Asphalt Pro - June/July 2011

Stock the Lab for Every Day

BCI Materials Builds Control into New Emulsion Plant Stay Safe: Make it Glow

C.W. Brings RAP Op In-House Porous WMA Dumps the Fiber 7 Peaks Rises from Producer Change Turkey Provides International Snapshot Separator Eliminates Fines for Mix Design June/July 2011

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The team from Rea Construction used Evotherm 3G to reduce a host of costs on its recent porous WMA project. See related article on page 28. Photo courtesy of MeadWestVaco.

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BCI Materials teamed up with OEMs like Heatec and MINDS, Inc., to build en emulsion plant in North Carolina. See related article on page 24. Photo courtesy of Heatec.

June/July 2011 Departments

Articles

Letter From the Editor 5 Vote Them Out if They Give Our Jobs Away

11 Top 10 Reasons I’d Rather be Fishing

by Sandy Lender

Around the Globe 6 Safety Spotlight 8 Illuminate Your Everyday Operation

by John Ball Mix It Up 12 Predict Asphalt Pavement Skid Resistance

by Eyad Masad Producer Profile 20 7 Peaks Rises from Economic Changes

by Sandy Lender

16 International Compaction

by AsphaltPro Staff 18 Stock the Lab for Efficient QC

by Sandy Lender

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C.W. Matthews brought its RAP supply in-house with a crushing and screening arrangement from JCI-KPI and Astec Mobile Screens. See related article on page 36. Photo courtesy of KPI.

24 Blythe Takes on Company’s Emulsion Needs

by Curtis Kieres 28 WMA Design Removes Fibers for Porous Pavement Solution

by Tom Kuennen 36 More Crushing Options Allow C.W. Versatility with RAP

by Mary McCaig-Foster

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Whether it’s for reflection, definition, illumination, etc., John Ball tells you how strategic placement of lighting and tape addresses a variety of safety issues. See related article on page 8.

Photo courtesy of Top Quality Paving.

Equipment Gallery 41 Bobcat Engages All Wheels Here’s How It Works 46 Fisher Industries’ Air Separator Last Cut 48 We Won't Need Them Anymore

by AsphaltPro Staff Resource Directory 50

On the Cover This issue focuses on lab techniques, technologies and testing, which means exploring what’s in our asphalt mixes. From emulsions to RAP to WMA, this edition of AsphaltPro touches on the technical aspects of what you produce and place.

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7 Peaks Paving, LLC, formed in central Oregon this spring with a busy paving schedule for its experienced crew to tackle. See related article on page 20.

Photo courtesy of 7 Peaks Paving. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 3

June/July 2011 • Vol. 4 No.8

Vote Them Out if They Give Our Jobs Away editor’s note

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 (660) 248-2258

editor Sandy Lender sandy@theasphaltpro.com (239) 272-8613

operations/circulation manager Cindy Sheridan business manager Renea Sapp graphic design Alisha Moreland Kristin Branscom

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 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.

Pardon me for a moment while I plagiarize the Red Hot Chili Peppers. …Come on everybody time to deliver Give it away give it away give it away now Give it away give it away give it away now Give it away give it away give it away now I can’t tell if I’m a king pin or a pauper…

I’m channeling the early ’90s grunge today because the U.S. Government has once again reminded me of a bunch of people giving away pieces of our heritage. I’m not talking about our representatives voting to print up a bunch of money and hand it out to banks and programs that may or may not deserve a free lunch. I’m talking about our representatives failing us and our descendents.

I’m writing this after Memorial Day thus two catalysts influence me. One, the orbiter Endeavour returned to Earth in the wee hours of the morning Wednesday, its sonic boom shaking me (and my windows) from slumber. Second, I have a sense of American pride in me right now renewed by the holiday.

I have ancestors who fought for my right (and yours) to pursue the life I wish to lead in this country. I can drive the car of my choosing. I can worship at the church of my choice. I can live in the city and state where I’m most comfortable (and where I have easy access to sea turtles for my conservation efforts). My nieces and nephew can pursue the education most suited to their talents and desires without a government entity stepping in to select their paths for them. I can vote.

Let’s look at that last one more closely in light of the Transportation Construction Coalition’s recent Fly-in to Washington.

We can vote when we come of age, and that should strike fear into the representatives who are handing our proud and storied space program to another nation. That should strike fear into the representatives who are arguing whether or not we need to fund a long-term transportation bill that supports and safeguards our infrastructure. Personally, I have no use for Congressmen or women who negate the value of the jobs in, and on the edges of, the construction industry in favor of the program of the month or the cut of the week.

Some uneducated person left one of those annoying comments on a transportation funding article online recently. You know the kind of comment I’m talking about—one alleging that illegal aliens fill the potholes in his/her neighborhood so a transportation bill would be a waste of money. I’d finally had enough of such crap and wrote up a lengthy response, detailing what the article had failed to—just what types of jobs get lost when states don’t get to plan for bigger-than-pothole projects.

Of course, writing educational comments to online articles isn’t going to get a transportation bill passed. I’ve suggested it before and I’ll suggest it again: let your representatives know that you have one of those thousands of jobs that could be lost if he or she refuses to act swiftly and intelligently on transportation legislation. Congress can’t just give transportation monies away to other issues such as deficit reduction or national health care or what-have-you without repercussions.

Our space program is destined to fly to other shores. As a child of the ’80s and an avid Reagan fan, I have a prejudice against handing the program our men and women worked so diligently to build to our “enemy” of the Cold War. But that’s just a side note to my disappointment. The true emptiness is from giving away something great that we built as a nation.

The same is true of the economy built into our highways. Our bridges. Our scenic byways. Our national infrastructure. It’s up to voters to keep Congress from giving it away.

Stay Safe,

Sandy Lender www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 5

AROUND THE GLOBE Industry News and Happenings from Around the World Canada Major Wire Industries, Co., Candiac, Quebec, has named Westate Machinery Co. as its new screen media authorized dealer in Montana, eastern Idaho and parts of Wyoming. The dealership will offer all of Major Wire’s screen media solutions, including the Flex-Mat® 3 self-cleaning screen media in tensioned and modular versions and Optimum Wire® Woven Wire. Contact Phil Schulz at Westate at (800) 999-6676.

Chile Trex, Ltd., Santiago, Chile, won the Top Sales 2010 Award for Latin America during the Hirschmann Automation and Controls dealer conference at the CONEXPO-CON/ AGG show where the parent company, headquartered in Chambersburg, Pa., discussed its new Scalable Mobile Control System (SMCS).

China Shantui, Shandong, China, announced May 24 that the Off-Highway Research independent construction equipment industry consultant compiled statistics that prove Shantui is the world’s largest maker of bulldozers. In 2010, Shantui produced two out of every five crawlertype dozers in the world—more than 10,000 units.

Also in 2010, the company surpassed U.S. $2 billion in revenue. This year, its team started producing the first brand-name dozer made by a Chinese manufacturer to pass European and American emissions and safety standards, according to the manufacturer.

India Imports of bitumen from the United States were up in March. Bitumen import into the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) port, Mumbai, firmed up by 51 percent that month as compared to January. The JNPT, also known as Nhava Sheva, handles 55 to 60 percent of the total containerized cargo in India, according to jnport.com.

Source: Petrosil’s Bitumart.

Russia The CTT-CONEXPO Russia 2011 exhibition to be held May 31 through June 4, 2011, at the Crocus International Exhibition Center in Moscow was set to feature a special meeting of the Construction Equipment Committee of the Association of European Businesses in the Russian Federation (AEB) with presentations on construction machinery market analysis, machine types and uses, spec and tech requirements, and customs issues. The Russian economy continues to improve and the country has allocated billions of dollars for infrastructure projects that will need new equipment and technologies.

6 June/July 2011

United States

For updates, opinion and links concerning funding legislation, be sure to check the blog at www.TheAsphaltForum.blogspot.com., the website at www.theasphaltpro.com, our facebook page or our twitter account at http://twitter.com/AsphaltPro. We’d love to connect with you more often!

California

BoDean Company’s Mark West Quarry in Northern California made history May 11 when they “flipped the switch” to become the first quarry in their industry to be 100 percent reliant on solar power. Owners Belinda and Dean Soiland are also dedicated to the extensive use of recycled materials in their production process and actively pursue a managed reclamation plan that coincides with quarry operations. Their photovoltaic system will be capable of generating 1,165,000 kilowatt hours of green energy per year and the electricity produced by the solar panels will offset the release of 1,844,521 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, which is enough energy to power 160 typical American homes for a full year. Source: Boylan Point Agency, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Colorado

The Colorado Department of Transportation advertised five new CDOT highway construction projects May 26.

Visit http://www.coloradodot.info/business/bidding/ future-bidding-opportunities for details and additional opportunities.

Florida

Gov. Rick Scott appointed Ananth Prasad to secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation in midApril, giving him responsibility for the $7 billion agency.

Prasad has 20 years of experience in the transportation industry, including 18 years with FDOT. Source: AASHTO.

Nevada

The CONEXPO-CON/AGG and IFPE 2011 shows held in Las Vegas in late March are still in the news. Show management reports that a successful recycling/repurposing program held during the shows allowed the construction industry to process more than 442 tons of waste (including paper/cardboard, carpet/padding and building materials) from the event with a recovery rate of more than 76 percent. This is a 25.5 percent increase in the recovery rate from the shows held in 2008.

Ohio

Mine Equipment and Design (MED), Fairfield, Ohio, is the newest member of the U.S. dealer network for KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens. The company brings a strong background in the aggregate and mining

industries to marketing the portable and stationary product lines in Ohio, Kentucky and portions of Indiana.

For more info, visit www.minequipment.com.

Pennsylvania The team at Eriez®, Erie, Pa., has developed an internal eco-certification designation for a variety of the company’s magnetic separation and recycling equipment, as well as its line of small feeders. If the equipment has a positive impact on recycling processes and the recycling industry, is manufactured with energy saving features (including the use of energy-free permanent magnets) and other qualifications, it gets the eco-certified label.

