Innovate from the Base for Optimal Performance

Innovation and performance optimization lead the topics of discussion at this year’s World of Asphalt Show & Conference and AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Md., March 17 through 19. The asphalt industry overall has grown accustomed to these two facets of road building—asphalt and aggregates—to co-locate their top education and exposition events each year. For 2015, the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) invites attendees to “Optimize Your Performance Potential,” while the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) welcomes attendees to “The Base of Innovation.”

In past years, multiple state association meetings and safety programs ran concurrently with the People, Plants and Paving Training Sessions, and AGG1 Academy. This year is a little less confusing while still offering useful education for your employees and your upper echelon management.

For example, one conference that begins a day prior to World of Asphalt is the Beyond Compliance: Achieving EH&S Excellence. This Monday through Tuesday conference is tailored to environmental, health and safety officers at asphalt plants and paving sites. The 11 sessions within the conference are designed to give attendees the latest information on innovations to build a world-class EH&S culture. Visit www.worldofasphalt.com/Education/General/BeyondCompliance/ for the noon-to-noon schedule and registration information.

Also beginning Monday and extending to include Tuesday afternoon, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association’s Safety Seminar “Safety in the Work Zone” offers two educational tracks. Visit www.worldofasphalt.com/Education/General/SafetyInTheWorkZone/  for course descriptions and registration information.

Both AGG1 Academy and WOA’s People, Plants and Paving Training Program begin Tuesday, March 17 and run through Thursday, March 19. There’s plenty of information starting on page 46 about the sessions.

The highlight of such a gathering for many contractors is the trade show floor, of course. Who can resist taking a selfie next to a KM International T2 asphalt recycler or funky MA 10 sealcoat melting kettle? (booth 1658) Caption that: “He’s so hot he melted that crack filler material.”

Or maybe you want to stare into the jaws of an Eagle crusher (booth 1542) or see the impact of a KPI-JCI/Astec Mobile Screens crusher (booth 1634). The testing companies will have their sieves all shiny at booths 2132 (Gilson Company Inc.) and 3529 (Instrotek Inc.) and 1751 (Troxler Electronic Labs) and 1552 (Pine Instrument Co.), etc.

Are you used to seeing the same old folks with the same old equipment at these shows each year? Well, you’ll be happy to hear that “The Base of Innovation” brings out the creativity in the OEMs and service-providers in our industry this year. Now, if you ask a representative what’s innovative about his or her product, its very existence will be the fabulous aspect about it, right? But the folks who spoke with us at AsphaltPro shared technology tidbits beyond “our stuff is great.”

For example, a spokesperson for TransTech Systems of Schenectady, N.Y., explained that the non-nuclear density gauges the company offers and will have on display in booth 1548 use electromagnetic technology. Without giving away the “secret sauce,” that’s what makes the gauges work, making them non-nuclear and offering the advantages over the nuclear alternative.

The team at BOMAG Americas, Inc., has optimized the vibratory oscillation within its roller drums to create the TanGO. You can check this out on the company’s new BW 161 ADO-4 tandem roller in booth 1130. It’s “tangential oscillation,” thus the name TanGO, that directs forces horizontally to give that special compaction touch near buildings or on bridges.
Bob Frank of RAP Technologies, LLC, Linwood, N.J., shared that the innovation he brings to the show is that of running a fully recycled hot mix.

“High capacity production of 100 percent recycle mixes using conventional plant components,” is possible.

A number of companies have innovations coming up, but they won’t be exhibiting during WOA/AGG1 for a variety of reasons. For example, CWMF Corporation of Waite Park, Minn., will introduce a 100 percent RAP plant later in the year; you can watch our product gallery pages for that. Phoenix Services LLC of Kennett Square, Pa., isn’t exhibiting this year while the company finalizes details at its newly acquired sites. BJM Pumps of Old Saybrook, Conn., won’t be exhibiting, but did launch its new XP-KZN series of submersible slurry pumps at the Underground Technology Conference & Exhibition in Houston back in January. Neal Manufacturing of Anniston, Ala., also chose another venue to showcase its sealcoating machine due to a scheduling conflict during WOA time.

Now let’s take a look at a few of the companies that will be at the show and that shared information with AsphaltPro readers. When you stop in to check out the new items and info, let them know you saw them in AsphaltPro magazine.

ALBARRIE    WOA-1821

Get information on high efficiency filter bag cleaning from Albarrie Environmental Services when you stop by booth 1821.

ASTEC, INC.    WOA-2029

Look for an all new model of the Double Barrel XHR drum, which is able to run up to 60 percent RAP at the Astec booth. Also check out a display of the Astec V-Pack™ stack temperature control system and Astec controls.
Direct your questions to Jeff Baugh, Floyd Cheek, Chris Frost, Ryan Bush, Tom Ondo, Greg Painter, Jason Clark, Tom Baugh, Steve Claude, Andy Guth, Larry Johnston, Tony Schwab or Malcolm Swanson when you stop by booth 2029.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “To meet with new and existing customers to convey the message that we offer the industry’s most complete lineup of asphalt plants.”

