 tons (1.5 million barrels) of asphalt binder conserved.” Asphalt producers have learned what a savings they can realize by substituting a portion of the binder in a mix with RAS. For instance, everyone’s seen the graphic of the stockpile that represents 30,000
tons of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) being equal to seventy 6,000-gallon transport trailers of liquid asphalt cement (AC) and three clean aggregate piles of 28,200 tons. Now the industry can generate a new graphic for RAS. According to NAPA, for every 14,167 tons of shingles we recycle, we save enough virgin material to fill 111 of those 6,000-gallon transport trailers. State agencies have taken note as well and are preparing specs for RAS use similar to their existing RAP specs and incorporating their RAP specs. For instance, the Indiana Department of Transportation (IDOT) has a spec for a combined RAP/RAS criterion. The maximum binder replacement (BR) an Indiana contractor is allowed is 40 percent, but that can be a combination of RAP and RAS, as long as the RAS remains at or below 25 percent of the replacement value. IDOT also calls for fluctuation in the virgin binder grade when RAP and RAS come into play. If the BR is equal to or less than 25 percent, the DOT doesn’t allow any change in the specified virgin binder grade, but if the contractor replaces 26 to 40 percent of the binder, he drops the virgin binder’s upper or lower performance grade by 6 degrees. Tony Limas of Granite Construction, Watsonville, Calif., reported that the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) is studying the IDOT spec criteria for possible adoption. Also look at the criteria the Wisconsin DOT (WisDOT) adopted as an additional special provisional (ASP) modification to its standard hot mix asphalt (HMA) spec in January 2009. The ASP-6 spec allows the use of RAS in combination with various grades of RAP, up to a set limit, before the contractor must change the virgin binder grade. The following shows the maximum allowable percent of BR recycled asphalt material:
• RAS only, 20% in lower layers, 15% in DOT specs for RAS use, producers will be pleased to know that about 20 of those upper layer • RAP only, 35% in lower layers, 20% in include tear-offs. “Shingle manufacturer waste has been upper layer • FRAP only, 35% in lower layers, 25% in a commodity for several years,” Krivit said. “There are five or six main manuupper layer facturers in the country. The • RAS & RAP, 30% in lower manufacturers’ scrap is usually layers, 20% in upper layer under contract and already • RAS & FRAP, 30% in lower spoken for. Tear-off scrap is the layers, 25% in upper layer new kid on the block with10 • RAS, RAP & FRAP, 30% in times more tonnage generated. lower layers, 25% in upper Shingle recyclers just need to layer find an HMA partner or other If the contractor uses more end market to take it.” than the maximum recovThe good news is recyclers ered binder allowed, he must put a premium on quality furnish test results showing Dan Krivit that the resulting binder Senior Project Manager of Foth control (QC). First, the roofing Infrastructure & Environment, contractor removing shingles meets the grade originally LLC is often responsible for clearing specified in the contract. the tear-offs of boards, plastic, Dan Krivit is the senior project manager of Foth Infrastructure & metal and other deleterious material so the Environment, LLC, Lake Elmo, Minn., and shingles arriving at the recycling facility are he’s been working in the RAS industry for “clean.” The recycler will have a QC program the past 11 years. He sees several states that may include human sorters as well as adopting their specs to allow percentages magnets to remove stray galvanized nails of RAS BR in all courses, including surface, and other ferrous metals before grinding with the ceiling typically around 25 to 30 the shingles. Another powerful magnet is percent. With 27 states already adopting often in place at the producer’s facility to
pick up any missed particles before the RAS enters the drum. With the amount of material available for recycling and the number of states allowing it, asphalt producers have an opportunity that industry experts have been encouraging for years. “Right now we see a pretty
This example is of a Royal Sovereign 3-Tab asphalt shingle from GAF Materials Corp., Wayne, N.J. The components of an asphalt shingle break down like this: 16-25% AC; 28-42% granules; 3242% coating filler such as limestone or fly ash; 2-15% mat; 3-6% back dust; 0.2-2% adhesives. Photo courtesy of GAF Materials Corp. Information courtesy of Owens Corning.
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good swath of shingle recycling facilities across the country,” William Turley said. He’s the executive director of the Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA), which held its fifth Asphalt Shingle Recycling Forum in Dallas in October. “Our newly updated website, www.shinglerecycling.org, has a feature that allows visitors to type in an address or zip code to pull up all nearby shingle recyclers. They’re all in heavily populated states, including the Midwest as well as the east coast. The only surprise is how few are in California, but we expect that to change as CalTrans is looking at using more shingles in its mixes.” For producers concerned about how busy the nearby recycler is, there are
other options for getting RAS material for mix designs. Some companies take their shingle grinders on the road. “They will bring their processing equipment onto a site and make the shingles into a usable product so a company can determine if the market is there,” Turley said. “It will also allow a company to determine whether they need to [get] a grinder or can have these mobile grinder companies provide the service.” For additional RAS information, check out “Recycle Your Asphalt Shingle Mindset” in the March 2011 issue of AsphaltPro.
Lindy Paving, Inc., Western Pennsylvania, uses this skid-mounted RAP recycling system from Eagle Crusher, Galion, Ohio, to produce up to 50 percent RAP. The plant features a one-touch computer screen that switches product from top to base and back again for quick operation. It introduces RAP into drum mixers for any size specs in 400 to 600 TPH recycling drum mix plants. Photo courtesy of Eagle Crusher. 34 december 2011
Recycled Asphalt Pavement Goes Further
The NAPA/FHWA survey mentioned above proved again that “The asphalt industry remains the country’s number one recycler. The amount of RAP used in HMA/WMA was 56.0 million tons in 2009 and 62.1 million tons in 2010. Assuming 5 percent liquid asphalt in RAP, this represents over 3 million tons (19 million barrels) of asphalt binder conserved. About 96 percent of the contractors/ branches reported using RAP. Less than 1 percent of RAP was sent to landfills.” The intriguing trend the industry sees now is an increased use of high RAP in more than base courses. FHWA defines high RAP as a mix containing greater than or equal to 25 percent RAP replacement. Randy West of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) reported in the October issue of AsphaltPro that four overlays with 45 percent RAP built on the NCAT Test Track five years ago still show excellent performance. Check out the article for an exemplary explanation of virgin and recycled binder grade bumping and compaction results. To give readers a hint: One of the research goals of the four test sections was to determine if it was necessary to use a softer grade of virgin binder with the high RAP mixes. Current Randy West AASHTO guideDirector of NCAT lines recommend using a softer binder when the recycled binder content is between 15 and 25 percent of the total binder content; when the recycled binder content is more than 25 percent, a more detailed analysis is necessary to select the grade of the virgin binder. During construction of the test sections, West’s team observed a slight improvement in compactability with the softer virgin binders, but target densities were obtained even with the mixes containing the stiffer binders. In the field, there’s an uptick in RAP percentages. For instance, CalTrans currently allows up to 15 percent RAP in surface courses, seeing 12 percent on average from contractors. But in 2011, the
agency let 27,000 tons of pilot projects with 25 percent RAP in them. Florida DOT has a spec that limits the amount of RAP at 20 percent in dense graded friction courses, but Jim Musselman of FDOT points out unmodified mixes can use an unlimited amount of RAP. Statistics show contractors using up to 40 percent when allowed “unrestricted� RAP usage, with an average of 25 percent. FDOT is looking at higher RAP contents. The state of the RAP sector of our industry is strong.
Warm-Mix Asphalt Research Should be Complete
With the national asphalt association changing its quarterly magazine and website names from HMAT Compaction of WMA may give the paving team more time to achieve density than HMA compaction, but it still requires attention to detail. Photo courtesy of Hamm.
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and hotmix.org to Asphalt Pavement and asphaltpavement.org, respectively, you can bet the industry has invested a substantial amount in the warm-mix asphalt (WMA) movement. Producers all know—and can probably recite from memory—the benefits of using this product. Foamed asphalt reduces the oxidation of asphalt; for every 25-degree drop in temperature, the rate of oxidation is cut in half. Foamed asphalt also reduces fuel costs through decreased temperatures, retains light oils in the liquid asphalt, prevents smoking, prevents odor and makes compaction easier.
