Asphalt Pro - October 2013

Green Processes are Asphalt

600 TPH OMP mill-n-fill in two weekends

Stay Safe: Reflect Safety Train Foremen Compact WMA VIP Reclaiming RAP Base in Maine Milling Meets Silica PELs october 2013

contents

Departments

34

Letter from the Editor 5 I Doth Protest Around the Globe 6 Safety Spotlight 8 Brannan Adds Mirrors for Safety

By Sandy Lender Mix it Up 10 NCHRP 9-47A Recommends WMA Design Changes From NCAT

46

Equipment Maintenance 16 Avoid Dangerous Drag Chain Failures

By Cliff Mansfield Project Management 20 Green Iron, Green Projects With pre-approved status for work, Rafferty is ready to put its recycling crew on the job

By Tom Kuennen Equipment Gallery 54 Milling Machines Anticipate OSHA Limits

By AsphaltPro Staff Here’s How It Works 60 Caterpillar’s RM500 62 Gilson’s Superpave Testing System Resource Directory 65

Articles 26 How to Roll the WMA Mat 30 Los Principios Rodar WMA

By Sandy Lender 34 Mill, Fill Logistics Oregon Mainline Paving does excellent asphalt job done in two fast-paced weekends

By Sandy Lender

46 Maine Uses RAP for Shoulder Base

By Tom Kuennen

Last Cut 66 Lessons on Crude Oil Transportation

By AsphaltPro Staff

20

42 Train Foremen with New Skills

By Sandy Lender

8

That’s a Good Idea 52 Keep an Eye on Conveyors

By John Ball

Green Processes are Asphalt

16 600 TPH OMP mill-n-fill in two weekends

Stay Safe: Reflect Safety Train Foremen Compact WMA VIP Reclaiming RAP Base in Maine Milling Meets Silica PELs OCTOBER 2013

On the Cover When I-84 outside of Portland needed some reconstruction work, OMP performed quick quality recycling and replacing for a smooth asphalt highway. See related article on page 34. Photo courtesy of OMP.

editor's note October 2013 • Vol. 7 No. 1

I Doth Protest

2001 Corporate Place Columbia, MO 65202 573-499-1830 • 573-499-1831 www.theasphaltpro.com Group publisher

Chris Harrison publisher

Sally Shoemaker sally@theasphaltpro.com (573) 499-1830 x1008

editor

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

Art Director

Kristin Branscom operations/circulation manager

Cindy Sheridan business manager

Renea Sapp AsphaltPro is published 10 times per year: January, February, March, April, May, June/July, August/September, October, November and December by The Business Times Company, 2001 Corporate Place, Columbia, MO 65202 Writers expressing views in AsphaltPro Magazine or on the AsphaltPro website are professionals with sound, professional advice. Views expressed herein are not necessarily the same as the views of AsphaltPro or Business Times Company staff, thus producers/contractors are still encouraged to use best practices when implementing new advice.

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Here in Florida, people can get riled up over things that may or may not deserve international news coverage. During Labor Day Weekend, a mere 100 Collier County residents a few miles south of where I live got out of their chaise loungers to walk on the beach and stand in front of Gov. Rick Scott’s home. I’m not certain whether they constructed a modEditor Sandy Lender and Plant el oil rig once they arrived at his propManager Ray Eisner discuss best asphalt practices. Photo courtesy of erty or carried the 10-foot-tall item with John Ball of Top Quality Paving. them, but the point of their protest was to show the governor what it would be like to have an oil rig in a person’s backyard. At this time, there’s a plan in the works to have a 145-foot oil rig erected in an area of Collier County known as the Golden Gates Estates.

I don’t have to extol the merits of gathering crude on U.S. soil, processing it in U.S. refineries, etc., whenever possible. This issue of the magazine focuses on green processes such as recycling, but when you have to use virgin materials, it feels good to know you bought them from a domestic source. We’re fortunate when we have the option. We’re fortunate that technologies exist to make it environmentally safe. As much as some folks get frustrated with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), I’ve got this conservationist side of me that’ll tell you all day long that we’re fortunate to have a level of authority watching out for the correct and safe way to do the necessary business of drilling, fracking, refining, loading, etcetera.

You all know I work to protect sea turtles, endangered parrot species and any number of animals. For pity’s sake, if a lizard gets into my house I put a dish of water down for it so it doesn’t dehydrate before it finds its way back out. Thus I was torn when I heard that the 100 people who didn’t want an oil rig in their backyards weren’t talking to the news media about property value worries; they were concerned about the endangered Florida panther.

The executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association told the local paper that the lights, sounds and vibrations of an oil well would disturb the panthers. Local news media have been talking about the panther population numbering just more than 200 since I moved to the state nine years ago; I have sources that put the number around 160. That’s a small population. I should be up in arms and marching on the governor’s property with signs that demand he deny anyone the right to even walk through the Everglades until the panther population grows.

But I’m afraid of panthers. Have been since I was a child. I can’t look at them in zoos without a panic attack. (Next time we’re at an industry event, ask me to tell you about an early morning “big cat” event at my house in Golden Gate Estates.)

Suffice it to say, I see ways to blend business, technology and nature. One doesn’t have to destroy the other. One should be able to compliment the other.

I protest the protest that didn’t offer an option beyond “deny.”

Stay Safe

Sandy Lender www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 5

around the globe

Industry News and Happenings from Around the World Germany

Imports of bitumen into Germany firmed up 26 percent in May 2013 over prices in April 2013.

Source: Petrosil’s Bitumart

Indonesia

The 9th Asian Bitumen is hosted by the Ministry of Public Works, Republic of Indonesia, this Oct. 28 through 29 in Jakarta. The theme of “Uncovering Opportunities in Bitumen Trade & Technology” will include such distinguished speakers as Pongpun Amornvivat, the managing director of Thai Lube Base Public Co. in Thailand, and Dr. Hussain Bahia, the director of the Modified Asphalt Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Visit www.asian-bitumen.com for last-minute registration.

Uruguay

The Ruta Interbalnearia General Liber Seregni (Inter-Resort Route) in Uruguay is being studied for the use of wearing courses with different maximum aggregate sizes. The Consortium Interbalnearia East and West have placed an F10 and an F14 semidense mix modified with Bitaflex AM3 along the roadway. Thanks to the texture, the mat offers a noticeable decrease in rainwater spray and a quieter ride than the previous pavement.

Las obras que están realizando los integrantes del Consorcio Interbalnearia Este y Oeste en varios frentes avanzan a muy buen ritmo. Se han realizado diversas mezclas para capa de rodadura de las cuales podemos destacar las dos mezclas abiertas con diferente tamaño máximo, una F10 y una F14 y una mezcla semidensa tipo CAC S12. Hay que destacar la prolijidad de todas las diferentes carpetas elaboradas por el Consorcio con asfalto modificado Bitaflex AM3. Debido a la macrotextura lograda en todos los casos, es clara la disminución del efecto spray en los días de lluvia lo que brinda una mayor seguridad a los usuarios de la ruta. Incluso para las mezclas F10 y F14, por tener una textura más abierta aún, se aplaca el sonido de los neumáticos sobre la calzada y se siente solamente el sonido del motor al circular sobre ellas, dándole más confort al usuario. Source: Bitafal’s Haciendo Caminos

United States

• In this green practices issue of the magazine, we highlight asphalt’s renewable nature. The latest report at press time from Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) comes with the launch of its new website CleanEnergyWorksForUs. org, which is a site for our industry to monitor and to which we should submit solid facts.

E2 lists the top 10 states for clean energy and clean transportation jobs: Alaska, California, 6 october 2013

Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon and Texas.

• For up-to-the-minute info and updates that impact the asphalt industry, follow http://twitter.com/AsphaltPro.

Arizona

The Parker Pioneer’s online edition reported Aug. 26 that lagging revenue for the Arizona Department of Transportation equals a shift in priorities. ADOT’s public affairs manager reported to a La Paz County board of supervisors meeting that the DOT would focus more on maintaining the current system than expanding it. The news source pointed out many maintenance and preservation projects the state has in its sights.

California

• Mark your calendar for the Fall Asphalt Pavement Conference Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento. Visit www. calapa.net.

• While the state of California uses the performance-grade (PG) system of classifying binders, Caltrans only formed a Superpave Subtask Group (STG) in early 2012 to begin implementation activities. The original 105 areas of concern that the STG identified were condensed to 85 shortly after the group’s first meetings, and as of press time stood at 14.

The state plans to adopt the Superpave mix design method effective July 1, 2014. Source: California Asphalt Insider

Colorado

• The 20th annual “Best in Colorado” asphalt pavement awards program replaces the “new technology” category with “Project Innovation” and accepts nominations until Friday, Oct. 25. Contact TomClayton@co-asphalt. com or (303) 741-6150 x151.

• Enjoy sessions like “How DOT Personnel Can Get Shingles Approved” and “Use of Shingles in Warm Mixes” at the 6th Shingle Recycling Forum in downtown Denver this Nov. 7 and 8.

Get exhibiting, sponsorship and attendee info at www.shinglerecycling.org.

Florida

The Florida Department of Transportation is nearing the mid-point of a two-year, $450,000 grant to monitor the use of Roadside Animal Detection Systems (RADS) on a small section of Highway 41. The system was put in place to help protect the black bear and white-tailed deer, and specifically the endangered Florida panther, whose numbers are believed to be between 100 to 160 in the wild. The system also protects motorists by alerting them with flashing lights when animals are near the highway, helping to prevent costly and fatal collisions.

Hawaii

Hawaii Asphalt Paving Industry (HAPI) members and guests from various government agencies gathered at the HAPI meeting in July where City and County Council Chair Ernest Y. Martin addressed the crowd. Martin noted that a recently approved city budget included $120 million for road projects, which is the most in city history.

Illinois

The Northwest Herald reported that Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed a mass transit bill Aug. 27 that would have allowed agencies to spend up to $40,000 per project on jobs without giving public notice. The current limit on no-bid projects is $10,000, according to The Herald, which quoted Quinn’s veto message: “It is clear that the current mass transit governance system in Northeastern Illinois is not working for taxpayers and riders.” The governor has assigned a task force to come up with reforms for the commuter rail agency Metra, where there are a number of personnel and board changes taking place.

