THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF NATIONAL PAVEMENT EXPO
It’s Pothole Repair Season!
MAINTENANCE & RECONSTRUCTION MARCH/APRIL 2017
Clean Sweep’s PETE PHILLIPS Assumes NAPSA Reigns at NPE
Top Contractor Survey DEADLINE IS APRIL 21! How Manufacturers are IMPROVING the Skid Steer Workhorse
American Tennis Courts Refurbishes a RUNNING TRACK How to Improve Crew Productivity
Sealcoating Alpha Paving Hits Sealcoating Home Run on Dell Diamond Job Magic Seal Plans for Growth – Then Grows! What You Need to Know for Successful Spring Sealcoating
› › › www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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gemsealproducts.com • 866-264-8273 • Pavement is Our Passion!® ForConstructionPros.com/10073088
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What’s Inside March/April 2017
PAVEMENT FEATURES 12
National Pavement Expo 2017
NPE 2017 in Nashville, TN, drew record-breaking numbers to the exhibit hall and conference sessions. Take a look at some of the highlights from this year’s show.
42 How to Refurbish
a Running Track
46 Contractors’ Choice:
18
How to Sealcoat Under Deadline Pressure
26 Successful
Alpha Paving Industries compresses schedule, completes 24,500 gallons in two days at Dell Diamond baseball field.
22 How a Sealcoater
Plans for Growth
Magic Seal, a WBE company, succeeds through expansion, diversification.
American Tennis Courts starts by analyzing what’s underneath.
Sealcoating in the Spring
Skid-Steer Loaders
What manufacturers aree doing to make these workhorses even better.
Follow these tips to assure a quality, long-lasting sealcoating job.
40 Sweeping Industry
“Hitting Its Stride”
As new NAPSA President, Pete Phillips has big goals for the industry over his next two years in office.
ON THE COVER The 850-gal. SR-850 Extreme Trailer sealcoating spray system features full-sweep, four-paddle hydraulic agitation with a 4-in. agitation shaft, a 2-in. Wilden air-operated dual diaphragm pump and a tongue that can hold two 2-gal. pots and a 30-gal. melter. Photo courtesy Seal-Rite.
Vol. 32, No. 3 March/April 2017
Published and copyrighted 2017 by AC Business Media Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
PAVEMENT
Subscription policy: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the U.S. only to pavement maintenance contractors, producers and government employees involved in paving or pavement maintenance; dealers, and distributors of pavement maintenance equipment or materials; and others with similar business activities. Complete the subscription form at www. forconstructionpros.com or use your company letterhead giving all the information requested. Publisher reserves the right to reject nonqualified subscribers. One year subscriptions for nonqualified individuals: $35.00 U.S.A., $60.00 Canada and Mexico, and $85.00 all other countries (payable in U.S. funds, drawn on U.S. bank). Single copies available (prepaid only) $10.00 each (U.S., Canada & Mexico), $15.00 each (International). Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction (ISSN 1098-5875), is published eight times per year: January, February, March/April, May, June/July, August/ September, October/November, December by AC Business Media Inc., 201 N. Main St., Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to Pavement, PO Box 3605, Northbrook, IL 60065-3605. Printed in the USA. Canada Post PM40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE & RECONSTRUCTION is proudly supported by these associations:
www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • March/April 2017 3
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What’s Inside March/April 2017
57
DEPARTMENTS 6
Editorial
8
Hot Mix
Market Awareness: Acting vs. Reacting 18
The Latest News in the Industry
10 Just In Select New Products and Upgrades 16 2017 Top Contractor Survey 30 Pavement Profit Center 50 Classified
22
Ads
57
Pavement Defects & Solutions
Time to Repair Potholes
58 Your Business Matters What to Expect in 2017 61 NAPSA Report Sweep Increased Profits into Your Business 61 WSA Update Why to Emphasize Workforce Safety
42
62 PCTC Dispatch Good Sealcoating Practices 63 Technology Update New Asphalt Technology Captures Carbon Dioxide 64 Contractor Snapshot Upgrades Help Combat Challenges for Statewide Stripes in California
12
65 Index 66 Tailgate Talk How to Improve Crew Productivity
63
4 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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SOS Primer Latex based primer that adheres to, and seals, oil and grease spots on asphalt pavements. Polymeric matrix creates a tough film that will bond aggressively to the contaminated area. Allows both AE and RT sealers to adhere properly the freshly primed area.
Advantage-4 High potency sealer additive that packs the benefits of several types of products in one; fast drying, performance boosting, color enhancing and viscosity building. Delivers a combination of the most desired enhancements in one powerful product.
Max-Dri Triple action additive delivers three benefits in one potent package; fast drying, performance boosting and viscosity enhancement. Based on 100% acrylic polymers, fast evaporating chemicals and surfactants it will cut drying time significantly reducing labor costs.
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Rust-Arrest Acrylic latex specialty coating provides superior hiding characteristics to prevent rust stains from reappearing after sealcoating. Use as a primer to add protection in trouble areas prior to sealcoating. Dries fast to a jet black finish. Water based - Easy to handle.
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Genesis Primer A high performance state-of-theart primer/sealer and adhesion promoting formulation that bonds to the most difficult petro-chemical and organic contaminants. Drys fast and is ready to accept sealer in as little as 30 min. Excellent for use as a stand alone sealer on asphalt or concrete.
Star-Brite Plus 100% acrylic emulsion, a well balanced blend of pigments and co-solvents. Part of a new generation of water-borne traffic paints which combine fast-drying properties equivalent to solvent-based traffic paints but with the safety in handling of latex-based paints.
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Editorial Allan Heydorn, Editor
Market Awareness: Acting vs. Reacting PAVING AND PAVEMENT maintenance contractors have had a good post-Great Recession run. And while there are plenty of reasons to expect that run to continue (see “State of the Industry,” page 58) it’s good policy to pay attention to what’s going on in your local market. This comes to mind because of what has been a year-long spate of brick-andmortar store closings – and they aren’t of boutique stores but the large space-absorbing businesses that frequently anchor the commercial
properties you deal with. The list looks like this: • JC Penney, closing 130-140 stores • Macy’s, identified 68 of the 100 stores it plans to close • Sears, closing 150 stores (including 108 Kmarts) And that follows on the heels of last year’s shuttering of The Limited (250 locations) and Sports Authority (more than 450 locations). And there’s news that Nordstrom’s is considering at least some consolidations. These large retail outlets not only bring in the shoppers
the malls and strip centers need (though clearly that’s less of a contribution than it used to be), they contribute significant lease dollars to the property, enabling its pavement to be swept, striped, repaired – whatever is needed. When those large businesses vacate, the properties’ operating budgets take a hit. Fewer tenants and more vacancies mean fewer lease dollars flowing in. That means property managers have less money to handle the day-to-day operations of the retail center and must
pay closer attention to what they’re getting done (and to what they’re paying for what they’re getting done). We’ve all seen this before – and have survived it, too. But the key now is to be vigilant about what’s going on in your market. Only then can you effectively act on what you see instead of reacting to what’s already happened.
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6 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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Hot Mix
Elgin Sweeper, NASCAR Green Renew Partnership
Elgin Sweeper has renewed its partnership with NASCAR Green for three years and will continue to serve as the Official Sweeper of NASCAR Green, according to Mike Higgins, vice president and general manager of Elgin Sweeper, Elgin. IL. “Elgin Sweeper has provided trackside support for NASCAR for more than 15 years. Since we entered into our NASCAR Green partnership four years ago, we have experienced incredible success,” he said. As the Official Sweeper of NASCAR Green, Elgin Sweeper is present at each NASCAR race event weekend to support NASCAR's Air Titan equipment to dry rainsoaked racetracks, saving jet fuel and reduce NASCAR’s overall carbon footprint.
Fayat to Buy Atlas Copco Dynapac Division In 2016, the Elgin Track Sweeper helped with drying rain-soaked tracks and vacuuming up standing water, rubber and debris around the pit area at 76 races of the National Series and more than 200 National Series practice sessions.
GuardTop to Open Two “Express” Locations GuardTop LLC, Dana Point, CA, will open two new GuardTop Express locations in Tucson, AZ and Orange, CA. Jeff Luzar, vice president of sales, said the 3,000-sq.-ft. Tucson facility will be GuardTop’s first in the Southwest. The 1,500-sq.-ft. Orange facility is GuardTop’s first in the city but the company has been serving the market for years. Both locations are expected for be open by March 15.
Fayat has agreed to buy the Road Construction Equipment Division of Atlas Copco, which manufactures rollers for asphalt and soil applications, pavers and planers. These products are known under the Dynapac trade name. Fayat plans to strengthen its strategic position in road construction and maintenance equipment through the acquisition of Dynapac. Fayat has deep expertise on this market through the companies BOMAG, Marini, Marini-Ermont and SAE, Secmair and Breining. The agreement includes sales and service operations in 37 countries and production units in five countries: Sweden, Germany, Brazil, India and China. The business has 1,265 employees. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed during the second quarter 2017.
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8 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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Just In
Get fast, relevant product information in the Buyers Guide at ForConstructionPros.com 1
1
2
3
2
Starfire S-4c Mechanical Broom Street Sweeper
AutoTrim Sealcoating Baffle Attachment
Stewart-Amos Sweeper Co. Starfire S-4c is a heavy duty, mid-size mechanical broom street sweeper mounted on a highly maneuverable 19,500 GVWR non-CDL chassis. •• 10% increase in hopper dump heights (up to 11-ft.) •• Tighter 16-ft., 9-in. turning radius •• 20% larger fuel tank (up to 36 gal.) •• 2,000-lb. hopper lift capacity •• Road- or curb-side (left or right side) hopper dump •• 44-in. dump door makes debris disposal faster, cleaner and safer
Neal Asphalt Sealcoating Equipment Neal Mfg. launches its sealcoating baffle attachment — AutoTrim, which automatically cut-ins sealcoat materials on the go while keeping curbs and edges free of material. •• Attaches to the front of Neal’s DA 350 Dual Applicator machine and can be retrofitted onto any truck-powered sealcoating unit •• When paired with Neal’s highpowered blower, contractors can perform sealcoat prep work as much as seven times faster than with traditional methods
•• ForConstructionPros. com/12297144
Heat Design Equipment Inc. The HDE Rap Raptor is used for recycling waste asphalt to “like new” hot mix asphalt. •• 3- 2x HDE 35,000 & 1 x 100,000 BTU’s heaters with patented design with replaceable heater cartridges. •• Hopper capacity: 17 cu.ft. (approximately 350-lb. batches) •• Hopper weight: 1750-lbs. •• Dimensions: 103-in. x 59-in. x 57-in. ForConstructionPros.com/12301584
4 PavementSaver III
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Rayner Equipment Systems The new features of the PavementSaver III include a Control Area Network (CAN) and an Autonomous Rate Control (ARC) System. •• CAN constantly checks every switch, every coil, every indicator light for connectivity and functionality and alerts the operator as soon as any issues are detected •• ARC is a computer-controlled and pressure-managed spray system that applies sealcoating at any desired application rate an operator selects •• ARC constantly monitors all systems for possible deviations and warns operator to reduce down time ForConstructionPros.com/12301959
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10 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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THE KEY TO SUCCESS WITH POROUS PAVEMENT IS
TO KEEP THE PORES AND JOINTS OPEN. Before
After
Maintenance: Routine surface debris removal and Restoration: Deep cleaning to restore infiltration on plugged surfaces Cleaning the pavement with just the nozzle on the Elgin Whirlwind, a high-powered, pure vacuum sweeper a few times a year does the trick. It has been tested and used in this application for over a decade with impactful results. To learn more visit www.elginsweeper and request the Maintenance and Restoration of Porous Pavement Surfaces white paper or contact your Elgin Dealer today.
RENTALS AVAILABLE
Note: Porous pavement varies depending on your local climate, so talk to a specialist in your area. ElginŠ2016 ForConstructionPros.com/10072859
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NPE BUZZ — 2017 | The 2017 National Pavement Expo, Feb. 1-4 in Nashville, featured the largest exhibit floor, greatest number of exhibitors and largest number of attendees in NPE history.
Thousands Attend Largest National Pavement Expo EVER! Chad Jung and Scott Langton, both of Superior Striping, introduced a full room to striping technology that can improve the productivity of any crew.
Falcon Asphalt Repair Equipment featured an asphalt recycler and hot box that can recycle millings or asphalt chunks, transport hot or cold mix and can keep a load of mix hot all day or overnight. DitchRunner's sealcoating machines feature hydraulic piston pumps and agitators and are available in spray-only models or rideon squeegee machines.