Implementation
According to the NAPA/FHWA survey, “Total tonnage of WMA is estimated at 19.2 million tons in 2009 and 47.6 million tons in 2010. This was a 148 percent increase. Plant foaming is used most often in producing WMA. Additives accounted for about 17 percent of the total WMA production in 2009 and 8 percent in 2010.” Dr. Don Brock of Astec Industries, Chattanooga, shared that industry is seeing all new asphalt plants going out with foam systems already in place today as well as producers ordering retrofit systems to place on existing hot mix asphalt (HMA) plants. This phenomenon has been more gradual than he thinks it should have been. “We put the first mix using the Astec Double Barrel Green system down in April of 2007,” Brock said. “I do not believe it has advanced too quickly. In my opinion, the delays have occurred due to too much research. “Basically, you are sending the same asphalt to the plant and the same rock to the plant. As the asphalt enters into Dr. Don Brock CEO of Astec Industries, Inc. the mixing section you expand it approximately three times allowing better coating, lowering the viscosity and not evaporating the light oil from the product. When this is put down on the road, the foam bubble breaks as the roller compacts it; thus going back to exactly the same ingredients that you had before. “We have researched it to death and in my opinion, it has advanced too slowly.”
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Application
Contractors in the field have reported an ease of use with WMA. Bomag’s Connolly explained. “In regards to compaction, WMA has not been a critically different application. As opposed to the advent of Superpave, which initiated a wholesale change in the compaction industry, the WMA application has been relatively normal to respond to. Temperature and time available for compaction may be different than HMA, but rolling patterns and procedures have remained relatively the same. Best practices on WMA for compaction are not that different from HMA. “WMA has given the compaction team some more time to achieve density and smoothness behind the paver in most cases, but it is important to note that WMA has not given the paving train reason to reduce the size of the compaction effort behind the paver. Density and smoothness are still a challenge on every job. Reducing the effort in this area would open the door to the possibility of not meeting required goals.”
Experimentation
Whether agencies are still testing out in the field or not, producers need a way to prove their foamed mix designs in the lab, and industry members have responded to that call. The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 9-43 “Mix Design Practices for Warm-Mix Asphalt” study has led the way in improving a WMA lab mix design procedure. The study’s objective was to adapt lab mix design and analysis procedures for HMA to WMA. As Ray Bonaquist, COO of Advanced Asphalt Technologies, Sterling, Va., pointed out, the study showed that WMA can be designed with only minor changes to American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) R35, but the plant foaming process is challenging in the lab environment. He states that current lab foaming devices need improvement. NCHRP 9-47A and NCHRP 9-49 will address issues that the 9-43 study found. In the meantime, 9-43 offers mixing procedures for lab devices that offer bucket mixers. This includes establishing mixing times for bucket mixers and suggests using coating as a function of mixing time. Mixing times are included in the draft appendix to R35, but are based on a planetary mixer. D&H Equipment, Ltd., Blanco, Texas, offers the Hydro-Foamer, which is a patentpending lab device for producing foamed
asphalt. It includes a bucket mixer. It’s designed to allow the lab tech to produce mixes in the lab to evaluate characteristics of the material before production in the field. It has fully enclosed and insulated housing and rolls on casters. The Foamer from Pavement Technology, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., offers a similar experience for lab techs, with a bucket mixer concept, and you can see how it works in depth in the February 2011 issue of AsphaltPro. Finally, to create a low-energy mix, the WLB 10 S from Wirtgen, Nashville, Tenn., is a lab device with an optional mixer—the WLM 30. It’s a miniature plant that produces cold foamed mix in the lab to determine mix properties, such as how much fines to add. The fines help disperse the foam through the asphalt mix, thus this must be decided ahead of time, in the WLB 10 S, and then replicated in the field. WMA is being subjected to the same tests HMA undergoes in many states, which only makes sense. Take Texas as an example. Harold Mullen of the Texas DOT (TxDOT) explained that Texas contractors run the Hamburg Wheel Test for rutting and stripping on all asphalt mixes— that includes WMA. They are required to run it once during the mix design, once during the trial batch and then at least once during production. In fact, TxDOT will let contractors substitute a lower grade binder if it meets the Hamburg Wheel Test requirements. As of September, TxDOT accepted a variety of WMA methods. The chemical additives the agency allows are Advera®, Aspha-Min®, Astech PER, Evotherm™, Cecabase RT and Rediset™ WMX. The mechanical technologies it allows are the Double Barrel® Green, AQUABlack, Terex® WMA System and Ultrafoam GX®. The organic additive TxDOT allows is Sasobit®. The Texas list is indicative of the vast number of technologies available to produce what the industry refers to as WMA. The copious number of additives makes a comprehensive list nearly impossible and as Brock told us: “There are no roadblocks to using the foam system other than the fact that there are nine different Chris Connolly Sales Manager of Bomag manufacturers of the Americas foam systems and they are not all equal.” Accepting the theory that all technologies aren’t the same, producers need a way to know they’re creating acceptable WMA. Brock made two suggestions.
“It is necessary to be assured that all of the liquid asphalt is concrete pavement smoothness during construction.” The researchers foamed into microscopic bubbles,” he said. “If all of the liquid is not are evaluating technologies for measuring smoothness and develfoamed, you will get some areas that are stiff and others that are oping model specs and guidelines for transportation agencies to use. very flexible. The use of Titanium Dioxide in PCC to create a “smog-eating” “We have found the simplest test [of uniform coating] is concrete pavement is back in the news. See the article “State of the to produce mix at 260 to 275 degrees F; put a shovel in it and Competition” in the December 2010 issue of AsphaltPro. if anything sticks to the shovel as you pull it out, you are not The AsphaltPro staff strongly encourages readers to visit the APA uniformly foaming it.” website www.asphaltroads.org and attend the General Session Mike Kvach Brock also mentioned that producers need to be careful with Executive IV: Asphalt Paving Alliance Takes Off on Jan. 25 at the NAPA annual Director of APA definitions. “Warm mix, in my opinion, is a bad name,” he said. “You meeting in California to stay informed of issues that could negatively AsphaltPro staff are actually running the mix at a temperature that is lower than encourage readers to visit impact your business in the future. www.asphaltroads.org the boiling point of the light oils in the asphalt. This temperature and In the meantime, don’t forget that the asphalt industry offers the use the information is around 285 degrees F. Mix at these temperatures or all the way and publications there to excellent environmentally responsible trends discussed in this article. down to 240 degrees F will burn you. It is not warm. It is hot. Just promote the good name With cooperation among agencies and each other, our industry is in a of asphalt. not as hot as running up in the 300- to 350-degree range. good state to take on the competition and remain an environmentally “Polymers have been successfully run with the foam systems at 275 degrees F responsible industry. allowing the temperature reduction of polymer mixes by as much as 80 degrees with no problems.” For additional WMA information, check out “Here’s How to Pave with Warm-Mix Asphalt” in the March 2011 issue of AsphaltPro.
Competition Develops More Products
At the California Asphalt Pavement Association’s 2011 conference, APA’s Kvach pointed out that the “initial cost” advantage that asphalt construction has enjoyed in years past is disappearing. Portland cement prices have fallen while the price of AC has risen with the price of crude (see The Last Cut department for trends and activity). A variety of pavement options exists to take the spotlight off asphalt: concrete, roller-compacted concrete, stone bases, cold in-place recycling (CIR) and some of the preservation techniques promoted in the slurry circles. Kvach shared that the cement/ concrete industry has moved aggressively to expand its share of the pavement market, but we don’t need one expert to tell us this. We can see it in that industry’s actions. The concrete industry has hired Mercury LLC, a political advocacy firm, to lobby for its issues— however misguided some of them may turn out to be—in front of your representatives. With a combined 12 registered lobbyists (six from Mercury and six from the Portland Cement Association), the concrete industry is pushing legislation that is designed to increase its market share. They’re targeting members of Congress to buy into faulty Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) logic and to put that logic into legislative initiatives that put asphalt contractors at a disadvantage. The recently released good news declaring smooth pavements as fuel-saving pavements isn’t coming under fire, but is in danger of being misconstrued. Project RO6E of SHRP 2 is titled “Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction.” The project is supposed to “enable real-time control of 38 december 2011
Talley Construction Co. recently joined with Astec, Inc., Chattanooga, to use a mix of good asphalt practices to show off the industry’s solution for stormwater runoff. Their crew paved a 3-acre lot with pervious pavement achieved through the use of a WMA mix with asphalt binder containing 10 percent RAP.