Maryland

The deadline to submit a project for NAPA’s Quality in Construction (QIC) awards is Oct. 31.

Visit www.AsphaltPavement.org/Awards to start the process today.

Massachusetts

Brookfield Engineering Laboratories, Inc., Middleboro, Mass., has launched www.PowderFlowAnalysis.com dedicated to the science of powder flow testing.

Minnesota

Donaldson Company, Inc., Bloomington, Minn., delivered record fourth quarter net income and earnings per share, according to Bill Cook, the company’s CEO. “Our overall sales were down from the fourth quarter of last year primarily due to our Engine Products OEM businesses in the U.S. and Asia and our Industrial Products businesses. However, we also had a number of businesses and regions that saw year-over-year increases. Our Engine Aftermarket sales increased 3 percent from last year and have now grown sequentially for the second straight quarter.”

Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) paid $20,000+ to Draganfly Innovations, Inc., of Canada for the X-8 remote-controlled helicopter with high-definition camera to monitor the growth of sinkholes in the state.

Spokeswoman Erin Waters-Trasatt explained that using this technology is a “cheaper alternative” to flying personnel to the sinkhole sites.

Source: The Patriot News’ PennLive

safety spotlight

Brannan Adds Mirrors for Safety

W

hile it may be commonplace to have large, vertical side mirrors affixed to the cab doors on haul trucks, you’ll want to upgrade this simple safety feature after you see what Brannan Cos. of Denver, Colo., has done in their fleet.

Gerardo Ruelas-Orozco is the health and risk manager for Brannan Cos. He explained that few companies, if any, have an extra mirror mounted on the front of the truck’s hood so the driver can see what’s in front of the vehicle.

He and Megan Strong, the health and risk assistant manager, shared the story

8 october 2013

of a cement mixer truck driver who, more than a year ago, departed his cab for a short time. Upon returning to the cab, the driver checked his mirrors and began driving forward. He hit a car that was parked directly in front of the truck because it was parked in his blind spot.

Enter the need for more eyes around the truck.

Fred Marvel, the vice president of business development for Brannan Cos. developed the idea of placing the additional, convex mirrors where they could be angled to face forward and offer more visibility to the drivers. Orozco

By Sandy Lender

said the company hasn’t had an incident with the trucks since.

“Blind-spot mirrors for the sides are often standard or companies put them on aftermarket,” Orozco explained.

“The mirrors we’ve installed are further forward and angle to the front of the truck.”

Strong told the story of a driver who had the new mirror installed on her truck. Within two weeks of the installation, while on a residential project, she saw a parent and child near the job.

Before pulling away from the site, she looked in the mirror and saw the child

Fred Marvel, vice president of business development for Brannan Cos., said that the mirror placement has caught on with others in the construction industry and other members of the community, such as bus drivers. While having mirrors on the front hood of a truck is common and having the large vertical mirrors on the cab doors is standard in the industry, those mirrors are designed and placed to eliminate blind spots down the left and right sides of the trucks. The mirror placed on the front of the hood and aimed toward the front eliminates the blind spot in front of the truck where a compact car or a person could be.

in front of her truck. “She saw the child in the mirror,” Strong said. “The scary thought is that without it she might have hit the child.”

“Our drivers are not just driving,” Orozco explained. “They’re also working, backing up, and when it’s time to pull away from an area, the conditions around them may have changed.”

Now that the entire Brannan Cos. fleet has additional mirrors, visibility has changed, too. Drivers are better equipped to see what may have moved in front of them while they were working or backing. Drivers are also responsible for mirror upkeep.

Strong explained that the drivers have to inspect their mirrors pre-trip.

All of the company’s existing and new fleet drivers must review and sign the company’s policy regarding the mirror, stating they will report any damage with the device. “If it’s not in good repair, they must report that,” Orozco said.

This summer, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) recognized Brannan Cos. for its safe practice, naming the company a finalist for a 2012 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award during the midyear meeting in Boston July 15.

Tom Peterson of the Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association (CAPA) shared what that kind of innovation does for the whole company. “We at CAPA congratulate them on this recognition. It’s an example of their forwardthinking and an example of the attention they place on employee safety.”

The NAPA award recognizes companies that develop innovative ideas or that achieve practical outcomes leading to improved worker safety in a roadway, plant site, or quarry environment, and whose safety practices go above and beyond normal safety practices.

Brannan Cos. won the award for designing the safety mirror to help drivers see directly in front of large trucks.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 9

mix it up

NCHRP 9-47A Recommends WMA Design Changes

From NCAT

A

recent survey by the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) revealed that warm-mix asphalt (WMA) accounted for 20 to 30 percent of the total plant mix produced in the United States in 2011.

This represents a significant rise in WMA use, up from 13.2 percent in 2010, as reported from a previous National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) survey. Agencies and contractors alike reap the benefits of using WMA. Across the nation, 26 states have implemented WMA use or are in the process of implementation.

One concern has been how to ensure that warm mix is properly designed. To date, almost all WMA produced has used a “drop-in” approach—a conventional hot mix design is simply produced at a lower temperature by means of a WMA technology (process or additive).

The National Center for Highway Research Project (NCHRP) 9-43 concluded that a separate WMA mix design procedure was unnecessary, but modifications to the Superpave mix design procedure (AASHTO R35) were recommended in the form of an appendix entitled “Special Mixture Design Considerations and Methods for WMA,” published in NCHRP Report 691.

The appendix recommends minor changes to AASHTO R35 when designing WMA, including: • additional lab equipment, • blending chart analysis for incorporating RAP in WMA, • specimen fabrication procedures for individual WMA processes, and • evaluations for coating, compactability, moisture sensitivity and rutting resistance.

Further research under NCHRP 9-47A has recommended modifications to the appendix. NCHRP 9-47A was tasked with documenting field

10 october 2013

Table 1. Pavement Densification and One- and Two-Year Rut Depths for WMA and HMA Sections

Tests on cores after one and two years indicate that the differences in binder absorption were practically nil, suggesting that further absorption occurs over time.

performance of a wide range of WMA technologies across the United States, comparing engineering properties of WMA to HMA, evaluating energy savings and emissions reductions for WMA production, as well as evaluating the WMA mix design appendix developed in NCHRP 9-43. A summary of the recommended changes follows.

Additional Lab Equipment Section 3.1.1 of the appendix describes the mechanical mixer used to prepare mixes in the lab, either a planetary or a bucket mixer. Note 1 states that mixing times for bucket

mix it up mixers should be established based on coating evaluations. However, NCHRP 9-47A conducted a total of 10 WMA mix design verifications using a bucket mixer and found in every case that sufficient coating was achieved using the 90-second mixing time recommended in the appendix for planetary mixers. Thus, it is recommended that Note 1 be removed.

Section 3.3.1 discusses the lab asphalt foaming devices used to simulate plant WMA foaming processes.

NCHRP 9-47A recommends that this section include the option of using mix produced during a trial run at an asphalt plant in lieu of lab-produced mix. This recommendation is based on challenges associated with using lab foaming systems.

The optimum asphalt contents for most of the WMA mix designs were significantly less than for the companion HMA. The average decrease in the optimum asphalt content was 0.27 percent.

Volumetric Design Specimen fabrication procedures for individual WMA processes are given in section 7 of the appendix. However, the appendix doesn’t specifically state that lab-produced WMA should be used in the volumetric design process. Based on NCHRP 9-47A findings, selection of a mix’s optimum asphalt content based on traditional volumetric criteria should be accomplished per AASHTO R35 without using the WMA additive or technology.

Additional mix evaluations should then be conducted using lab- or plant-produced WMA. 12 october 2013

Thirteen WMA mixes were evaluated in NCHRP 9-47A, all of which were designed as HMA and produced using WMA processes or additives. Mix design verifications were performed on 10 of these mixes, using the respective WMA technology and the procedures given in the appendix. Field-measured gradations were matched as closely as possible and optimum asphalt contents were also verified for the HMA control sections. Using this approach, the optimum asphalt contents for most of the WMA mix designs were significantly less than for the companion HMA. The average decrease in the optimum asphalt content was 0.27 percent.

While there are possible justifications for lower asphalt contents in WMA, none were confirmed by the NCHRP 9-47A research. For example: • Binder Absorption. For both plant- and lab-produced mixes in NCHRP 9-47A, binder absorption was an average of 0.11 and 0.17 percent lower, respectively, for WMA compared to HMA with the same materials. However, tests on cores after one and two years indicate that the differences in binder absorption were practically nil, suggesting that further absorption occurs over time. This does not support a reduction in asphalt content for WMA mixes due to binder absorption.

• Pavement Densification. Previous studies indicate that the majority of pavement densification under traffic occurs within one to two years after construction. If WMA mixes experience excessive densification in the wheel paths, this could justify lower asphalt contents. However, the average densities for the one- and two-year cores were similar or lower for the WMA sections compared to the corresponding HMA sections, indicating that the WMA pavements are not overdensifying under traffic.

• Rutting Potential. As shown in Table 1, the one- and two-year rut

depths are slight and nearly equivalent for both WMA and HMA field test sections observed in NCHRP 9-47A. Based on field rutting performance, reducing the asphalt content of WMA mixes is not warranted.

• Interaction with Compactability.

For each WMA mix, compactability ratios were determined at the optimum asphalt content, which was an average of 0.27 percent les than the HMA counterpart. A poor relationship existed between compactability ratios and in-place density. Four mixes were tested again at the field-measured optimum asphalt content—as expected, the compactability ratio increased when the asphalt content decreased (by 0.74 and 0.90 percent) and decreased for a 0.39 percent increase in asphalt content. The fourth sample had a 0.17 percent increase in asphalt content with a virtually unchanged compactability ratio. This indicates that compactability is indeed dependent on asphalt content. Thus, a decrease in asphalt content could negate the compaction benefits associated with WMA.

Mix Evaluations As discussed in section 8.4 of the appendix, samples for evaluating moisture sensitivity should be prepared using the WMA additive or process.