South Dakota KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens, Yankton, S.D., announces John Olsen as vice president of international sales for the Astec Aggregate and Mining Group (AAMG), providing increased focus especially in Central and South America, Europe-Russia-CIS, and Asia-North Africa-Middle East.

Tennessee The AsphaltPro staff sends its condolences to the Wayne Evans family. The former National Asphalt Pavement Association chairman and business development manager for Wirtgen America passed away Sunday, May 9.

Washington State More than 300 representatives from 153 construction companies gathered at the 15th annual Dexter + Chaney users’ conference held recently in Seattle.

The conference offered 53 unique courses across eight tracks of study.

Washington, D.C. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) President Dennis Slater spoke before a congressional meeting May 25 during the annual Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) Fly-in. He let senators and various business leaders know that “Infrastructure investment is a proven engine for economic growth.”

Slater also reported to the group that 60 percent of surveyed voters nationwide support a one-cent national sales tax that would expire in five years for infrastructure. Eighty-three percent of voters agree that modernizing and rebuilding infrastructure is a safety and a jobs issue that will take innovative funding to achieve. Source: AEM

SAFETY SPOTLIGHT Illuminate Your Everyday Operation

by John Ball

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nyone can pick up a roll of illuminating tape at the same source where he or she’s buying safety vests for new crew members. That reflective tape, and other signage and lighting ideas, will be portrayed in this month’s safety department. Whether it’s the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or your creative equipment operators who come up with innovative illumination for the work zone, every little bit helps identify personnel, machinery and daily changes to machinery. Let’s look at some great examples for day or nighttime paving.

John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving, Manchester, N.H. For more information, contact him at tqpaving@yahoo.com or (603) 624-8300 or visit www.tqpaving.com.

8 June/July 2011

This Carlson screed on a Dynapac tractor features the kind of illumination I like to see on the back of the paving operation. Look at the reflective tape on the screed and extensions, on each of the steps leading up to the platform, and on the frame of the tractor. This machine has orange diamonds to indicate the vehicle travels at less than 25 miles per hour on the left and right up there and features a retractable strobe light on the operator’s platform.

The strobe pole goes up and down three feet so it can be set high enough to stay out of the operator’s eyes or can be lowered to stay out of wires and tree limbs.

Notice on the smaller photo that the red light beneath the diamond sign has an orange split lens beneath it. Every little thing you can do to communicate your presence to traffic is a safety plus, whether it’s day or night.

Above Left: Notice on this paver that the OEM has placed orange marking lights to outline the paver to the outside of the light bank. This helps the haul truck driver line up his load when backing in. Also notice that these lights are recessed at the darkest corner of the paver. That keeps the haul truck from smacking them off by accident and allows them to shine on the guidebar and joint for better night paving. Left: On this Dynapac roller, the OEM has placed a rectangular marking light on the side of the step. This guides the operator for safer ascension and descension. Above: Notice that the OEM has placed three sets of lights on the front of this Hamm roller, and has placed the high-intensity lights low down where they shine directly on the road and show the water lines on the drum. Immediately above the high-intensity lights are directional lights, as pointed out by the arrows. Recessed in the frame of the roller so that the cylindrical light structures are flush with the roller, the OEM has placed the marker lights. These shine orange and won’t get smacked off by errant shovels.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 9

An example of machinery changes that you’d want to illuminate or call attention to is the popular paver seat that swings out from the frame of the tractor about 30 degrees. The illuminated tape along the base of the seat (in photo below) not only attracts the attention of drivers passing by, it highlights the seat so workers don’t whack their heads against it while working around the paver. The green Vogele paver (in photo at left) has illuminated tape along the engine compartment door. Not only does this attract the motoring publics’ eyes, it alerts fast-moving workers who might be in a hectic work situation to the fact that the engine compartment is open, hopefully preventing them from walking into a bump or cut.

10 June/July 2011

Top 10 Reasons

I’d Rather be Fishing

by Sandy Lender

E

veryone on the paving crew can be proud of a job well done at the end of the shift. You have instant gratification when you look back at a smooth asphalt pavement. But there are days when the paver operator can look at a summer situation and think to himself, “I’d rather be fishing.” Of course the typical paving crew works together to avoid the safety and quality mistakes alluded to in the list below, but any one of these would mess up a shift for the asphalt professional. The Top 10 Reasons I’d Rather be Fishing…

10 9

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The new guy’s wearing shorts, socks and tamping shoes.

The dump man’s consistently walking in front of the paver to scrape something from the hopper’s flashing—and then dumping it on top of hot mix in the hopper.

The lute guy set the soda cans on the vibratory screed to get them out of his way.

The weather man says you’re about to reach a record high for July, and no one brought any sunscreen.

A truck driver just cleaned his bed in the milled lane up ahead—and there’s no Bobcat on site to help scoop it out of the way.

You haven’t seen your sunglasses since the second haul truck backed into the paver at 10 mph.

Someone dropped a putty knife and spray-can of release agent in the head of material.

The DOT inspector’s having a bad day.

The water truck hasn’t shown up and the compaction train is ready to roll.

Nine haul trucks are lined up in front of the paver; a couple even have their beds in the air. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 11

mix it up Predict Asphalt Pavement Skid Resistance

by Eyad Masad

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avement engineers continually strive to provide safe roadways for the motoring public. The skid resistance of asphalt pavement is a major characteristic contributing to roadway safety, especially under wet surface conditions. Skid resistance is primarily a function of the microtexture and macrotexture of a pavement surface.

Microtexture, which is surface features smaller than 0.5 mm, depends primarily on aggregate mineralogy. Microtexture is required to disrupt the continuity of surface water film and attain frictional resistance at the tire-pavement interface. Microtexture provides the dominant contribution to skid resistance at low speeds, but also contributes to high speed wet friction by providing adhesion friction. In wet conditions, adhesion friction can account for two-thirds of the friction value.

Macrotexture is generally considered surface features greater than 0.5 mm in size and is affected mostly by mix design and aggregate gradation. Macrotexture contributes to pavement skid resistance by providing drainage paths for water that can be otherwise trapped between a tire and a pavement surface. Increasing macrotexFigure 1: The Aggregate Image Measurement System (AIMS2)

12 June/July 2011

ture contributes to preventing hydroplaning and improving wet frictional resistance, particularly at high speeds.

Pavement texture changes over time due to the polishing effects of traffic. The cumulative effect of traffic and environmental factors on pavement texture over the life of a pavement influences the skid resistance, which impacts maintenance and rehabilitation costs. Currently, much of what is known about an asphalt pavement’s ability to maintain adequate skid resistance is through historical performance records of the aggregate source based on field skid resistance measurements.

These field measurements are often performed with a device towed at a prescribed speed on a pavement; a rubber tire is then engaged with the pavement surface and the resistive force measured. While the wet, lockedwheel configuration is commonly employed, variations of this measurement are also used such as wet or dry, fixed or variable slip, ribbed or smooth tire, etc. The measurement from a locked wheel skid trailer is often presented as a parameter called Skid Number (SN), which is a representation of the pavement friction.

Figure 2: The Micro-Deval Apparatus

SN values are typically used to determine whether a roadway requires maintenance to improve skid resistance. As aggregate sources with known frictional performance histories are depleted and new sources come into play, the ability to predict the frictional performance of these new materials over the pavement design life is critical. While much research has been conducted in the past to identify material factors that affect skid resistance, there is still a need for a model to predict asphalt pavement skid resistance as a function of material properties, mix characteristics and traffic level.

Aggregate degradation plays an important role in a pavement’s ability to retain adequate skid resistance. An aggregate that abrades under traffic loads will retain microtexture by providing a continually renewed rough surface while an aggregate which undergoes unexpected polishing can cause significant loss of friction resulting in a safety issue. Understanding and managing aggregate microtexture during pavement design can prevent unexpected skid resistance problems. The wet environment of the Micro-Deval lab aggregate degradation test is believed to simulate the weathering and abrasion of aggregates in the field. The standard MicroDeval test is a mass loss evaluation. Recently, the Aggregate Image Measurement System (AIMS2) has been applied to characterize the change in aggregate microtexture of an aggregate source degraded with the Micro-Deval.

Recent research at Texas A&M has resulted in a skid resistance model along with prediction software (Skid Analysis of Asphalt Pavements (SAAP)).

Before Polishing

aggregates and AIMS2 texture images before and after polishing. Traffic level is also a key input to the program. The outcome of the SAAP program is the prediction of the skid number of asphalt pavements as a function of years in service as illustrated in Figure 5.

The SAAP program provides the following advantages to a pavement engineer: 1. The ability to accurately and reliably characterize aggregate texture and resistance to polishing using lab tools and methodology. A significant improvement in the time required to characterize aggregate texture in the pavement design lab is also realized with the use of the AIMS2 and Micro-Deval methodology.

2. The ability to select the combination of material properties (aggregate microtexture) and

mix properties (surface macrotexture) that are needed to achieve the desired skid resistance.

This provides great flexibility for selecting appropriate materials based on a well-defined criterion.

3. The ability to predict asphalt pavement Skid Number as a function of years in service provides engineers with a tool to design asphalt pavements that have acceptable skid resistance characteristics over the design life of the pavement surface.

Eyad Masad, Ph.D., P.E., F. ASCE, is a professor at the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. For more information, contact Dave Savage at Pine Instruments at (724) 458-6391 or dsavage@pineinst.com, or visit www.pineinst.com.

After Polishing

Figure 3: This graph gives examples of results of measuring texture of aggregates after different durations of polishing in the Micro-Deval.

Figure 4: Examples of aggregate samples before and after polishing

This model and associated software for predicting the skid resistances of asphalt pavements was developed based on extensive lab testing as well as field measurements.