Asphalt Makes the Best Porous Pavement
For the project, the crew first cleared and graded the land, and placed a nonwoven filter fabric over the subgrade. Next, they placed a 14-inch layer of #3 stone, and followed that with a 4-inch lift of #57 “choke” stone. Talley produced the WMA with the Astec Double Barrel Green system and placed it in two 4-inch lifts. The mix contained asphalt binder with 10 percent RAP. The top course was a 1 ¼-inch Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC) surrounded by riprap. Astec’s paved lot design can retain 3 inches of water, preventing runoff from being released into storm drain systems. Rainfall goes straight through the asphalt into the stone layer and is then leached into the subgrade. Hold basins, retention ponds or piping are not needed with pervious pavement. It allows the full space to be used and a larger area to be developed because additional space for stormwater management systems isn’t required. Photo courtesy of Astec.
by Paul Fournier, edited by AsphaltPro Staff
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local news report showed the city of Cape Coral, Fla., would use a pavement preservation technique to restore two roads in the city limits. With the requisite B-roll of delamination on one of the pavements in question, the reporter shared that most citizens considered this preservation a waste of money. A driver with his window down ranted before the camera about the need for more money for schools instead of wasting resources on perfectly good roads. In another report, a set of roads riddled with enormous potholes were under scrutiny because the private nature of the roads preclude them from receiving taxpayer assistance. There’s no way a simple preservation technique would be adequate to rescue those roads, but the community wants the lowest-cost option. If they choose a preservation technique meant to last two years, the industry gets a black eye when the issue of “who gets to pay” comes up for debate again in 2014. This is the mindset the road construction industry is up against now and will be up against in the coming year. As we look at the state of the industry, one of the topics we need to be aware of is that of preservation to lengthen pavement life—not correct structurally unsound pavements—and the uphill battle the concept faces. When applied at the optimal time, pavement preservation can extend the life of pavement by up to seven or more years. That’s not currently realistic for many government agencies due to budget constraints and road conditions. Many have no choice but to use pavement preservation as stopgap measures, a process otherwise known as reactive maintenance. Without communicating realistic expectations to stakeholders, the use
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This micro-surfacing project was selected as the right treatment to lengthen this pavement structure’s life.
of pavement preservation surface treatments as stop-gap measures for structurally unsound pavements can give the agencies who specify the treatments, and the contractors who apply them, a bad name. It could certainly tarnish the value and future use of the treatments themselves, which the International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA) would consider a shame when its membership can point to myriad green benefits preservation techniques offer. “While there’s no quantitative data available at present on the prevalence of inappropriate use, we have seen a lot of anecdotal evidence of it,” Chris Newman said. He’s the systems preservation engineer of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and agency co-chair of the Pavement Preservation Expert Task Group (PPETG), an advisory body to FHWA. Newman said he believes there is no ill intent on the part of the agencies using surface treatments improperly. “They feel they have to do something for failing pavements until they can afford to do more aggressive rehabilitative structural work.” Newman noted there has been a change in FHWA thinking from that of the past when it promoted fixing the worst roads first. “Now we are advocating ‘let’s keep our good roads good’ using thin non-structural surface treatments,” he said. “Unfortunately, spending money to put a surface treatment on a road that was paved in recent years and is still in good condition can be misunderstood by the public and media, leading to lurid headlines,” Newman said. As evidenced by the Cape Coral news story above. How does the industry fix the public’s way of thinking as well as the public’s roads? Eric Thibodeau, pavement management chief for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Materials and Research, shared the philosophy of keeping media and public informed. “You can drive through some towns and you’ll often see roads that have been extensively crack sealed,” he said. “If a road shows too much crack sealing, the pavement was probably not structurally sound and crack sealing won’t help solve the problem. That pavement is too far gone. “For economic reasons they may be using the preservation surface treatment to try to hold the road together as a stop-gap measure until they can rehabilitate or reconstruct. But, if for any reason the agency decides to use a preservation surface treatment where it’s not appropriate, then the
public should be informed so they’ll have realistic expectations as to how long it might perform adequately. “If the road wasn’t a good candidate for pavement preservation, then the treatment probably won’t perform well and will get a bad reputation, not those making the decision to use it,” Thibodeau said. No matter whose reputation takes the hit, the public sees failure. Steve Varnedoe of the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP), an education research arm of Michigan State University, said that it’s important to differentiate between how long a treatment can extend the service life of a pavement and how long the surface treatment itself will last. “When used appropriately, pavement preservation surface treatments will extend the service life of the underlying pavement. But if an agency decides to use the treatment on roads that are not good candidates, it’s a calculated risk—a slippery slope,” Varnedoe observed. “A surface treatment placed on top of a structurally unsound pavement can’t extend the service life of the pavement because the pavement has already failed. So the real question becomes ‘how long can that treatment on the surface of the failed pavement last?’ “Unfortunately, the public doesn’t make that distinction and will most likely say the treatment failed, not that it was used inappropriately.” Peter Montenegro, a market development manager for Kraton Polymers LLC, said that the use of thin, non-structural fixes inappropriately hurts the entire pavement preservation industry. “The FHWA and AASHTO [American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials] are strongly advocating for an asset management approach to the care of our roads and bridges,” Montenegro said. “This means being on our pavements and bridge components earlier and more often with non-structural fixes. This preservation strategy keeps costs down. It’s common sense.” Ideally, agencies would apply pavement preservation treatments at the appropriate time. Unfortunately, today’s economy makes it necessary for agencies to mix and match road treatments according to their allotted budgets. This increases the importance of clear communication about what treatments are being applied and the goal and anticipated life expectancy. The agency’s reputation, along with the treatment, is on the line with each decision. Proper communication is the key to uphold both in the future. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 41
0101100101100101001010011010011010010110010110010100101001101001101001011001011001010010100 1001101001011001011001010010100110100110100101100101100101001010011010011010010110010110010 1010011010011010010110010110010100101001101001101001011001011001010010100110100110100101100 1001010010100110100110100101100101100101001010011010011010010110010110010100101001101001101 0110010110010100101001101001101001011001011001010010100110100110100101100101100101001010011 Online auctions improve contractors profitability through better equipment inventory management 0110100101100101100101001010011010011010010110010110010100101001101001101001011001011001010
Control Overhead on the Web
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by Paul Hendrix
aving is one of the most equipment-intensive professions in construction, requiring a range and quantity of reliable equipment that is virtually unmatched compared to other types of contracting. When that equipment’s best days are past, the machines are too often relegated to bone yards or sold off for little cash value. Those days are done. The rise of online auctions has changed that dynamic, opening new opportunities to sell used paving and construction equipment to buyers the seller might otherwise never have found. These buyers may be a few states or even an entire continent away. A single, weekly online auction can sell as many as 1,300 items worth more than $26 million. That’s because, in the case of IronPlanet, the auction pulls an average of 15,000 customers from a pool of more than 700,000 registered users for every weekly event. These aren’t only domestic buyers. While most buyers are within a few hundred miles of the equipment they purchase, as many as 35 percent of the buyers are international. These customers ship all sorts of equipment—some pieces many domestic paving companies wouldn’t typically purchase—to Central and South America as well as parts of Europe and Asia where they are needed and valued for the projects and economies those countries have. It’s this globalization of business that has helped transform online auctions to become the preferred inventory management tool for an
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increasing number of construction companies. Better online technologies, increased customer familiarity with online business-to-business transactions, and a greater number of products being made available through online auctions have all contributed to the growth of online auctions. For the companies that participate in these auctions, each of these elements ties back to one primary driver: an increased use of Web-based technologies to boost their productivity and bottom line. Today’s fleet manager can leverage the global reach of the Internet with an online auction to maximize his return with the lowest cost and the lowest input. Paving company owners and operators have more opportunity than ever to sell and buy pavers, shuttle buggies, sweepers, light towers, compactors and service trucks from the comfort of their offices or homes, or even while overseeing work in the field with just a few taps on their laptop or smart phone. Participating in online auctions requires substantially less work than traditional selling practices. Although to be effective you still need to understand the nuances of how online auctions work to get the most from them. Online auctions are similar to traditional auctions in that buyers and sellers still prep the equipment for sale, making any necessary repairs. The difference is that the equipment stays on-site with the owner in the safety of his lot until it is sold. In place of the buyer’s in-person walk-around, the auction company sends a representative, who should be certified to evaluate the equipment, to the seller’s site for a thorough inspection that is made public as part of the auction process. This inspection includes taking dozens of photos, starting and moving the machinery, checking for normal and significant wear, and observing powertrain and hydraulic systems for leaks. In the case of IronPlanet, the IronClad Assurance is offered to guarantee the equipment is exactly as it is represented in this third-party inspection report. Buyers are still responsible for the auction commissions and for transporting the equipment to their location within a set amount of time, typically within 10 business days of the sale. For the seller, the overall cost of the sale is reduced because the equipment doesn’t leave his yard and eliminates the need for staff travel to evaluate and bid on replacement items. Because online auctions are held frequently, customers have more opportunities to turn their inventories. And, if a buyer isn’t available to participate in the online auction in person, most online auction sites provide the opportunity to advance-bid on the items they want. As with any used equipment sale, keep a grounded perspective of a unit’s market value. While there is a very strong market for used paving equipment, that market is being driven by a reduced supply of new units and international demand from developing countries. It pays to research what comparable items, in comparable condition, are selling for on the open market. Online equipment auctions have improved the productivity and profit margins of construction companies worldwide. The question is, are you benefiting from them? Paul Hendrix has been an equipment pricing analyst for IronPlanet since 2001, determining auction values for construction and farm equipment throughout North American and Europe. For more information, call (888) 433-5426 or visit www.ironplanet.com.