For foaming technologies, this procedure should include the option of using mix produced during a trial run at an asphalt plant in lieu of lab-produced mix.

Section 8.5 describes evaluating rutting resistance of WMA using the flow number test (AASHTO TP 79). Based on WMA field rutting performance to date, additional testing beyond what is required for HMA seems unwarranted. Thus NCHRP 9-47A recommends that the minimum flow number requirements given in section 8.5 be removed for traffic levels less than 30 million ESALs.

The P409 mix is stony but gets nicely compacted as you can see in this gorgeous saw-cut edge. In the distance, you can see the shoe of the endgate is sitting right on the joint.

That’s why you want the endgate hot to keep material from sticking to it. You can also see the good, stable subgrade in this picture.

equipment maintenance

Avoid Dangerous Drag Chain Failures 1975. That was the first year I saw an asphalt plant. It was a 1952 StanSteel RM-40 batch plant one year younger than I was. Since that day I have operated and worked on many hundreds of the things and have seen many that were broken. Until August of this year, I’d never seen a broken drag conveyor chain. Then, within a 10-day window, I’d seen two.

The plants experiencing the problem were made by two different manufacturers and the chains broke in different circumstances, but broke for exactly the same reason. Lack of maintenance.

In the first instance, the plant was operating offshore. It was running at about 240 tons per hour when a side bar

By Cliff Mansfield

failed and the chain separated. It was fully loaded; everything came crashing down inside the conveyor to become a wadded up heap near the bottom.

The chain had about 200,000 tons on it, but a misaligned return idle had worn the side bars on one side of the chain; under a heavy load the bar failed. With periodic inspections, a ground man would notice this kind of abnormal wear and address it at your plant.

I recommend a serious inspection regimen as the tonnage increases. These drag conveyors should be kept at the proper tension and any abnormal wear should be addressed immediately.

2

1-2. If you look at the side bar you can see extensive wear. The wear near the pin led to the chain’s failure. The twisted and broken links attest to the forces the chain encountered.

3. Several links failed at the pin hole.

1 16 october 2013

3

equipment maintenance

4

4. This cross pin was broken from excessive stretching force. 5. When the chain broke, the mangled chain segment ended up tangled with asphalt mix. 6. This is the drive hub where the sprocket segment separated, starting the problem. 7. Imagine the forces it took to distort this solid steel sprocket segment.

6 In the second instance, the plant was operating in the Northwest of the United States. A very different kind of problem led to catastrophic failure of the chain.

At this facility, the drag conveyor had just been overhauled. The chain and all sprockets had been replaced less than 20,000 tons before the incident. In the process of installing the drive sprocket segments, the crew installed Grade 8 sprocket mounting bolts and welded them to prevent the bolts from unscrewing.

18 october 2013

5

7 During operations early in the morning, one sprocket segment detached from the hub and jammed in the chain.

This used up all of the slack in the drag and the forces quickly exceeded the chain’s tensile strength.

In this instance the problem was most likely generated by welding the Grade 8 bolts. As a result of the heat, these bolts were crystallized and weakened to the point that they failed.

Their failure allowed the sprocket segment to detach. The sprocket segment then jammed in the chain and stressed it beyond its strength.

While I strongly advocate tack welding the nuts on the bolts for these sprocket segments to prevent them from coming loose, I advise using Grade 5 bolts and only tack welding. Remember, your only goal is to prevent them from loosening.

Cliff Mansfield is an asphalt plant engineer and a freelance writer specializing in asphalt plants. For more information, contact him at (541) 352-7942 or send him your question through the “Ask the Plant Expert� form on the home page at www.

TheAsphaltPro.com.

project management

Green Iron, Green Projects With pre-approved status for work, Rafferty is ready to put its recycling crew on the job

By Tom Kuennen

A

Connecticut contractor specializing in fast-paced street reconstruction found its new Wirtgen WR 240i recycler/stabilizer boosts productivity and keeps tight two-day rebuild schedules on target. The WR 240i was introduced this year and reclaims pavements while meeting U.S. Tier 4i emissions regulations. That’s what Rafferty Fine Grading, Inc., of Enfield, Conn., found as it put the second WR 240i to arrive in North America to work in the spring.

In Torrington, Conn., in the northwest corner of the state, Rafferty Fine Grading is engaged in reconstruction of 17 streets totaling 56,000 square yards under a single contract.

“We do it like no other,” Kurt Rafferty, vice president of the company, said. “We excel at a soup-to-nuts type of operation in which everyone who works for Rafferty is involved and invested in reclamation excavation, so a street can be turned over to a paving crew, while only expending two days from start of reclamation to finish with fresh asphalt. That’s our forte in seven states, start-to-finish, in-and-out. When we get five, six or seven days of that type of work, nobody can beat us.”

A big part of success is reliable equipment. The WR 240i is designed to let the operator mix together the large and small aggregate at the desired depth.

“What’s unique about the Wirtgen product is that much like the old gravel truck and spreader box—with large and small aggregates mixed together—it produces a homogenous mass,” Rafferty said. “We are mixing the large and small aggregates using a cutter design that is second-to-none.”

Two Days Rafferty personnel first check with the local call-before-you-dig program, 20 october 2013

and use all the utility information they can. They then identify all structures such as catch basins and manholes that need to be replaced. They use metal detectors to locate utilities and water boxes that may have been paved over and forgotten. Only then does reclamation begin.

“We reclaim start-to-finish,” Rafferty said. “We level it off and keep it level so local residents can leave and enter 24 hours a day. We use traffic safety personnel to direct the home owners in and out. We end by windrowing excess reclaimed material and load on city trucks.”

The recycling takes place, and then the reclaimed base is compacted with a roller and shaped with a grader, Rafferty said. “Leveled off, the reclaimed material is uniformly higher

Rafferty Fine Grading’s Matt West operates the new WR 240i reclaimer.

than the material that was there previously. We need to profile it to make sure there is room for the 4 inches of new pavement that will follow. Thirty years of sitting in the seat gives me a good idea of what excess material that will have to come out, although we use cross slope and other indicators to profile the road properly.

I’m also able to see just by looking which street appurtenances won’t work, which ones will, and what

“Leveled off, the reclaimed material is uniformly higher than the material that was there previously. We need to profile it to make sure there is room for the 4 inches of new pavement that will follow.”

— Kurt Rafferty

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 21

project management

22 october 2013

a freshly paved street isn’t torn up soon after the paving crews leave.

“On Lois Street, sewers had been upgraded, the water was relatively new, and the gas company had signed off on its services, so the street was ready for reclamation,” Rafferty said.

Recycler Info

Ground Man Greg Miano has help with safety from the four video cameras that feed information to the operator. Vice President Kurt Rafferty also spoke of the safety the machine offers Miano when it comes time for maintenance. Specifically, the WR 240i has a drum rotation switch that allows operator Matt West to rotate the drum incrementally when changing teeth. “It enables us to change the tools and maintain even drum wear from a comfortable and safe position under the machine,” Rafferty said. “In the past, a man had to stand outside the machine, in traffic, and rotate the drum with a crank while the operator changed the teeth. Now the operator and ground person can help each other easily change the teeth, row-by-row, out of harm’s way.”

adjustments will be needed to bring the latter up to grade.”

An initial compaction with the Hamm roller fills the voids and gets the fluff factor out, Rafferty said.

“We use a combination of water or lime to get the optimum moisture for compaction in advance of paving,” he said. “It will be compacted in its entirety, and will be ready for a fine grading or profiling in advance of the paving. This helps the paving contractor meet the yield of blacktop for the job.”

Excess material is windrowed to the center of the road where it’s removed by loaders onto city trucks.

This excess recycled material is screened and processed by the city, which uses it for a variety of purposes, including new drainage adjustments, new pipe bedding, and parks and recreation grounds maintenance.

Windrowing to the center also helps Rafferty create a new crown for the pavement. “We already will be into

3 to 4 percent cross slope just by putting the road to grade,” he said.

Pavement Management Program In Connecticut, Rafferty is a vendor in the state’s VIP list, which stands for Vendor-in-Place, and which was issued by the state at the beginning of 2013. All 169 towns in Connecticut can use the pre-qualified contractor list, picking and choosing which contractors best meet their needs.

Torrington adheres to a strict pavement management program to plan its street maintenance, and in this case, reconstruction. All streets are graded according to a pavement index, which dictates whether a street may be surface-treated with chip seal or other surface seal to prolong its life, or left to deteriorate prior to utility work and reconstruction.

Allowing a street to completely deteriorate before spending money on it permits the city to coordinate utility work before reconstruction, so

The new WR 240i is the seventh piece of Wirtgen Group equipment acquired by Rafferty, and management explained that they’re pleased with its work. “…we chose it because many states we work with are requiring at least 50 percent of the equipment on the job be Tier 4 interim.”

This underscores Rafferty’s mission in pavement reclamation and reconstruction as an environmentally sustainable contractor. “It’s a marketing issue with Rafferty,” he said. “We always have been ‘green’ in that we recycle. We now truly bring green iron to the table.”

Here’s what’s in their green iron: • The Cummins power plant in the WR 240i is a plus because Rafferty has other Cummins QSX engines in its fleet; this enables the contractor to stock common spare parts and wear items in its service trucks.

• Four-post design; 72,000 pounds sits on the cutter housing “In a uniform, balanced fashion,” Rafferty said.

• “The fact that they moved the cab from 14 feet high to the operator sitting forward with the cameras enables the ground man to be more productive and safer.”

• Four video cams enable near-total visibility around the WR 240i in the cab. “The operator now gets four looks at his work,” Rafferty said.

“When the machine is moving forward, he sees the structure he should stop at. When the machine picks up and jumps over the structure, he sees the structure he just left. The ground man still continues what he used to do, but the operator can verify exactly what is going on and where he is.” www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 23

project management

Rafferty Fine Grading, Torrington, Conn., has achieved status as a VIP contractor for the state. This stands for Vendor-in-Place and is a moniker for pre-qualified contractors for specific types of maintenance work. It means Rafferty is eligible for township work as far as the state is concerned.