The prediction model incorporates functions that describe the aggregate size distribution and can provide an estimate of mix surface macrotexture. The model incorporates the aggregate resistance to polishing by employing the measurements of aggregate microtexture from the AIMS2 (See Figure 1) before and after polishing in the Micro-Deval (See Figure 2).

Figure 3 shows how the texture measured using AIMS2 changes at different durations in the Micro-Deval. Figure 4 shows examples of 14 June/July 2011

Figure 5: SAAP predicted skid number vs. years of service

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 15

International Compaction

by AsphaltPro Staff

16 June/July 2011

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n beautiful Sinop, Turkey, near the coast of the Black Sea, the subcontractor Küçükel Construction Company completes compaction on the Boyabat Highway Project. They finished one year early at the request of Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Here you see the team using two CB434D rollers and one CB534D rollers from Caterpillar. Three Cat AP755 asphalt pavers were also used on the project. A Cat representative says the region has a mild climate in the summer, but gets heavy rains in the autumn and winter; for contractors there, difficulties start with the rains. Underdevelopment in the region also poses problems. If anything happens to the machines or one of them breaks down, it takes some time to repair it and get it back on the job. The Aegean and Mediterranean regions have an easier time getting repairs resolved, so this region nearer the coast requires robust equipment and strong service and maintenance back-up.

Photo courtesy of Caterpillar Paving Products, Brooklyn Park, Minn.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 17

Stock the Lab for Efficient QC

by Sandy Lender

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ccurate, repeatable measuring of specific gravity, ductility, viscosity, permeability, volatility, emulsification and much more contributes to the perfection of reliable asphalt mix performance. That’s why we find well-trained and thoughtful lab technicians at the heart of quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) programs at award-winning and bonus-attaining production facilities.

Good lab techs require good labs. They seek out good equipment and put best practices into play. Here are a few items that your technician may be requesting or that your new lab may require as you get started in the QC/ QA arena.

Let’s start with the most important aspect of the lab: safety. How many fire extinguishers do you have in the lab trailer? Double it. And check existing extinguishers’ tags for expiration dates and service needs.

All sources remind you to keep a first aid kit in the lab. Jim Bibler of Gilson Co., Lewis Center, Ohio, said first aid kit refills are relevant as well. Don’t forget to keep them on hand.

“You also want protection from heat and/or hot objects,” Bibler advised. “Keep up-to-date MSDS sheets for all potentially hazardous materials used in the lab. You’ll want mercury spill clean-up kits. And when using solvents or other hazardous materials in the lab, be sure you’re in a well-ventilated area.”

John Muhlke of HMA Lab Supply, Inc., Richmond, Va., included eye wash stations and burn kits in his list of safety needs for the lab.

He also stressed education. “The safety burn posters and wallet cards from NAPA are also good things to have on the wall.” (Posters and cards are available at http://store.hotmix.org.)

An aspect of safety that companies like Humboldt, Pine Instruments, Gilson, InstroTek and others assist clients with is power. The last thing you want to do is overload the circuits in your lab and create a hazardous situation for lab personnel.

“Have an understanding of what will be running at the same time in the lab to help determine total load required,” Bibler said.

“Some of this lab equipment will likely require a licensed electrician to install if hardwiring is necessary. In those cases, understanding the building power supply and how it relates to the equipment being purchased is a necessity.

Is single or three-phase power available?”

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The Micro-Deval apparatus from Gilson is used in the Skid Analysis of Asphalt Pavements (SAAP) method. See related article on page 12.

“Have an understanding of what will be running at the same time in the lab to help determine total load required.” — Jim Bibler Muhlke agreed with client involvement.

“Make sure that you have adequate voltage and amperage available to power such equipment as larger lab ovens and ignition furnaces.”

Bibler advises clients place sensitive electronic equipment on dedicated circuits and away from potential interference such as vibrations, excessive temperatures, drafts or moisture. “Use GFCI circuits when near water.”

Most lab equipment has power requirements, and a good sales representative can discuss those needs with you, as well as other lab needs. A variety of lab OEMs let us know what new products they have available these days.

Brookfield Engineering has recently released its DV2+ EXTRA Viscometer with Thermosel accessory, equipped with disposable chambers.

The disposable thermosel chambers make the operator’s life easier after testing, according to the manufacturer. Thanks to the low cost of the chamber, the operator can discard the chamber and sample together, saving time after the test.

The DV2+ EXTRA has a couple other efficiencies built in. It comes with a rapid spindle attachment. A spring-loaded chuck allows the operator to lift up, insert the spindle, and then let the chuck back down for connection. This eliminates trying to screw on the left-hand thread. A push lever mechanism allows the operator to lower and raise the viscometer head without cranking a knob up and down, as well.

Small steps that save precious minutes in a technician’s day.

Gilson’s new SG-4 Asphalt Bulk Specific Gravity Device is designed to be a quick and accurate system for bulk specific gravity determinations of asphalt cores and gyratory specimens. Its system includes a precision, computercontrolled unit to measure water displacement with excellent resolution and accuracy. The SG-4 is designed to make life significantly easier for those interested in determining asphalt bulk specific gravities because the unit and method provide more reliable, repeatable test results in a fraction of the time other procedures require.

To use the unit, the operator simply enters the asphalt specimen dry weight into the computer, lowers the specimen into the measuring chamber, and reads the bulk specific gravity displayed on the computer a few seconds later. AASHTO has recently published the provisional TP-82 specification to provide guidance for determining bulk specific gravity of asphalt specimens using a water displacement measured by pressure sensor method.

HMA Labs features the T-REX hydraulic hot mix/aggregate truck sampler—the TR-5009, which is designed to provide better samples and safer sampling. A technician or groundman can collect up to 50 pounds of mix from anywhere in a haul truck bed and deposit it at ground level with this device. Personnel never have to lean over the truck bed (or get in the truck bed) to get a representative sample and never have to carry a sample bucket down a ladder.

While this device isn’t “in” the lab, it’s gathering the actual mix your lab techs need.

Humboldt offers myriad devices, including asphalt permeameters that can serve techs in the lab or the field. They’re compact, self-contained units that test the permeability of a compacted asphalt paving mix by using the falling head method to determine hydraulic conductivity of saturated 4-inch or 6-inch samples. You can access manuals for Humboldt’s lab equipment on the company’s site at www.humboldtmfg.com.

Pavement Technology, Inc., (PTI) Covington, Ga., now offers the Asphalt Foamer to create foamed asphalt cores in the lab. (See the February 2011 Here’s How it Works department.)

This is just a small sampling of the many pieces of large equipment you’ll consider for your QC/QA needs, depending on what your state specs require. When stocking the lab, don’t forget the little things.

Sources list a host of easy-to-overlook items such as tongs, spatulas, mixing bowls and containers, brushes, cleaning supplies, gyratory/Marshall specimen protection discs, NCAT ignition furnace printer paper, dial stem thermometers, sample bags, sample boxes and the all-important toilet paper. Hydronix offers a heavy-duty thermometer to put in aggregate bins for collecting temperature data. PTI offers sampling equipment to grab mix for your lab procedures. If you already have a working lab, take a look in the drawers and cabinets to see what’s running low. It may be time to make a “grocery list” of necessary items to stock up on for safer, more efficient daily operations.

Safety Items • • • • •

First aid kit First aid kit refills Burn kit Caution tape on steps Cleaning supplies

• • • • •

Current MSDS sheets Eye wash stations Gloves Mercury spill clean-up kits Safety glasses

• • • •

Safety posters Safety wallet cards Ventilation What more can you think of?

Left: The DV2+Pro Viscometer with Thermosel from Brookfield Engineering is equipped with disposable chambers for easier testing of asphalt binder samples and easier cleanup. right: The SG-4 from Gilson is designed to make measurement of bulk specific gravity easier and more accurate.

Did You Know?

States finally get reimbursed for road and bridge repairs made after natural disasters.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will provide $319,710,818 from its Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) emergency relief program to 28 states, Puerto Rico and American Simoa, for repairs due to flooding, tsunami, winter storms, rockslides and more dating back to November 2006. The money will reimburse states for fixing or replacing highways, bridges and other roadway structures such as traffic signs, guardrails and lighting. Source: U.S.DOT Office of Public Affairs www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 19

producer profile 7 Peaks Rises from Economic Changes

by Sandy Lender

The owners of 7 Peaks have purchased a few pieces of equipment, including a water truck that proudly displays the company logo, and still rent machinery as needed for specific projects.

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iven today’s economic climate, not all lending institutions jump to help a new business get started. Luckily for 7 Peaks Paving, LLC, Bend, Ore., existing contracts and a healthy relationship with Hooker Creek Co., Bend, Ore., have resulted in a busy asphalt company startup this spring.

It started when the owners at Hooker Creek decided to close down their asphalt paving and construction division—which was founded back in 1999—at the end of February. As a result of that event, Todd Allen and Dave Vogt, who had worked at the company for eight and seven years respectively, decided to start their own asphalt paving company. Together, they

20 June/July 2011

have more than 40 years of experience in the asphalt industry and were ready to start their own venture. They founded 7 Peaks Paving under four principles: 1. First and foremost, to establish the safest work environment for their employees, their customers and the traveling public; 2. To produce the highest quality asphalt paving projects in the state; 3. To provide customer service unmatched in the industry; and 4. To create a fun and friendly business environment for their family of employees, customers and partners in the industry.

Top: Owners Dave Vogt and Todd Allen. Middle: One of the May 2011 projects in central Oregon had 7 Peaks’ crew members working on a bike path project for which co-owner Dave Vogt has great expectations. Bottom: Co-owner Todd Allen poses with a demonstration paver from Caterpillar on one of the company’s many early projects.

Their first partner in the industry is the aforementioned Hooker Creek.

While that company let loose of its paving division, it’s still in business as an aggregate supplier, a concrete supplier, with trucking services and with equipment rental. The aggregate supply and equipment rental has come in quite handy for the newly formed 7 Peaks. So has the old client list!