QPR offered contractors a proprietary pothole repair material that is DOT approved in all 50 states.
12 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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ForConstructionPros.com/10073532 ForConstructionPros.com/10074003
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NPE BUZZ — 2017 For those specialty paving jobs such as sidewalks, pathways or curbing, Salsco Inc. exhibited its tracked and rubbertired pavers, asphalt/concrete curber and skid steer side dump bucket.
More than 400 contractors attended "How to Make 'Quality' Your Employees' #1 Obsession," presented by Brad Humphrey, Pinnacle Development Group.
NPE 2018 Heads to Cleveland! For the first time in show history, National Pavement Expo will head to Cleveland, OH, for the annual paving & pavement maintenance conference and exhibit hall. NPE 2018 will be held Feb, 7-10 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, located in downtown Cleveland. “We are excited to take National Pavement Expo in 2018 to Cleveland,” says Brian Pagel, vice president at Emerald Expositions. “This is an ideal destination for the event and will no doubt offer a number of new opportunities for exhibitors and attendees alike in this thriving industry.” NPE is the largest trade show specifically designed for paving and pavement maintenance professionals. Its 2018 exhibit hall will be open Wednesday, Feb. 7 through Friday, Feb. 9; Conference sessions will be held Feb. 7 through Saturday morning, Feb. 10. A day-long pre-conference session is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 6. More than 50 educational sessions will cover management issues such as employee retention, crew productivity, sales, job costing and marketing. Technical sessions will cover paving, infrared pavement repair, sealcoating, striping, sweeping, crack repair and pavement repair. For details visit www.nationalpavementexpo.com.
Getting a closer look at one of Titan Tool's stripers.
NPE attendees could test their skills at 1-800-Sweeper’s virtual “sweeper rodeo” that introduced their sweeper operator’s video training tool.
14 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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U.S. Seal/Pitch Black offered contractors an opportunity to own their own sealcoating plant to produce Pitch Black asphalt sealcoating material.
A closeup shot of what's going on in Schwarze industries' A4 Storm sweeper.
Blastcrete Equipment Co.'s Neal Manufacturing division featured its new cut-in baffle for its DA 350 with easy load trailer and introduced its ESSP 400 hydraulic transfer pump with output greater than 300 gpm.
Cimline Pavement Maintenance Group featured its Magma Series line of cracksealing equipment.
LeeBoy featured its 8500D asphalt paver and its Rosco brand Maximizer asphalt distributor.
Coneqtec-Universal's line of skid steer and backhoe attachments are designed for milling, trenching, earthwork, sweeping and specialty surface preparation.
Sponsored by TYMCO and the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA), Dan Quiggle, former aide to Ronald Reagan, wove experiences and insights of working with the President as examples of leadership strategies to set a positive and practical direction for business owners and managers. www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • March/April 2017 15
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PAVEMENT 2017 Top Contractor Survey WELCOME TO THE Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction survey of paving & pavement maintenance contractors. Our hope with this survey is to develop verifiable Top Contractor listings in each of five industry segments: Paving, Sealcoating, Striping, Sweeping and Pavement Repair. To do that we need to know: • Gross Sales Volume for your fiscal year 2016 (regardless of the date that fiscal year ended) • A breakdown by percentage of the type of work that generated those 2016 sales
• Third-party verification of that sales total (see additional explanation at the end of the survey) To determine whether a company qualifies for one (or more) of our five lists we will multiply your total 2016 sales dollars by the percentage of work done in each industry segment. For example, if a contractor reports $1 million in 2016 sales and generated 40% of those sales from paving, the number used to determine qualification for the Paving Top Contractor List would be $400,000 ($1 million x 40%).
Name & Title of Person Completing This Form *First _______________________ Last_______________________________
CONTRACTOR
TOP
2017
Top Contractor Survey
2017
TOP
CONTRACTOR
Note: No sales figures will be reported or published; sales figures will be used only internally for determining each list. Also, no contractor will be eligible for the list without third-party verification of your Fiscal Year 2016 Gross Sales Volume. There are 3 ways to complete and submit this form: • Online at https://www. surveymonkey.com/r/ TopContractor2017
• Complete a hard copy and fax (920-542-1133) or mail it to: Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction, Top Contractor Survey, 201 N. Main Street, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538; Attn. Jessica Stoikes. • Complete a hard copy, scan and e-mail to aheydorn@ ACBusinessMedia.com Thanks very much for your participation. We do appreciate it.
DEADLINE: April 21
5. * What percentage of your fiscal year 2016 Total Gross Sales is generated by working as a subcontractor for other contractors? ___________________
E-mail __________________________________________________________
6. * Do you self-perform more than 50% of your work?
*Company Information Company Name (as you would like it to appear on the magazine) ______________________________________________________________ Street Address _________________________________________________ City State Zip Code _____________________________________________ Phone Number with Area Code ___________________________________ Website _______________________________________________________ Years in Business _______________________________________________
7. What was your overall company-wide profit margin in FY 2016? (Not for publication; results will be presented for the industry as a whole.) ______ Less than 3% ______ 5%-10% ______ More than 15% ______ 3%-5% ______ 10%-15%
Please indicate your number of employees at peak season (If employees fulfill more than one function please include them in the category they perform most often): ______ Management ______ Field Supervisors ______ Laborers ______ Office Staff ______ Sales May we contact Your Company by e-mail? ____Yes
___No
1.* What is your company’s Total Gross Sales for your Fiscal Year (FY) 2016?
___________________________________________________________
___Yes
___No
8. How many different customers did you work for in FY 2016? ______ Fewer than 100 ______ 151-200 ______ 301-400 ______ 101-150 ______ 201-300 ______ More than 400 9. How many different jobs did your company complete in FY 2016? ______ Fewer than 100 ______ 151-200 ______ 301-400 ______ 101-150 ______ 201-300 ______ More than 400 10. What is the estimated replacement value of your equipment fleet (including trucks)? ______ Less than $250,000 ______ $1 million - $2 million ______ $250,000 - $500,000 ______ More than $2 million ______ $500,000 - $1 million Signature ______________________________________________________ Title (please print) _______________________________________________
(This figure used internally for listing purposes only; it will not be published.) Please round to whole dollar amounts. (Example: 1,548,222; note: when entering online please omit commas.)
Date: _________________________________________________________
2. * What percentage of your FY 2016 Total Gross Sales is represented by each of the following areas (must total 100%):
IMPORTANT! SALES VOLUME VERIFICATION
______ Paving ______ Sealcoating ______ Striping ______ Sweeping ______ Other (explain) ____________________________
______ Pavement Repair ______ Concrete ______ Surface Treatments (Micro, Slurry, Chip, Fog, etc.) ______ Hot mix asphalt plant operation
3. * What percentage of your FY 2016 Total Gross Sales is generated from work done on each of the following (must total 100%): ______ Highways ______ Driveways ______ Streets/roads ______ Other (explain) _____________ ______ Parking lots 4. * What percentage of your FY 2016 Total Gross Sales is generated from each of the following types of customers (answers must total 100%). ______ Commercial/Industrial ______ Municipal (state/local agency) ______ Multi-family residential (apartments/condos/HOAs) ______ Single-family residential ______ Other (explain)______________________________________
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To qualify to have your Top Contractor application considered, third-party verification of your FY 2016 Total Gross Sales is required from your company’s CPA, an independent CPA or your accounting firm, or a copy of the appropriate page from your tax return. Verification must be on the CPA or accounting firm letterhead (no photocopies) and must include a statement to the effect that “I have reviewed the company’s Top Contractor application, and the FY 2016 gross sales response to question Number 1 is accurate to the best of my knowledge.” The letter must be signed and dated and include the person’s name, title and telephone number. No financial information will be revealed; it will be used only internally to determine qualification for each listing. Send verification to:
aheydorn@ACBusinessMedia.com
or
Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction 2017 Top Contractor Application 201 N. Main Street, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Attn. Jessica Stoikes Questions? Allan Heydorn, Editor; Phone: 708-531-1612; aheydorn@ACBusinessMedia.com
3/7/17 10:36 AM
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Sealcoating
Allan Heydorn, Editor
How to Sealcoat under
DEADLINE PRESSURE Alpha Paving compresses schedule, completes 24,500 gallons in two days at Dell Diamond baseball field THOUGH ONLY FIVE years old, Alpha Paving Industries, Round Rock, TX, has developed a solid reputation that has given it the confidence to pursue highprofile sealcoating, repair and striping jobs like the one at Dell Diamond Field last summer. It wouldn’t be the biggest job Alpha Paving has done – that title
goes to sealcoating the Dell campus in Austin, TX – but it would be a marquee project Alpha Paving can add to its portfolio of high-profile projects. Dell Diamond is the home of the Round Rock Express baseball team, a Triple A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. The park and parking lot are owned by the city of Round Rock so the job was publicly bid. Alpha Paving was the second lowest bidder so didn’t get the job initially – but after the awarded contractor was unable to perform he job, Alpha Paving was asked to step in and save the day.
And Alpha Paving knocked the job out of the park. Not only did the contractor reevaluate and compress a complex schedule involving four coats of sealer, but they broke their own record by putting down 15,570 gals. of mixed sealer in a single day.
Growing with the Economic Boom Alpha Paving Industries is a full-service paving and pavement maintenance company serving the Austin and central Texas area. The contractor’s work is split
18 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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Alpha Paving President Andrew Kim says that while they did continue other ongoing paving and smaller sealcoating jobs while the Dell Diamond job was ongoing, Alpha Paving prioritized the Dell Diamond project over the other jobs.
evenly between public work and commercial work which involves paving, repair, sealcoating and striping. Alpha Paving employs 50 people, 40 of them in the field, and completed 500 jobs in 2016 – pretty impressive for a company that didn’t exist in 2011. “There’s been such tremendous growth in this area in the last five years and that timed perfectly with us starting the company in 2012,” says Andrew Kim, president, who cofounded the company with Scott Sneed, vice president. The two met while working for one of the larger local paving contractors and, because of changes in the local market, hatched the idea to go out on their own. Sneed says that in a span of three years, many local paving companies were acquired by larger national paving contractors. “As that was happening, we noticed a big shift away from the maintenance side, so our plan when we started was to first fill that void on the pavement maintenance side, just doing patching, sealcoating and striping,” Sneed says. But as the market exploded and demand for paving grew, Sneed and Kim decided there was room for another quality paving contractor. So in year two, they added paving to their services. “There is amazing demand in central Texas for quality paving and pavement maintenance, and we were able to step in and fill that gap,” Sneed says. According to Sneed, a big factor in their ability to grow at a rapid pace was a strong relationship with a burgeoning local bank, R Bank, that was aggressively trying to grow, too. “They were trying to establish their name and grow at a rapid pace – just like we were. They started with two or three branches and now have close to a dozen, so they were pivotal in our growth and we kind of grew together,” Sneed says.
Rather than rely on its smaller sealer application machines, Alpha Paving used two large tankers and doubled the crew size so they were able to complete the work in two days instead of four, five or six.
Scheduling Dell Diamond As with many jobs at facilities holding multiple events, scheduling at the Dell Diamond facility was a major concern. In addition to ballgames, the park hosts carnivals, festivals and other events. Complicating the scheduling was the bid itself, which called for four coats of asphalt emulsion sealer – the top-of-theline protection suggested by material supplier Neyra Industries. “A standard parking lot spec is two coats. The next level up is primer plus two coats and a third coat on drive lanes,” Kim says. “Top of the line is primer plus three coats and that’s what the bid called for. They just wanted to extend the life of their pavement even longer and not have to sealcoat it as often.”
When Alpha developed its bid, they anticipated staging the work over four days, dividing the job into sections and rotating which sections were open which days. The costs of additional staging and coordinating added to the complexity of the project and subtracted from the job’s profitability. At the pre-con meeting, Alpha’s team learned the city had plans to divide the lot even more, into five or six sections, adding even more staging and complexity. “The city had an elaborate phasing plan that would keep the park open,” Kim says. “There was no formal phasing plan included in the bid documents from the city but at the pre-con meeting they had their own assumptions that it would take five or six days rotating areas and dodging around events. We could have
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Sealcoating When they started, co-founders Andrew Kim and Scott Sneed made a conscious decision to brand the company as focused on quality and professionalism. “Those are our two main pillars,” Kim says. That means using technology effectively, relying on drawings, using photos and video, developing and mapping phased work plans and professional communication with customers.”