• Rafferty’s machine is equipped with the optional emulsion pump/water pump system. “That enhances our ability to do different jobs in various states when emulsion is required as part of the project,” Rafferty said. “Now it opens up a new market to us.”

• Rafferty’s machine also has a drum rotation switch that allows the operator to rotate the drum incrementally, right at ground level, when changing teeth.

“It enables us to change the tools and maintain even drum wear from a comfortable and safe position under the machine,” Rafferty said.

At the end of its tenure with Rafferty, used Wirtgen equipment holds value for them, Rafferty said. “Our president and CEO, Rhonda Rafferty, believes in the Wirtgen product we bring to the table,” he said. He explained that she sees the importance of the green iron’s resale value as well as its productivity in the field.

Manage the Reclaiming Project Step 1. Check with local call-before-you-dig authorities and utilities Step 2. Make the extra effort to locate forgotten utilities that have been paved over in the past; use metal detectors Step 3. Reclaim the deteriorated pavement Step 4. Level off the surface Step 5. Windrow excess material; scoop it up with a skid steer and haul it away Step 6. Compact out the fluff factor Step 7. Pave with new asphalt

How to Roll the WMA Mat

F

or this magazine about environmentally responsible paving practices, I want to visit the topic of compacting a warm-mix asphalt (WMA) mat again. We need to think about when to start or stop compactive effort when working with a WMA mat.

Contractors have had difficulty answering the question of how to roll the mat unless they could first specify whether or not the mix incorporated Superpave methodology, the mat was laid beneath overly shaded areas, the base was stable enough to support the weight and force, etcetera. Tim Murphy of Murphy Pavement Technology, Inc., Chicago, explained that the mat temperature at which you take the last roller off should be determined on a job by job, mix by mix, base by base, and temperature by temperature basis. He said that if the ambient temperature is summer-like 26 october 2013

and the mix production temperature is 300 degrees F and you have plenty of thickness versus the maximum aggregate particle size, then you should have no problem getting proper compaction. He prefers having a thickness that is three times the maximum aggregate particle size.

There you have some caveats for taking the finish roller off when the mat temperature reaches 180 degrees if you’re working with a hot mix asphalt (HMA). With warm-mix asphalt (WMA) mixes, paving foremen found the temperature immediately behind the screed equal to the intermediate rolling zone of the typical HMA mat. They sought new rolling patterns.

The same principles of compaction apply when rolling WMA; roller operators happen to have a new technology in the mat to help them.

By Sandy Lender

The BW190 AD serves in the breakdown position with another Bomag roller immediately behind in the intermediate position. Make sure crew members follow established rolling patterns faithfully to achieve proper density on WMA projects, just as they would on a HMA project. Photo courtesy of Bomag Americas El BW190 AD sirve en la posición de ruptura con otro rodillo Bomag inmediatamente detrás en la posición intermedia. Asegúrese de que los tripulantes siguen patrones de rodadura establecidos fielmente para lograr la densidad adecuada en proyectos WMA, tal como lo harían en un proyecto de HMA. Foto cortesía de Bomag Américas

Chuck Deahl, formerly of Bomag Americas, said the temperature of a mix determines its workability. Another stable principle is the more coarse the mix, the more quickly it will cool.

The more variables the mat encounters, such as those Murphy listed above, the less time the roller operators will have to achieve density.

Dr. Ray Brown, director emeritus at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT), said contractors should be rolling WMA mats the same way they rolled HMA mats with success. They will also find WMA easier to compact, Brown said. The warmmix technology is making it workable at the lower temperatures.

There’s the crux of the matter for achieving density with WMA mixes. The technology changes the mix in such a way that temperature isn’t the same dictating factor it is in HMA compaction success.

A temperature of 230 degrees F immediately behind the screed allows the breakdown roller to seal up the majority of density with a WMA mix the way 320 degrees or higher did for HMA mix. Mat temperatures dip from there, but at a slower rate than they do when beginning at a high level thanks to physics. The lower temperatures don’t pose the threat to aggregate or binder matrix integrity that lower HMA temperatures do thanks

28 october 2013

to asphalt entrainment in WMA technology. Foremen will see the static finish roller achieving density at temperatures as low as 140 or 150 degrees F if they’re working on a WMA mat.

If you took regular hot mix and tried to roll it at these temperatures, you would not succeed, Brown said.

Due to the WMA technology, the cooler internal temperatures allow the contractor to achieve density with WMA mats.

Warm-mix has definitely changed the parameters, John Ball of Top Quality Paving, Manchester, N.H., said. While some aspects of rolling have gotten easier, he said the crew still has to be sharp. That means being consistent.

We used to have to seal the mat up while it was hot, Ball said. We used to have a 300-foot or so rolling zone behind the screed. With WMA, you still get on right behind the screed to get the air voids out of the mat. Get on it more quickly and be more consistent with your established rolling pattern.

You don’t have as long of a rolling

zone now. You stay within 250 feet of the screed instead of 300.

Even though Ball stressed going for density quickly and in a consistent, methodical manner, he also shared good news for moving quickly. The WMA mat doesn’t cut up as much when you make a stop, Ball said. It doesn’t bow up on you or cut in on you the way the very hot mat used to.

No matter what type of mix or mat you wish to compact, success depends on adhering to best practices. Murphy and Ball both tell their clients to preheat all of the paving and compaction equipment prior to start-up. Most readers know it’s wise to cover loads and haul them to the site in insulated beds. Finally, make sure the breakdown roller gets on the mat as close behind the screed as possible to seal up air voids and gain as much compaction as possible in the first few passes, whether you’re working with a 300foot rolling zone or a 250-foot rolling zone.

See Spanish version of this article on page 30.

Los Principios Rodar WMA P

ara esta revista acerca de las prácticas de pavimentación ambientalmente responsables, quiero visitar el tema de la compactación de asfalto una colchoneta de calentamiento de la mezcla (WMA) de nuevo. Tenemos que pensar en la hora para iniciar o detener esfuerzo de compactación cuando se trabaja con un WMA mat.

Los contratistas han tenido dificultades para responder a la pregunta de cómo hacer rodar la alfombra a menos que primero podrían especificar si la mezcla constituida metodología Superpave, la alfombra fue colocada debajo de las zonas excesivamente sombreadas, la base era lo suficientemente estable como para soportar el peso y la fuerza, etcétera.

Tim Murphy de Murphy Pavement Technology, Inc., Chicago, explicó que la temperatura de la estera en la que se toma el último rodillo de descuento debe ser determinado por un trabajo por trabajo, mezcla de la mezcla, la base por base, y la temperatura por base la temperatura. Dijo que si la temperatura ambiente es veranocomo la producción y la temperatura de la mezcla es de 300 grados F y tiene un montón de grosor en comparación con el tamaño máximo de partícula de agregado, entonces usted debe tener ningún problema para conseguir la compactación adecuada.

Se prefiere que tiene un espesor que es tres veces el tamaño máximo de partícula de agregado.

Ahí lo tienen algunas advertencias para tomar el rodillo de acabado cuando la temperatura llega a 180 grados estera si usted está trabajando con una mezcla de asfalto en caliente (HMA). Con el asfalto caliente-mix (WMA) mezcla, allanando capataces encontró la temperatura inmediatamente detrás de la regla igual a la zona de rodadura intermedia de la estera HMA típico. Buscaron nuevas formas ondulantes.

Los mismos principios de compactación se aplican al rodar WMA, operadores de rodillos sucede que tiene

30 october 2013

una nueva tecnología en la colchoneta para ayudarlos.

Chuck Deahl, antes de Bomag Américas, dijo que la temperatura de una mezcla determina su viabilidad.

Otro principio estable es la más gruesa de la mezcla, más rápidamente se enfriará. Los más variables de los encuentros estera, tales como los Murphy en la lista anterior, el menos tiempo los operadores de rodillos tendrán para lograr la densidad.

Dr. Ray Brown, director emérito del Centro Nacional de Tecnología de Asfalto (NCAT), dijo que los contratistas deben estar patinando esteras WMA de la misma manera que rodó esteras HMA con éxito. También encontrarán más fácil WMA compacto, dijo Brown. La tecnología de calentamiento de la mezcla es lo que hace viable a las temperaturas más bajas.

Ahí está el quid de la cuestión para lograr la densidad con WMA mezclas.

La tecnología cambia la mezcla de tal manera que la temperatura no es el mismo factor que dicta que es en el éxito de compactación HMA. Una temperatura de 230 grados F inmediatamente detrás de la regla permite que el rodillo de distribución para sellar la mayor parte de la densidad con una mezcla WMA de la manera 320 grados o más hicieron por mezcla HMA. Mat temperaturas bajan de allí, pero a un ritmo más lento de lo que hacen cuando a partir de un alto nivel gracias a la física. Las temperaturas más bajas no representan la amenaza de agregar o integridad de la matriz ligante que menores temperaturas de HMA hacer gracias al arrastre de asfalto en la tecnología de WMA. Capataces verá el rodillo de acabado estática lograr densidad a temperaturas tan bajas como 140 o 150 grados F si están trabajando en una estera de WMA. Si usted tomó mezcla caliente regular y trató de rodar a estas temperaturas, no tendría éxito, dijo Brown.

Debido a la tecnología de WMA, las temperaturas más frías internas

permiten que el contratista lograr densidad con esteras WMA. Warm-mix ha cambiado definitivamente los parámetros, John Ball de Calidad Superior Pavimentación, Manchester, NH, dijo. Aunque algunos aspectos de rodadura se han vuelto más fácil, dijo el equipo todavía tiene que ser fuerte. Eso significa ser consistente.

Solíamos tener para sellar la estera mientras estaba caliente, dijo Ball. Solíamos tener una zona de 300 pies o menos balanceo detrás de la regla. Con WMA, sigue recibiendo a la derecha detrás de la regla para obtener los vacíos de aire fuera de la colchoneta. Sube a lo más rápido y ser más consistente con el patrón de rodadura establecidos. Usted no tiene el tiempo de una zona de rodadura ahora. Quédate dentro de 250 pies de la regla en lugar de 300.