“At this time we are an aggregate grading and laydown only company,” Vogt said. He serves as the newly formed company’s CEO. Todd Allen serves as COO. “We purchased three pickups, two trailers and a tack trailer from Hooker Creek. We [also worked] closely with Hooker Creek to service all their existing customers and contracts that were in place at the closing date of February 28th. Since they are an equipment rental company, we have been renting equipment and trucks from them until we find the equipment that is the right fit for our company.”

Vogt explained that the company hit the ground running with plenty of work, sticking to what they know best. “That’s asphalt paving,” he said. “Our goal is to do it day in and day out better than anyone else. Our primary focus now is driveways, parking lots and subcontracting to general contractors on larger highway and building projects.

“We see an opportunity now to capture a significant portion of that market,” Vogt continued. “From the beginning we have focused on Hooker Creek customers that we still wish to perform work for and aggressively advertising our new company to driveway customers within our market.

We’re starting to see a small up-tick in the amount of work available in this area and hope that the worst of the recession is behind us. We feel that as our economy grows, we too can grow our business.”

One way 7 Peaks is going to grow is with skilled personnel.

“We hired our bookkeeper, Teresa Morey, two weeks before we started paving so that we could get our accounting system and payroll up and running effectively,” Vogt said. “She is a very well-rounded employee that has helped a lot in the setup of our bookkeeping systems.”

Vogt was quick to list some top performers that made the leap from Hooker Creek to the new venture. “We brought what we believed were the six employees that were key to the high quality and customer service that Hooker Creek became known for. They are Mark Grell, Brett Hamrick, Bryan Furry, Don Vanderford, Uriah Bertini and Eric Furry. We’re proud to have such a talented group of young individuals to start with from the beginning and [serve] as a foundation to build our business on for many years.”

To build the kind of paving company Vogt and Allen envision, adhering to their stated principles will be essential. The first thing they list is safety, and Vogt shared that a safe work environment is a priority for this team.

In fact, he serves as the company’s safety director at this time and holds a company-wide safety meeting every Monday morning.

“The idea is that everyone gets a chance to wrap their arms around safety after the weekend and before they go to work for the week,” he said. “In these meetings, we discuss any safety issues that may have come up in the previous week and what to look out for in the next five days of work that we have scheduled.

“Todd Allen and I truly feel that it’s our job to protect our employees first.

We know each one of them personally, know their families and feel like they are a part of our families. It’s extremely important to us that we send them home every night in the same condition that they came to work in that morning. We constantly stress safety every opportunity we get.

“Our first six field employees have exemplary safety records from their previous employer and that’s one of the reasons they’re working for us. We expect our founding employees to be leaders for those that we hire in the future, to lead by example with regard to safety, and to help be our eyes and ears in the field for future new hires.” www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 21

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For anyone considering a start-up, getting the safety program in place is one of the details that takes extra energy. Vogt said, you want to make sure you get the program running immediately. “All the systems that need to be set up to ensure your employees and customers are safe is something that can easily be misplaced on the back burner if you don’t make it a number one priority.”

There are other challenges to starting a new company right now.

“Cash flow,” Vogt said. “It is very difficult for any new business to get any type of financing right now.”

As mentioned earlier, 7 Peaks’ owners were lucky to have work lined up and waiting. That blessing was almost a curse when it came to stress, but the crew took it in stride.

“The most daunting aspect for us was just the shear amount of work that needed to be done to get a paving company started and ready to go to work full time bidding and running projects in four short weeks.

All the accounting systems, HR issues, payroll, estimating and reporting systems all have to be running fairly smoothly from day one or the work in the field can get out of hand very quickly. Todd and I worked together very well in dividing up tasks and working through each issue as it came up.

“We started with a substantial backlog as the owners of Hooker Creek were gracious in allowing us to work to complete their current contracts. Our first project of major significance that we’ve landed under our new company is a five-mile bike path reconstruction in Sunriver, Ore. It’s a $650,000 contract. Todd managed phase I of the project last year under Hooker Creek and our crews won the first place Asphalt Pavement Association of Oregon paving award in 2010 in the specialty category for the work they did there. We’re hoping to repeat that this year and capture our first paving award for 7 Peaks Paving.”

With a well-planned foundation for safety and quality, 7 Peaks seems well on its way to its first of many awards.

For more information, contact David Vogt at davev@7peakspaving. com or Todd Allen at todda@7peakspaving.com.

It takes a skilled crew to achieve a smooth, quality mat in tight spaces. The team at 7 Peaks is experienced in a variety of paving situations; this shows off their first completed driveway under the new company banner.

What’s in a Name?

Dave Vogt, co-founder of 7 Peaks Paving, LLC, Bend, Ore., explained that the company name represents the seven mountains in the Cascade Range that they can see from their offices. They are a fairly prominent part of the logo. They are (in order): Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, the Three Sisters (Hope, Faith, Charity), Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson.

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BCI Materials’ operator has a clear view of the dual-truck load-out platform. Photo courtesy of Heatec.

by Curtis Kieres

Blythe Takes on Company’s Emulsion Needs

I

t took more than a year and a half to complete, but Blythe Construction, Inc., Charlotte, N.C., (part of the Hubbard Group of Companies) personnel worked with a team from Heatec, Chattanooga, to build the company’s first emulsion plant to support its paving operations.

“This is the first emulsion plant for BCI and the first for the Hubbard Group,” Allen Hendricks, vice president asphalt division manager said. “However, our parent company, Eurovia, operates several emulsion plants in Europe and Canada.”

Europe’s way too far to go for materials if you’re the leading highway construction company in the southeastern United States.

“We will supply materials for any Hubbard Group operations in this area,” Hendricks explained. “For example, we have a sister company called RMI that does microsurfacing, chip seal, full depth reclamation (FDR), etc.

24 June/July 2011

We will most likely fulfill their emulsion needs when they are in the local area.”

To take care of the loads both Hubbard crews and customer crews would require, BCI, operating as BCI Materials, needed to build in good capacity, and room for growth. The building itself was designed to be a 3,200 square-foot pre-engineered metal structure. “We have three 30,000-gallon storage tanks for base asphalt stock with room to grow to six if needed. We have six 20,000-gallon storage tanks for finished emulsion products with room to grow to nine.

We have two 8,500-gallon storage tanks for emulsifiers also. We can also make smaller runs out of totes or barrels if needed.”

Construction began in late 2009 and was completed with the company ready for outside FOB sales by March 2011. To get the blending controls together, BCI selected MINDS, Inc., Boisbriand, Quebec, to install the Emultronic system.

“The Emultronic system tracks/controls everything in the plant,” Hendricks said.

Emultronic is a Windows-based automation system designed to control emulsion and modified bitumen plants. The MINDS personnel worked closely with BCI to design a fully integrated system at the new plant with four display monitors for the operator.

Screen #1 displays status of the emulsion tanks and related equipment. Screen #2 displays production-related information (aqueous and anhydrous phases). Screen #3 displays bitumen tanks and related equipment. Screen #4 is the ticketing and loadout display.

The process is controlled on screen only. Both continuous and discontinuous processes can be controlled with software showing 3D graphics of the actual plant. The interface is visual and intuitive to allow the operator to easily understand the plant conditions.

Another system BCI installed was safety.

“We have eyewash/showers at all unloading stations and inside the mill room,” Hendricks reported. But the preventive comes in with automation and control. “No pump can be turned on without the plant operator’s authorization.

We have cameras positioned around the plant to give the operator positive visual control over all operations. We only allow our employees to position loading arms and operate pumps on site. We have overflow sensors on all tanks and filling devices so that no tank or truck can be overfilled.”

With the installation of the controls, the loadout and ticketing software, called Tessera, allows BCI personnel to print tickets after material has been loaded onto a truck. Built on industry standard MySQL server for database, Tessera is designed to integrate with SAP (used

by BCI) or any accounting system; modular

add-on architecture allows BCI team members to custom import or export functions to accommodate the import and export of all data stored in the database.

Gaetan Nantel was the project manager from MINDS who worked with BCI crew onsite. “Our ability to be flexible and accommodating to Blythe’s project schedule was key,” Nantel said.

“We worked with third-party vendors, such as Heatec, collaboratively and remained flexible to ensure the end product worked seamlessly.”

“MINDS was an integral part of this project from the beginning,” Rick Owens, former emulsion manager for BCI said. “Without the close support from the MINDS team, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this.”

For more information, contact Curtis Kieres at (250) 862-8813 x226 or ckieres@mindsinc.ca, or visit www.mindsinc.ca.

BCI Materials built in room for growth at their Charlotte, N.C., emulsion plant. Photo courtesy of Heatec.system.

BCI Launches First Heatec Emulsion Plant Heatec also provided and built the motor control center for the new emulsion plant. Photo courtesy of Heatec.

This is the main production screen for the Emultronic system. Image courtesy of MINDS, Inc.

Not everyone knew it, but the managers at BCI Materials, Charlotte, N.C., took advantage of the expanded asphalt industry services over at Heatec, Chattanooga, Tenn., for storage terminals and asphalt emulsion plants. The companies teamed up to make the facility in North Carolina the first new emulsion facility that Heatec has built and the largest emulsion project that Blythe’s parent company, Eurovia, has undertaken.

Heatec designed the major systems for the plant and installed virtually all of the equipment, according to Heatec representatives. The equipment included major components built at the Heatec manufacturing facility in Chattanooga and shipped to the Blythe site for installation and testing. The list includes: * Hot oil and warm oil systems * Instant hot water heating system * Hot oil piping systems * Motor control system * Tank truck load-out station with scales * Load-out system for small trailers * Emulsion blending system * Heater and tank controls * Three 30,000-gallon asphalt storage tanks * Six 20,000-gallon emulsion tanks * Two 8,500-gallon surfactant tanks * A 5,000-gallon hot water tank * Melter for residual asphalt and emulsion used for testing www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 25

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28 June/july 2011

WMA Design Removes Fibers for Porous Pavement Solution

by Tom Kuennen

An innovative warm mix asphalt (WMA) design for a porous asphalt pavement at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, S.C., saved money by eliminating fibers required for stability of the open-graded mix, while giving the Marine Corps a “green grinder” it can be proud of.