He says he knew they would be fine because they could add more manpower and use the two truckmounted 3,175-gal. sealer tanks equipped with spray bars to seal the 805,000-sq.-ft. property...four times. “We hadn’t had the two big distributor trucks very long, in fact we got the second one in the spring of 2016,” Kim says. “But having those trucks was really the key to the project.”
On the Job
Alpha Paving Industries increased the size of its sealcoating crew from the typical five or six people to a dozen, essentially placing two sealcoating crews on the Dell Diamond site for two days. Smaller sealcoating projects and paving work for other clients continued but was scheduled around the Dell Diamond job.
followed that plan, but it would have added to the cost and complexity of the job.” So Alpha Paving reevaluated. They considered their manpower, the equipment they had, which included two 3,175-gal. spray trucks, the proximity of their yard and their supplier to the jobsite, the weather and their other jobs – scheduled and in the pipeline.
Sneed says that as badly as they wanted the job, they wanted to provide quality work and they wanted to make a decent profit. The cost and complexity of opening and closing and reopening and reclosing as many as six sections of the park, and the cost of restaging every day, clearly would take a bite out of the bottom line. Plus keeping the crews on the Dell Diamond job productive on other jobs when they weren’t on the Dell job made scheduling for other customers difficult. Plus it made the workers (and equipment) on the Dell Diamond job less productive. So at the pre-con meeting Alpha Paving offered a suggestion: They could complete the vast majority of the job, around 90%, in two days if the park and parking lot could be completely closed. Patching work would be done in stages the month prior to closing it down, and a very small amount of work could be done after the main job was complete as time and park activities permitted. The city was on board and they found a twoday window. “That meant we had to execute and get it done in two days like we promised,” Kim says. “But we knew that as long as the weather cooperated we were going to be fine.”
Kim says Juan Beltran, crews superintendent, has extensive sealcoating experience with field operations, equipment and materials and he was tasked with planning the entire Dell Diamond job. “We relied on him to create the plan and he tasked each person with what to do,” Kim says. In addition to recommending doubling the sealcoating crew size to 12, he divided the crew into three-man teams and assigned each team specific tasks, including cleaning the pavement, handwork and applying the primer coat of sealer. Beltran planned the work, deciding where on the parking lot each team would start and how far they were going to go before turning around to make another pass or moving on to another area. “It was a very well planned and coordinated effort,” Kim says. “It was a very progressive plan on how we were going to get this done in a tight schedule.” Beltran held a crew meeting prior to starting the job to make sure all crew members understood their responsibilities, to outline the plan and to make sure everyone was on board. Then in July, more than a month before sealcoating was scheduled to start, Alpha Paving began repairing more than 50 patches, 2-in. to 12-in. deep, throughout the property using
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close to 600 tons of material. After those patches cured for at least 30 days Alpha Paving was ready to sealcoat. And once the sealcoating started in August, the crew was on site early both days. “We worked in the dark under the ballpark lights doing all the things that didn’t include sealcoating,” Kim says. That work involved cleaning the pavement using a power broom followed by edging and hand work and then application of the primer. “The crews started on site at 4:00 a.m. but didn’t start sealcoating until after 8:00 when then temperature hit the required mark. Work continued both days until dark, around 8:00 p.m.” Because Alpha’s yard is close to both Dell Diamond and Neyra’s Texas operation, the contractor didn’t need to set up a staging area at the job. No raw material was kept on the site and sealer was mixed either at the supplier or in Alpha’s two 8,000-gal. tanks at its yard.
“We just went back and forth as needed to pick up material,” Kim says. “Using the two trucks, we often had both working on site at the same time and just as often one was on site while the other was filling up. It was pretty much nonstop sealcoating once we started.” In fact it was so nonstop that Alpha Paving set a company record of gallons of sealer applied in a single day – 15,750 mixed gallons – on the first day on the job. “We had good weather with a lot of sun with good temperatures so coats were dry in less than an hour,” Kim says. “We started at one end and by the time we’d finished the other end that first area was dry.”
More than a month before sealcoating was scheduled to start, Alpha Paving began repairing more than 50 patches, 2-in. to 12-in. deep.
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Sealcoating Allan Heydorn, Editor
How a Sealcoater Plans for
GROWTH
WBE Magic Seal succeeds through expansion, diversification WHEN YOUR COMPANY sealcoats 12,500 driveways in a single season there’s the sense that, regardless of the market you’re in, you’re doing something right. Magic Seal, Rochester, NY, is doing something right. “We’ve got it down to a science,” says Tina Baughman, president. “We do make it look easy – it’s not – but we want to make it look easy for our customers.” Baughman, who received Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) status in 2015, owns the business with husband
Steve, vice president. Like most pavement maintenance companies, Magic Seal started very small and followed a steady path to get where they are today. Tina says that while their growth was slow it was planned. “We definitely had a plan,” she says. “We always had a plan.” Today the 45-person company is a full-service paving and pavement maintenance operation. They run eight sealcoating crews, each crew sealcoating 22-25 driveways a day. The commercial sealcoating crew seals more than 500 properties over the year. In addition they run three hot-pour cracksealing crews, doing almost entirely work on county roads, and the relatively recent addition of paving to Magic Seal’s services has
enabled the conFive days a week the sealcoating tractor to triple its crews work on sales – and more both residential paving is also in and commercial the plans. properties, doing Baughman says commercial work in the morning and that 85% of Magic residential work Seal’s work is busiin the afternoon. ness from repeat The other two days customers, who Magic Seal does rely on the cononly residential sealcoating. tractor for general pavement maintenance. “Not everyone needs sealcoating every year so we might crackseal for a couple of years for a customer before we get asked to sealcoat,” she says. “But when they’re ready to sealcoat we get the call.”
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Tina Baughman, Magic Seal president, says the company does sealcoating, cracksealing, milling, paving, pavement repair, striping and concrete work.
Steve Baughman started the company in the summer of 1983 when he was 16 years old. He knocked on doors and sealed driveways. By 1989 he had added commercial sealcoating, and that summer Tina answered the phone for him while sitting on her mom’s patio. He soon learned that Rochester was a better market with more work and more lucrative work, so he began driving back and forth each day from Niagara County, and in 1994 he and Tina moved to Rochester with their two-truck operation. By 1996 he’d added two more trucks and in 1997 the two married and the operation had five sealcoating trucks. “We had six trucks in 2000 but we were still just doing sealcoating and crackfilling,” Tina says. “We only were working on residential driveways and commercial parking lots, but we were doing okay because we were able to send six trucks out every day.” In 2007 they added patching and paving, installing small driveways. And now Magic Seal runs two tear-out crews, a milling crew, and two paving crews (one commercial and on residential). All three crackfilling crews are dedicated to county work, which also was part of the plan.
Plans for WBE and County Work Magic Seal was on pace to sealcoat 15,000 driveways in 2016 but pulled its eighth sealer truck off the road to meet the demands of one of its other growth avenues – cracksealing county roads. Baughman says Magic Seal planned this expansion, researching bidding and deciding to obtain Women Business Enterprise status for the company. “We’ve always wanted to do county, town and state work,” Baughman says. “County work involves larger jobs, we can plan out our schedule for five days a week and we know that, in some cases, the job will last for 45 days. Those are all great reasons to work for the county and it was another step in our growth.” So the Baughmans researched public bidding and talked with other contractors about how best to pursue county work. Then deciding they wanted to specialize in cracksealing. “Cracksealing for counties extends our season as much as two months, which obviously helps the company but it enables us to keep guys on the payroll longer,” she says. “And employees especially like it because county work is prevailing wage work. It’s another step in our growth and cracksealing on roads has become a specialty we’re recognized for.” Helping Magic Seal break into the county market is the fact that Tina Baughman received her WBE certification in 2015. “We planned on
becoming a WBE company for a long time because we learned it is beneficial for bidding on county jobs.” She says she worked for six years before receiving her WBE status. Working primarily in the office, Tina Baughman handles sales, payroll, tax preparation, OSHA certification and compliance. Plus she is responsible for “anything with sealcoating,” she handles all county bids and where Steve does all commercial estimates – 30 a day – Tina follows up and schedules all commercial work and is the primary customer contact. Larger companies that are trying to fulfill the WBE requirements for their contracts can now turn to Magic Seal to fulfill those requirements for their paving needs.
Planned Productivity Bidding, scheduling and completing residential sealcoating is a fine-tuned operation at Magic Seal. “Our productivity is not just a factor of having eight trucks on the road,” Baughman says. The in-office call center takes the customer call, enters the address into a computer system. Magic Seal has invested money in a program that allows them to price out the driveway and schedule it all in the matter of minutes. She says the call center process and scheduling are the basis for their productivity but she says Magic Seal couldn’t be productive without its experienced, high-quality team. She says most people have been with the company a long time, the shortest term (other than a handful of seasonal laborers) being five years with 20 employees being with the company for 10 years or more. “Most of our employees have been with us 12-15 years.
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Sealcoating In 2016 Magic Seal sealcoated 12,500 driveways because of their streamlined approach to bidding and the experience and number of crews they put on the road.
“We pay our people very well, and we treat them well. If you’re sick you still get paid, for example,” she says. “I feel like if we reward them by paying them well they’re going to stay. It’s a backbreaking job out there on the pavement in 90-degree heat. It’s tiring and exhausting. It’s worth paying them more to keep them, to have experienced people on crews being as productive as they are.”
Making it Look Easy Baughman says that the residential market seems to just keep growing on its own, with targeted marketing by the company. This past year Magic Seal even ran a television commercial throughout the spring and summer to gain more recognition
Image – and New Equipment – is Everything Magic Seal is a stickler about new equipment and trucks because new equipment represents the company better. “It’s the way we present ourselves,” Tina Baughman says. “Our equipment is well taken care of, proudly wearing the Magic Seal name. The crews wear matching t-shirts because how you present yourself is how you present your company and that says a lot about who you are. Compare that against a company that pulls up in a beat-up dirty truck with no name and a crew in dirty torn clothes. “We actually asked our customers about the importance of image and that’s what they told us. It confirmed what we felt and what we thought we knew,” she says. “They want to know they are dealing with someone from a reputable company.” The yellow cones placed on the end of residential and commercial work are the face of Magic Seal. People call and come to us saying “Hey you guys are the ones with the yellow cones! We see your cones all over the Rochester area.” The cones feature the company name on one side and the phone number on the other side.
for the Magic Seal name. Magic Seal has received the Angie’s List Super Service Award six years running. In addition Magic Seal has also earned The Top Contractor Award from Pavement Maintenance for 2015 & 2016, Top 100 Women Owned Business from the Rochester Business Journal in 2016, lastly a 20 year A+ standing with the Better Business Bureau. Baughman says they expect to increase their paving work next year after adding a LeeBoy 8500 last year. “We have several big commercial clients we’ve done sealcoating and cracksealing work for and they gave us a little paving work. They gave us a chance to do their parking lots and with the addition of the new paver we plan to pursue even more paving.” She says getting their foot in the door paving large properties will help them pursue more commercial paving work. “Those are big jobs and big jobs lead to bigger jobs,” she says. She says Magic Seal will bump up its marketing in 2017 to get more work for their two pavers. “With the company name, Magic Seal, people don’t know we pave, so we’ll do some promotion to make them aware,” she says. “It’s been a ride, I’ll tell you that,” Baughman says. “We’ve grown every year
In addition to paying its employees well, Magic Seal offers a variety of incentives to encourage productivity and retention. “We want to have good people, nice people, people who can interact with other people, so it’s worth paying them good money to represent your company,” says Tina Baughman.
and we hope we keep going higher and higher. Road work has helped, WBE has helped, receiving the Super Service Award has helped. “And we’ve been in business so many years now that people know us by reputation so we get a lot of positive wordof-mouth advertising. But that happens when you’ve been in business in Rochester since 1994 and you do good work,” she says. “Word gets around.” Baughman says she and Steve learned a lot through trial and error. “But in the end that is just a part of it. With the help of our excellent staff and employees in the field Magic Seal will continue to grow and be a successful company for many years to come. “
24 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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Sealcoating
Girish C. Dubey
Successful Sealcoating in the Spring
Follow these tips to assure a quality, long-lasting sealcoating job
For best results when sealcoating early in the spring, power wash the pavement to remove embedded salt, silt and deicing chemicals.