A pesar de que la bola va destacó la densidad rápidamente y de una manera metódica consistente, también compartió una buena noticia para moverse rápidamente. La AMM mat no corta la mayor cantidad cuando usted hace una parada, dijo Ball.

No inclinarse para arriba en usted o corte en el que la forma en la colchoneta muy caliente antes.

No importa qué tipo de mezcla o de la estera desea compacto, el éxito depende de la adhesión a las mejores prácticas. Murphy y Bolas tanto dicen a sus clientes para todos los pre-calentamiento del equipo de pavimentación y compactación antes de la puesta en marcha. La mayoría de los lectores saben que es sabio para cubrir cargas y les lance al sitio en camas aisladas. Por último, asegúrese de que el rodillo de distribución pone en el tapete tan cerca detrás de la regla como sea posible para sellar huecos de aire y el aumento de la compactación tanto como sea posible en los primeros pasos, si usted está trabajando con una zona de rodadura de 300 pies o 250 pies rodando zona.

34 october 2013

The CMI PTD 500 counter flow plant averaged 400 TPH of Superpave Level 4 mix for the project. OMP located the plant in a nearby Baker Rock quarry.

Mill, Fill Logistics Oregon Mainline Paving does excellent asphalt job done in two fast-paced weekends

By Sandy Lender

W

hen the Oregon Department of Transportation needed to repave the busiest stretch of interstate in the state this summer, Oregon Mainline Paving (OMP) of McMinnville stepped up to do the job.

The section of I-84 near Portland that required work was a stretch between I-5 and I-205 that hadn’t been repaved since 2002. According to ODOT, on an average day, more than 171,000 vehicles travel that stretch of road. That posed a significant safety issue for crews who would work both night and day paving. Thus ODOT closed I-84 over the July 12 through 14 weekend to allow paving on the three eastbound lanes of the 5.5-mile stretch and closed the interstate over the July 19 through 21 weekend to allow paving on the westbound lanes.

That gave OMP 55 hours each weekend to get in, do the job and get out.

They succeeded through the excellent planning of experienced workers.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 35

About 95 to 100 percent of OMP’s work comes from ODOT projects each year, according to Vice President Matt Seehawer, who has been with the company since April of 2006. He started as a general manager and now oversees everything from production to testing to paving.

“My job is rewarding and fun on many levels,” Seehawer shared. He listed the industry itself as the No.1 part of his job that he enjoys the most. “I work in an industry of great people. I have experienced heavy highway construction in numerous states, within a variety of agencies, alongside plenty of contractors and 36 october 2013

subcontractors, and the common denominator I have found is great people. I am proud to be a member of such a hard working, great group of people.”

The hard work that OMP does put the company in a unique position for the I-84 job. “True inlay/preservation paving work constitutes probably 60 percent of what we do annually,” Seehawer said.

When ODOT needed someone to mill and repave along I-84, heavy highway contractor OMP located its portable CMI PTD-500 counter flow plant at the Baker Rock Farmington Road Quarry, which is about 16

ABOVE: Matt Seehawer, the vice president for Oregon Mainline Paving explained that the paving team could make great strides with the complete closing of the freeway. “We achieved full smoothness/ride bonuses based on the current ODOT/FHWA International Roughness Index requirements. Joint density and mat quality were also enhanced with a full roadway closure.” RIGHT: An aerial photographer captures OMP in bonus-worthy action as belly dumps deliver asphalt during daytime paving.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 37

miles from the work zone. The plant is rated for 500 tons per hour, but Seehawer explained they averaged a steady pace of 400 TPH. “We placed 32,000 tons of mix in just under 80 hours over two weekends,” he shared. “The average TPH was about 400; however, there were times when the plant was running at nearly 600 TPH.” Seehawer explained that they located the plant in the quarry in part because Baker Rock, OMP’s parent company, has a plant there already. In the event of any troubles, the Cedarapids E-500 could serve 38 october 2013

as backup. Baker Rock is primarily a commercial aggregate provider in the Portland area which has a construction division that specializes in asphalt paving for county and city municipalities. “Baker has a long history in the Portland metro market,” Seehawer said. “It’s a strong family business that is well respected. That reputation has been earned over many years and three generations of Bakers at the helm. They have great employees who work hard to get things done. We couldn’t have accomplished this project without their help and coordination.”

Coordination began with Plant Superintendent Bill Petrak, who has been with OMP for 27 years, and Plant Operator/Foreman John Livran, who has been with OMP for 16 years.

They worked round-the-clock shifts to produce the Superpave Level 4 mix.

“Bill Petrak has developed an extensive knowledge of asphalt plants over several decades of training and on-the-job training. He is known throughout the plant community as a guy who can trouble-shoot almost any plant problem from electrical to mechanical and still get the impossible done safely, on time and under

Logistics • OMP closed I-84 eastbound, including ramps, to traffic at 10 p.m. Friday • 20 trucks per hour hauled away millings and brought fresh asphalt mix to the work zone • OMP opened I-84 eastbound, including ramps, to traffic at 5 a.m. Monday

budget. John Livran is cut from the same cloth and trained by Bill to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Between these two and their crews of oilers and heavy duty mechanics, in over 80+ hours of continuous production time they were down a total of 45 minutes.”

The 80 hours Seehawer refers to include the two weekends of work.

OMP’s contract allowed for the complete freeway closure to begin at 10 p.m. Friday. The milling, production and paving crews worked in concert to have the freeway open again by 5 a.m. Monday.

While Seehawer described the work zone being closed off from public traffic as “a luxury,” he explained that the teams didn’t forget their safety training. “Although public traffic was completely eliminated, the massive flow of construction traffic required to make this happen definitely had its challenges and safety considerations as well.”

ODOT personnel report that by the end of the summer project, crews will have placed new asphalt over 31.5 freeway miles. While ODOT recognizes that full interstate lane closures cause some temporary inconvenience for motorists, “the rewards of a smoother and safer highway will last for many years.”

A journalist for The Oregonian summed it up nicely while reporting on the second weekend closure. An obvious local, Joseph Rose posted on July 23, “As anyone who has traveled on the Banfield since it reopened on Monday knows, the smooth, quiet ride is worth every second of that shutdown.”

40 october 2013

Even with a work zone closed to surrounding, public traffic, the OMP crew used abundant lighting and reflective gear to keep personnel well lit and visible to backing trucks. The work zone was a busy place with 20 haul trucks per hour moving in and out with millings and asphalt among the other working equipment.

The pickup machine charged the Cat 5022’s hopper with Superpave Level 4 mix. Seehawer explained that the windrow paving specified in Oregon didn’t require any remixing, thus the transfer machine served the purpose of getting the mix to the paver.

ODOT admitted that full closures caused temporary inconvenience for motorists, but said the longterm benefits include: “The rewards of a smoother and safer highway will last for many years.”

Train Foremen with New Skills W

hen it’s time to advance a worker to the role of foreman on the paving crew, of course you look at the skills he or she has gained while in your employ. Also stop and consider what skills that person might be missing. Yes, you’re rewarding him for the good work performed so far and building upon the knowledge he has as you move him to the new position. Set him up for maximum success with tools he might

42 october 2013

not have had access to while operating the roller, running the screed or maintaining the paver. By seeing to this person’s success as a new foreman, you also see to the success of the crew and each project overall.

“The foreman can end up being the least trained for the job,” John Ball said. As the proprietor of Top Quality Paving, Manchester, N.H., and a longtime consultant in the paving industry, Ball has helped lead

By Sandy Lender

workers into supervisory, leadership and training roles. “We take time with the laborer, showing him how to work the lute or get mix to the mat.

We take time with the paver operator, showing him how to maintain a consistent speed. But the owner assumes the foreman knows what he’s doing. We take him off the screed and make him a foreman.”

Imagine the frustration that can cause the worker. Daniel Connelly is

LEFT: Clint Haynes, on the far left, is a new foreman on the APAC crew in Birmingham, Ala. John Ball of Top Quality Paving works with the crew a few weeks out of the year and said Haynes is an up-and-coming worker with a fine set of skills that his team can be proud of. The gentleman to the right of and behind Haynes is the chief mechanic for the crew. Ball said he’s out with the paving crew on the job to be sure everything stays running smoothly, working hand-in-hand with the foreman and equipment operators .ABOVE LEFT: Rui Vilamarim, at left, has been a foreman for Brox Industries in Massachusetts for about fifteen years. John Ball of Top Quality Paving, pictured on the right, said the young man uses a Roadtec paver and knows how to measure yield like a pro. “He’s easy-going, mild-speaking and the perfect guy you want to work for,” Ball said. ABOVE RIGHT: Bob Costa, on the left, is the contracting divisional manager at Brox Industries. John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving and has been working with Costa for about 17 years. Ball said Costa is an excellent supervisor and manager who takes time to help employees gain knowledge and skills on the job.

the vice president of equipment services at Oldcastle Materials. While preparing for next year’s CONEXPOCON/AGG opportunities, he shared with the world’s largest construction exhibition audience that, “What’s most helpful is to understand what the foreman’s responsibility and frustrations are. You need to understand what they consider to be the blockers to better production. It’s a lot more ask, and a lot less tell.”

The person doing the asking is the project manager. In a perfect world, the foreman answers to the project manager. This is the person who teaches the foreman the extra skills that didn’t come from running the paver or dumping the trucks. The first thing the project manager needs to share with the foreman on any job is, sadly enough, the paperwork.

The foreman needs to know the estimate and the items on the job. By knowing how the job was estimated, he knows whether the company will be paid for tons placed or for hours worked. He knows whether the

number of square yards is the pay factor versus the number of tons.

This makes a difference in the way he looks at the job because it makes a difference in the way his employer is paid for the job. No matter how the company gets paid, he wants to turn out a quality pavement that will reflect well on the crew and company and will put the company at the top of the list when it comes time for hiring in the future, but he must take pay factors into consideration to make sure he doesn’t overspend time or product or manpower on items that take away from the job.

Items on the job can include whether or not your crew is installing curbs and gutters; will the crew be responsible for guard rails and sign placement; will the general contractor take care of striping and rumble strips or is a subcontractor showing up at a certain date and time, etc.