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State of Industry Training by Sandy Lender
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mong the aspects of business that have there are some limitations to the electronic Richard has a solution to that communifound their way online, construction training as opposed to face to face. It is impos- cation break. “I haven’t provided classroom industry training has found a niche. sible to read a person’s body language when training for two years to the public. This year, Experts in the asphalt industry have already you’re online. As a trainer, I use my senses to I will offer two classes. Pavia Systems calls the used this e-learning method with positive work a room. If the materials are dry I will try to classroom-and-online ‘blended training’ and results, and, as Clarence Richard of the Clar- lighten the session up but being online some- that is where I am going with it….Classroom times it is difficult. ence Richard Co. will tell you, it’s catching on. training can be enhanced by offering online “Another advantage is a company may only review and participant competency measure“Web-based training is where learning is going and where it should be going,” Richard have funding or a desire to send one or two ment, such as what I did for Blythe Construction said. He shared that his online training for persons to a training session if they physically and 20 of their people.” asphalt plant operators is proving more effec- have to go somewhere, but using the webinar Check out Richard’s e-Plant Operation Worktive than classroom training alone had been. session they can gather the secondary and shop and more at www.ClarenceRichard.com. “Instead of three days of pummeling them tertiary people in a conference room and have The Asphalt Institute’s 26 recorded webinars with information in a classroom setting, I’m all attend for a very low cost.” at www.AsphaltAcademy.org are recordings of The RMAEC offers webinars continually, but live webinars the agency has offered during giving them information and they’re retaining more from online. People can pause and not on a regular schedule. Check the “WEBINAR the past two years. A spokesperson for A.I. said replay. People can train when they’re open to home page” at http://www.co-asphalt.com/ participation overall has been steady, but varies education for dates and topics. As Richard has according to the topic. it or feeling good.” The reports Richard has show web-trained found, RMAEC staff found that offering hand“There are many benefits to web-based attendees improving 50 to 90 percent over outs or material to review increased attendees’ training, for both attendees and instructors,” their incoming scores after taking his online retention of information. the spokesperson said. He agreed that cutting “We offer the handouts to all attendees…so out travel is a boon to contractors’ budgets. course. His company tracks this with documentation, testing and review. This takes on new they can make notes and follow along,” Clayton International trainees can experience recorded importance when it comes to safety directors said. “We also record all of our sessions, so if webinars “in the comfort of their own time a person was unavailable the date and time zone.” A.I. also offers professional development and QC/QA workers. “You can show hours logged in for training, the session was happening, they can find it hours for both its live and recorded courses. No matter where owners look for training, progress reports, scores from quizzes that in cyberspace and view it after the fact. The show improvement for OSHA if anything downfall of this is they cannot ask questions whether it’s an OEM, a consultant, an agency or other entity, managers should take care with should happen down the road. For quality while they are watching the session.” terminology. Note that control, we have to the term webinar is measure and make used in many industries people accountable at to refer to an online the plant. The manufacseminar that may only ture of HMA has to be impart information. made accountable, and Richard emphasized this documentation is how.” that web-based training has proved significantly Documentation is a more effective than great tool for workers and managers. Tom webinar recordings or Clayton, the director of even classroom training training and member alone in his experience. services for the Rocky If you wish to learn Mountain Asphalt an asphalt-related task, Education Center/Colomake sure the online rado Asphalt Paving segment you sign up Association offered to participate in is a another benefit of webtraining or teaching tool, based training: lack of and make sure it speaks travel. to you at a level you “We have had understand. Ask quespersons on our webitions and make sure the nars who were from out online course you sign of the country,” Clayton up for is what you need said. “It is a great tool to it to be. The Asphalt Institute offered 13 total webinars in 2010. As of press time in 2011, they’d conducted 15, two of which were a provide training. I find five-session series. Screen capture courtesy of A.I.
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Optimize Drum RPMs for Best Cutting Pattern by Steve Ricke
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ith emphasis on pavement preservation and maintenance, contractors are finding that cold milling of asphalt pavements has become a prominent part of business these days. To ensure a quality job and full pay, a crew needs to keep all job specs in mind, including those at the base. There are three key points that comprise cold milling specs: crossslope, longitudinal smoothness and pattern. The use of electronic grade and slope controls on milling machines improves the crew’s chances for success with these key points, and there is a wide variety of these controls to choose from. These controls can take position adjustment off the operator’s mind, making cross-slope and longitudinal smoothness easier to obtain than with manual control. That leaves the point of pattern for discussion. Project owners request standard milling for a variety of reasons, including the removal of the existing pavement to a desired depth, restoration of the pavement surface to a specific grade and slope, and improvement of the rideability of the existing surface. They request fine milling for other reasons, including restoration of skid-resistance, equalization of longitudinal ruts and preparation for thin lift paving. With standard milling, the cutter drum will feature a triple wrap configuration of teeth and tooth holders with the space between each tooth set at 5/8 inch (15 mm). Operating the milling machine at 60 feet per minute (fpm), the contractor achieves a standard milling pattern cut into the pavement behind the mill. Operating the machine at faster speeds opens the pattern behind the mill and doesn’t necessarily give a smoother cut. The pattern also holds up better if the drum speed remains reasonable. For the 5/8-inch spacing, contractors will find best success with drum speeds close to 100 revolutions per minute (rpm). With a drum speed of approximately 100 rpms and a forward speed of 0 to 60 fpm, the pattern behind the mill is optimum. With a drum speed of approximately 100 rpm and a forward speed of 60 to 100 fpm, the pattern behind the mill is generally acceptable. But if the forward speed exceeds 100 fpm, the pattern begins to outrun the cut; the teeth don’t have time to do their job. The cutting pattern will also be affected by tooth wear and tooth holder wear. If a tooth is not rotating because its holder is faulty or damaged, it will grind against the pavement in a way that is out of alignment with the other teeth in its row. This not only affects the pattern on the pavement, it also affects the way in which the tooth wears. If a tooth wears more quickly than the teeth around it, it will no longer cut the pavement, leaving a rough pattern. With fine milling, the cutter drum will feature a thicker wrap configuration of teeth and tooth holders with the space between each tooth set at 5/16 inch (8 mm). As the drum travels down the lane, the teeth cut a finely textured pattern compared to the roughly textured pattern of the standard mill. 46 december 2011
Control Cutter Pattern by Optimizing Machine • Check overall condition of machine • Check track pad condition • Check cutter drum condition and tooth spacing • Check cutter tooth and holder condition • Adjust cutter rotation speed • Check cutter wrap and tooth spacing • Use grade control system • Be aware of pavement condition • Watch ground speed • Adjust water for dust control
If the forward speed of cold milling exceeds 100 fpm, the pattern begins to outrun the cut and an inferior pattern is the result.
