Above: The conference was well attended, this was the main conference room and here were also break-out rooms running at the CalAPA Spring Asphalt Pavement Conference held March 22-24 in Ontario.

a featured speaker at the CalAPA Spring Conference. With air quality issues front-and-center by state policy-makers, Bruce Tuter representing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) presented on various CARB initiatives, with special emphasis on the proposed Advanced Clean Fleets regulations. Numerous breakout sessions allowed Spring Conference attendees to customize their experience, including presentations by Greg Renegar, Vice President of Astec, on what the asphalt plant of the future will look like, Drew Delany with Associates

Environmental, presenting on best practices for fleet management and accessing various incentive programs. Bob Humer with the Asphalt Institute, delving on segregation in pavements, and Deepak Maskey of Caltrans providing an update on the use of Life Cycle Assessment by the department.

Other informative sessions included Caltrans Office of Asphalt Pavements Chief Cathrina Barros on the department's numerous sustainability initiatives and how they may impact the asphalt pavement industry, Dr. John Harvey with the University of California Pavement Research Center (UCPRC) on the continuing success of the Caltrans Long-life (Perpetual) Asphalt

Dr.

VP Environment Health & Safety, NAPA shared the Federal perspective on Environment, Health and safety issues.

Pavement design strategy, which was recently recognized with national awards at a meeting earlier this year of the California Transportation Commission. Harvey also delivered a presentation wearing his other hat as director of the City & County Pavement Improvement Center (CCPIC), which has numerous research and educational efforts underway aimed at assisting local governments in making the most of their pavement assets. His presentation on the essential role that pavement compaction plays in the durability of asphalt stimulated many questions from the audience. CalAPA has partnered with the CCPIC to help provide technical training and expertise as part of the association's strategic goal of being an important resource to government agencies onasphalt pavement-related matters.

Compliance with public contracting law was examined by Tony Morelli, Southwest Regional Compliance Manager, with the Construction Industry Force Account Council, and Maurice Arbelaez, vice president for CalAPA member Instrotek, delved into how innovative technology is advancing practical knowledge of how asphalt in-place density is measured, which served as a nice bookend to the presentation earlier by the UCPRC on compaction. Thomas Doherty, senior vice president of specialty programs for the NIP Group, highlighted safety and riskmanagement targeted specifically to asphalt paving companies. CalAPA and the NIP Group have partnered on a special "AsphaltPro" specialty insurance and risk management program in California. The program is the latest in an array of CalAPA initiatives tailored specifically to asphalt paving companies, including the "Quality Paving Certificate" program.

The Spring Conference program closed out with an interactive session on effective communications focusing on news media inquiries, which is part of CalAPA's ongoing leadership development initiative and was meant as another bookend to the opening session on construction industry leadership and culture led by Adamchik. Special thanks go to a very brave Alex Perez of Caltrans, who volunteered to be grilled in a "mock" TV interview on stage during the conference intended to illustrate some of the key learning points in the workshop.

In conjunction with the conference, several other activities took place in and near the conference center, including a popular networking event at the newly opened Topgolf sports and entertainment complex in Ontario, and an "Asphalt Pavement 101" technical training class, taught by Roger Smith. CalAPA also supported the Women of Asphalt California Branch "lunch and learn" that took place March 22 at the SRL in Fontana. That lunch was sponsored by CalAPA member MCK Services. A CalAPA Board of Directors meeting also convened March 22. There were also impromptu activities, such as "Sophie's Dance Party" that took over the hotel nightclub on successive evenings, proving once again that the asphalt pavement industry knows how to mix fun with work.

Special thanks go out to the many sponsors and exhibitors who helped make the conference a success. They included Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc., Knife River Construction, Pavement Recycling Systems and Valero. Exhibitors included All States Materials Group, Crafco Preservation Products, Humboldt testing equipment, Ingevity, InstroTek, Inc., Maxwell Products, Nixon-Egli Equipment Co., OMI Industries, OneCrew, Polyco, Ramos Oil Company, RMA Companies, Sakai, Sierra Pacific Materials, Surface Tech and Transtech Systems. Special promotional consideration was extended to the Women of Asphalt California Branch and the Western Regional Association for Pavement Preservation. CA