These items take time, planning, material, attention to detail, manpower, scheduling and in the end are part of the costs of the job. You wouldn’t let

the number of trucks delivering perishable mix to a highway job be a surprise for the foreman; don’t let the number of parking stalls you need to paint during a commercial job be a surprise for him either.

The employee described so far is one with multiple skill sets. For Matt Seehawer, the vice president at Oregon Mainline Paving of McMinnville, Ore., the top qualities management at OMP looks for in a paving foreman start with leadership. They include attention to detail, a safety mindset and the ability to communicate.

“They must handle stress and paving under pressure,” Seehawer began. “Accuracy in all aspects of managing the paving process such as quality take offs, panel layout, intersections, cut offs and grinder/HMAC yield management. Attention to details such as joint work, take-offs, guardrail flares, and any mat defect that could affect density, ride or appearance. Every supervisor has to hold safety in the highest regard when working in such dangerous www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 43

conditions. He must be able to readily and actively communicate with his crew, peers, plant, trucks and management.”

Seehawer was proud to offer one of OMP’s employees as a great example of a well-trained and skilled foreman.

“Rick Rhodes has been with our company for 28 years,” Seehawer said. “He has learned under some of the best paving foremen and superintendents ever to pave in the state of Oregon. I have complete confidence in Rick to handle every paving situation correctly. His ability to interact with and lead his crew one minute while negotiating a change with a state inspector the next is what sets him apart from most paving guys. His ability to work in a high stress environment day in and day out is a testament to his ability to manage the work and lead people.

When people think of OMP I hope they think of Rick Rhodes.”

The attributes Ball and Seehawer list for the paving foreman are the types of skills and qualities you want to reward when you find them in an employee. Positively reinforce the attributes you want to see more of and promote workers accordingly.

Just be sure each promotion is met with additional skills training to help the worker succeed in the new post.

Finally, at the end of the day, the foreman is the one who goes over the job and looks at what the crew has accomplished so far. Look at the lines. Look for stopmarks. Check the curbs to be sure there’s no overspray of tack or globs of mix. Pick up stray tools or set signs back up where they should be. We want to be proud of the job we’ve done and that includes the newly trained foreman. As Oldcastle’s Connelly pointed out, engagement is part of the reward.

“People are very much motivated when they get to see their fingerprints on the process,” Connelly shared with the CONEXPO-CON/ AGG web base. “In other words, you empower people to improve the process, and then part of the reward is their fingerprints on process. They do have a stake in this; they’re not just told what to do.”

44 october 2013

The Foreman’s Knowledge

With John Ball

Each project will have variables that the foreman will need to know. If the project manager or superintendent assigned to the project doesn’t communicate information from the estimate to the foreman, then it is the foreman’s responsibility to seek out that information. Throughout the job, he or she needs to stay aware of three important factors. Cost. Time. Yield.

1. Cost How was the job bid? Was it bid by the ton, by the square yard, or by lump sum?

2. Time The foreman needs to know how long it takes the plant to fill the type of truck being used on the job. Starting with how many tons an hour the plant is running, figure the paving speed based on how deep and wide you’ll lay the mat. Be aware that you can’t speed up the plant without compromising mix quality. You also can’t speed up the paver to clear a line of trucks waiting to deliver mix without compromising mat quality and density. Timing is a skill the foreman will learn from the project manager/superintendent and will hone with time, training, and experience.

3. Yield The crew must know “where” they are at all times in relation to the amount of mix produced and the amount of mix on the ground. The foreman tells them when they’ve hit the mid-point of the project tonnage-wise. He needs to know if they’re about to overrun. He tracks this by monitoring yield.

The team at Modern Paving load out trucks and send them to the paving site according to a strict timing regimen to prevent timing problems. The foreman who knows when each truck is scheduled to arrive and how much mix is on each truck has a better chance of monitoring yield and leading his paving crew to a successful finished project. Photo courtesy of Asphalt Drum Mixers, Huntertown, Ind.

Maine Uses RAP for Shoulder Base

A

small crew from Bruce A. Manzer, Inc., of Anson, Maine, put the unique features of a small paver to use this summer to place reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) as base material for rebuilt shoulders in the state’s north woods. On a reconstruction of Maine S.R.4 near Rangeley, in the heart of a vintage New England resort area, Manzer was rebuilding 33,000 square yards of shoulder as part of a 5-mile-long road renovation project.

46 october 2013

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 47

After the skid steer delivered RAP to the paver, the operator raised the left hopper wing to direct the mix.

A skid steer collected mix from the haul truck and delivered it to the hopper of the Super 700 paver.

In cramped roadside conditions, a skid steer loader carried RAP from a supply truck to the left-hand open leaf of a Vogele Super 700 hopper. Once filled, the Super 700 would then elevate the leaf to a more vertical position to channel the RAP to the conveyor for placement, and then would open the leaf again so the skid steer could charge the hopper with RAP again.

The crew placed the formerly 3-foot shoulder at 3 feet, 9 inches wide to provide adequate 48 october 2013

backup on the outside of the shoulder. A Hamm HD 12 roller then compacted the RAP base material prior to overlay with virgin mix.

“We’re putting down a recycled RAP,” Bruce A. Manzer, president of the company, said. “It’s made up of fines out of our crushing operation that processes RAP for our ‘hot top’ plant, 7/16 minus.”

Why use the Super 700 for this application? “Most wouldn’t think of using it on a project

A Hamm HD 12 compacted the RAP base before the team placed the virgin material surface course.

A Maine DOT inspector checks slope.

like this, but we did 5,375 lineal feet of this yesterday in three locations, moving twice,” Manzer said in June. “I don’t know how you could place shoulders any more effectively, and as you can see, after compaction there are very few places where they have to go back for deviations.”

Manzer used the Super 700 on a trench job in New Hampshire in which they placed mix 4 inches deep on gravel. “We laid 215 tons in one hour, pushing triaxles on gravel uphill using

the Super 700,” Manzer said.

“It’s just a big paver shrunk down with enough horsepower to do the job. We use it whenever we can because it saves on labor and backaches….If the job is 30 feet long, we’ll go grab it. If it’s 300 feet long, we’ll go grab it. If it’s 3,000 feet long, we’ll go grab it.”

Manzer’s Super 700 gets envious looks from other contractors he said. “It’s the only one in the state, and everybody else who doesn’t have one wants to use ours.” www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 49

that's a good idea

Keep an Eye on Conveyors

By John Ball

The mechanic for Hardrives, Inc., will turn the pole 180 degrees so the convex mirrors are positioned so that the paver operator can view the hopper.

T

he crew at Hardrives, Inc., Minneapolis, works in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota on highway, street, sidewalk, parking lot, driveway and foundation projects. They’re celebrating their 50th year in the paving business in 2013 and have found innovative ways to improve safety and efficiency along the way. During a project where I consulted with them, the mechanic 52 october 2013

installed this easy system on the paver to help the operator keep track of yield.

He has already bolted a tube to the tractor frame and has slid the ½-inch conduit steel pole into the tube. When the pole is in the right position, he’ll tighten a nut to hold the pole in place. With an adjustment of the nut, the pole can be raised or lowered to adjust height.

A convex mirror has been affixed to either end of a bar across the top of the pole. The mirrors are set on an angle and can be adjusted for the paver operator to see down into the hopper. He will be able to see when the conveyors start to run empty.

John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving, Manchester, N.H. You can contact him at (603) 4931458 or tqpaving@yahoo.com.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 53

equipment gallery

Milling Machines Anticipate OSHA Limits

F

rom spray bars to fans that suck silica dust into reservoirs to water droplet size, the asphalt paving industry has been hard at work ensuring the safest environment for those who perform recycling operations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) shares that goal and proposed in August a permissible exposure level (PEL) for silica dust. The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) shared in a press release that the proposed level is more stringent than current regulations.

• Here’s the proposal: “The proposed PEL for silica dust is now set at 50 micrograms of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air (50 µg/m3). This is consistent with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) current recommended exposure level (REL) for silica, and will provide greater protection for those who work with materials that cause silica exposure. Silica, a known carcinogen, is also known to cause silicosis, a restrictive lung disease.”

• Here’s how or why that affects the asphalt industry: “For the asphalt pavement industry, dust from roadway milling operations is the greatest potential source of silica exposure for workers.”

• Here’s what the asphalt industry has been working on to mitigate exposure: “Over the past decade, the Silica/ 54 october 2013

The proposed permissible exposure level (PEL) for silica dust is now set at 50 micrograms of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air (50 µg/m3), which is consistent with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) current recommended exposure level (REL) for silica. The Silica/Milling Machine Partnership has been working toward the right technology to meet low PELs with existing equipment.

Milling Machine Partnership has worked to identify simple retrofits for existing milling machines that effectively reduce potential silica exposure below OSHA’s new proposed PEL.” Eric Baker of Roadtec in Chattanooga, Tenn., shared with AsphaltPro that previously, OEMs were using water spray

systems to meet and exceed original exposure limits. Through the Silica/Milling Machine Partnership, researchers and OEMs tested such things as best nozzle placement, etc., in regard to the water spray systems.

“There was a lot of testing done with different nozzle configurations, nozzle types as well as different pressures and flow rates,” Baker shared. “It was shown that a system with higher flow rate and a lower relative pressure than some other systems worked best.

This is where the larger water droplet size seemed to work best. High pressure water systems were able to meet the limits as well. All this data and configurations were shared between all the OEMs.” That ongoing cooperation is why Baker and NAPA officials speak with confidence in terms of meeting the regulation.

“The Partnership is committed to doing the best work possible to ensure that workers are safe and that any silica exposure is reduced to the absolutely lowest level “It was shown possible,” Tony Bodway said. that a system He’s the operations manager for Payne & Dolan, Inc., in with higher flow Wisconsin and the chairman rate and a lower of the Silica/Milling Machine relative pressure Partnership. “These are complicated field trials with lots than some other of coordination and effort, all systems worked while working alongside govbest. This is where ernment occupational health agency personnel. Everyone the larger water involved has been focused droplet size on ensuring we do our best.” seemed to work NAPA states that the proposed PEL is achievable, but best.”—Eric Baker as part of the federal rulemaking process, NAPA officials will file comments offering suggestions to help better calibrate the rule to the industry’s exposure potential.