All these tips can help both the new milling crew and veteran operators who want to brush up on milling technique. But keep in mind that milling trends aren’t stagnant. In the next few years, contractors will see mills with more power, even though they’ll have the technology to use less fuel and to vary drum speeds to improve performance and lower costs. Cutter drums will have quick-change cutter width and pattern changes. It’s becoming more and more clear that mills will have dust extraction systems for a cleaner machine. Smart technology will attach all of the critical components to a main control source and camera systems that improve visibility will become standard. Steve Ricke is director of national accounts for Wirtgen America, Inc. Contact him at (407) 256-6475.
International Milling by AsphaltPro Staff
The A22 in Vipiteno (Bolzano), Northern Italy, looks like it makes for an icy December drive in this snapshot. Luckily the crew from Impresa Venturini used this Cat PM200 cold planer to add traction to the Brennero Highway. This isn’t a mill-and-fill project, but a precise grinding project. The crew was to mill a small amount of the wear course to remove bumps and add texture to the surface. As it cuts, the rotor on the mill leaves a distinctive pattern on the surface that aids traction. Photo courtesy of Caterpillar. 48 december 2011
State of the USDOT by AsphaltPro Staff
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ll agencies have their challenges for the upcoming year, and that includes the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its Report Number PT-2012006, Top Management Challenges for Fiscal Year 2012, Nov. 15, with a list of nine areas the Department needs to work on. We’ll take a quick look at the ones affecting the paving construction industry in particular. 1. Enhance the Department’s oversight of highway, bridge and transit safety. 2. Ensure effective oversight on key initiatives that can improve aviation safety. 3. Ensure effective oversight of hazardous liquid and natural gas pipeline safety. 4. Ensuring effective oversight of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects and apply related lessons learned to improve DOT’s infrastructure programs. 5. Manage the next generation air transportation system advancement while controlling costs. 6. Manage DOT acquisitions in a more strategic manner to maximize limited resources and achieve better mission results. 7. Improve the Department’s cyber security. 8. Define clear goals to guide the Federal Railroad Administration in its transformation. 9. Using Department credit programs to leverage limited federal transportation infrastructure resources. Safety appears in the top three management challenges that the DOT faces. According to the report, the Department spends more than $78 billion annually on a wide range of programs to meet the objective of providing the Nation a safe transportation system. One aspect of safety that the asphalt industry tangentially touches is that of bridge maintenance. Bridge conditions make sensational headlines in most states. The OIG report states that FHWA has found about one-fourth of the Nation’s bridges have major deterioration, cracks in their structural components or other deficiencies. While that means approximately 150,000 bridges have concrete, steel or other issues, they may also need an asphalt resurface once the structural issues are corrected. Safety had a contender for popularity in the report: proper accounting. Contractors seeking federally funded work or Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant work in the future should expect to see closer financial oversight of project owners before payment makes its way down the line. Payment and funding has its own discussion in the report outside of the legislative arena. As the report reminds readers, “The National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission estimates that nearly $100 billion in Federal investments is needed annually to preserve and enhance our Nation’s surface transportation infrastructure. However, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) typically devotes less than $45 billion per year on roadways and transit systems.” Given the myriad financial woes around the country, the OIG report suggests the Department make better use of credit programs. Despite the recent history of borrowers defaulting on loans, the report calls on the Department
to consider reducing application timelines, expand the use of programs and “further leverage Federal support of surface transportation infrastructure projects.” The OIG report also suggests “expanding capacity of credit programs that are oversubscribed” and gives the specific example of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) credit program. Whether or not you see danger in offering more credit to struggling agencies/owners, the OIG report offers this as one solution to leverage limited Federal transportation infrastructure resources. That may mean more immediate work and more immediate safety for the Nation’s transportation system, but represents only one of the nine areas that the OIG highlighted for USDOT officials to juggle in FY 2012..
www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 49
California Unites Under One Asphalt Banner by AsphaltPro Staff
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eadership of the two asphalt pavement associations in California voted to unite as one statewide entity effective Jan. 1. The Board of Directors of the Northern California-based California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA), which was founded in 1994, voted to approve the merger plan Oct. 5. The Southern California-based Asphalt Pavement Association of California (APACA), which was founded in 1953, voted to endorse the plan Oct. 18. Both organizations had a similar number of producer members without a significant amount of overlap. This gives the new association more than 200 members and a reach of the whole state. The new organization will be known as the California Asphalt Pavement Association and will be based in West Sacramento. It will have a regional office in Orange County. The website will be www.californiapavements.org for the immediate future. The stated goal of the unification is for all services currently offered separately by both organizations to continue to be offered post-merger. Another goal is to more effectively advocate for adequate infrastructure funding and common-sense regulations. “As our industry faces the double-whammy of a severe recession and unreasonable regulations, our member companies recognized how critically important it is for us to speak with one voice in California,” John Holliday said. He’s the owner of Holliday Rock and the 2011 chairman of the APACA. “Being as effective as we can be is no longer a goal; it’s survival.”
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John Holliday 2011 APACA Chairman
Jeff Reed 2011 CalAPA Chairman
Jeff Reed, owner of George Reed, Inc., and the 2011 CalAPA chairman said, “During this economic downturn, our companies have been forced to be as efficient as possible, and it is important for our trade association to be as efficient and effective.” Reed gives credit to his partner association’s leader for the new efficiencies California will see. “This merger discussion has been going on and off for many years, and it made sense in our mutual need to speak with a single asphalt voice for our members,” Reed said. “Politics, geography and traditions may have delayed the inevitable, but our current economy has placed greater scrutiny on costs to our members. This is the most efficient way to provide greater value in servicing, training and representing our industry. While a lot of folks have worked on this goal and share the credit, the accolades go to John Holliday for revitalizing this initiative and shepherding it through to completion.” According to the Construction Industry Research Board, construction employment in California in August was 557,900, which is down 41 percent since February of 2006. The construction industry also continues to be burdened by new and costly regulations that have put many companies out of business in recent years. To facilitate the merger, a transition committee comprised of company representatives from both associations is finalizing the details of how the unified organization will operate on Jan. 1 and beyond. The first board meeting of the unified association is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2012, in Los Angeles.