The porous asphalt design also eliminated the expense of creating a detention pond and associated environmental requirements. Porous asphalt pavement is an environmentally sustainable infrastructure design that helps property owners manage storm water effectively and inexpensively. (Editor’s Note: Visit the AsphaltPro magazine website at http://bit.ly/iwLM1y for our popular, how-to article on using and placing porous asphalt pavements for environmentally responsible storm water management.)

Porous asphalt pavements are used mostly for static applications such as parking lots. In this case, the Marine Corps chose the porous asphalt design for a new parade ground, or “grinder,” to accompany its new 3rd Battalion barracks complex being completed this year.

The green, asphalt porous pavement design saved taxpayers’ money. A conventional paved surface would have required additional construction of a detention pond from which storm water would have been discharged into the surrounding swamps. A “porous” concrete alternative would have created a budget overrun and would have delayed the ribbon-cutting of the barracks. In addition, new regulations required that any drainage alterations of the existing site—such as that www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 29

required for a detention pond—would have to return the site to original condition, requiring a costly, extensive document search for decadesold site surveys.

“Instead of having catch basins and retention ponds to hold the runoff, this project will allow rain to pass through the asphalt, through stone layers, through a permeable fabric, and sink into the soil naturally,” Gordon L. Wright said. He’s the quality control manager for Rea Contracting South Carolina, a division of The Lane Construction Corporation. “It saves having to install storm drains, cleanouts, pipe and construction of detention ponds. It not only saves money for the taxpayer, but represents environmentally sustainable construction.”

To top it off, use of a WMA additive permitted an open-graded mix that didn’t require addition of mineral or cellulose fibers to prevent draindown, which occurs when liquid asphalt cement (AC) migrates to the bottom of a load of asphalt or in a lift of asphalt during placement. It also permitted elimination of lime as an adhesion promoter.

Building the Green Grinder

Conventional porous asphalt pavements are like an open-graded friction course (OGFC) in one major respect: they feature an “open” aggregate structure (without fines) in which larger-sized aggregate is held in place by polymer-modified and fiber-modified Superpave performance-graded liquid asphalts.

The OGFC’s open structure of 15 percent or more voids allows water to drain right through the driving or friction course to an impervious intermediate course below, and out into roadside ditches. The result is the near-complete elimination of tire spray and hydroplaning, making a safer pavement and saving lives. It also results in a quieter pavement as noise is attenuated within the gaps between the aggregate.

Porous asphalt pavements, on the other hand, let water drain directly into a recharge layer below, and the air-void target is 20 percent. The “green grinder” constructed at Parris Island in May 2011 was not intended to reduce spray, hydroplaning or noise, but simply to provide the most efficient means of draining water from the paved surface and into the soil, while avoiding conventional detention ponds.

The Rea crew placed the porous asphalt pavement 2 inches deep in parallel, samedirection pulls atop a 2-inch choker layer above a 6-inch-deep recharge layer of #57 stone. This structure rested on a geotextile fabric to mitigate migration of fines from soil upward to the recharge layer.

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Prior to compaction with a double-drum roller in static mode, workers laid extra geotextile on the exposed soil ahead of the pass to keep the roller drums from picking up dirt and fouling the porous asphalt pavement.

Some Innovative Ideas from Rea Contracting from AsphaltPro Staff

While working the grinder project at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, S.C., the crew from Rea Contracting, a division of The Lane Construction Corp., used their creative energies in more than the initial porous WMA design concept outlined in this article. Notice a couple of other ideas that could come in handy in one of your future projects: 1) The recharge bed (choker layer) of a porous asphalt pavement structure needs to maintain a “light” level of compaction. Its matrix must allow easy draindown of storm water, thus the Rea team wanted to minimize damage to that matrix from heavy paving equipment. The solution: The crew placed pieces of plywood in the equipments’ wheel paths to evenly distribute machine weight and eliminate ruts in the choker layer.

2) The roller operator wished to keep dirt or gravel pickup from transferring to the newly laid mat. The solution: The crew placed a length of geotextile fabric on the exposed soil ahead of the initial pass. He could drive the roller across this fabric so his drums could “drop off” any foreign material and to keep them from picking up any dirt prior to hitting the mat.

The complete pad was 330 by 380 feet in size with approximately 1,500 tons of porous asphalt.

They used a material transfer vehicle (MTV) from Roadtec, Chattanooga, offset to the lefthand side of a tracked Ingersoll-Rand paver to feed the porous WMA mix, which kept heavy trucks from disrupting the all-important recharge bed. The MTV—and a dump truck as needed—rode on sheets of plywood that

the crew placed in strips matching the wheel base of the MTV. As the MTV and paver moved forward, the plywood sheets were moved into position for the next pull, all of which required a larger-than-normal crew.

Rea’s Wright came up with the idea for the plywood sheets. “The stone layers are like a bunch of marbles; they don’t compact and they are not supposed to compact, as it’s supposed to be pervious,” Wright said. “The heavy

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equipment will displace the stone and create peaks and valleys. Then asphalt will be too thick in some spots and too thin in others. The plywood did the trick.”

“They wanted to be able to make one pull at a time of the paver without disturbing the gravel base,” Dean Frailey said. He’s the business development manager for MeadWestVaco Asphalt Innovations. “They were concerned that trucks would leave tire grooves in the choker layer.”

Saving Money with WMA Additive

The project’s “green” status was enhanced by the use of a low-energy, low-emission WMA design that enabled workability long after the mix had left the plant, which was about an hour away. An added bonus was the savings from eliminating fibers conventionally required for porous asphalt pavements.

The team eliminated fibers by using the WMA additive Evotherm 3G from MWV Asphalt Innovations. Evotherm adds lubricity to individual microscopic asphalt particles. Development of “slip planes” allows the asphalt particles to move more easily, requiring lower levels of energy. Because the energy is lowered, Evotherm warm mix has the same viscosity properties at lower temperatures as conventional hot mix asphalt (HMA).

In total, WMA is not a single product, but a variety of technologies that reduce the temperatures at which asphalt mixes are produced and placed. WMA processes generally reduce the viscosity of the liquid asphalt through a variety of means, and enable the complete coating of aggregates at temperatures 35 to 100 degrees F lower than conventional HMA. Today’s warm mixes have the potential to all but eliminate what few plant emissions are experienced with HMA, giving a plant owner a powerful tool to use in the permitting process.

Warm mixes can allow faster construction of pavements made up of deep lifts of asphalt, such as intersections that need to be opened as soon as possible. Because the mix is not so hot to begin with, less time is required to cool the mix before the next lift is placed.

PG Binder Required

At the Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not have a spec for an open-graded porous asphalt mix, so the project owners studied specs of the South Carolina DOT, Frailey said.

“They opted to go with South Carolina’s OGFC standard,” he said. “It’s a large-stone mix, with 6 percent polymer modified PG76-22 32 June/july 2011

At the plant, the liquid Evotherm 3G additive was removed from a “tote” via a metering pump and injected into the liquid asphalt line directly ahead of the drum mixer at the plant. The operator made mix at 285 degrees F; trucks delivered it at 280 degrees F to the job.

A material transfer vehicle (MTV) running on a track of plywood sheets was used to feed the porous WMA mix, which eliminated disruption by heavy trucks of the all-important recharge bed.

The carefully placed stone in the choker layer creates a matrix that is supposed to be pervious.

The Rea crew didn’t want heavy equipment to displace the stone, creating any peaks or valleys, so they placed plywood planks in a track for machinery to follow, distributing weight over a wider area that protected the choker layer from harm.

Crew members used a silicon strip to adhere a permeability test ring to the pavement before pouring water onto a test section.

The owner opted for South Carolina’s OGFC standard, which is a large-stone mix, with 6 percent polymer modified PG76-22 asphalt binder.

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The crew saw mat temperatures of 245 degrees F or less behind the paver.

Rea Contracting South Carolina, a division of The Lane Construction Corporation, used an innovative warm mix asphalt (WMA) design for a porous asphalt pavement at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, S.C.

asphalt binder. Typically, with a mix like this they would put in lime as a stabilizer, adhesion promoter, and for protection against moisture susceptibility, and then add fibers. An opengraded mix like this would cool down very fast from the hot mix plant to the site, and as the plant is over an hour away, they would have had to really heat the mix at the plant—more than 350 degrees F—to ensure its workability at the paving site.”

“The liquid asphalt was modified with styrene-butadiene-styrene polymer,” said Ron Corun, manager, asphalt technical services, NuStar Asphalt Refining, LLC, Ocean City, Md., supplier of the binder. “It’s a standard grade for use on high-level highways, and a necessity for use on a porous pavement, as you absolutely need the polymer modifier to add extra strength and extra film thickness. On an opengraded mix or porous pavement, the only thing holding the mix together is the asphalt. Polymer is vital to that.”

Use of the WMA additive greatly simplified things. “They opted to remove the fibers and remove the lime while using the Evotherm warm mix technology. Since both fibers and lime were removed, they added back 8 percent washing screenings to act as fines in the mix,” Frailey said. “The additive fights moisture susceptibility, promotes adhesion and blocks draindown. It’s very unique for this application.”

Evotherm stops the draindown of liquid asphalt by virtue of the lower mixing temperature it enables. “We were able to make the mix at 285 degrees F, instead of 350 degrees F, which completely eliminates the problem of draindown,” Frailey said. The mix emerged from the truck at approximately 275 34 June/july 2011

degrees F and from the screed at about 245 degrees F. No liquid asphalt was visible in the truck bed as mix was fed to the MTV. “When we lower the temperature of Evotherm-WMA we increase its viscosity,” Corun said. “Because the viscosity gets higher, it still does not drain down without the fibers in there.”