THE SPRING SEASON ushers in many transformations in nature and fills everyone with new vitality and enthusiasm. The spring is especially exciting for us in the sealcoating industry who can barely wait for the start of the new season after the idle months of winter. As sealcoating professionals, you must put your best foot forward to set the right tone for the rest of the season. Do not let errors or oversight turn into “spring allergies” that may become perennial; a bad reputation is hard to shake off. For an effective commencement for the season, sealcoating projects have to be planned meticulously and executed precisely in a cost-effective manner. Here’s how: Job Inspection and Costing for New Jobs: In the spring, you will have shorter workdays and will have to contend with low temperatures in early mornings and evenings when sealer should not be applied. In other words, a normal one-day job may take two days, which means more travel time, overhead, payroll and other expenses that should be factored into bid proposals and should be charged at a different rate than a job estimated for mid-summer. “Carryover” Work from Last Season: In many cases, the spring work may
entail the jobs left over from the previous year that were not completed due to early winter setting or just time constraints. You should personally evaluate the property before showing up to perform the work. It is likely that asphalt may have deteriorated over the winter and needs more crack repair, patching or replacement work before sealcoating can be performed. Hopefully, you have allowed for such contingencies in your bid proposal to recover your costs. If not, then it is a lesson for the future. New Project Inspection Prior to Bidding: The inspection should include: • Assessment of the overall condition and integrity of the asphalt pavement (the age, surface deterioration, any base or sub-base issues and the drainage of the asphalt pavement). • New asphalt installations. Paving done in late fall last year or early spring of this year should be checked for their
suitability for sealcoating. For optimum performance of sealcoating, it is essential that the asphalt pavement be allowed to age sufficiently to rid itself of its surface oils. Perform the “waterbreak-free-test” by casting a gallon of clean water out over the surface. If the water sheets out without crawling or showing oil rings, the surface is ready for sealcoating. If the asphalt fails this test, it should be allowed additional time to cure and be re-tested. • Surface profile of new asphalt installations. Observe the surface profile of the new asphalt closely to make sure that the asphalt was properly laid and compacted. Overly open, rough or “boney” surface appearance may be indicative of either cooling of the hot mix asphalt or inadequate compaction during paving. Report any abnormalities to the property owner and have him seek response from the paving contractor. Check Equipment: Make sure that your equipment is in good working condition before you venture out to sealcoat. It is preferred that you start the season with a clean tank; check the agitation, pump, gauges, compressors, hoses, spray tips -- the whole nine yards. More rigorous checks are warranted if you have material left over in your tank from last year. In our experience,
Spring Sealcoating Tip #1
Spring Sealcoating Tip #2
Plan sealcoating application as early in the day as possible. Avoid application in late afternoon because there might not be sufficient daylight for proper drying out as well as the danger of temperature dipping into the freezing zone in late evening/night.
Always allow extra drying time in between coats for the previous coat to release as much water and volatiles as possible. For example, if you allow 1 hour in the summer months you may have to allow 2-3 hours in the spring.
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Sealcoating
In the spring, pay special attention to minor cracks that may hold a lot of moisture. You may need an effective compressed air source to dry out such cracks
How Sealer Cures – and Why You Need to Know Sealcoatings are water-based coatings and, like most waterborne coatings, start releasing water into the ambient atmosphere as soon as applied. The surrounding air acts as a blotting paper to soak up the released water – its capacity depending upon the relative humidity (% relative humidity) of the atmosphere. As the water leaves, the volume of the wet sealer film shrinks in direct proportion to its water content (by volume) in the mix. For example, if the mix design has 70% water by volume, the wet film will shrink by 70% (30% of its original volume). The evaporation of water from the wet film produces a steady turbulence in the film and forces the suspended particles closer together. The film becomes progressively denser, thus forcing the binder particles to touch each other and fuse into a continuous film, encapsulating the filler particles in the process. Simultaneously, the excess binder in the matrix allows the film to effectively bond to the pavement surface. To better understand the drying and cure process, visualize the wet film not as one solid entity but as a composite of numerous layers of molecularly thin films (imagine a sheet of plywood). Like most water-based coatings, sealcoating dries, in successive layers, from top to bottom. As each layer dries, it shrinks in volume, becomes tight and relatively impervious, therefore, impeding the evaporation of water from the layers beneath it. It has been established that the cumulative water loss happens rapidly in the early stages of film drying – the first 80-90% of the film dries relatively fast, but the release of the last 15-20% of water takes much longer, requiring the right set of ambient and pavement conditions. For optimum performance, all water must leave the film – 80-90% is not good enough. The uncured bottom layers of the sealcoating will be torn or dislodged if traffic is allowed on it too soon. The percentages noted above are strictly to explain the phenomenon of the cure stages. The final cure will depend on many factors: mix design, coverage rate and the ambient conditions of temperature, humidity and the wind velocity. The drying and final cure of sealcoatings is dependent upon temperature and relative Humidity. Higher temperatures and lower relative humidity are favorable cure conditions where the converse is true for lower temperatures and high humidity.
many contractors do only cursory checks; start their rig, open the spray for a quick minute or two and think they are ready to go. What they do not see in that amount of time are the floating chunks, caked sealer on the walls of the tank, settled sealer in the bottom and debris. All or any of these can cause equipment failure or poor or failed sealer performance, costing time, money and future jobs. Simply test running the
agitation and compressor is not enough. Start the agitation and circulate the material in the tank for a minimum of 15 minutes. Make sure that it is free from chunks and debris. Put the spray wand through the top of the tank and allow running in open mode for a minimum of 15 minutes to check for any clogs in the lines. The material in the tank should be uniform, hoses clear and machine ready to spray.
Check Sealcoating Materials: Pay particular attention to sealer in your holding tanks and application rigs. Make absolutely sure that the materials that you stored over the winter months are still in good condition, meaning that they meet all the original quality standards supplied by your manufacturer. Would it be a safe assumption that you kept the material agitated in the holding tanks on a regular basis? Still, just prior to starting in the spring, agitate the material in holding tank or the rig and submit samples to your supplier to make sure that they are still within the quality control parameters. You may be advised to add some water to adjust the solids or a pinch of biocide to take care of the foul odor, if any. Let the manufacturer instruct and you comply. Check Additives, Traffic Marking Paints, Cold Pour Crack Fillers: Make sure these and other water-based products are still in good condition – that they have maintained their original consistency and fluidity. Any hardening, settling, watery separation or cottage cheese chunkiness may indicate freezing damage. Prepare the Pavement Properly: Because of ambient conditions in early spring months and the ravages of the past winter, the pavement might require additional preparation. In addition to the standard cleaning and preparation methods, thoroughly wash the pavement with water (preferably power washed) to remove embedded salt, silt and de-icing chemicals. Furthermore, heavy rains in the spring can also require extra work as mulch and topsoil get washed out of the flower beds or parking lot islands onto asphalt surfaces. Such contaminants, if not thoroughly removed, are likely to cause sealer peeling and or premature wear. Also, pay special attention to minor cracks that may hold a lot of moisture. You may need an effective compressed air source to dry out such cracks. Early Spring Application Tips: Sealcoating should never be applied unless pavement temperatures are at least 50°F and the air temperature is 50°F and rising. When the sealcoating is applied below 50°F, the binder particles (refined tar or asphalt) do not soften and fuse to form a continuous sealer film. It is more
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like Swiss cheese -- full of holes and totally ineffective as a protective coating. In addition, the sealcoating cured under such conditions usually turns out gray and blotchy in appearance and never attains its characteristic slate/ black color. During the curing stages, sealcoating should never be subjected to ambient conditions where temperatures may fall below 32°F (the freezing point of water). The sealer film will simply disbond or shatter. Mix Design Recommendations: The recommendations made in the following section are based on scientific principles and are general in nature. We recommend that you have your manufacturer’s confirmation and acceptance before making any amendment to their recommendations. • Suggest reducing water by 5% by volume in the mix design. Reduction in the amount will allow curing a bit faster because there will be less total water to be released by the wet film. Thus
Spring Sealcoating Tip #3 You may have to keep the area blocked off longer. This is one reason to consider staging your work over 2-3 days and bidding accordingly.
Spring Sealcoating Tip #4 You may want to consider including a disclaimer in the bid if you are compelled to do the sealcoating job beyond what the “Best Sealcoating Practices” recommend. Explain in writing that if you apply sealer under less-than-acceptable conditions or too early in the spring, the sealcoating may prematurely wear off in the event of a late snow event or salting.
the wet film having a shorter life span is likely not to allow enough time for the finer filler particles to float up to the surface and interfere with the fully cured color of the film. • Consider using a fast-drying, polymerbased additive that also contains
carbon black, which, in turn, may be quite helpful in achieving the desired slate/black color, faster. • Do not consider adding any kind of chemical that will slow down the drying (example glycols) to counteract overnight freezing of the wet sealer film. Such additives are slow evaporating and have a tendency to stay in cured film for a long time, thus keeping it a bit soft. As a sealcoating professional, you strive to do the very best in delivering the very best to your customers in materials and performance. As a sealcoating manufacturer, we want to provide you support based on our experience in the industry and the knowledge base. In this endeavor, we have shared some fine points that may be inadvertently overlooked. Have a great 2017 sealcoating season. Girish C. Dubey is president of STAR Inc., Columbus, OH; www.starseal.com.
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Sweeping
Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor
Sweeping Industry “Hitting Its Stride” As new NAPSA President, Clean Sweep Inc.’s Pete Phillips has big goals for the industry over his next two years in office IF YOU ATTENDED National Pavement Expo last month, chances are you saw Pete Phillips running around the trade show floor in Nashville. Phillips, who owns Clean Sweep Inc., based in Chattanooga, TN, was named North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) president at the show, received the World Sweeping Association (WSA) 2017 Award of Excellence in Power Sweeping and presented a $2,500 check on behalf of the 1-800-Sweeper foundation to help rebuild Gatlinburg, TN after the fires. To say he was a busy man is an understatement, and that was only the beginning. “I’m bullish on America,” Phillips says. “The industry is finally mature, the economy has really turned a corner and we’re about to make some serious headway. It's a beautiful thing."
Implementing Training Standards One thing that stands out in the sweeping industry is that everyone has their own ideas as to what are the best ways to sweep a parking lot and each operator is trained accordingly. The first thing Phillips hopes to accomplish at NAPSA is helping to introduce and roll out the Certified Sweeper Operator (CSO) Training program in the first quarter of 2017. Over the last 18 months, Phillips has been working with NAPSA and a team of industry experts to develop an allencompassing training program that companies can use and administer to their operators on a consistent basis. “I was told, ‘associations do for the membership what the membership cannot do for themselves’,” Phillips says. “That’s absolutely right. We want to help
members properly train their operators so that everyone is on the same page.” These online training modules will not only give sweeper operators in-depth training in an easily digestible form, but it will further hold sweeper operators accountable for the training they receive. “The best way to train operators is to modularize it,” Phillips says. “That way you eat the elephant one bite at a time. The modules are written and we’re ready to do some testing. We’re looking to get more input from members to make sure the content is specific enough to be helpful and generic enough to be useful.” Phillips says the modules will cover topics such as safe driving, sweeper basics, job maintenance, noise and dust issues, blowers and tools, post-accident procedures, ethics and more. In addition to that, Phillips has lofty goals to work with the industry, NAPSA, WSA and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to create a national standard for sweepers to conform to while operating. “Right now, we just put people in trucks and tell them to go sweep,” Phillips says. “We’re opening ourselves up to huge liabilities doing that. Once an ANSI standard is in place, operators can document their work to the national standard, be relieved of liability issues and have some protection against lawsuits.” The goal is to have the ANSI standard for sweeping legislated in all 50 states. “That is going to be a huge undertaking that won’t happen in just two years,” Phillips says. “We’re going to need a lot of involvement from everyone in the industry to get that done.”
Membership Matters As an active participant in the industry, Phillips is a member of the three
Phillips presented a $2,500 check on behalf of the 1-800-Sweeper foundation to help rebuild Gatlinburg,TN after the fires.
main sweeping industry associations, 1-800-Sweeper, NAPSA and WSA and sees benefits to each affiliation. “Each group has its own benefits and challenges they want to address for the industry,” Phillips says. “I see it as a member of the industry to support those people who are supporting my industry. “NAPSA is 100% volunteer based with many industry experts, 1-800-Sweeper is doing great things to gain industry awareness with their virtual sweeping training program and Ranger (KidwellRoss, president of WSA), may be the single most knowledgeable person out there about sweeping and is a wellrespected member of our industry.” Phillips says that membership, however, is only as strong as those that are involved in their associations and encourages the sweeping industry to get involved. “We’re going to need all the help we can get to roll out these huge projects,” Phillips says. “Municipalities are seeing that completing sweeping in-house is not the most cost-effective way to manage their dollars, the water has already slid under the Tier 4 bridge and we’re ready to move forward with some big things. “We have some daunting tasks ahead of us and I know we’re all busy running our own businesses, but many hands make light work and the rewards will be worth it.” Phillips also says “Hi Mom!” In addition to his duties with NAPSA over the next two years, Phillips will take the place of Sylvia Richards on the Pavement Advisory Board.