“I have every confidence that the new limits will be met and that we can and will provide a safe work environment for the operators,” Baker said. “Extensive testing will be done to ensure that the solutions we do come up with will meet these new limits and will give everyone the confidence that the work environment is safe. The OEMs were able to meet the previous limit and if OSHA deems that this next level is necessary to provide a safe work environment, then we will do whatever it takes to meet the new limit.”

NIOSH is expected to release in the coming months a best practices document for roadway milling based on the work of the Silica/Milling Machine Partnership. This document will provide a simple roadmap to ensure that any dust generated during milling operations is well-controlled and that workers experience a safe workplace. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 55

equipment gallery

IROCK’s RDS-15

IROCK RAPs The RDS-15 Horizontal Impact Crushing Plant from IROCK Crushers of Valley View, Ohio, is a rapid deployment system for portability and rapid set-up.

The company describes it as a versatile, compact crushing and screening system that can process a variety of products including smaller materials such as reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP).

It is powered by a 350-horsepower Caterpillar® C-9 ACERT Tier 3 engine to process up to 350 tons per hour (TPH). It is a self-contained plant with onboard power. It features three outlets for powering optional auxiliary conveyors. The closed circuit design gives the option to recirculate material that needs further sizing.

The machine features a 5- by 14-foot, doubledeck huck-bolted screen frame. It includes a heavyduty, 40-inch by 14-foot vibrating grizzly feeder.

For more information, contact (866) 240-0201 or sales@irockcrushers.com. Let them know you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Technical Center Tests Agg Samples Eriez® officials state that the company’s technical center employs experienced and credentialed engineers and technicians to test customers’ samples to determine the most efficient and profitable ways to process or handle materials. They explain that the technical center has more than 100 types of permanent magnetic, electromagnetic, vibratory, screening, electronic metal detecting, hydraulic and flotation equipment to handle a wide variety of materials.

The technical center is located in Erie, Pa., which is the site of Eriez’ world headquarters. It first went into operation in 1964 and has conducted application tests numbering in the tens of thousands.

“Tests range from evaluating material flow on a vibratory feeder to classifying minerals through flotation technology and identifying contaminants in products,” Greg Nowak, technical director, said. “In addition to these routine material tests, pilot scale tests are also conducted in the technical center to 56 october 2013

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equipment gallery evaluate various equipment combinations to provide the best processing solutions.”

The technical center also offers testing equipment for flowsheet development, determination of potential use, characterization of product, best handling procedures or best separation approach for sample materials. Visual inspection and basic assessment of each sample are standard.

For more information or to schedule a visit, go to www. eriez.com/Resources/TechicalCenter. Let them know you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Automate Viscosity Test Brookfield Engineering, Middleboro, Mass., has released its RheocalcT Software to give lab techs control of both instrument and test parameters. RheocalcT is designed to give the operator the ability to fully automate viscosity testing from a dedicated PC when using the new DV3T Touch Screen Rheometer and the new DV2T Touch Screen Viscometer. First, the user interface for RheocalcT presents choices for test method creation and data gathering/analysis. Loop functions allow performance of repetitive tasks on test samples that require viscosity measurement at multiple rotational speeds, different temperature set points and discreet time intervals. Viscosity data averaging is now possible for individual tasks within a test step or over multiple steps in the total test program. RheocalcT collects data from the instrument and allows it to be saved, viewed, printed, plotted and analyzed. QC limits for acceptable viscosity values can be displayed directly on the data graph so that pass/fail decisions can be made on visual inspection. Data management options include export of data files to Excel or to read-only PDF formats. File extension for data managed within RheocalcT software is .vdt. Data files can be shared with other users who run RheocalcT on their PCs so that analyses can be reviewed in group discussions.

RheocalcT is designed to be used with any PC that runs Windows 8, 7, Vista or XP. Processor speed should be 2 GHz or higher. Minimum RAM requirement is 1GB. Two USB ports are recommended to support viscosity testing

Brookfield’s RheocalcT Software

58 october 2013

with concurrent temperature control using a Brookfield accessory, such as TC Circulating Temperature Bath or Thermosel System.

For more information, contact (800) 628-8139 or (508) 9466200. Let them know you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Bergkamp Fills Holes With the introduction of a new spray injection patcher product family, Bergkamp, Inc., Salina, Kan., offers a complete suite of pothole patching solutions. The truck-mounted SP5 and SP8 spray injection patchers are equipped with a dual chamber (60/40) aggregate hopper to allow the distribution of two different gradations of aggregate for repair of deeper potholes. A version with automatic operations from the cab is available in addition to manual operations from the ground in front of the truck.

The front-mounted boom provides a working radius of up to 13 feet. Te SP5 and SP8 are available as a complete package with a truck chassis of the customer’s choice. The units are also available to be custom-mounted on a customer’s conventional or cab-over chassis.

For more information, contact (785) 825-1375 or sales@ berkgampinc.com. Let them know you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Bergkamp’s spray injection patcher

here's how it works Step 2

Step 1

The RM500 advances at a speed of 2 mph.

The crew spreads dry additive and aggregate on the surface of the pavement to be reclaimed.

Step 3 The rotor turns at one of three speeds, undercutting the pavement.

The rotor has three speeds: First @2100 engine rpm = 110 rpms Second @2100 engine rpm = 152 rpms Third @2100 engine rpm = 205 rpms

Water nozzle

Step 4 Cut pavement is pulverized against heavy-duty breaker bars in the mixing chamber while optional emulsion and water nozzles inject material to combine with the churning ingredients.

Emulsion nozzle Breaker bar

Hydraulically adjustable rear door

Hydraulically adjustable front door

Additive

Asphalt Aggregate base

Caterpillar’s RM500 Reclaimer W

hen a crack in a pavement extends beyond the hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavement layer into the crushed stone base layer below, a simple chip seal process or thin overlay won’t solve the mechanical problem. Base cracks will reflect to the surface before long. The better pavement maintenance solution could be a mill and fill or an in-place reclamation project.

The team at Caterpillar Paving Products, Peoria, Ill., offers the RM500 road reclaimer to perform full-depth reclamation projects. It’s designed to ensure mix homogeneity and proper gradation. Here’s how it works.

If required for the job, the reclamation crew first spreads dry additives and/or aggregate on the existing roadway that is to be reclaimed.

60 october 2013

The RM500 advances along the existing pavement at a speed of about 20 feet per minute.

The 540-horsepower C15 engine with ACERT™ technology powers the cutter rotor. The rotor turns at one of three speeds while the teeth on the drum undercut the pavement and a portion of the aggregate base, effectively breaking up the existing road and mixing it with the base material. A single pass typically doesn’t exceed 8 inches in depth and cuts at a width of 96 inches.

The motion of the rotor throws the material in chunks against the heavy-duty breaker bars in the mixing chamber, which assist in sizing the material. If the application requires it, an optional emulsion pump injects emulsion into the chamber

or an optional water pump injects water into the chamber—both at a controlled rate to ensure proper amounts per volume of material.

The rotor mixes the reclaimed pavement with the portion of the base along with any introduced aggregates and additives.

As the rotor turns, it lays the reclaimed mix down beneath the hydraulically adjustable rear door, which functions like a screed, ensuring uniform material depth. The operator raises the door to allow material to exit the mixing chamber more quickly, resulting in larger gradation.

Lowering the door keeps material in the chamber longer and produces smaller gradation.

For more information, visit www. cat.com. Let them know you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

here's how it works Step 1

Step 3

Place the sample in the gyratory compactor and specify the number of gyrations the sample should undergo.

The resulting specimen moves to the next stage. If the spec requires it, place the compacted puck in a RTFO to simulate short term aging of the binder for testing prior to testing in the wheel tracker.

Step 4 Place the puck in the Hamburg immersion wheel tracker to test resistance to rutting and moisture-induced damage.

Step 2 The gyratory compactor compacts the sample.

Step 5 Stainless steel wheels inside the chamber move back and forth across the immersed samples.

Gilson’s Gyratory Compactor, Wheel Tracker Lineup W

hen designing an asphalt mix, design testing requires the lab tech to gather as much information from the mix as possible before production begins, including information about specimen compaction properties and how the resulting mix can resist the combined effects of rutting and moistureinduced damage. Gilson has teamed up with James Cox and Sons to provide a testing equipment lineup that includes the Superpave Gyratory Compactor and Hamburg Immersion Wheel Tracker to determine optimal mix properties. Here’s how the lineup works.

To begin, the lab tech places an asphalt mix sample in the gyratory compactor. He specifies either the number of gyrations the sample will undergo or a target density the sample will reach 62 october 2013

as a means to end the compaction cycle. The machine compacts the sample by gyrating the longitudinal axis of the mold at a fixed angle while the platens are held parallel and horizontal.

Once the gyratory compactor has compacted the test samples, the tech will place the resulting specimens in the Hamburg immersion wheel tracker to evaluate them for resistance to rutting and moisture-induced damage. He selects the number of passes and defines the required load on the sample.

Stainless steel wheels move back and forth across the immersed samples under regulated load, speed and temperature while the machine continuously monitors and records rut development.

Generally, an excess of 10,000 passes is required to show damage; the tech

can program the unit to shut off after a specific number of passes or when a rut exceeds maximum allowable depth.

If the spec requires it, the binder’s resistance to deformation and moisture-induced damage is tested with the MO-30 rolling thin film oven (RTFO). Before placing the compacted puck in the wheel tracker, the tech simulates the short term aging of binder that takes place in the field by placing it in the RTFO for a specified length of time. The RTFO values are derived from measurements of binder properties before and after conditioning in the oven.