Another benefit was that the lower mix temperature precluded potential “premature aging” of binder at the plant, ensuring better performance in the field, and also suppressed absorption of binder by aggregate.

“When you don’t heat it as hot, you don’t get the penetration [into aggregates] that you would typically see with HMA, especially at temperatures in the 350 degrees F range,” Frailey said. “With OGFCs made with conventional binders, when you make them at 350 degrees F, you begin to destroy the binder, and you are losing the adhesive and cohesive forces in the binder. They can unravel prematurely. Our intent is to not over-oxidize the binder, and to take the fibers out, and keep the asphalt flexible, while increasing film thickness on aggregate, all by using Evotherm. At the end of the day, it should result in a better-performing road system.”

For this application, the liquid Evotherm 3G additive was removed from a “tote” via a metering pump and injected into the liquid asphalt line directly ahead of the drum mixer.

Compaction: Less is More

Compaction requirements of the recharge layer, choker layer and porous asphalt lift all were minimal. “All we’re trying to do is a seal pass with the roller,” Wright said. “We’re not

Visit the AsphaltPro magazine website at http://bit.ly/iwLM1y for our popular, how-to article on using and placing porous asphalt pavements for environmentally responsible storm water management. trying to compact it. We want to retain as many air voids as possible to ensure that the water goes through.”

Prior to compaction with a double-drum roller in static mode, workers laid extra geotextile on the exposed soil ahead of the pass to keep the roller drums from picking up dirt and fouling the porous asphalt pavement. “That wasn’t my idea,” Wright said. “It was my roller operator’s. He didn’t want to get dirt on the mat!”

“We’re targeting 20 percent air voids in the pavement, so all you want to do with the roller is seal it off,” Corun said. “Roll it one or two passes, roll the joints in, and that’s it. You are not looking to attain density.”

The WMA was performing as it should for the contractor. “The Evotherm looks great at these lower temperatures,” Wright said. “We’re bringing a mix that we normally would have at 330 to 350 degrees F on the interstate, at 280 degrees F at the job, and 245 or less behind the paver. And the draindown is eliminated. If you look at the truck you can see there is no draindown liquid. Of course, with it being in a state at which it can still be compacted, it comes out of the truck very easily.”

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More Crushing Options Allow C.W. Versatility with RAP

F

by Mary McCaig-Foster

or any large asphalt producer to stay ahead in the recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) game, the trick is coming to terms with the best method for producing the material. C.W. Matthews Contracting, Inc., Marietta, Ga., faces this fact daily. With almost 30 years of experience running RAP, Matthews managers recently honed the company’s ability to provide a steady supply of RAP to its 26 hot mix asphalt (HMA) plants in northern Georgia without outside contractors.

Up until a couple of years ago, the company’s crushing team had narrowed its processing options to run two portable crushing and screening plants, according to Frank Crumbley, vice president of asphalt plants for C.W. Matthews. These included a 52-inch by 52-inch impact crusher and a 38-inch cone and screen plant. Crumbley explained that the crushing crews for these plants used a backhoe to break the milled asphalt to a feedable size and a wheel loader to feed the crusher. They supplemented additional crushing needs with subcontractors.

Matthews personnel first added a track-mounted 42-inch by 40-inch FT4240 impact crusher with a built-in two-deck screen from KPI-JCI (an Astec company), Yankton, S.D. Next, they added a KPI-JCI 42-inch by 50-inch FT4250 track-mounted impact crushing plant, an Astec Mobile Screens tracked 2618 two-deck high-frequency screen and a 130-foot KPI-JCI SuperStacker telescoping conveyor.

This effectively brought all of the C.W. Matthews RAP processing capabilities in-house.

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ABOVE: Crews for C.W. Matthews, Marietta, Ga., crush all RAP to minus ½-inch and don’t fractionate the material. “Considering that we crush various size materials from plant waste to large pieces of broken-up pavement to surface millings to full-depth millings with the impactor/cone setup, we can average 240 tons per hour,” Frank Crumbley said. “The impactor with no cone and the track-mounted 2618 screen will average 200 tons per hour. The FT4250 with the onboard double-deck screen will also average 200 tons per hour. And the FT4240 with the smaller onboard screen will average 140 tons per hour.”

C.W. Matthews, Marietta, Ga., management gave the company more versatility to work with Georgia specs with the new lineup. Frank Crumbley explained that the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) doesn’t limit the percentage of RAP used in mixes as much as it does limit the amount of minus 200s.

“Once we had four operating crusher units, we decided to modify one of our impactor/ cone plants to eliminate the cone crusher portion of the unit,” Crumbley said. He said that although the cones provide fast crushing, it was his crew’s experience that they tend to “gum up” a little with the RAP, and they also tended to produce more dust than the other crusher types. “So we decided to eliminate the cone portion of one of our spreads to reduce the fines in our RAP, and that meant we were left with an impactor plant and no screen.”

The Matthews team moved the track-mounted 2618 screen from the FT4250 spread and configured it to run with the impact plant. “Of course, at that point, we had the FT4250 with no screen, so we worked with KPI-JCI to design an onboard 6-foot by 12-foot double-deck screen for the FT4250.”

In the end, Matthew’s two-year investment in its two track-mounted crushing and screening spreads allowed the company to bring all RAP crushing capabilities in-house while decreasing processing costs. For instance, the tracked machines don’t require a wheel loader and are fed directly from the backhoe; they also have smaller personnel needs than the larger one-spreads.

Frank Crumbley, vice president of asphalt plants for C.W. Matthews, Marietta, Ga., explained why management elected to purchase a separate screen plant. “With RAP, your screen size is your real limitation on how fast you can crush. The FT4250 was originally only available with a single-deck screen. The 2618 screen plant has two decks, and it’s 6 feet by 18 feet, which was a big help with screening area.” Matthews crews worked with Astec Mobile Screens and KPI-JCI to configure the 2618 screen so that it would recirculate oversize material to the crusher with the finished product discharging to the SuperStacker.

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Equipment Gallery

Bobcat Engages

All Wheels

B

obcat Co., West Fargo, N.D., has updated its line of all-wheel steer (AWS) loaders by introducing the BobcatÂŽ A770. The new unit, which offers both all-wheel steer and skid-steer drive options with the press of a switch, has a vertical lift path and a 3,325-pound rated operating capacity.

The A770 replaces the A300 model and was designed to meet the needs of users who require the low ground disturbance, reduced tire wear and faster travel speed of a small wheel loader, but also the maneuverability and versatility of a skid-steer. If your paving crew needs to limit the marks it sees in the mat, or reduce mat tearing, the all-wheel function answers that need.

The design provides a lift height of 132 inches, a reach of 31.5 inches and a dump angle of 42 degrees for easy truck loading. The new design also results in a 6,650-pound tipping load.

It comes standard with two-speed transmission and a travel speed of 12.3 miles per hour (mph) in high range and 7.1 mph in low range.

The A770 is equipped with a 92-horsepower, liquid-cooled Tier 3 diesel engine and has an operating weight of 9,460 pounds. It has a turning circle diameter of 12.6 feet in AWS mode.

It features the same increased hydraulic performance as the other M-Series loader models, enabling it to accomplish more work, according to the manufacturer. The hydraulic systems on M-Series loaders have 40 June/july 2011

been engineered for higher standard flow and pressure that give attachments more power to work more quickly.

New job-enhancing features were added to the optional deluxe instrumentation panel. Available only on the M-Series machines, the panel intelligently monitors key loader functions, and the keyless start with password protection helps prevent theft. The new five-inch, fullcolor LCD screen offers better readability and interaction. Easy-to-read virtual sweep gauges allow the operator to quickly read and understand the machine’s performance.

The loaders are designed for simple checks to allow proper, routine maintenance.

A comfortable cab is designed for optimum operator visibility. Bobcat increased the size of the M-Series cab by 10 percent, redesigned the interior to allow operators to adjust the environment to their individual preferences and improved cab pressurization. New engine mounts improve isolation to decrease vibration and reduce sound levels. And the standard joystick control levers move up and down in conjunction with the seat to reduce arm movement and fatigue as the operator controls the machine. They’re also mounted on slides so they can be adjusted forward or backward to the preference of each individual operator.

For more information on the A770, visit www.bobcat.com.

Brookfield’s Powder Flow Tester

Engineers at Brookfield Engineering, Middleboro, Mass., offer the Powder Flow Tester (PFT), which is designed to offer quick and easy analysis of powder flow behavior in industrial processing equipment.

The Brookfield PFT is ideal for manufacturers who process powders daily and want to minimize or eliminate the downtime and expense that occur when hoppers/silos fail to discharge. With the new Powder Flow Tester customers can also perform quality control checks on incoming materials, quickly characterize new formulations for flowability and adjust composition to match the flow behavior of established products.

The Brookfield Powder Flow Tester features a variety of test options including: flow function, time consolidation, wall friction and bulk density. Time estimates for duration of each test are automatically calculated before start of test in case adjustments are needed. The operator also has a choice of graphical or tabular Data Output Format for each test plus calculations for arching dimension, rathole diameter and hopper half-angle.

The PFT includes Powder Flow Pro Software, all accessories for handling powder samples, and features a small footprint that fits on a benchtop.

For more information about Brookfield’s Powder Flow Tester, contact the company at (800) 6288139 or visit www.brookfieldengineering.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Navman’s Qtanium 300

As seen in the April/May Here’s How it Works department, Navman Wireless, Glenview, Ill., has recently released its Qtanium 300, a GPS tracking device for all makes and models of off-road construction equipment. The device is designed for use with the company’s OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking and management system. The unit’s integration with OnlineAVL2 makes Navman Wireless the largest global provider to offer on- and off-road vehicle tracking from a single interface, according to the manufacturer.