40 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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Paving
Allan Heydorn, Editor
How to Refurbish a
Running Track American Tennis Courts starts by analyzing what’s underneath THE 400-METER running track at South River High School in Anne Arundle County, Maryland, was in bad shape. The rubberized surface was cracking, the asphalt had worn through the rubber in some places and the asphalt itself exhibited more-than-normal cracking. Enter American Tennis Courts, a Baltimore-based contractor specializing in sports surfaces. “We walked the track and there was no question it was in need of repair,” says Nick Rouhana, vice president/general manager, American Tennis Courts. “The question was, to what extent? “We try to determine the best course of action for schools because they have budget constraints but they need the track fixed. So we try to determine if we can do a repair or if the track has already reached its shelf life, in which case we need to do more than just fix the damaged areas,” Rouhana says. “We also try to find out as much as we can about the existing track because it helps us determine what the problems might be,
what challenges we might face and how best to deal with it.” He says that often they can make a judgment based on the asphalt outside the track such as around established fencing or beneath bleachers. “That pavement is often placed at the same time as the track so we can get some insight into what’s underneath the rubber by examining the asphalt nearby.” But in the case of the South River High School track, American Tennis Courts crews took core samples and learned they were dealing with 3/8 in. of rubberized surface atop 4 in. of asphalt. In this case they were able to determine the track was more than 10 years old. Rouhana says the rubber surface showed signs of severe dehydration and cracking, but there was little delamination from the asphalt. Those problems, combined with the cracks in the underlying asphalt, indicated the track needed to be refurbished.
Pursuing a Niche Market Started in 1960 as a sports construction company, American Tennis Courts today is a woman-owned minority business employing 100 people in peak season and dropping to about 30 during the
Start to finish, the South River High School running track took 40 days to complete, including 14 days where it sat idle waiting for the asphalt to cure before the rubber surface was installed.
winter. The company generates 80% of its revenue from maintaining, repairing, refurbishing and constructing sports surfaces and 20% from commercial paving. American Tennis Courts covers the mid-Atlantic region from southern Virginia to northern New Jersey, each year working on more than 1,000 tennis courts and more than 50 running tracks. “It’s a very niche business, but it’s a staple at every high school or university that they have a running track and tennis courts. So they need to be maintained and repaired and in some cases reconstructed. Plus there are tennis courts for park districts, country clubs and condominiums,” Rouhana says. The contractor started its paving division only five years ago, completing grading, stone base installation and hot mix asphalt laydown and compaction – on sports surfaces and commercial properties. They also have an in-house fencing division which enables American
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Tennis Courts to provide a turnkey construction service from the ground up. “The paving division rose out of the necessity to control our own schedule and work,” Rouhana says. “Prior to that we relied on paving subcontractors to do our work but we were always at the mercy of their own paving schedule. And because of our narrow work window – mainly a little more than three months when the kids aren’t in school because they don’t want us working with heavy equipment and doing construction while the kids are around – that became an issue. We need to do the work when the schools are closed.”
Removing the Rubber Surface Before any reconstruction work could start on the South River High School track, American Tennis Courts needed to remove the 3/8-in. thick layer of rubber. Crews used a motor grader with the blade down to strip the rubber from the asphalt. Two skid steers pick up the rubber debris and deposit it for hauling to a dump site. “The grader just drives around and around the track until the rubber surface is skimmed off,” he says. “You don‘t get it in one peel, especially if it’s still sticking well in most places like this was. But you just have to be patient and persistent and you have to have an experienced operator to you get it done.” He says that in some cases, when the underlying asphalt is going to be used as it is, American Tennis Courts crew has to be especially careful not to nick the pavement, but in this case there was less concern because they had decided to mill the top two inches of asphalt anyway. “Sometimes we don’t know the condition of the underlying asphalt so we’re careful not to nick or gouge it until we know what we’re going to do with it,”
he says. “The three-day process usually results in a very clean surface free of the rubber material.”
Milling & Paving
Paving was done with a 1% pitch, which is required by the American Sports Builders Association. “It isn’t much but it’s important to get the water off the track,” he says. “And there can’t be any undulations because that can affect the runners and their times.” He says the paving crew relied on a 10-ft. straightedge behind the paver to make sure the mat is smooth. “We pay close attention to that as a check so we can adjust it with rollers if need be -- and also so we can adjust the mix placement as we’re moving ahead,” he says. “We measure the depth and fine tune as we go.” He says that in most cases, the 1% pitch drains toward the field in the interior of the track because that’s usually where the drains are. “It’s a very strict tolerance and it takes some expertise and craftsmanship and experience to get it right,” he says. “You can’t just plug and play. John Johnson, our asphalt
Once the rubber was removed, American Tennis Courts milled out 2-in. of asphalt. Milling was subcontracted to a local milling specialist who uses a continuous milling train and the 400 meter, 25-ft.wide track was milled in a single day. Then American Tennis Courts paving crew repaved the surface, replacing the 2 in. of asphalt. Rouhana said the track was paved with a mix of 9.5 mm aggregate though some track use 12.5 mm aggregate. “You don’t want to use a mix that’s too open,” he says. “If it’s too open, it takes too much rubber material to construct the surface, which is more costly. The goal is a smooth mat with an even pitch and you’ll have an even distribution of the rubber surface on the running track.” Rouhana says the job relied on a typical paving train with dump trucks feeding the paver, which was followed closely by rollers. He says the trickiest part of paving a running track is the curves, and his crews have a lot of experience paving through them easily and getting proper compacFollowing milling of 2 in., paving took tion and the smoothtwo days: one day for the interior oval ness that’s important and a second day for the exterior oval. on a sports surface.
American Tennis Courts paving crew repaved the surface, replacing the 2 in. of asphalt. “You don’t want to use a mix that’s too open,” Rouhana says. “If it’s too open, it takes too much rubber material to construct the surface, which is more costly. The goal is a smooth mat with an even pitch and you’ll have an even distribution of the rubber surface on the running track.” www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement • PAVEMENT • March/April 2017 43
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Paving foreman, has 30 years’ experience and it shows especially on jobs like this.” He says paving took two days, one day for the interior oval and a second day for the exterior oval. “Most tracks like this one have only one paving seam and it runs in the middle of the track all the way around,” he says.
Constructing the Rubberized Surface After the asphalt mat sat for 14 days to allow some of the oils to cure out, crews work a day installing plastic and fencing, which is draped with plastic, to protect the field from overspray of the binder material. Once that’s in place, American Tennis Courts begin a three-step process of installing Plexitrac Lightning, a 3/8-in. black running track surface. Step 1. Prime the track. A special primer is applied using a hand wand. Four 55-gal. drums of primer are applied from a Ford 350 outfitted with tanks. Step 2. After the primer dries, typically the next day, crews apply rubber granules and a binder. Rubber granules are 1-3 mm in size and made of ground up recycled tires supplied by Liberty To finish the rubber surface, American Tennis Courts completes a three-step process of installing Plexitrac Lightning, a 3/8-in. black running track surface.
Paving Other Track Events While paving the running track oval is the biggest job on a running track, it’s not the first paving that gets done. Because most other events – long jump, triple jump, pole vault and high jump – take place inside the track, they are completed before the track itself is started. “You don’t want to be going back and forth over the newly paved area, so we pave those first and usually can complete them in a day,” Rouhana says. In most cases, because the paved area for these events is much smaller, paving is done by hand, with a skid steer delivering mix from a truck, crews spread it by hand and compact it using a small roller and hand tampers. He says these areas are paved to the same tolerances and requirements (1% slope when possible) as the track itself, and often, though not in this case, the areas are milled. “In this case, we capped the existing areas with an overlay because they were in relatively good shape and because it’s less intrusive and less costly,” Rouhana says. “We do build them up when necessary, so the paved surface is higher than the surrounding area so it doesn’t trap water.”
Tires Inc. The rubber granules come in 50-lb. plastic bags which are delivered on site. The bags are loaded into the hopper on the Ford 350, and the truck broadcasts the rubber granules evenly across the track as it circles the oval. Once granules have been spread, a truck follows using a hand wand to spray apply binder on top of the granules. The binder application requires two passes. Installation of rubber granules and two passes of binder takes about six hours, and then it’s allowed to dry overnight.
That process (except for the binder) is repeated five times to build up a 3/8-in.thick rubberized running surface. Step 3. A final ultraviolet protective coating is applied in a sixth application once the rubberized surface is constructed. Rouhana says that start to finish the South River High School running track took 40 days to complete, including 14 days where it sat idle waiting for the asphalt to cure before the rubber surface was installed.
“The paving division rose out of the necessity to control our own schedule and work,” says Nick Rouhana. “Prior to that we relied on paving subcontractors to do our work but we were always at the mercy of their own paving schedule. We need to do the work when the schools are closed.”
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Contractors ’ Choice: Skid Steer Loaders
Joe Nasvik
Skid-Steer Loaders: What Manufacturers Are Doing to Make These Workhorses Even Better Today there are many decisions to make when you meet with a dealer to buy the machine you want WHEN SKID-STEER LOADERS started out, they weren’t very complicated. But in more recent, years skid-steers have become a lot more complicated and useful for a wide range of activities. Cost is always important and contractors don’t want to buy technology that isn’t used, but when they periodically trade in their machines for newer equipment there is also the need to include options that increase trade-in value. In order to help you with your decisions here is a rundown of what’s available today.
Operator Comfort Mike Fitzgerald, loader product specialist with the Bobcat Company, Fargo, ND, says there is a new emphasis related to operator experience. Cabs are much quieter and may have features like Blue Tooth for better sound and communication. The industry also recognizes that several operators might use a skid-steer during the course of a day, each having their preferences for steering and controlling the machine. So today, most companies offer several steering and bucket control systems to accommodate operator preferences. Options include steering with levers, joysticks, “T-Bars” and foot pedals or electronic controls for operating attachments. You can also adjust what each control does. In the past operators learned how to control machines using a system specific to a brand—what they learned is what they want to continue using. But Brad
Stemper, solutions marketing manager for Case in Racine, WI, says there is an increasing shift to electronic controls over mechanical or hydraulic ones as younger generations become operators. These electronic controls reduce operator fatigue after long hours of operation and provide a wider opportunity to customize control response and function. With the shift to electronic control systems there is also the opportunity for both the office and the operator to know more about the performance of the machine and how productive it is. Fitzgerald says Bobcat is beginning to offer deluxe instrumentation panels that provide information about actual work time, engine fluids and maintenance needs, and gallons of fuel consumed per hour. Operators can also adjust how attachments are used, such as changing elevations for level grading operations without getting out of the cab. Electronic packages also make it possible for companies to set permissions for who is allowed to operate their machines, adding a measure of theft protection. All skid-steer manufacturers offer enclosed cabs with HVAC packages for greater operator comfort. Heated seats are even becoming an often selected option too.
Once an uncomplicated machine Skid Steer loaders have become sophisticated machines that can handle a wider range of work tasks than another construction machine.
Manufacturers are also designing cabs with greater fields of vision— including cameras, sensors and light packages that show what’s behind and around the machine.
Undercarriages There are two types of undercarriages on the market; wheels and tracks. Brian Rabe, senior product manager for skid loaders and track loaders for Mustang, West Bend, WI, says track systems significantly add to the cost of a machine. But track loader sales continue to increase, currently being about 50% of the concrete contractor market. They offer much better traction in soft, wet soils but experience greater track wear on hard surfaces—a more bumpy ride for operators too.
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Engines The industry change-over to Tier 4 technology for diesel engines is complete. Stemper says the addition of fully electronic “common rail” technology—high pressure fuel (as much as 30,000 psi) waiting to be injected—increases engine efficiency and provides cleaner exhaust. With this technology, engines can also develop more horsepower. Going handin-hand with common rail technologies are the emission control solutions. A primary goal for Case is to impact the operator less with simpler-to-use systems with little-or-no change to maintenance needs on the machine.