by Ernie Kaplan
I
t’s the end of another long paving season and now it’s time to give your employees, associates and maybe even yourself a gift. There’s an art to giving a gift that’s not too personal or too obtrusive; you don’t want it too bright, too tacky or too complicated to use. Holiday gifts can be a great way to promote team-building and brand awareness. Here are some ideas for today’s asphalt professional that I gave away prior to selling my paving company almost five years ago. Socks at $15 to $20 This one sounds a little strange, but it’s not. I gave my crew three pairs each of Smartwool Light hiking socks. If you’ve never worn good socks, you have to try them. You may never want to wear tube socks again! They allow your feet to breathe, and they stay up on your leg. If your crew has happy feet, they’ll be more productive. Flashlights at $10 to $30 This is a good safety item. Don’t settle for cheap plastic stuff and remember the batteries! Insulated lunch cooler bags at $25 to $40 If your crew brings lunch to work, they’re not driving around looking for lunch while on the clock. A good, soft-sided insulated cooler bag with your company logo silk-screened on it is a great gift. I gave these away one year and four to five years later, I still had employees asking me if I had any more. Quality jackets with embroidered logo at $50 to $100 (or more) I liked to give away a nice jacket that my associates and I will proudly wear. It’s a good item to introduce during a special occasion like an anniversary year or product launch. Don’t get too carried away and make it look like a billboard; those tend not to get worn. Carhartt or similar bib overalls at $50 to $80 For those of you that do winter work, your crew will love these for cold mornings or long nights of snow plowing. These can get your company logo or be left plain. Point and shoot cameras at $80 to $150 The fun part about giving a camera to crew members is having a computer set up where photos can be downloaded to an employee album. Maybe have a giveaway for the best company-related photo once a month. It’s a great way to build a company photo album. GPS units at $100 to $250 This is a gift that employees may want to use for work as well. Just be sure your truck drivers don’t follow GPS directions onto a weight-limited street or a no-truck route. Distance measuring devices at $400 to $800 Of course I’m biased on this one, but you look like a hero giving these to your sales people, foremen or superintendent. This is a great gift that saves a ton of time and makes them more productive. Netbook computers or iPads at $400 and up These are great for the staff to take home for the family. If your employees have family or kids in school, someone will always make good use of these. When making your decisions, keep a few things in mind. First, be equal. I always like to find things that the office staff, sales people or the shovel man will all enjoy and all be happy with. Don’t get gifts by class or employee level. Remember you would be nothing without the employees in the trenches doing the dirty work. This is a good time to build team unity. And have a happy holiday! Ernie Kaplan was the owner of Kaplan Paving for 28 years prior to selling in 2007. He is currently in the electronics manufacturing business. You can reach him at Ernie@KTPent.com. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 51
Equipment gallery
State of Engine Sizes
A
handful of engine manufacturers have new products to introduce in this month’s Equipment Gallery. Three of them were willing to address a question that contractors have asked regarding Tier IV implementation and engine size. With Tier IV engine and aftertreatment requirements, some contractors and equipment operators have wondered about the growing size of engine compartments, thus the growing size of machines. No one wants to be faced in 2015 with a paver deck too high to let the operator see the hopper or head of material clearly. Engine manufacturers have already been working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with such factors in mind. The Kohler Co., Kohler, Wis., along with Lombardini of Italy, unveiled two new Tier 4 Final emission-compliant, heavy-duty diesel engines Oct. 25 for the industrial, construction and agricultural markets. The engines are the KOHLER® 1.9 liter KDI1903TCR and the 2.5 liter KDI2504TCR, which offer limited optimized fuel consumption and limited emissions without the use of a diesel particulate filter (DPF). Dick Fotsch is the president of Kohler Global Power Group and he explained that achieving Tier 4 Final emission compliance without a DPF was possible through the efficient use of the engines’ components. Kohler used a direct injection system, cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and diesel oxygenated catalyst (DOC). The high pressure common rail system (CSR) uses pressures at 2,000 bar (29,000 PSI), which Kohler engineers believe improves fuel
consumption and reduces emission particulates. When they combine the CSR and fuel mapping program with other systems, they improve exhaust emissions and meet Tier 4 Final requirements, according to the manufacturer. This technology keeps the Kohler engines in this power range from growing in size. “Kohler’s new KDI engines were designed with our OEMs in mind, to offer a Tier 4 Final solution,” Jeff Wilke, product manager for Kohler diesel engines said. “Kohler’s KDI engines have no diesel particulate filter, thus fit existing space and have lower operating costs, all while offering more power.” The 1.9 liter KDI1903TCR has 56 horsepower (42 kW) of power at 2,600 revolutions per minute (RPMs) and 166 foot-pounds (225Nm) of torque at 1,500 RPMs. The 2.5 liter KDI2504TCR has 74.3 hp (55 kW) at 2,600 RPMs and 221.3 foot-pounds (300 Nm) of torque at 1,500 RPMs. For more information about Kohler’s diesel engines, visit www.KohlerEngines.com. In a much larger engine class, Cummins, Inc., announced from its Seymour, Ind., plant Nov. 1 that its new QSK95 engine is ready to meet Tier 4 Final emissions standards using SCR aftertreatment, designed by Cummins, to replace the exhaust muffler. This behemoth is designed for our mine haul truck readers and workers in the offshore oil and gas platform business. The 95-liter monster has 16 cylinders and more than 4,000 hp (2,983 kW). That doesn’t mean Cummins is out of the medium-speed engines business or has forgotten the needs of mediumpower end users.
QSK95 from Cummins
52 december 2011
“A Tier 4 engine/ aftertreatment system does typically require more of a space envelope than a Tier 3 engine/ m u f f l e r,” Cummins spokesperson Kevan Browne KDI1903TCR from Kohler said, “but that varies considerably by engine make, turbo arrangement and type of aftertreatment. This was one of the reasons Cummins introduced a ‘compact cata- KDI2504TCR from Kohler lyst’ instead of a ‘particulate filter’ aftertreatment; to reduce space claim and provide more flexible orientation for the below 173-hp equipment. “There are, of course, many installation options and configurations that can be made to accommodate specific machines, and this is what the industry—engine suppliers and OEMs—has been hard at work on before machines are introduced. Cummins application engineers would work closely with the OEM design teams to make that happen. Clearly, an OEM would not introduce any Tier 4 machine that compromised visibility or stability. OEMs are very focused on improving both these aspects, and all Tier 4 machines will overall be better designed and cleaner than their predecessors.” End users find engines from Caterpillar in a host of off-road equipment. From wheel loaders to excavators to milling machines, you can look inside and possibly find the C4.4 ACERT™ diesel engine. This engine is designed to meet 2012 EPA Tier 4 Interim standards in the United States, European Union Stage IIIB standards and Japanese MLIT emissions requirements. Its aftertreatment device, the C3.4B fits on top of it. A spokesperson for Caterpillar discussed the inevitable increase in size that aftertreatment systems require of an engine, but also pointed out the advance planning manufacturers have in place for that growth. “The aftertreatment systems on Cat engines that meet Tier 4 Interim emissions standards do require additional space compared to earlier models equipped with Tier 2 and Tier 3 engines. The biggest change from Tier 2/3 to Tier 4 is
C4.4 ACERT from Caterpillar
the addition of aftertreatment. Various forms of aftertreatment systems are an inevitable part of engine technologies to enable manufacturers to meet Tier 4 regulations. Manufacturers have had to make adjustments within the equipment to enable the engine and aftertreatment systems to fit adequately. “At Tier 4 Interim, Caterpillar developed the Cat Clean Emissions Module, a modular aftertreatment package designed to further reduce particulates. The advantage of this system is that it was developed with Tier 4 Final in mind. Caterpillar made the necessary equipment adjustments at Tier 4 Interim to package the new technology so that no further changes would need to be made at Tier 4 Final.” Overall, engine manufacturers and OEMs have worked together to keep engine spaces from growing noticeably in equipment. The
Caterpillar spokesman used his company as an example that all engine/OEM partnerships are using to keep operators safe and in compliance. “Equipment engineers work directly with engineers from the engine group, so they were aware of the space requirements long before implementation and were able to plan for it. The impact on visibility has been minimal, if anything. In the case of our new AP1055E and AP1000E asphalt pavers, the deck height did not increase at all. As the space requirements for aftertreatment systems increase, engineers will continue to collaborate directly with our engine group to design solutions that meet engine space requirements without compromising visibility.”
www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 53
Equipment gallery
Honeywell Safety Products, Smithfield, R.I., introduced the Fibre-Metal Roughneck P2A Hard Hat Oct. 31 for extreme
work environments. The manufacturer states it’s suited for workers on construction sites and heavy industry jobsites. It’s constructed of a proprietary injection-molded fiberglass compound designed for exceptional impact and crack resistance. It meets ANSI-Z89.1-2009 impact resistance tests at temperatures up to 370 degrees F. Its SuperEight® suspension, with eight load-bearing points, spreads weight over a wide area for balance, stability and impact protection. The Roughneck P2A is available with a choice of three high-performance headgear options: the Fibre-Metal non-slip/non-strip ratchet, SwingStrap™ or TabLok™. It also comes ready to use with the Quick-Lok® or Speedy® Loop helmet attachment system for face shields and welding helmets. Each of the cap’s nine shades of solid-color resin provides a permanent, no-chip, no-peel finish. For more information, call (800) 430-4110. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.