The Qtanium 300 joins the company’s Qube in-vehicle GPS tracking device for on-road vehicles plus other components of the OnlineAVL2 platform that collectively help fleet managers in the construction industry track real-time vehicle use.

The device monitors the location of off-road equipment via GPS and transmits the data to the OnlineAVL2 software for comprehensive vehicle tracking, reporting and management. Key features include: • An IP67-rated waterproof enclosure and connecting cables; • Usability in operating temperatures of -22 degrees F to 167 degrees F (-30 degrees C to 75 degrees C); • Shock testing to 30G and vibration testing to 9G; • Up to 24 hours of battery life when in full operation, with a five-month backup battery to ensure the vehicle can still be located even if a thief cuts the wires; • Special engineering to prevent tampering with the antenna to conceal the vehicle’s GPS location; • A motion sensor that detects movement of stationary vehicles and sends an alert to provide early notification of possible theft; • Support for up to 100 geofences for tracking vehicle movement outside of pre-defined boundaries; • Quad band GPRS to ensure GPS coverage regardless of location; and • A compact 8.5- by 7- by 2.5-inch footprint enabling the unit to be installed anywhere on the vehicle, either visibly or covertly.

With the Qtanium 300 sending GPS information to OnlineAVL2, users can not only see the real-time location of both on- and off-road fleet vehicles merged on the same map to provide a www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 41

Equipment Gallery complete picture of fleet deployment, but they can also use new OnlineAVL2 capabilities to simplify and strengthen fleet oversight and management.

New asset-specific map icons instantly identify vehicles in user-defined categories. Data is used to generate new OnlineAVL2 construction-specific reports that document asset use, asset location, engine hours and sensor-based equipment information such as how many times a paver’s hopper wings fold.

The new reports add to Online AVL2’s extensive reporting library, which offers detailed insights into fleet, vehicle and driver performance including idling, stops, driving speed, geofence violations, maintenance needs and more. System reports help reduce fleet downtime through proactive maintenance management based on actual engine hours.

For more information on the Qtanium 300, contact Navman Wireless at (847) 415-9330 or visit www.navmanwireless.com or www.navmanwirelessus.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Safety Vision’s MiniDVR™

The SafeDrive MiniDVR™ from Safety Vision, Houston, is an event-based mobile DVR that installs directly to the windshield of heavy equipment and incorporates both a forwardfacing road-view camera and a rear-facing cabin-view camera to record video, audio and metadata to a high capacity CompactFlash card.

42 June/july 2011

The MiniDVR mobile digital video recorder (MDVR) is designed to provide high quality in a compact and affordable package. Video is automatically recorded when equipment exceeds a pre-set speed, when it’s driving erratically, when a crash occurs, or when the event-save button is manually pressed. GPS map coordinates, G-force data, vehicle speed, event trends and audio can also be recorded and tracked.

For more information on the MiniDVR, contact Safety Vision at (800) 880-8855 or email@safetyvision.com, or visit www.safetyvision.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Forta Corp. Offers Mix Strength

Whether your asphalt plant is set up for warmmix asphalt (WMA) or still running hot mixes, the research and development team at Forta® Corp., Grove City, Pa., has formulated a family of three synthetic fiber blends to reinforce the end product.

• FORTA-FI™ HMA Blend is designed for working temperatures of 250 to 375oF and is available in ¾-inch and 1 ½-inch fiber lengths for smaller/larger typical aggregate sizes.

• FORTA-FI WMA Blend is designed for working temperatures of 212oF and higher, and is available in ¾-inch and 1 ½-inch fiber lengths.

It’s formulated for all foaming methods.

• FORTA-FI PAT Blend is designed for hot/cold patch at any working temperature, and is available in ¾-inch fiber lengths.

These products are designed to control thermal, reflective and fatigue cracking, as well as rutting, while reducing asphalt thickness or extending asphalt life, or both. According to the manufacturer, the proprietary blends contain aramid and polyolefin fibers and other materials known for their strength, durability and binding properties. The fibers have a tensile strength of 70,000 pounds per square inch. They come packaged in 1-pound bags, 40-bag cartons or 16-carton pallets.

The FORTA-FI is added to the mix, while still in the bag, at any point in the mixing process after the fines collection and before the addition of liquid asphalt. While the fibers are intended to disperse uniformly and completely

in seconds, the manufacturer recommends leaving as much mixing time as is practical within your typical mixing process.

For more information or to access research studies performed by Arizona State University, contact Forta Corp. at (800) 245-0306 or visit www.forta-fi.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Eagle Crusher’s UltraMax Line

Have you considered your RAP needs lately?

Management at Eagle Crusher, Galion, Ohio, put together a series of UltraMax® horizontalshaft impactors for recycling and aggregate applications. The UM04 performs secondary crushing; the UM05 through UM69 perform primary and secondary crushing of a variety of feed material, includig aggregate, recycled concrete and asphalt, C&D debris and slag.

The crushers feature the industry’s heaviest solid-steel 3-bar rotor, according to the manufacturer, and 3-stage crushing action with reduction ratios in excess of 24:1. They include a reversible, high-strength manganese primary curtain and a hydraulically adjustable secondary curtain with bolt-on replaceable liners.

The capacities of these crushers vary based on feed size, feed rate, physical characteristics of feed material, environmental conditions, operator training and proficiency, blow bar gap settings, and condition of wear parts, but owners can see production in the range of 60+ tons per hour (TPH) to 600+ TPH depending on the model they select. Here’s what’s available: • The UM04 has a rotor size of 40 inches in diameter and 29 inches in width; a feed opening of 27 inches in width and 32 inches in height. It requires 60 to 100 horsepower (hp) and weighs approximately 16,600 pounds.

• The UM05 has a rotor size of 40 inches in diameter and 33 inches in width; a feed opening of 33 inches in width and 32 inches in height. It requires 75 to 150 hp and weighs approximately 19,500 pounds.

• The UM15 has a rotor size of 44 inches in diameter and 41 inches in width; a feed opening of 42 inches in width and 32 inches in height. It requires 150 to 200 hp and weighs approximately 27,500 pounds.

• The UM25 has a rotor size of 47 inches in diameter and 47 inches in width; a feed opening of 48 inches in width and 34 inches

in height. It requires 150 to 300 hp and weighs approximately 32,500 pounds.

• The UM45 has a rotor size of 50 inches in diameter and 56 inches in width; a feed opening of 56 inches in width and 35 inches in height.

It requires 300 to 400 hp and weighs approximately 38,700 pounds.

• The UM69 has a rotor size of 56 inches in diameter and 68 inches in width; a feed opening of 69 inches in width and 42 inches in height.

It requires 400 to 600 hp and weighs approximately 60,200 pounds.

For more information about the UltraMax series, contact Team Eagle at (419) 468-2288 or visit www.eaglecrusher.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Standard Filter’s Many Bags

From pulse-jet to custom-fit, the team at Standard Filter Corp., Carlsbad, Calif., have an array of collection systems and filter media for use in baghouses. The pulse-jet and plenum pulse filter bags use support cages to allow air flow from the exterior of the bag and exit through the interior.

The bags are sewn with 3-needle chain stitch. Top constructions consist of snap band, flange top, ring top, soft cuffs or raw edge. Bottom removal bags are constructed with a raw top or soft cuff. Top and bottom removal bag bottoms have disc bottoms that are sewn using an overlock stitch or lock stitch. A wear strip or custom skirt is attached to the bottom portion of the bag to prevent premature wear from bag-to-bag or bag-to-cage abrasion.

For more information about Standard Filter’s pulse-jet bags, contact the company at (800) 634-5837 or visit www.standardfilter.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Powerscreen’s Maxtrak

Powerscreen, Dungannon, Northern Ireland, has launched the new Powerscreen® 1500 Maxtrak tracked cone crusher. This is the largest addition to the Maxtrak line, which includes the 1000, 1000SR and 1300 models.

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44 June/july 2011

The 1500 Maxtrak is specifically developed for larger users. The plant can accept an all-in feed from a primary crusher to produce up to 1,047 tons per hour (950 tonnes per hour) of aggregate or mineral, according to the manufacturer. Using the Terex® Automax cone crusher technology, operators benefit from hydraulic overload protection, hydraulic crusher setting adjustment, excellent product shape and a high reduction ratio, the manufacturer states. Further customer benefits include a highly efficient crusher direct drive system, large feed hopper complete with metal detector and contaminated material purge facility.

Powerscreen is part of the Terex Materials Processing segment of Terex Corp.

For more information on the 1500 Maxtrak, check for your local dealer at www.powerscreen.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Philippi Hagenbuch’s Water Tanks

Around the plant yard, at the job site or along haul roads, keeping dust down usually involves a water truck. Philippi-Hagenbuch engineers got innovative about a decade ago and came up with answers to problems with water tanks—they addressed problems such as confined spaces, slick curved tops, difficulty in maintaining welded pipes and conections, how to carry maximum loads while maintaining the distribution of weight and eliminating water surge. They developed a compartmentalized water tank that eliminates water surges between compartments and features interior and exterior doors to provide exceptional ingress and egress for inspection and maintenance. They built their tanks for articulated or rigid-frame trucks and can configure and outfit a tank with your operations’ requirements in mind.

For more information, contact PHIL sales department at (800) 447-6464 or e-mail sales@philsystems.com or visit www.philsystems.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Volcanic’s Alliance Heaters

The Alliance double-wound helical coil heaters from Volcanic Heater, Inc., Houston, can be unitized for retrofit applications in tank farms and other manufacturing processes. The heaters feature a three-pass, high-efficiency design with single or dual fuel capabilities and a combination expansion deaeration/thermal buffering system.

