On April 27, the VAA will return to the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina to hold the 65th Annual Members meeting. The meeting will start on Wednesday evening with a welcoming reception for all registered attendees and guests.
|
Since the announcement of VECAT (Virginia Education Center for Asphalt Technology) at the 2015 Fall Asphalt Conference, individuals from VDOT, Germanna Community College (GCC), VAA member companies and VAA staff have been working hard to hold pilot classes for Asphalt Field and Asphalt Plant. That hard work paid off in March. On March 8 and 9, VECAT hosted the Asphalt Plant Level I class at the GCC-Fredericksburg Campus and at the Superior Paving Powell Lane asphalt plant for 20 students. On the first day of the class, these students were trained in the areas of asphalt plant safety, stock pile management, general asphalt plant operations and asphalt plant troubleshooting. During the second morning prior to the Level I exam, students toured the Superior Paving asphalt plant and laboratory, and learned the proper techniques for sampling and quartering asphalt mixtures.
|
Over the last 18 months, the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) has published two reports important to the pavement industry and departments of transportation. The first report (NCAT Report 14-08) focused on the recalibration procedures for the asphalt layer coefficients. Many state and local transportation are not implementing the new AASHTO Pavement Design Procedure known as the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide. For those that are, the implementation is not imminent.
|
Lane Construction merges with Salini Impregilo Group
Salini Impregilo (MTA: SAL), Italy’s leading infrastructure group and a global player in the industry, announces that its offer to acquire 100 percent of Lane Industries by means of a merger transaction has been accepted by the U.S. construction company’s shareholders. Read More...
Summit purchases Boxley
Summit Materials, Inc. (NYSE:SUM, "Summit") is pleased to announce it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Boxley Materials Company ("Boxley"). Boxley is a vertically integrated construction materials company founded in 1892 and based near Roanoke, Virginia. The transaction is expected to close in mid-March, pending expiration of the standard regulatory review period. Together with the American Materials Company ("AMC") acquisition announced on February 11, 2016 in conjunction with Summit’s fourth quarter 2015 earnings release, Boxley forms a strong aggregates-based growth platform for Summit in the attractive Virginia and Carolinas region.
Virginia Paving Corporation purchases Asphalt Roads – Virginia Paving Corporation, a division of Lane Construction, has recently announced the purchase of Asphalt Roads and Materials Company in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The acquisition of Asphalt Roads doubles the number of plants operated in the Tidewater area by Virginia Paving.
Slurry Pavers purchases Payne Paving Company – Slurry Pavers has acquired Payne Paving located in Scottsville, Virginia. Payne Paving specializes in surface treatment applications. Payne Paving compliments the Whitehurst Paving subsidiary of Slurry Pavers to provide surface treatment applications in Virginia and elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic.
Allan Myers purchased Basic Construction’s New Kent Facility. This plant will make the fourth Allan Myers plant in Virginia following the erection of the Petersburg plant. The New Kent facility will service the eastern Richmond, middle peninsula and Williamsburg area markets.
A&A Contractors in process of opening new Chesterfield County Asphalt Plant. The plant will be located in Colonial Heights and will service the Richmond and Petersburg areas. Production of asphalt will complement the other services offered by A&A.
|
National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announced today that Ronald M. White, Chairman Emeritus of Gainesville, Virginia.-based Superior Paving Corp., is the 2015 inductee to the Asphalt Pavement Hall of Fame. White was honored today (Feb. 10) at a ceremony during the association’s 61st Annual Meeting in La Quinta, California.
The Asphalt Pavement Hall of Fame was established to recognize and honor individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions of regional and/or national importance to the asphalt industry and whose work has led to innovations in the production and placement of asphalt, the usage of asphalt as a paving materials, and/or the general advancement and recognition of the industry.
|
 Very seldom does a good thing happen twice. But, for the State Asphalt Pavement Association (SAPA), a good thing did happen twice. SAPA is an association made up of 39 asphalt-related associations in the U.S. SAPA works closely with NAPA on various asphalt issues locally and nationally. In 1993, VAA Executive Vice President Richard Schreck was the SAPA President. At that time, he helped push forward many initiatives that looked at the health and safety of asphalt paving employees. In 2015, Richard was again elected as the SAPA President. Like 1993, Richard was involved in various national efforts for the asphalt industry over the past year. At the 2016 NAPA Annual Meeting held in La Quinta, California, Richard was recognized for his tremendous efforts and was awarded a plaque by incoming SAPA President Bill Rosener of Iowa.