Machine Control Gregg Zupancic, product marketing manager for John Deere skid steers and compact track loaders, Moline, IL, says machine control technology allows instruments such as robotic total stations, laser levels, GPS and sonic systems to control machine applications. At present, skid-steer manufacturers either produce the control packages that are added to the hydraulics of the machine or they are working with third party companies to make and install them. Either way, machine control systems make it possible for skid-steers to quickly complete level fine grading for floor construction, excavate to a precise elevation, or even grade threedimensional shapes automatically. During these operations, operators typically only steer the machine. The cost of adding machine control technology can be high and operators need additional training so the added expense can cause contractors to hesitate. But on a jobsite productivity is greatly increased and initial costs are quickly recovered.
“creep mode” that allows a machine to travel very slowly but with full power.
Attachments When Louis and Cyril Keller built the first skid-steer in 1957—later to become the Bobcat Company—it had only one attachment, a bucket. Today there are perhaps hundreds of attachments available, making skid-steers the most widely adaptable machine in the construction and landscaping industries. Buckets are still the most popular attachment, but there are many to choose from depending on intended use. Attachments also require skid-steer add-on features such as high-flow or high-pressure hydraulics, machine control connectivity and engine horse power, another reason to consider what you intend to use a machine for when you are deciding what to buy.
What to Include in Purchase Contractors are naturally concerned
about initial cost and not buying more than what they need for their intended work—extras can quickly add up. But there are some good reasons to include features beyond the basic machine. When asked about features that should be included in a new machine purchase, Zupancic suggests having a joystick (electronic) control system installed because future improvements will build on this technology. Cab improvements continue to be more important too. An enclosed cab with heat and air conditioning are becoming important. Dust control in the workplace and worker health is increasingly important as well so think about including a positive air flow option for cabs. Stemper says accident avoidance should be on your list of priorities too. Adding cameras, sensors and work light packages—especially LED lights—extend an operators knowledge of the space around his machine.
Hydraulics An increasing list of attachments such as cold planners and snow blowers require higher hydraulic flow (high-flow), an option has been available for some time. But high-pressure hydraulics are also beginning to be used to power some attachments. Zupancic adds that electrohydraulics technology is being introduced. For example, operators can set a
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Contractors ’ Choice: Skid Steer Loaders
Though you might not need a highflow hydraulic system for the attachments you currently use, it’s a feature that can’t be added at a future time and might be worth the investment. Rabe suggests adding “powered attaching” technology too. It permits operators to quickly change attachments without getting out of the cab. Kubota, Fort Worth, TX, has been a trusted manufacturer of engines serving other equipment manufactures for many years. Two years ago they entered the skidsteer market with their own model. Jorge DeHoyos, senior product manager, says they decided to start with a more basic offering. Their basic machine includes a range of controls including hand and foot controls and hydraulic pilot joystick controls, an option to include cabs (which are included on half their sales) with
1. Roll Out - Peel off Release Paper Press to Adhere Strip to Pavement
pressurized and filtered air and HVAC, suspension seats for comfort and good sound systems.
Future Technology The industry is already discussing Tier 5 engine technology and although no one is quite sure what this will include, increased fuel economy and less exhaust emissions will probably be the emphasis. Skid-steers in the future will offer more machine control and telematics options, further reducing the role and skill requirements of the operator. They will also be able to set more auto features for repeat operations. Job costing in real time is a current goal for many contractors and this will drive the further development of skidsteer electronic packages that connect of the office to the jobsite, providing information about machine use and the progress of the construction.
2. Apply Heat to Liquefy and Permanently Seal Joint
Is Now a Good Time to Buy? The answer is yes—you are no doubt surprised to hear this. But the construction industry is busy now; contractors have resisted buying new equipment during the downturn and are more willing to do that now. Tier 4 technology has become a stable engine platform and combined with commonrail injection offers greater fuel economy. Skid-steers have significantly improved over the past few years, and interest rates are currently good. Skid-steer loaders are safer and more productive than ever before. Joe Nasvik is a writer and editor serving the concrete industry. He has 18 years experience as a contractor. Contact him at jnasvik@sbcglobal.net.
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48 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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RemoveFaster.com 50 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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Classifieds
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Please call for used parts for most striping equipment and save! 52 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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54 March/April 2017 • PAVEMENT • www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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Classifieds
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Classifieds
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Allan Heydorn, Editor
Defects & Solutions
Time to Repair Potholes Here’s how they form – and how to repair them POTHOLES START as cracks in the pavement. These cracks expand and contract with freeze/thaw cycles during the winter, and as cracks expand or become more prevalent, more and more moisture – rain and melting snow – reaches beneath the pavement surface. This moisture weakens the base and subbase; as it loses its strength it can shift when traffic drives over it – and potholes can result. This process is accelerated as the temperature drops because the wet material expands when it freezes, pushing up the pavement surface. The wet base or subbase contracts when the temperature rises and a thaw occurs. After a number of freeze-thaw cycles, a small space is created between the asphalt pavement and the base. Traffic breaks the pavement into the depression, creating the beginnings of a pothole. The longer this pothole is left untreated, the deeper and larger the pothole becomes and the more extensive the damage to the surrounding pavement. Left untreated, this defect will accelerate overall pavement deterioration. So it is cost-effective to repair potholes as soon as they occur. But when they do occur there are a variety of ways to repair them, depending on the goal and budget of the client. • Throw-and-go. This approach is the quickest, least costly (in the short term) and least-effective. It involves filling the pothole with cold mix asphalt until the mix sits above the surrounding surface, then compacting it with a hand tamper or simply the pressure of a car tire driving back and forth over the repair. • High-performance Mix. Available in bags or in bulk, these proprietary materials combine aggregate and emulsion specially formulated to adhere to itself and to the pavement and also to resist the effects of moisture. Some mixes are designed to perform in specific climates so you can match the material to their climate. More expensive at first than cold mix, these mixes are expected to
last longer so the lifecycle costs of the material are generally lower. • Infrared Repair. While this is not a long-term option for some pothole problems, it can be used to help prevent or delay potholes and it can be a relatively inexpensive quick fix that both repairs a pothole and makes the pavement look good. With an infrared repair, the pothole and the area surrounding it is heated by the infrared unit. Once the area is heated, rake the pavement and add asphalt mix to fill the pothole and spray rejuvenator on to the mix, then compact the heated area. Because infrared repair is basically a maintenance process, it’s to the advantage of the property owner that it be used on cracked areas before they deteriorate to the point of a pothole. • Spray Patching. Truck- , trailermounted and tow-behind units use air pressure to blow water and debris from a pothole, spraying a tack coat of binder on the insides and bottom of the hole, use high air pressure to blow asphalt and aggregate into the hole (the velocity compacts the material from the bottom up), and then covering the patched area with a layer of aggregate. Pavement can be opened to traffic immediately. • "Remove and Replace." This approach takes longer, requires more labor and equipment and is more expensive. But it will generally yield better results, will last longer and will improve the overall pavement structure. That’s because removeand-replace will get to the root of the problem – and then solve it. Here are the basic steps: • Set up set up traffic control around the worksite. Workers should wear highvisibility clothing.
• Using chalk or spray Mark the edges that will be sawcut or paint, mark the milled. Edges must edges of the area to be straight and be removed. Edges research indicates must be straight a rectangular or and research indipolygon shape works best (as opposed to a cates a polygon square or rectangle). shape works best (as opposed to a square). • Make sure to extend the area to be removed into structurally sound, stable pavement. Don’t just remove the damaged area. • Remove the damaged pavement. Milling or sawcutting are best because they produce a clean edge for the repair. An air hammer can work but the edge it creates isn’t straight or clean and the action of the hammer can crack pavement that is structurally sound. • Excavate the area until you reach a stable grade. Remove all damaged or wet material of the base and subbase. • Replace base aggregate if necessary. • Apply a tack coat to the vertical edges. • Install asphalt in two lifts, compacting each lift separately. Many contractors offer a variety of these options to their clients to match the clients’ needs and budget. But the important thing to remember is that the primary cause of potholes is moisture. That’s why proper and timely maintenance of asphalt pavements – whether sealcoating or crack repair -- is required to protect pavement and extend its life.
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Your Business Matters
Rod Dickens
What to Expect in 2017 Construction industry experts see continued growth but are concerned about labor issues CONTRACTORS INVOLVED IN paving and pavement maintenance work in a broad construction economy can differ by market segment and location. Here’s what several specialists expect for 2017.
Building Construction Q: Did building construction in both the commercial market and single- and multifamily homes continue to gain momentum in 2016 as expected? What is your 2017 estimate for those markets? Ken Simonson, Chief Economist, Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Office construction, which started to take off in 2015, grew even faster in 2016. Based on the huge projects that have been announced for numerous cities, 2017 will be another strong year for office work. Most of that is happening in center cities and entail mixed-use projects, unlike the standalone, low-rise, suburban office parks that predominated before the recession. Data centers, warehouses and hotels have been hot segments for several years. For 2017, the data center niche appears to remain strong. Warehouse work is likely to post slower growth, and hotel work could turn negative in 2017 or early in 2018. Retail construction, aside from the ground floor of mixed-use buildings, is headed for a weak year. Multifamily construction put in place again grew faster than single-family in 2016. But starts for multifamily have declined recently. There is no longer an overhang of permits and apartment rents have ticked down in some previously fastrising metro areas. These indicators all point to a downturn in multifamily construction spending once current projects finish up. That could occur in late 2017 and is very likely by 2018. Single-family spending growth has been inconsistent but should accelerate slightly in 2017. Robert Dietz, Chief Economist, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). NAHB expected to see gathering strength for single-family
construction, and a slowing of growth for multifamily development in 2016. For the most part, this has proved true. Multifamily development has slowed as that market seeks a balance between supply and demand. Multifamily starts for 2015 likely represented a cycle high. We expect multifamily starts for 2017 to be just over 380,000. Single-family construction continues to recover. We expect single-family starts to be up 8% for 2016, and more gains in 2017 and 2018 as additional labor and lots are added to the industry’s production pipeline. NAHB is forecasting single-family starts to total a little more than 870,000 in 2017. Dr. Alison Premo Black, Vice President and Chief Economist, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The ARTBA forecast also looks at private highway, bridge, parking lot and driveway work that is part of residential and commercial construction. Based on historical data, ARTBA estimates the private market will increase in 2017, and will continue to grow over the next five years as overall construction activity increases in those sectors. IHS Markit. In 2016, the residential market has been largely been driven by spending on construction of multifamily units as single family construction took a step back. Drivers of growth in the multifamily market continue to be related to pent-up demand from the recession, as well as a new generation of households that seems to be wary of actual home buying and content to rent. Singlefamily construction faltered as labor and financing constraints held back activity. Looking ahead, construction spending in 2017 will be moderate in the multifamily segment as supply begins to align with demand. Single-family construction is expected to remain weak as pent-up demand is releasing slowly into the market. Housing starts are expected to grow at a stronger pace in 2017 than in 2016.
In the commercial segment, growth has been relatively strong in 2016. Growth for 2016 will be stronger than that seen in 2015 as both the office and lodging components have remained robust through the first nine months of the year. The outlook for 2017 calls for spending on commercial construction to continue but at a more moderate pace. There is some impact to business from the strong dollar and moderate global growth expectations. In 2017, the strongest growth is expected in the office segment, which is being driven by employment, income and consumer confidence gains that benefit from improving economic conditions. Warehouse construction will also be healthy in 2017 as the increasing share of e-commerce retail sales creates a greater need for distribution centers. (Source: Jeannine Cataldi, IHS)
Highway Construction Q: How did the passage of the FAST Act impact highway and bridge construction in 2016 and do you see a continuation of this spending level for 2017? AGC. The FAST Act provided a little more federal money to states, as well as flexibility in using it. But continuing improvements in fuel economy and a slump in heavy truck sales and mileage mean there has been little or no growth in federal and state highway tax receipts. Highway construction spending in the first nine months of 2016 was actually slightly below the total for January through September 2015, and I don't expect much of a pickup in 2017. The best prospects for increases are in states that have raised their own gas taxes or other funding sources, or have approved toll projects, including public/private partnerships. There should be an increase in large airport projects over the next several years. But other types of public infrastructure are lagging. Neither federal nor state budgets for construction are growing overall.
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Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). With $305 billion in federal funding authorized over five years, the financial uncertainty that surrounded a growing number of projects in various stages of development was mitigated, empowering individual state transportation leaders to move forward with projects that had been temporarily mothballed. Theoretically, this should have produced the unleashing of a significant volume of state and local government infrastructure spending.
