Dunham’s Asphalt Services Wins
BY Sandy Lender
One way to make sure your pavement maintenance and preservation protocol is on the right track is to submit your projects for judging. It might be a scary proposition to let inspectors and outside professionals put your work under the microscope, possibly looking at factors your crewmembers didn’t take into consideration during the project’s execution. The team at Dunham’s Asphalt Services Inc, Sand Springs, Oklahoma, took the risk and came out with a handful of awards from the Oklahoma Asphalt Pavement Association (OAPA) thanks to a consistent quality mindset. That mindset starts at the plant and makes its way to the finished pavement.
Dunham’s Asphalt Services incorporated in 1994 and put its Standard Havens plant up in a competitive market in 2007. Larry Patrick, OAPA executive director, explained: “The company is centered in the Tulsa area and they have carved out a very successful company in a highly competitive market. Not only are they an OAPA member, but also a NAPA member.”
In 2017, Dunham’s was the small contractor/producer winner for commercial/industrial on two projects and runner-up for urban overlay on a third project in the OAPA state awards. We’re going to explore those three projects as mini-case studies in pavement maintenance and preservation best practices here.
Maintenance Project Wins
Starting with a pavement maintenance project for Hobby Lobby, we can see the care Dunham’s Asphalt crewmembers give to detail work. For the 2017 reconstruct, the crew removed 4 inches of pavement, regraded the lot, installed concrete flumes for drainage, and put in slope for drainage when repaving. This project used 9,000tons of asphalt and good management from Tim Quattrocchi, the company’s estimator and project manager. Quattrocchi has been with Dunham’s for six years and uses Insight Sitework software to put estimates together when bidding projects.
New Construction Project Wins
For the commercial/industrial award for a small contractor/producer in new construction, Dunham’s paved full depth asphalt for Costco in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They placed 6.5 inches of heavy duty mix for the base and 5 inches of standard duty mix for the surface, totaling about 14,000 tons. The crew was also responsible for striping, signage and pipe ballards.
In fact, including striping in a project is a reminder of how far the company’s president has come.
“I started striping parking lots when I was 15,” Eddie Dunham said.
He started the company from scratch and has nothing but praise for the workers who are with him in its growth. He specifically named Roberto Marquez, who has been with the company for over 18 years, and Phillipe Cueves, who both worked on the Costco parking lot job. “Both men are detail oriented and strive to provide the highest quality project on time and in budget.” The plant he assembled in 2007, and which fed the project, is managed by Jeff Call.
“Jeff keeps the plant running with very little downtime and is consistent in this,” Dunham said.
Dunham’s personnel fractionate recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) to a 5/8 minus. They fractionate recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) to 3/8 minus.
“RAP is used in most mixes, especially in the base mix and surface mix where traffic count is low,” Dunham said. “We have a milling machine that stays busy, and we use RAP left over from jobs. ODOT doesn’t allow RAP in the surface when using Superpave mix; however, it is allowed up to 15 percent on lower traffic and parking lots using the older mix designs. At this time, ODOT doesn’t allow RAS; however, I believe they have done testing strips and I’m sure they’ll allow it soon…”
For virgin material, Dunham’s has a steady supply.
“Our aggregate is abundant and locally mined and liquid AC is abundant locally with several refineries nearby. We also have the Port of Catoosa and several suppliers capable of unloading the barges.”
Urban Overlay Takes Runner-up
At the Costco in Tulsa, the Dunham’s crew placed 11.5 inches of new asphalt pavement.
For the commercial/industrial award for a small contractor/producer in urban overlay, Dunham’s paved a 1.5-inch overlay of City Type C mix for the city of Cleveland, Oklahoma.
Dunham explained that there was no milling involved in this project, although the pavement “badly needed an overlay.” The crew led by Foreman Euland McKenzee placed 3,500 tons for this project.
“He has several years with the company,” Dunham said. “He took pride in workmanship and in directing the guys for quality.”
Quality is the name of the game for Dunham’s Asphalt, as seen in their projects on the ground and awards on the walls. With the 2018 season wrapping up, businesses and cities in Oklahoma can watch their property values increase from that quality mindset.