|
Andy Guth has joined the Roadtec team as the National Sales Manager for the Eastern United States Territory. Andy has been a sales veteran within the Astec Industries group for a number of years, and from 2000 – 2007 Andy was the Regional Sales Manager in Florida. Since then, Andy has held Sales and Marketing Management positions with CEI and currently with Astec, Inc. Andy’s knowledge base and experience make him a prime candidate for this role here at Roadtec managing our sales efforts within the eastern territory in the U.S.
|
State Water Control Board Meeting. The State Water Control Board met on April 1. The principal topic at the meeting was DEQ’s proposed changes to the Virginia Water Protection Permit regulation (which governs wetland impacts and surface water withdrawals), as well as the reissuance of the general VPDES permits for wetland impacts. The regulations and general permits were adopted as final by the Board.
|
 Joining over 600 attendees in early April, VAA’s Director of Engineering, Trenton Clark presented at the Environmental Virginia Symposium hosted at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. Clark presented on the sustainable practices possible using recycled asphalt concrete such as cold central plant asphalt mixes and cold in place recycling. He also touched on processes such as full-depth reclamation and asphalt overlays to rehabilitate and reconstruct deteriorated pavement structures. Finally, Clark spoke about porous asphalt pavements and how they are one of many best management practices for storm water management. Attendees in his session watched a video on porous asphalt and were able to hold a porous asphalt specimen.
|
NAPA Releases Interim Silica Rule Guidance.
Less than two weeks ago, OSHA released its final silica rule or permissible exposure limit (PEL). NAPA has reviewed the rule and developed interim guidance for our members and industry on how the rule impacts asphalt pavement mix production and asphalt pavement road construction activities.
|
The 2016 maintenance paving season saw one of the largest changes in VDOT surface mix specifications (SM-9.5 and SM-12.5) in an effort to improve overall mix durability. The revised specifications include a reduction in design gyrations (65 to 50), increase in VMA percentage (1%), and inclusion of aggregate gradation changes. These changes are part of a longer term effort to extend the service life of asphalt. In May, a VDOT task force will consider additional ways and methods to extend asphalt’s service life. This task force of VDOT and industry representative will look at on-going efforts around the U.S. and consider what additional changes should be made to Virginia’s asphalt mixes and specifications.
|
Fifteen contracts were advertised in early 2016 that included pilot specifications for asphalt mix and field density consistency.  These contracts were spread across the state with at least one contract in each district. For asphalt mix consistency, contractors who are able to maintain their AC content variability within a defined standard deviation can receive a five percent bonus on the mix price. Likewise, variability on AC content and gradations outside the defined limits will see a larger penalty applied to the mix price. Along with mix consistency at the plant, consistent field density will result in a five percent bonus on the mix price. For each lot of material, the contractor must achieve an average density between 92.5 percent and 96.0 percent of the maximum theoretical density and have at least 80 percent of the sublots meeting these density targets. Unlike normal maintenance paving projects, pavement cores will be used for acceptance and not the nuclear gauge. To learn more about these and other spec changes, visit us on the VAA website.
|
In March, VDOT was notified by FHWA on their selection as a High Density Demonstration Project. As one of 10 departments of transportation, VDOT will work with FHWA to analyze and propose ways to improve in-place compaction of asphalt mixes. Along with the field efforts, FHWA will host a workshop for VDOT and industry personnel discussing methods to achieve higher in-place compaction. More information on the demonstration project and workshop will be provided in future VAA Newsletters.
|
Recently, it was announced that Bryan Smith will assume the role of Asphalt Pavement Field Engineer for the northern districts (Culpeper, Staunton and NOVA). Bryan was previously in the Central Office Materials Pavement Design and Evaluation Section before assuming this role. Bryan joins Todd Rorrer as the second field engineer. Todd covers the Hampton Roads, Richmond and Fredericksburg Districts. Either field engineer can be easily accessed by email at Bryan.Smith@vdot.virginia.gov and Todd.Rorrer@vdot.virginia.gov. Please contact them with your pavement and asphalt questions.
|
In Revision 1 to the Virginia Work Area Protection Manual, issued in April 2015, the design of the sign was changed from "WORK VEHICLE DO NOT FOLLOW" to "WORK VEHICLE FREQUENT TURNS" (G20-V1a). In Revision 1, VDOT requires that the WVDNF signs be replaced with "WORK VEHICLE FREQUENT TURNS" by July 1, 2017.
Note also that the "WORK VEHICLE FREQUENT TURNS" sign may be displayed at all times.
|
 The 2016 Fall Asphalt Conference is expanding to include an equipment and services expo. The new, expanded conference will come with a new home – the Richmond Marriott Downtown. The Marriott provides space for more attendees and 65 exhibitor booths. If you are interested in exhibiting, visit the VAA website ( www.vaasphalt.org) to learn more and take advantage of the early booth registration fees.
|
|