Overall Economic Outlook for 2017 Associated General Contractors: After more than seven years of economic growth, some folks worry that the U.S. economy is “overdue” for contraction. But economic expansions don’t die of old age. The economy should keep growing in 2017, albeit unevenly by segment, region and quarter. Similarly, construction will increase overall, with notable contributions from office, power, and single-family construction. But public construction will be sluggish, and multifamily, manufacturing and hotel construction are at risk of turning negative. National Association of Home Builders: NAHB continues to expect modest growth for the economy in the years ahead. The long-term average for GDP growth over the last five decades was 3.4%. For 2017, we expect a growth rate of 2.3%. Growth in single-family construction activity should lift housing’s share of GDP in the year ahead. A low unemployment rate and a declining labor force participation rate emphasizes the importance of improving labor productivity so that the gains in the employment market can also lead to growth in business income and GDP.
For example, in June 2016, the Illinois DOT announced a six-year infrastructure repair plan to renovate 501 bridges and more than 2,500 miles of roadway in the state. Illinois has also been among the nation’s slowest growing states. Project leaders intend to use $134 million annually in FAST Act funds to support these projects. That said, these monies represent a relative small fraction of the total project cost estimated at $11.2 billion. This perhaps represents the fundamental issue with the FAST Act. While its passage demonstrated a rare ability for Republicans and Democrats to work together to pass a key piece of legislation, it didn’t really raise the bar on federal investment in infrastructure. In fact, the rate of spending increases is roughly equivalent to inflation, implying that the FAST Act falls far short of meaningfully helping America address its large and growing infrastructure gaps. ARTBA. Although the FAST Act law provided stability for public highway investment many state DOTs did not obligate their federal funds in time for many projects to get started during the 2016 construction season. Nearly half of the FAST Act funds for FY 2016 – 46% – were obligated in the last quarter of the federal fiscal year, between July and September 2016. Twenty percent of the federal funds available to the states weren’t obligated until September 2016. Increased investment from
Improving household formation should help sustain demand for multifamily rental housing and continue to grow for-sale demand of single-family housing. Nonetheless, this recovery/growth cycle is aging and business planners should be aware that this is currently the 4th longest expansion period since the civil war. Imbalances increase over time, so while most economists are currently not forecasting a recession in the years ahead, the probability of one is rising. That said, areas of the economy that are currently operating below historic norms, such as single-family construction, offer upside growth potential, particularly given favorable demographics. Associated Builders and Contractors: Given expectations for tax cuts and promises of additional federal spending in infrastructure and defense categories, the economic outlook for 2017 has firmed. The economy still remains vulnerable to adjustments in asset prices as interest rates head higher. For several years, the U.S. economy has benefitted from large positive wealth effects generated by equity and real estate markets. What can rise can fall, and declining asset prices represent one of the leading threats to the U.S. outlook in 2017. The U.S. economy should manage to expand around 2% next year. To the extent that stimulus spending occurs and begins sooner than expected, that outlook could improve.
ForConstructionPros.com/10072691
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Your Business Matters state and local governments will be the main driver of any real growth in 2017 and the next few years.
Employment Q: Was there a labor shortage in the construction industry in 2016 and, if so, do you see this trend continuing in 2017? What can the industry do to help alleviate future labor challenges? AGC. AGC of America surveys members each summer about workforce issues. Of the 1459 respondents to the 2016 survey, two-thirds said they were having trouble filling at least one craft position, and half were having trouble finding supervisors or project managers. These fractions were actually down a bit from 2015 but still indicate a major, ongoing challenge for many contractors. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that construction industry employment is rising at about double the growth rate for the overall economy, but contractors are listing open positions for
longer, spending more on training and overtime. These measures all suggest that companies are finding workers but not ones with the level of construction experience they would prefer. That story is likely to continue in 2017. Contractors are trying many ways of coping with this. They are getting involved with high schools, community colleges and workforce development agencies to get out the word that the industry is hiring and has well-paying, long-term employment opportunities. They are turning somewhat more to labor-saving equipment, methods such as BIM, and tools such as drones, 3-D printers and robots. But there's no onesize-fits-all solution. NAHB. Lack of labor is the number one factor holding back residential construction in a period of tight inventory. Over the last year, according to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and NAHB analysis, the job openings rate (unfilled jobs) has averaged
just under 2.5% - the highest rate since before the recession. The workforce is aging, and a declining U.S. labor force participation rate means adding jobs to the sector will continue to be a challenge. These trends will continue. ARTBA. Highway and bridge contractor employment, as well as the average number of hours worked each week on the jobsite, have increased since 2013 as the overall transportation construction market has improved. In the most recent ARTBA Quarterly Industry Conditions Survey, contractors did report shortages for both skilled and unskilled labor compared to last year. The overall labor supply and demand for workers in each region will depend largely on the amount of public and private work in the state. Based in Madison, WI, Rod Dickens is a freelance writer specializing in the construction industry. He can be reached at dickens. rod138@gmail.com
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NAPSA
WSA
How to Sweep Increased Profits into Your Business At National Pavement Expo in February, attendees had the opportunity to attend “best practices” workshop hosted by the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA). Conducted in roundtable discussions, the workshop offered attendees multiple options to share their experiences and learn from others on the following topics: • DOT and DOT regulations • Adding complementary services • Alternative fuels • Managing debris and disposal/ recycle • How to estimate • Working with third parties • Finding the right people for the right seat on the bus NAPSA volunteers with handson experience in the selected topics facilitated each round table discussion. Participants quickly realized that the topics addressed issues that extended beyond the niche industry of power sweeping: these topics affect any company in the broader transportation industry. Business owners and managers could understand how to navigate problematic clauses in contracts, manage their liability, reduce their risk and hire the right people for long-term employment. Highlights from the session included the pros and cons of specific complementary services, some of which demonstrated really creative thinking. The best and most profitable choices for diversified services, said Mark Carter of Peloton Sweeping, were those that dovetailed
Why to Emphasize Workforce Safety
with existing services or did not require purchase of large, expensive equipment. Those services entailed use of existing equipment and personnel with little, if any, additional training. Participants shared problems, brainstormed solutions, and discussed lessons learned from companies that otherwise would have been professional rivals. The cooperative ambiance proved that businesses in related industries could teach each other and learn from their peers to the betterment of the entire industry. Attendees also learned that not every contract is worth pursuing, not every complementary service adds value, not every alternative works out. The experiences and information shared by workshop participants attested to the farranging benefits of understanding when to say “yes” and when to say “no.” The North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) is a nonprofit association made up of 300-plus contract sweepers, service providers, and sweeping equipment dealers, manufacturers and suppliers. NAPSA is dedicated to providing beneficial support to the membership and enhancing services to the sweeping industry. The members of NAPSA are committed to promoting and educating the power sweeping community while enhancing the environment. For details visit www.powersweeping.org or call 888757-0130.
The safety information you provide to your workers is vitally important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is keeping your employees safe. When an employee is injured on the job, there are many repercussions. Primary, of course, is the impact on your worker and his/her family. Additional negative impacts will ripple through the rest of your workforce, especially if the injury was seen as preventable. If you end up in litigation, an attorney will want to know your record at holding safety training. If you have not been conducting regular, verifiable, safety meetings it will definitely affect the legal outcome. With an injury, your Worker's Comp. and/or insurance rates will probably increase. You will be less likely to attract and keep top quality employees if your company is perceived as not operating in a safe manner. This will affect overall employee productivity in a variety of ways, none of them positive. When you train on specific safety requirements, be sure to follow through to make certain the guidelines are followed. For example, that correct PPE gear is actually being worn, eye and ear protection being utilized, etc. Your safety messages also need to cover generalities: for example, emphasizing that
employee safety always comes first. Recently, a sweeper was struck by a locomotive because the operator didn't want to do minor damage to the sweeper by breaking the crossing arm that was wedged between the back of the chassis and the front of the hopper. This unique situation was probably not covered in a safety meeting; however, if the organization’s message of ‘employee safety first’ had been followed, the accident would not have occurred. At the World Sweeping Association, each month we provide WSA members with a ‘Safety First!’ bulletin compiled by nationally-recognized safety expert, John Meola. That’s the importance we place upon the topic.
WSA contributor Ranger Kidwell-Ross has been providing information to the power sweeping industry since 1988. He is editor of WorldSweeper.com, an information resource for power sweeping, as well as founder and executive director of the World Sweeping Association. For more information about WSA visit www.WorldSweepingPros.org or contact Kidwell-Ross at director@ worldsweepingpros.org.
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PCTC
Good Sealcoating Practices In the sealcoating business, professionalism and customer care involve making sure protections are in place that have been proven to maximize job quality and, with a job done right, customer satisfaction. Protect yourself and your employees. Make sure you and your applicator teams are familiar with any product specifications and information distributed by the supplier of the product used on each job, including the Safety Data Sheet (SDS). Make sure your applicator teams are properly outfitted for the job, including wearing appropriate clothing, gloves and, if conditions warrant, a hat and face shield. Your sealcoat supplier may recommend other personal protective measures as well – following manufacturer’s recommendations is an important practice. Ensuring that your employees are protected is as key to a successful job as checking that your equipment is in working order and that there are no leaks. Protect the environment. While planning the project, talk to the customer and visit the site to identify any natural resources or possible environmentally sensitive areas that are priorities for protection. Use storm drain barriers and blocks to keep the emulsion on the asphalt surface. Sealcoats are water-based emulsions that cure over time. The length of curing time varies with temperature and humidity. Typically, product suppliers include information about curing times with product specifications. If it rains too soon after application, a wash off can occur. DO NOT APPLY SEALCOAT IF RAIN IS IN THE FORECAST. A 24-hour forecast window is usually safe, but follow
your supplier’s recommendations as some add a drying agent to speed curing. Like the general public, research scientists don’t have practical knowledge about sealcoat, but they have heard about the wash off at the University of New Hampshire storm water engineering facility – it rained within a day after the late-season application. This incident happened at the beginning of UNH’s 2-year sealcoat storm water runoff experiment. Scientists reading about the UNH experiment think this was a normal occurrence – a misconception that has influenced regulators’ view of the industry ever since. In the hot summer months, thunderstorms can develop quickly, which leads to the reminder to BE AWARE OF THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. A week or two after application, sweep the sealcoated area to remove any loose particles. Never dispose of leftover emulsion down a drain or in any body of water. Dried sealer can be disposed of as industrial waste. When in doubt about disposal ask your supplier. Protect your customer. Give your customer clear instructions about how long to wait before allowing heavy vehicles to use the newly sealcoated surface. Clean up after completion of the job, and don’t leave excess emulsion or unapplied dry sealcoat on your customer’s property without permission. Communication with your customer is the key to avoiding misunderstandings about the do’s and don’ts of freshly sealcoated surfaces. For more about PCTC visit www. pavementcouncil.org.
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Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor
Technology
New Asphalt Technology Captures Carbon Dioxide RICE UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS have improved their asphaltderived porous carbon's ability to capture carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from natural gas. Raw natural gas typically contains between 2% and 10% carbon dioxide and other impurities, which must be removed before the gas can be sold. The cleanup process is complicated and expensive and most often involves flowing the gas through fluids called amines that can soak up and remove about 15% of their own weight in carbon dioxide. The amine process also requires a great deal of energy to recycle the fluids for further use. “It’s a big energy sink,” says Rice University chemist James Tour, whose lab developed a technique last year to turn asphalt into a tough, spongelike substance that could be used in place of amines to remove carbon dioxide from natural gas as it was pumped from ocean wellheads. Initial field tests in 2015 found that pressure at the wellhead made it possible for that asphalt material to adsorb, or soak up, 114% of its weight in carbon at ambient temperatures. Tour said the new, improved asphalt sorbent is made in two steps from a less expensive form of asphalt, which makes it more practical for industry. “This shows we can take the least expensive form of
asphalt and make it into this very high surface area material to capture carbon dioxide,” Tour says. “Before, we could only use a very expensive form of asphalt that was not readily available."
How It's Made The lab heated a common type asphalt known as Gilsonite at ambient pressure to eliminate unneeded organic molecules, and then heated it again in the presence of potassium hydroxide for about 20 minutes to synthesize oxygen-enhanced porous carbon with a surface area of 4,200 square meters per gram, much higher than that of the previous material. The Rice lab's initial asphalt-based porous carbon collected carbon dioxide from gas streams under pressure at the wellhead and released it when the pressure was released. The carbon dioxide could then be repurposed or pumped back underground while the porous carbon could be reused immediately. In the latest tests with its new material, Tours group showed its new sorbent could remove carbon dioxide at 54 bar pressure. One bar is roughly equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level, and the 54 bar measure in the latest experiments is characteristic of the pressure levels typically found at natural gas wellheads, Tour said.