For more information, contact Mitch Holdren at mholdren@gilsonco.com or (800) 444-1508, x835. Let them know you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

COMING SOON! Tip of the Week Emailed to you every Monday morning

Tips will include topics on: 4 Paving 4 Production 4 Safety 4 Maintenance ...all things asphalt

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64 october 2013

resource directory Almix.........................................19 Tel: 260-672-3004 sales@almix.com www.almix.com Argo Industries..........................31 Contact: Paul Vandermolen Tel: 1-800-244-2746 Or 262-781-3995 Cell: 262-442-9895 Sales@argoind.com www.argoind.com Asphalt Drum Mixers……48, 50-51 Contact: Steve Shawd or Jeff Dunne Tel: 260-637-5729 sales@admasphaltplants.com www.admasphaltplants.com Astec, Inc................ .29, 32-33, 64 Contact: Tom Baugh Tel: 423-867-4210 tbaugh@astecinc.com www.astecinc.com B & S Light Industries.......... 14-15 Contact: Mike Young Tel:918-342-1181 Sales@bslight.com www.bslight.com CEI.............................................. 4 Tel: 800-545-4034 info@ceienterprises.com www.ceienterprises.com

C.M. Consulting........................65 Contact: Cliff Mansfield Tel: 541-354-6188 Cmconsulting@aol.com www.hotplantconsulting.com

Gilson........................................56 Contact: Jim Bibler Tel: 740-548-7298 Jbibler@gilsonco.com www.globalgilson.com

Roadtec...................................7, 9 Contact: Sales Tel: 423-265-0600 Sales@roadtec.com www.roadtec.com

Dillman Equipment............. 24-25 Tel: 608-326-4820 www.dillmanequipment.com

Humboldt Manufacturing.........28 Contact: Robin Bailey Tel: 800-544-7220 Rbailey@humboldtmfg.com www.humboldtmfg.com

Rotochopper, Inc.....................Inside Back Cover Tel: 320-548-3586 Info@rotochopper.com www.rotochopper.com

E.D. Etnyre................................49 Contact: sales@etnyre.com Tel: 800-995-2116 www.etnyre.com Ergon Inc...................................11 Savemyroad.com Fast-Measure.............................64 Tel: 888-876-6050 www.Fast-measure.com Gencor Industries......................13 Contact: Dennis Hunt Dhunt@gencor.com www.gencor.com Heatec, Inc......Inside Front Cover Contact: Sharlene Burney Tel: 800-235-5200 sburney@heatec.com www.heatec.com

KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens..........................45 Contact: Tel: 605-668-2425 Meadwestvaco..........................39 Tel: 800-458-4034 www.evotherm.com www.mvw.com Meeker Equipment...................55 Contact: Jeff Meeker Tel: 215-361-2900 Cell: 215-828-2651 Jeff@meekerequipment.com www.meekerequipment.com Reliable Asphalt Products,.................... Back Cover Contact: Charles Grote Tel: 502-647-1782 cgrote@reliableasphalt.com www.reliableasphalt.com

Rushing Enterprises..................53 Contact: Darrell Martin Tel: 800-654-8030 Dmartin@rushingenterprises.com www.rushingenterprises.com Stansteel Asphalt Plant Products…..........59 Contact: Dave Payne Tel: 800-826-0223 dpayne@stansteel.com www.stansteel.com Stansteel....................................41 Contact: Dawn Kochert Tel: 800-826-0223 dkochert@hotmixparts.com www.hotmixparts.com Surefit Parts, Inc........................53 Contact: Scott Stephens Tel: 253-426-1025 Cell: 253-381-8064 Scott@surefitparts.com www.surefitparts.com

Systems Equipment..................27 Contact: Dave Enyart, Sr. Tel: 563-568-6387 Dlenyart@systemsequipment.com www.systemsequipment.com Tarmac International, Inc...........17 Contact: Ron Heap Tel 816-220-0700 info@tarmacinc.com www.tarmacinc.com Top Quality Paving....................65 Contact: John Ball Tel 603-624-8300 Tqpaving@yahoo.com www.tqpaving Willow Designs..........................53 Contact: Jerod Willow Tel: 717-919-9828 Eoawillow@aol.com www.willowdesignsllc.com WRT Equipment........................53 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.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 65

the last cut

Lessons in Crude Oil Transportation

By Sandy Lender

W

hen I was a young girl, I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder series of books during summer breaks. Plural. It’s been a while now, so I don’t remember whether it was Charles Ingalls or Almanzo Wilder who told Laura that you have to make hay while the sun shines. That’s what the NuStar Energy and Valero Petroleum executives of the United States are doing now while increasing the number of barges, trucks and rail cars transporting crude oil around the continent. They’re making hay while the sun shines.

Refiners and suppliers are transporting as much crude oil and derivative products as they can while the prices per barrel are high. Not enough pipelines to move all that product?

No worries. Put it on a train.

In a recent Wall Street Journal online article, a simple graph showed the amount of crude oil transported by rail, roadway and waterway had climbed from about 200 million barrels in 2010 to almost 400 million barrels in 2012. WSJ got its stats from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). That’s about double in two years. That’s about mind-boggling.

Going back to my Little House on the Prairie education, let’s take a look at a summer when locusts showed up at the Ingalls farm devouring every green thing in sight. Pa Ingalls built small fires around the perimeter of his field to drive thick smoke among the plants; the locusts couldn’t be deterred.

They ate up his crops and Ma’s garden, but Laura noticed the flock of chickens acting strangely. The birds ran to and fro gobbling down locusts as fast as their beaks could peck them up.

Caroline Quiner Ingalls told her girls they should be thankful that they wouldn’t have to buy chicken feed.

She told them, “There’s no great loss without some small gain.”

What’s the small gain our industry sees from an Eagle Ford South Texas oil field sending 500,000 barrels a day down a rural road that was originally built for an average daily traffic (ADT) of about 10 cars an hour? WSJ reports, “The Texas Legislature appropriated $450 million in 2013 to repair and improve roads in oil-producing counties.”

Investing in local infrastructure means a better local economy, more jobs and safer roadways. With increased crude oil supplies in the United States, the dependence on imports drops. When pipeline projects are allowed to commence or be completed, local infrastructure damage may decrease with a decrease in truck and port and barge use for transport of crude oil and derivative products.

“The Texas Legislature appropriated $450 million in 2013 to repair and improve roads in oil-producing counties.”

66 october 2013

Liquid Asphalt Cement Prices—average per ton Company, State

May ’13

Jun ’13

Jul ’13

Aug ’13

ConocoPhillips, Tenn.

$550.00

$550.00

$550.00

$565.00

NuStar Energy, Ga.

555.00

600.00

620.00

585.00

NuStar Energy, N.C.

555.00

600.00

620.00

587.50

NuStar Energy, Va.

575.00

625.00

625.00

590.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, N.C.

560.00

590.00

585.00

600.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, S.C.

565.00

590.00

590.00

600.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, Va.

550.00

585.00

585.00

600.00

Marathon Petroleum, Tenn.

550.00

550.00

550.00

565.00

Marathon Petroleum, N.C.

535.00

535.00

535.00

555.00

Valero Petroleum, N.C.

560.00

590.00

595.00

600.00

California Average

548.80

543.80

559.20

592.30

Delaware Average

561.67

595.00

600.00

578.33

Kentucky Average

546.25

546.25

542.50

553.75

Massachusetts Average

620.00

620.00

607.50

592.50

Missouri Average

535.00

533.75

540.00

547.50

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; Data for Colorado, Source: CDOT and Cenovus

Crude Oil Activity (U.S. Crude) futures spot data

stocks

May 3

$95.61

395.5 m bbl

May 10

$96.04

394.9 m bbl

May 17

$96.02

394.6 m bbl

May 24

$94.15

397.6 m bbl

May 31

$91.97

391.3 m bbl

Jun 7

$96.03

Jun 14 Jun 21

Diesel Fuel Retail Price (dollars per gallon) May 6

3.845

May 13

3.866

May 20

3.890

May 27

3.880

Jun 3

3.869

393.8 m bbl

Jun 10

3.849

$97.85

394.1 m bbl

Jun 17

3.841

$93.69

394.1 m bbl

Jun 24

3.838

Sources: Energy Information Administration

RAP13879 – 1994 400 TPH Astec Double Barrel Plant 8’ Astec Double Barrel Nominal 70,000 CFM Baghouse w/ Horizontal Cyclone 5 Bin Cold Feed System Virgin Screen and Scale Conveyor Rap Bin Rap Screen and Scale Conveyor Control House w/ Plant Controls

RAP-13444 2000 GENCOR DRUM PLANT

• Portable UDP 400 Ultradrum Drum Mixer • Portable 182 Rotoair Baghouse • (2) Skid-Mounted 30,000 GAL AC Tanks

• 5 Bin Portable Cold Feed System • 10x15.5 Skid-Mounted Rap Bin w/ 36 in Feeder

RAP-13779 GENCOR STATIONARY BAGHOUSE

• 1995 Model • Nominal 70,000 CFM • Size 132

RAP-13697 STANDARD HAVENS SILO SYS.

• (2) 200 Ton Silos • Clam Shell Gates • 5 Ton Bintop Batchers

• (1) Transfer Slat • 36in x 88ft Main Drag Slat w/ Oil Heat

RAP-13806 HEATEC 2.0 MBTU HOT OIL HEATER

• NEW Full Modulating Powerflame Burner • Rebuilt Viking Pump • Updated Electric

✓ Qualified listings ✓ Complete retrofit capability ✓ All types of component reconditioning

RAP-13789 6X18 DILLMAN DUO DRUM

• Single Tire Design • Fugitive Fan

RAP-13914 ASTEC CONTROL HOUSE

• Split Level Design • Office • Bathroom

RAP-13055 CEDARAPIDS E500 COUNTERFLOW DRUM MIXER

• 114” x 52’ • Slinger Inlet • Recycle Collar

• Trunnion Drive w/ 60hp Motors • 126 mbtu Burner (M/N CR20N)

RAP-13915 ASTEC 58K CFM BAGHOUSE

• RBH-58:DB 98-007 • Horizontal Cyclone • Auger Dust Return System • Skid Mounted Arrangement

✓ Custom engineering ✓ Experience with all types of plants ✓ Complete plants and stand alone components VIEW ALL OUR INVENTORY ONLINE AT:

Inc.

PO Box 519, Shelbyville KY 40066 • Fax 502.647.1786

www.ReliableAsphalt.com 866.647.1782