Quality and Innovation are the themes for the 2016 Fall Asphalt Conference & Expo to be held October 3-4, in Richmond, Virginia. After 29 years at the Jefferson Hotel, VAA has moved its Fall Asphalt Conference to the Downtown Richmond Marriott, expanded the meeting program and added an Asphalt Expo to the conference. The Fall Asphalt Expo will feature local, regional and national companies that provide equipment, products, services and materials to the asphalt industry. Don’t miss the grand opening and ribbon cutting of the 2016 Asphalt Expo at noon on October 3rd.

If you are ready to take one of the Asphalt-Related MCS self-study courses this summer, please remember that as of June 1, these courses have been moved from VDOTU over to VECAT and are now available online via VECAT's program partner, Germanna Community College.

VAA's Carter Iseman and Mike Dudley recently had the opportunity to visit Slurry Pavers' Full Depth Reclamation, FDR project on Route 13 in Powhatan (Richmond District). The existing pavement was extremely distressed and using the more traditional repair method of full depth patching would have required a significant amount of patching for this location. A patching operation of this nature is very expensive and time consuming while introducing multiple full depth construction joints and only the patched areas are receiving improvement.

Traffic Safety Supplies, Inc. has joined VAA as our newest Traffic Control Provider & Supplier.

The State Asphalt Pavement Association (SAPA) recently held its annual meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Bill Rosener – Executive Vice President of the Asphalt Pavement Association of Iowa, hosted the meeting. Bill is the 2016 President of SAPA. The meeting is a combination of technical and association-related discussions amongst the 39 state associations.

Governor Terry McAuliffe announced earlier this month the launch of the Workforce Credential Grant (WCG) program designed to ensure that workforce credentials are accessible and affordable for Virginians seeking the skills they need to obtain good-paying jobs in high-demand fields. According to Governor McAuliffe, "This program establishes a first-in-the-nation performance funding formula to create and sustain a supply of credentialed workers who meet the needs identified by our business leaders."

VECAT recently hosted a booth at VDOT's Garver Leadership Conference on July 26 -27 at the Koger Center in Richmond. This conference was attended by VDOT's top leaders and included plenary sessions and keynote speakers on various aspects of the Department's business and leadership. Our VECAT booth was staffed by Carter Iseman, VAA Director of Training & Development and Dave Laraway, VECAT Coordinator at Germanna CC.

1. Citizen Boards. The State Water Control Board held a special meeting on July 28 to discuss a proposal of the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority for a Virginia Water Protection Permit. The Board approved the permit application which permits the filling of 10 acres of wetlands in the Meadowville Technology Park for the construction of a new industrial facility. The Board's future meetings are scheduled for September 22-23 and December 12-13. Board member Joseph Nash's term expired June 30; the Governor has not appointed his replacement yet.

The Construction Division of VDOT has announced the hiring of Ian Millikan as the new Assistant State Construction Engineer. Millikan was previously employed by Chesterfield County as a Senior Engineer. With VDOT, Ian will be responsible for construction management, contract administration, project controls, scheduling, construction risk management and value engineering.  Join us in welcoming Ian.

The first round of State of Good Repair (SGR) contracts was advertised in July. Approximately $60M worth of contracts were advertised statewide. Each district had at least one contract. The purpose of these contracts is to return structures (pavements and bridges) to a sound condition. For pavements in these contracts, this means roadways will require more than just a simple maintenance overlay. Most contracts have sites where deeper milling is needed in order to remove deteriorated layers and restore the structural capacity for the projected traffic loading.

The summer meeting of the VAA-VDOT Statewide Asphalt Co-Op Technical Committee met in July at the VDOT Staunton District auditorium. Thirty-two people from VDOT, Industry and FHWA attended the meeting that started at 9:30 am. Topics ranged from Safety and State of Good Repair (SGR) Contracts to proposed 2017 specification changes and reporting of lab test results.

The 2016 Fall Asphalt Conference & Expo is now open for registration.  If you are interested in attending the conference, being a sponsor or exhibiting, visit the VAA website to learn more.

September 22-24, 2016
Chicago, IL