ECCO, Boise, Idaho, recently secured a lower cost for the light-emitting diodes used to produce its 3945 and 3965 LEDs. Now the company says it’s passing that savings on by significantly reducing the price of these popular, grommet-mounted directional warning lights. Each comes with a 1-year warranty, according to the company’s fourth quarter Focus newsletter. These are high-performance auxiliary warning lights that are designed to provide quick and easy installation in standard rear lighting grommets. They’re available in either 4.5-inch round or 6-inch oval configurations, as shown in the picture. ECCO offers them in either amber, blue, clear or red illumination, and they feature SAE J595 Class I light output and eight flash patterns—single, slow single, fast single, double, fast double, quad, quint and warp flash. Contractors know that high output LEDs are designed to offer low maintenance, long life and low current consumption. These LEDs also offer ultrasonically sealed housing with vibration- and shock-resistant construction. They’re also designed to withstand temperatures ranging from -22 degrees F to 122 degrees F (-30 degrees C to 50 degrees C). The 3900 series accessories include grommets and mounting boxes for both configurations. For more information, contact ECCO at (800) 635-5900 or (208) 395-8000 or visit www. eccolink.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine. Talbert Manufacturing, Inc., Rensselaer, Ind., showed off its multi-purpose 55-Ton Telescopic Trailer at the American Towman Expo 2011 in Baltimore Nov. 17 through 20. The trailer then went to Talbert’s top dealer, Hale Trailer Brake & Wheel, which is one of the largest independent full-service trailer dealerships in the United States. He’s got 14 locations along the East Coast from Maine to Florida. If you’re interested, here are the specs on this trailer. It’s a hydraulic detach telescopic trailer with a deck that extends from 30 to 50 feet. It has a 20-inch loaded deck height. Its spread axle capabilities allow a 2 + 2 or a 3 + 1 configuration and its tandem axle features connections for a third axle that can be flipped or removed. The unit is also equipped with connections for a future fourth axle. It’s engineered with a pinned and hinged gooseneck extension that can be flipped. Haulers can retract the overall trailer length to less than 53 feet. Among the standard features, the trailer is equipped with air-ride suspension, DuraBright aluminum outer wheels, strobe lights at the rear of each axle, and a battery back-up that powers the lighting package when the trailer is disconnected from the truck cab. For more information, contact Hale Trailer Brake & Wheel at (800) 232-6535 or Talbert Manufacturing at (800) 348-5232. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine. Atlas Copco Construction Equipment, Commerce City, Colo., has released its QAS 150 portable generator, which is
designed for extreme weather conditions. It’s enclosed in a zincor-coated steel canopy and skid-mounted on a standard, sealed, spillage-free frame. The generator features a 6-cylinder John Deere Tier 4A diesel engine with 169-horsepower at 1,800 RPMs. The skid-mounted version measures 133 inches long, 76 inches high and 47 inches wide. It weighs 7,484 pounds. The trailer style measures 191 inches long, 92 inches high, 84 inches wide and weighs 8,541 pounds. For more information, contact Chris Fisher at chris.fisher@us.atlascopco.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.
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ROADTEC
With new DOT specs for thinner friction courses, proper surface preparation is more important than ever. Delaminating of thin courses can happen when surfaces are prepared with conventional milling. In thin overlay applications, micro-milling is often required for lasting results. Roadtec now offers a cutter that produces a fine, straight-line pattern, which has not deviated with changes in travel speed or machine stops for truck changes. DOT tests of the surface have been passed consistently with this cutter. Moreover, the milled surface’s texture has been shown safe for cars and motorcycles alike when opened to traffic before paving begins. Tooth consumption is extremely low with this product. On a recent job consisting of 5 miles of roadway (10 lane miles), 1 inch removal with a micro-finish, and an average travel speed of 48.5 feet per minute and as high as 70 feet per minute, zero teeth were changed during the 5-day project. For more information, contact Roadtec at (423) 265-0600. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.
Emerson Industrial Automation, St. Louis, released its new, user-friendly bearing catalog Nov. 17. This is a 932-page comprehensive reference for a wide variety of precision unmounted and mounted bearing products available under the McGill, Rollway, Browning and Sealmaster brands. It’s the first time that Emerson’s extensive range of bearing products have been consolidated into one, complete catalog. To order a catalog, go to the Power Transmission Solutions site at www.emerson-ept.com. An interactive, page-flip version of the catalog is also available at www.emersonlinecatalog.com. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 55
here's how it works
Deister's Horizontal Screening Plant with Feed Conveyor
R
ecycled asphalt pavement (RAP) remains a trending topic with more states considering higher percentages of it in their mixes for base through surface courses. That means a plant that can screen crushed stone, sand and gravel, or concrete and asphalt recycle can come in handy in-pit or on-the-go. The engineers at Deister Machine Company, Inc., Ft. Wayne, Ind., have those applications in mind with the new Deister Portable Heavy-Duty Horizontal Screening Plant with Feed Conveyor. It comes in two sizes: 6-foot by 20-foot and 8-foot by 20-foot. Here’s how it works. The feed conveyor takes on material one of two ways: directly onto its 36-inch-wide belt—on the 6-foot model—by conveyor, or through its optional feed hopper with optional
56 december 2011
tilt grizzly by loader or conveyor. Like all chutes and hoppers on the machine, the feed hopper is made of AR400 plate. The material stream travels along the feed conveyor, past an optional crusher return feed hopper, to fall onto the top of the horizontal triple-shaft vibrating screen deck. The plant accepts one feed stream. With four discharge conveyors—three of them short cross conveyors—it produces four sized product streams. The top deck discharges onto a short stationary chute that extends down to another cross conveyor. The cross conveyors take the individual deck discharges and convey them to the side of the plant where they can each be collected by a separate stacking conveyor.
The lower two decks each discharge directly onto separate cross conveyors. The fines that pass through the bottom deck of the screen fall onto a 60-inch-wide belt—on the 6-foot model—that runs horizontally under the length of the screen, then angles up at the rear once it clears the vibrating screen frame. This belt can discharge directly onto the ground or onto a stacking conveyor. For more information on Deister Premium Portable Screening Plants; or on its complete line of feeding, scalping and screening equipment; call 260-426-7495 or email info@deistermachine.com; or visit www.deistermachine.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.
the last cut
International Oil Growth by AsphaltPro Staff
T
he Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its November 2011 ShortTerm Energy Outlook in early November with the optimistic news that the outlook for oil production appears to be improving. Oil market conditions had tightened in 2011 when international supply disruptions drew down commercial and strategic reserves of oil. Now EIA expects both OPEC and non-OPEC crude oil supply to grow during 2012. According to EIA’s Nov. 9 This Week in Petroleum report, “the EIA now expects the average cost U.S. refiners pay for crude oil to decline, albeit marginally, to an average $100 per barrel in the fourth quarter, compared to $101 per barrel in the third quarter. Oil inventories are also expected to stabilize somewhat after sharply tightening since mid-2010.” One need only watch the crude oil price trends in this department to wonder where the marginal decline referenced in the report might be. If you look at the weekly spot price for U.S. crude oil, you see the third quarter price creeping marginally, but creeping marginally upward, with a gentle nudge down during late September. If you compare that to the monthly
average liquid AC price around the country, you’ll see a correlating “marginal” dip or steady price at the beginning of October. Does the dip in AC prices sustained through early November in most parts of the country mean we’re on a good trend? EIA offered some food for thought. “Upside uncertainty to the crude oil outlook remains mostly as a result of ongoing unrest in oil-producing regions. The potential for additional and worsening unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is a source of risk to both OPEC and non-OPEC supply. Product inventories in some markets also look on the tight side going into the winter. “On the other hand, downward price pressure exists because of continued lackluster economic growth, especially in advanced economies, as persistent fears about global recession, contagion effects of the debt crisis in the European Union, and other fiscal issues facing national governments raise questions about already weak forecasts in the OECD economies. On the supply side too, there may be downward price pressure if Libya is able to ramp up oil production and exports sooner than anticipated.”