Smog Eating Concrete Another study being conducted in the Netherlands is being said to cut pollution by up to 45%. Researchers working for the Eindhoven University of Technology spent years studying smog-eating pavement used on a city block in Hengelo, Netherlands. According to the paper titled “Full scale demonstration of air-purifying pavement,” the block with the special pavement reduced nitrogen oxide air pollution up to 45% in some ideal weather conditions, resulting in an average reduction of 19% over a day. The “photocatalytic” pavement used in Hengelo had been sprayed with titanium oxide (TiO2), a chemical that can take air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxide, and convert them into less-dangerous chemicals, such as nitrates, the paper’s authors report. In a 2010 interview regarding the Hengelo experiment,
Rice University scientists have improved their asphalt-derived porous carbon's ability to capture carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from natural gas. The capture material derived from untreated Gilsonite asphalt has a surface area of 4,200 square meters per gram. Almaz Jalilov/Rice University
professor Jos Brouwers of the Department of Architecture, Building and Planning at Eindhoven told CNN the pavement’s real-life applications were exciting. “[The concrete] could be a very feasible solution for inner city areas where they have a problem with air pollution,” Brouwers said. This could be good news for urban areas with high automobile traffic such as Los Angeles, where a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times reported that close to 70% of respondents felt similar streets could be coming to Southern California.
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Contractor Snapshot
Jessica Stoikes, Associate Editor
Upgrades Help Combat
Challenges Statewide Stripes invests in new equipment and technology to stay competitive DAVID BRILHANTE STARTED his business, Statewide Stripes, in 1990 after he received a Graco Tri-Pod striping machine from his uncle. He sent out 19 letters to local asphalt contractors in the San Diego area asking them if they needed any striping performed. “I introduced myself as a new company providing striping services,” Brilhante says. “Twenty-seven years later we have a staff of 39 employees and perform a variety of services from striping and sealcoating to high pressure water removal and we are still doing business with our first customers.” Today, Statewide Stripes provides highway markings, airport markings and complete parking lot maintenance to all of California, specializing in city restripes, county overlays and airport markings. Their pavement maintenance fleet consists of eight walkbehind striping machines, (Graco LineLazers), two waterblaster trucks, (StripeHog 7500 / 8000), three Trinity custom street striping trucks, two TransTec extruded thermoplastic trucks, one sealcoat truck and two seal buggies.
Trend Setters Statewide Stripes has experienced steady growth throughout the years by maintaining a steady referral business, but it’s their efforts to embrace technology and keep up with the latest
trends that has set them a part from their competition. “We strive in thinking “out of the box” to provide the highest quality product with unheard of production rates, in the most responsive way,” Brilhante says. “In doing so, we try to maximize the use of technology in our equipment and the knowledge of our employees to do the job perfectly the first time and ahead of schedule.” The company recently positioned themselves as a preferred striping contractor in San Diego when the city chose to upgrade their crosswalks.
“We try to maximize the use of technology in our equipment.” The new “continental” style of crosswalks prevents hazards to both drivers and pedestrians, keeping people visible while crossing the street and setting clear limits to drivers, helping them distinguish the crosswalk area. Studies from the Federal Highway Administration have shown that continental striping is safer than traditional pedestrian crossings marked by two lines connecting the corners
of an intersection. Continental striping is a more visible sign that alerts motorists when they’re David Brilh approaching ante says a time-tra software cking the pedestrian to ge accurately nerate reports zone. and on tim e. The goal of San Diego County is to gradually replace all traditional crossAs a non-union comwalk markings with the highly pany, Brilhante says Statewide visible continental striping style. Stripes experiences their fair This, in order to enhance safety share of challenges though. for everyone and reduce vehicle “We are forced to comply trespassing into the crosswalk. with union requirements on all “The implementation of public works projects. This has Continental crosswalks in San been a big challenge to ensure Diego is the sign of a great compliance in an industry where change for the city and its the typical job can be 1-5 days, people,” Brilhante says. “At and we can be called on to perStatewide Stripes, we have form with little or no notice,” cutting-edge technology he says. “This makes for a lot of that exceeds the standards paperwork that has to be sent of the most demanding jobs. perfectly, on time and subject to All our equipment follows a several auditors looking for misstrict maintenance schedule takes that can lead to fines.” and we have three full-time The solution for the compamechanics on staff that keep ny? Technology upgrades. our equipment operational and “We have implemented a leak free. When others fail, our time-tracking software that’s trucks keep running.” compatible with our business The company also continually software to ensure certified invests in their fleet to keep up reports are generated accurately with their business. and on time,” Brilhante says. “We are always looking In the future, Brilhante hopes for ways to improve, whether to continue to expand his busiit is embracing technology, ness into the Midwest region. or training, we never get “As long as we can perform complacent in our efforts as expected and make a little to better our results as a profit, I will be happy,” he says. company,” Brilhante says.
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PAVEMENT Published by AC Business Media Inc.
Index Advertiser Index
PAGE
1-800-Pavement
9
B & E Seal Coat Products Inc.
30
The Brewer Co.
29
Carlson Paving Products Inc.
67
Cimline Pavement Maintenance Group
6
Copperstate Hose
30
Crafco Inc.
17, 49
Crum & Forster
62
Deery
60
Denver Industrial Sales & Service Co.
59
Dickson Industries
8
Elgin
11
Gem Seal Pavement Products
2
GuardTop
30
Hi-Lite Airfield Services LLC
38
Keystone Plastics Inc.
36
K-M International
13
KutRite
36
LaserLine Manufacturing Inc.
33
LeeBoy
41
Maintenance Inc.
32
M-B Companies Inc.
34
Mesabi
34
MRL Equipment Co., Inc.
31
Mystic Washer Cleaning Systems
38
Neal a division of Blastcrete Equip
25
Neyra
39
N. I. Wilson Mfg. Co. Inc.
32
Payne’s Parking Designs Inc.
32
REPRINTS Denise Singsime at (800) 538-5544 ext. 1245 dsingsime@ACBusinessMedia.com.
Quik Pave Products Inc.
48
Reelcraft
10
Right Pointe
62
LIST RENTAL Elizabeth Jackson, Account Executive, Merit Direct LLC, Phone: (847) 492-1350 ext. 18 • Fax: (847) 492-0085 • ejackson@meritdirect.com
Road Science
35
SCR Inventions
33
SealMaster
68
Seal-Rite
45
Southern Emulsions Inc.
21
Spaulding Mfg. Inc.
34
Star-Seal
5
Superior Tire & Rubber Corp.
47
Titan Tool & Wagner Spray
7
Unique Paving Materials Corp
37
Weiler
27
201 N. Main Street | Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 800.538-5544 • www.ACBusinessMedia.com www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement Editorial Office: Allan Heydorn, 2339 Stratford, Westchester, IL 60154 (708) 531-1612 | Fax: (708) 531-1613 | aheydorn@ACBusinessMedia.com PUBLICATION STAFF: Publisher: Amy Schwandt Editor/Conference Manager: Allan Heydorn Associate Editor: Jessica Stoikes Art Director: April Van Etten Ad Production Manager: Patti Brown Sr. Audience Development Manager: Wendy Chady Audience Development Manager: Angela Kelty ADVERTISING SALES: (800) 538-5544 Tom Lutzke, Jill Draeger, Eric Servais, Sean Dunphy, Amy Schwandt, Erica Finger, Denise Singsime FORCONSTRUCTIONPROS.COM WEBSITE: Digital Operations Manager: Nick Raether Digital Sales Manager: Monique Terrazas Editor: Larry Stewart Managing Editor: Kimberly Hegeman CHANGE OF ADDRESS & SUBSCRIPTIONS PO Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065-3257, Phone: (877) 201-3915 Fax: (800) 543-5055 • circ.pavement@omeda.com
AC BUSINESS MEDIA INC.: Chairman: Anil Narang President and CEO: Carl Wistreich Executive Vice President: Kris Flitcroft VP Content: Greg Udelhofen VP Marketing: Debbie George ADVISORY BOARD: ACI Asphalt Contractors Inc., Maple Grove, MN: Jim Bebo Asphalt Contractors Inc., Union Grove, WI: Robert Kordus Asphalt Restoration Technology Systems, Orlando, FL: Connie Lorenz Capitol Sweeping Service, South Windsor, CT: Thomas Kuhns Clean Sweep Inc., Chattanooga, TN, Pete Phillips Custom Maintenance Services, Shippensburg, PA: Michael Nawa Eosso Brothers Paving; Hazlet, NJ: Tom Eosso Parking Lot Maintenance, Lake St. Louis, MO, Todd Bruening Petra Paving, Hampstead, NH: Chris Tammany Pioneer Paving, Albuquerque, NM: Don Rooney Robert Liles Parking Lot Service, Tyler, TX: Robert Liles Roberts Traffic, Hollywood, FL: Lisa Birchfield Roccie’s Asphalt Paving, Stamford, CT: Vincent Engongoro Rose Paving Co., Bridgeview, IL: Alan J. Rose Show Striping Inc. (SSI), Wisconsin Dells, WI: Amber Showalter T&N Asphalt Services, Salt Lake City, UT: Nick Howell The Rabine Group, Schaumburg, IL: Gary Rabine Young Sealcoating Inc, Lynchburg, VA: Steve Young ASSOCIATION REPRESENTATIVES: Pavement Coatings Technology Council: Anne LeHuray, Executive Director
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Tailgate Talk
|
Brad Humphrey
How to Improve Crew
Productivity
THERE IS A STORY about the building of the Golden Gate Bridge that should resonate with contractors of any size. During the construction of the bridge, several workers fell to their deaths into the San Francisco Bay’s cold and turbulent waters. Concerned that their bridge would be slowed down from finishing on time, the builders had a large safety net secured to the building portion of the bridge. In fact, it extended several feet outside the width of the bridge as it ran the length of the bridge across the Bay, more than a mile and a half across. (The net was similar to a net that might be installed under a tight rope preventing a walker from injury or death.) After the net was installed, several men did fall during the remaining construction, but they fell into the safety of the net; scared to death I’m sure…but alive and able to go home at night to their families. In fact, men had to be instructed not to jump into the net for entertainment purposes; that’s how much trust they had in their new security blanket! Now, to bring this story
closer to contractors, and a very interesting side point of this illustration, the productivity of the bridge after the installation of the safety net was said to have increased some 25%. What had been a project behind even the most conservative of schedules, began to pick up steam and finished strong. Consider this point: While working on a dangerous construction project, when the workers knew they could work with little risk of falling to their deaths, they were secure to unleash their real work potential. Lesson learned? Provide a safety “net” in your work culture and you may realize even greater productivity! Now, while most contractors will never build a “Golden Gate Bridge” project, there are risks involved with just about every specialty of construction. A contractor should always recognize any unsafe threats to their workers and assertively reduce those threats while educating their people on safe work processes and techniques. However, there are other
types of threats that also need a “safety net” to insure the workers are comfortable and confident to give their best effort every day. Those threats – which aren’t necessarily obvious – include: • How you handle the first day on the job for a new employee • Senior Leaders who aren’t open to new ideas or who are unwilling to tackle new challenges. • A lack of planning and organization within your company or crew. • Treating workers as if they aren’t part of your team. • Fear of making mistakes. • Working under a “micromanager” or “control freak.” • Older workers “looking down” at younger workers – and the flip side, younger workers not respecting older workers. How many of those “safety” issues can you recognize within your company? How many have you discussed or tried to solve? Next issue we’ll tackle them one by one, offering not only an explanation of why they might occur, but what you can do to remedy the problem.
Implementing the “safety nets” presented does not guarantee 100% success. Even the Golden Gate Bridge, after the net was installed, lost several workers who fell to their death due to something even the engineers could not have planned for. But the net did empower the workers to work harder, faster and with more confidence in their safety. Gaining greater productivity isn’t only about doing more work, working more hours, installing new technology etc. Just as important is improving our workers sense of safety, physically first, but also mentally and emotionally.
Brad Humphrey is President of Pinnacle Development Group, consulting firm that specializes in the construction industry. See more of Brad’s advice for contractors by reading The Contractor’s Best Friend, also an AC Business Media service to the construction industry. For more information about Brad’s company, go to www.pinnacledg. com.
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