The Alliance deaerator cold seal expansion tank is designed to work as an open system. The deaerator expels steam and any other non-condensibles out to a safe catchment and prevents hot thermal fluid from oxidizing by allowing only cool thermal fluid to come in contact with the outside air. This is done by using three separate components incorporated into one combined tank. The unique combination of the operation of these three vessels in one results in numerous advantages including: pipe work simplification, protection of thermal fluid from oxidation, ease of installation, and continuous deaeration of fluid, avoiding pump cavitation.

For more information, contact Volcanic Heater at (281) 860-0063 or visit www.volcanic-heater.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 45

here's how it works

Fisher Industries’ Air Separator

C

leaning and classifying aggregate without making sludge, wasting water or creating a fuel-efficiency nightmare is possible now that the research and development team at Fisher Industries, Dickinson, N.D., has launched the environmental award winning Fisher Air Separator. This product is designed to remove unwanted fines from aggregate while minimizing the amount of water required in the process. Here’s how it works.

First, the crew follows a six-step set-up protocol to get the portable model of the Air Separator ready to run, which begins with leveling the ground and ends with mounting the conveyors to begin processing aggregate.

To begin cleaning and classifying aggregate, a loader operator delivers granite, limestone, trap rock, sand or gravel to the receiving end of the 46 June/july 2011

18-inch-wide by 34-foot-long feed conveyor. The end features hopper-like flashing to funnel material and reduce dust.

The conveyor carries the material to the top of the Air Separator’s central unit. A cover at the top reduces dust at the point of material entry. Here, the conveyor feeds aggregate into the hopper.

Material falls through the chute and feed tube to the air separator’s dry filtering system, which separates unwanted fines from the larger rock. Because air is used instead of water, the dry separation process reduces or eliminates sludge waste by as much as 95 percent, saving fuel when there is no moisture to remove from the dry aggregates produced.

Course material is discharged out of the outconveyor portal and carried up an 18-inch-wide, 24-foot-long discharge conveyor for stockpiling or removal in waiting haul trucks. Fines, which

are now a recyclable byproduct that can be sold as filler material, are discharged out the bottom onto an 18-inch-wide, 24-foot-long discharge conveyor for stockpiling or removal in waiting trucks.

For more information, contact Fisher Industries at (800) 932-8740 or sales@fisherind.com or visit www.fisherind.com.

Show us How it Works If you’re an equipment manufacturer with a complex product, let us help you explain its inner workings to the readers of AsphaltPro magazine. There’s no charge for this editorial department, but our staff reserves the right to decide what equipment fits the parameters of a HHIW feature. Contact our editor at sandy@theasphaltpro.com.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 47

the last cut We Won’t Need Them Anymore

by AsphaltPro Staff

A

domestic in origin and also does not reflect the substantial recent growth in U.S. petroleum product exports. By that measure, import dependence was 62 percent last year, still significantly below its 2008 peak of 66.6 percent.”

What EIA is saying is there’s no one singular event or “explanation for the decline in U.S. oil import dependence since 2005.” It’s a mix of reasons. No. 1 among those reasons is the U.S. citizens’ reduction in use, which is no surprise.

“U.S. oil product deliveries declined by 1.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) to 19.1 bbl/d in 2010 from 20.8 million bbl/d in 2005. This decline partly reflects the downturn in the underlying economy after the financial crisis of 2008. Not surprisingly, demand has bounced back somewhat from a low of 18.8 million bbl/d in 2009, when the U.S. economy bottomed out. But the downward trend in consumption started two years before the 2008 crisis and reflects factors such as changes in efficiency and consumer behavior as well as patterns of economic growth,” the report states.

EIA says we can also attribute the decline to shifts in supply patterns, incremental refinery gains providing a source of domestic supply and a strong export market for U.S. products. No matter what you attribute the decline in foreign oil dependence on, there are signs that economic recovery will only offset it marginally.

“The mix of factors responsible for it [the decline in import dependence] looks likely to evolve. In particular, EIA projects that continued improvements in energy efficiency, driven in part by tighter fuel economy standards, will prove increasingly important in moderating future demand growth, offsetting the upward impact of economic recovery.”

s the researchers at the Energy Information Administration (EIA) have analyzed, the United States’ dependence on imported oil is declining. Period. What’s interesting is the convoluted process a research entity has to go through to prove it. The May 25, 2011, This Week in Petroleum report from EIA summarized what’s happened and how oil consumption can be defined and measured.

“U.S. dependence on imported oil has dramatically declined since peaking in 2005,” the report reads. “To put it succinctly, discrepancies in the way dependence is assessed arise because oil, for the most part, is imported as crude oil, but is consumed as refined products, of which crude oil is the main but not the only input—hence the need to clarify whether dependence is assessed at the output/consumption level or at the input level, and in the latter case what range of inputs is included as a basis for comparison.”

Is that clear as mud? It gets worse.

What it boils down to is this: “By the broadest standard, U.S. dependence on imported oil fell from 60.3 percent in 2005 to 49.3 percent in 2010,” according to that same May 25 report. “If processing gains obtained from imported crudes are counted as imports, then dependence falls from a high of 63.6 percent in 2005 to 52.8 percent last year.”

There’s one more way to measure it. “A much narrower measure that looks at crude oil imports into the United States as a percentage of total refinery crude inputs excludes ethanol, biodiesel and natural gas liquids (NGLs) as sources of petroleum products that are almost entirely

Liquid Asphalt Cement Prices "average per ton" Company, State

Mar ’11

April ’11

May ’11

ConocoPhillips, Tenn.

$502.5

$520.00

$600.00

NuStar Energy, Ga.

530.00

535.00

630.00

NuStar Energy, N.C.

530.00

535.00

630.00

NuStar Energy, S.C.

530.00

535.00

630.00

NuStar Energy, Va.

520.00

550.00

630.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, N.C.

485.00

535.00

625.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, S.C.

485.00

535.00

625.00

Apr 4

3.976

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, Va.

485.00

535.00

625.00

Apr 11

Marathon Petroleum, Tenn.

505.00

520.00

550.00

Marathon Petroleum, N.C.

500.00

510.00

Valero Petroleum, Va.

500.00

Massachusetts Average

U.S. Crude Oil Activity

Diesel Fuel Retail Price (dollars per gallon)

futures spot data

stocks

Apr 1

$107.94/bbl

357.7 m bbl

4.078

Apr 8

$112.79/bbl

359.3 m bbl

Apr 18

4.105

Apr 15

$109.66/bbl

357.0 m bbl

550.00

Apr 25

4.098

Apr 22

$112.29/bbl

363.1 m bbl

530.00

625.00

May 2

4.124

520.00

NA

NA

Apr 29

$113.93/bbl

366.5 m bbl

May 9

4.104

May 6

$97.18/bbl

370.3 m bbl

California Average

586.30

634.70

667.50

May 16

4.061

May 13

$99.65/bbl

370.3 m bbl

Missouri Average

467.50

482.50

555.00

May 23

3.997

May 20

$99.49/bbl

370.9 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 48 June/july 2011

Source: Energy Information Administration

Source: Energy Information Administration

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 49

resource directory ACE Group...............................3, 47 Contact: Carl McKenzie Tel: 888-878-0898 sales.enquiries@ashaltacesales.com www.asphaltace.com Asphalt Drum Mixers........6, 27, 41 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............................. 38-39 Contact: Mike Young Tel: 918-342-1160 Sales@bslight.com www.bslight.com

Brookfield Engineering................9 Sales@brookfieldengineering.com Tel: 800-628-8139 or 508-946-6200 www.brookfiledengineering.com Bullis Fabrication........................33 Contact: Greg Bullis Tel: 866-981-8965 gregbullis@bullisfabrication.com www.bullisfabrication.com CEI..................................................4 Contact: Andy Guth Tel: 800-545-4034 info@ceienterprises.com www.ceienterprises.com E.D. Etnyre...................................11 Contact: sales@etnyre.com Tel: 800-995-2116 www.etnyre.com EZ Street......................................31 Tel: 800-734-1476 Info@ezstreet-miami.com www.ezstreetasphalt.com

Gilson...........................................33 Contact: Jim Bibler Tel: 740-548-7298 Email: jbibler@Gilsonco.com www.globalgilson.com Heatec, Inc........Inside Front Cover Contact: Sharlene Burney Tel: 800-235-5200 sburney@heatec.com www.heatec.com Humboldt Manufacturing..........10

Maxam Equipment.....................15 Contact: Lonnie Greene Tel: 800-292-6070 lgreene@maxamequipment.com www.maxamequipment.com Meadwestvaco............................17 Tel: 800-458-4034 www.evotherm.com www.mwv.com NAPA............................................22 Mid-year Meeting www.hotmix.org

Contact: Robin Bailey Tel: 800-544-7220 Rbailey@humboldtmfg.com www.humboldtmfg.com Hydronix......................................23 Tel: 888-887-4884 or 231-439-5000 Enquiries@hydronix.com www.hydronix.com

Reliable Asphalt..... 44, Back Cover Contact: Charles Grote Tel: 502-647-1782 cgrote@reliableasphalt.com www.reliableasphalt.com Rotochopper, Inc............................ ...........................Inside Back Cover Tel: 320-548-3586 Info@rotochopper.com www.rotochopper.com

Shingle Recycling Forum...........36 Tel: 303-779-7910 Forum@ShingleRecycling.org www.ShingleRecycling.org Stansteel .........................................

AsphaltPlant Products...............49 Contact: Tom McCune Tel: 800-826-0223 tmccune@stansteel.com www.stansteel.com Stansteel........................................7 Contact: Dawn Kochert Tel: 800-826-0223 dkochert@hotmixparts.com www.hotmixparts.com Tarmac International, Inc.....43, 45 Contact: Ron Heap Tel 816-220-0700 info@tarmacinc.com www.tarmacinc.com WRT Equipment............................9 Contact: Dean Taylor Tel: 800-667-2025 or 306-244-0423 dtaylor@wrtequipment.com www.wrtequipment.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.

50 June/july 2011

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52 June/july 2011