The asphalt industry shouldn’t keep all eyes focused on the Middle East, though. Brazil may be set to jump into the deep end of long-term petroleum production now that Petrobras is looking at pre-salt deposits of oil about 18,000 feet below the ocean floor in its Campos and Santos basins. According to EIA’s Oct. 26 This Week in Petroleum report, “[p]re-salt development, coupled with the ability to meet a large share of domestic demand with biofuels, is projected to transform the country into a major oil exporter.” The October report stated that “Brazilian conventional production is projected to grow to 4.8 million bbl/d in 2035,” which will represent 14 percent of total world production growth in conventional liquids. That represents 40 percent of non-OPEC growth over the projection period of 2010 to 2035, according to the report. The name of the game is still supply and demand. The trends in supply show advances in both OPEC and non-OPEC sources. The trends in demand show slow growth in some markets. We can only watch the trends in pricing to see how the market reacts to both.
Liquid Asphalt Cement Prices—average per ton Company, State
Aug ’11
Sep ’11
Oct ’11
Nov ’11
$560.00
$550.00
$550.00
$550.00
NuStar Energy, Ga.
590.00
585.00
580.00
580.00
NuStar Energy, N.C.
600.00
585.00
580.00
580.00
NuStar Energy, Va.
620.00
600.00
595.00
Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, N.C.
590.00
580.00
Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, S.C.
590.00
Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, Va.
600.00
ConocoPhillips, Tenn.
Diesel Fuel Retail Price (dollars per gallon)
Crude Oil Activity (U.S. Crude) futures spot data
stocks
Aug 15
3.835
Aug 12
$85.38/bbl
354.0 m bbl
Aug 22
3.810
595.00
Aug 19
$82.26/bbl
351.8 m bbl
Aug 29
3.820
580.00
580.00
Aug 26
$85.27/bbl
357.1 m bbl
Sep 5
3.868
575.00
575.00
575.00
Sep 2
$86.45/bbl
353.1 m bbl
Sep 12
3.862
590.00
590.00
590.00
Sep 9
$87.24/bbl
346.4 m bbl
Sep 19
3.833
Marathon Petroleum, Tenn.
555.00
555.00
540.00
540.00
Sep 16
$87.96/bbl
339.0 m bbl
Sep 26
3.786
Marathon Petroleum, N.C.
565.00
565.00
565.00
555.00
Sep 23
$79.85/bbl
341.0 m bbl
Oct 3
3.749
Valero Petroleum, Va.
605.00
590.00
580.00
580.00
Sep 30
$79.20/bbl
336.3 m bbl
Oct 10
3.721
Massachusetts Average
617.50
587.50
575.00
575.00
Oct 7
$82.98/bbl
337.6 m bbl
Oct 17
3.801
California Average
570.50
589.70
559.80
637.00
Oct 14
$86.80/bbl
332.9 m bbl
Oct 24
3.825
Missouri Average
525.00
510.00
510.00
510.00
Oct 21
$87.40/bbl
337.6 m bbl
Oct 31
3.892
Oct 28
$93.32/bbl
339.5 m bbl
Nov 7
3.887
Nov 4
$94.26/bbl
338.1 m bbl
Data for Southeast region, Source: ncdot.org | Data for Massachusetts, Source: mass.gov Data for California, Source: dot.ca.gov | Data for Missouri, Source: modot.mo.gov
Source: Energy Information Administration
Source: Energy Information Administration
www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 57
resource directory ACE Group................................ 35, 59 Contact: Carl McKenzie Tel: 888-878-0898 sales.enquiries@ashaltacesales.com www.asphaltace.com Asphalt Drum Mixers.........16-17, 53, outsert Contact: Steve Shawd or Jeff Dunne Tel: 260-637-5729 sales@admasphaltplants.com www.admasphaltplants.com Asphalt Plant Products................. 50 Contact: Tom Holley Tel: 866-595-3268 Cell: 706-466-3678 www.asphaltplantproducts.com B & S Light Industries...............30-31 Contact: Mike Young Tel: 918-342-1181 Sales@bslight.com www.bslight.com Bullis Fabrication........................... 51 Contact: Greg Bullis Tel: 866-981-8965 gregbullis@bullisfabrication.com www.bullisfabrication.com C.M Consulting............................... 58 Contact: Cliff Mansfield
sburney@heatec.com www.heatec.com
Rick@processheating.com www.processheating.com
dkochert@hotmixparts.com www.hotmixparts.com
CEI..................................................... 4 Contact: Andy Guth Tel: 800-545-4034 info@ceienterprises.com www.ceienterprises.com
Herman Grant Co., Inc................... 15 Contact: Paula Shuford Tel: 800-472-6826 hg@hermangrant.com www.hermangrant.com
Reliable Asphalt Products.....................Back Cover, 47 Contact: Charles Grote Tel: 502-647-1782 cgrote@reliableasphalt.com www.reliableasphalt.com
Systems Equipment....................... 13 Contact: Dave Enyart Sr. Tel: 563-568-6387 Dlenyart@systyemsequipment.com www.systemsequipment.com
Clarence Richard Co...........................55 Contact: Clarence Richard Tel: 952-939-6000 Carrie@clarencerichard.com www.clarencerichard.com
Libra Systems................................. 49 Contact: Ken Cardy Tel: 225-256-1700 Sales@librasystems.com www.librasystems.com
Roadtec............................................. 7 Contact: Sales Tel: 423-265-0600 Sales@roadtec.com www.roadtec.com
Tarmac International, Inc........ 21, 23 Contact: Ron Heap Tel 816-220-0700 info@tarmacinc.com www.tarmacinc.com
Tel: 541-354-6188 CMConslt@aol.com www.hotplantconsulting.com
E.D. Etnyre...................................... 20 Contact: sales@etnyre.com Tel: 800-995-2116 www.etnyre.com Eagle Crusher................................. 37 Tel: 800-25-EAGLE Sales@eaglecrusher.com www.eaglecrusher.com EZ Street.................................... 33,35 Tel: 800-734-1476 Info@ezstreet-miami.com www.ezstreetasphalt.com Heatec, Inc............Inside Front Cover Contact: Sharlene Burney Tel: 800-235-5200
Maxam Equipment.......................... 9 Contact: Lonnie Greene Tel: 800-292-6070 lgreene@maxamequipment.com www.maxamequipment.com Minds, Inc....................................... 23 Contact: Curtis Kieres Tel: 250-862-8813 x 226 Contact: kieres@mindsinc.ca www.mindsinc.ca Process Heating............................. 24 Contact: Rick or Ron Jay Tel: 866-682-1582 Ron@processheating.com
Rocky Mountain ACE Show........... 25 Contact: Sue Wagner-Renner Tel: 970-222-4459 www.rmaces.org Rotochopper, Inc........................... 43 Tel: 320-548-3586 Info@rotochopper.com www.rotochopper.com Stansteel AsphaltPlant Products.................. 29 Contact: Dave Payne Tel: 800-826-0223 dpayne@stansteel.com www.stansteel.com Stansteel................................... 11, 45 Contact: Dawn Kochert Tel: 800-826-0223
Top Quality Paving........................ 58 Contact: John Ball Tel 603-624-8300 Tqpaving@yahoo.com www.tqpaving WRT Equipment............................. 42 Contact: Dean Taylor Tel: 800-667-2025 or 306-244-0423 dtaylor@wrtequipment.com www.wrtequipment.com World of Asphalt.................................27 Contact: info@worldofasphalt.com Tel: 800-867-6060 www.worldofasphalt.com
AsphaltPro’s Resource Directory is designed for you to have quick access to the manufacturers that can get you the information you need to run your business efficiently. Please support the advertisers that support this magazine and tell them you saw them in AsphaltPro magazine.
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60 december 2011