ATLAS COPCO    WOA-2514

Look for the new Dynapac F1200CS paver in the Atlas Copco booth, along with compaction and other heavy-highway equipment.
Direct your questions to Steve Cole, vice president business line manager of road construction equipment; Ali Pektas, vice president marketing NASA region; Vijayakumar Palanisamy, divisional product manager; or other regional sales managers when you stop by booth 2514.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “Our goal is to demonstrate our continued commitment to the U.S. asphalt industry through product improvements, breadth of products and support. We’ll be highlighting new equipment at the show, including our Tier 4 Final F800 paver and the CP1200 pneumatic roller. We’ll also show some of our latest advancements in technology, including our new intelligent compaction system that minimizes common issues involving density and stiffness.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “Our sales personnel can teach booth attendees how to identify low-maintenance equipment by examining the quality of features and how some add-on features will benefit their application.”

2. “Another tip attendees can learn is how to optimize material management to eliminate segregation. For instance, they can learn how feed control systems automatically adjust material flow to produce a quality mat.”

The innovations that Atlas Copco brings to the show this year go beyond the company’s offerings in the intelligent compaction arena. “In addition to our new intelligent compaction system, we incorporate and offer other innovative features that ensure high productivity. For instance, our pavers can be equipped with our exclusive feed control system that monitors and adjusts material flow to eliminate centerline segregation. Another example, the F1200 paver, includes sliding step extensions that allow the operator to achieve clear views of the surface and screed.”

BOMAG    WOA-1130

Look for half a dozen pieces of milling, paving and compacting equipment in the BOMAG Americas, Inc., booth, but make sure you take time to see the TanGO technology and the new rear rotor design of the cold milling machines.

Direct your questions to John Hood, Jim Head, Bill Rieken, Tom Kiselica, Mitch Mears, Tim Hoover or Henry Polk when you stop by booth 1130.
What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “BOMAG will continue to further advance its position as a full-line roadbuilding equipment supplier to paving contractors with its offering of industry leading asphalt compaction, paving, milling and reclaiming/stabilizing equipment. The company plans to further the level of understanding of its latest innovations that allow paving contractors to build a better road, including TanGO tangential oscillation,

Economizer and the Remix Anti-Segregation System.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “We can show the benefits of BOMAG’s TanGO and Economizer innovations toward achieving optimal compaction results.”

2. “We can show how the Remix system combats thermal and particle segregation at the last stage of the paving process by distributing material over an area five times wider than traditional slat conveyor pavers.”

CAT    WOA-1212

Look for a host of paving, milling and recycling equipment including the new member of the F-series pavers from Caterpillar Inc.

Direct your questions to Terry Sharp, Terry Humphreys, Todd Mansell and others when you stop by booth 1212.

CLARENCE RICHARD SERVICES    WOA-3524

Look for weighing equipment in the Clarence Richard booth.
Direct your questions to Clarence Richard, president of Clarence Richard Services, Inc., Minnetonka, Minn., when you stop by booth 3524.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “Make RAS users aware of their existing weighing problem, mix producers aware of uneven dust return into their mixes, and mix producers aware the majority of their plant operation people are undertrained and that we offer the solutions and we want them to take action.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “Effective plant operation training is your best plant ROI.”

2. “Mix quality at most all continuous mix plant can be significantly improved with new instrument technology.”

CMI ROADBUILDING    WOA-3830

Look for information on the E3 RAP-STAR™ at the CMI Roadbuilding Inc. booth.

D&H    WOA-1149

Look for information on the 50 TPH fully-automated portable blending unit from D&H Equipment, Ltd., at booth 1149.

EAGLE CRUSHER    AGG-1542

Look for information on crushers and recycle crushers at the Eagle booth.
Direct your questions to Daniel Friedman; Bill Rhoades, vice president; Jay Giltz; John Powell; Terry Robinette; or Norm Refford of Eagle Crusher.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “To educate about the innovative RAP recycling equipment Eagle Crusher manufactures.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “How to integrate RAP recycling into your existing asphalt facility.”

2. “How to reduce costs through RAP.”

FORTA    WOA-3309

Look for information about fiber reinforcement at the Forta Corporation booth.

Direct questions to Martin Doody, director of sales and marketing; Scott Nazar, technical manager; Chase Eyster, sales representative; Natasha Ozybko, sales representative; Charlie Miller, sales representative; Dave Huddleston, international business development manager; and Garrett Lovett, fiber technician, when you stop by booth 3309.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “To find customers domestically, and distributors internationally. We want to raise the level of awareness, to the paving public, of high tensile strength of synthetic fiber reinforcement.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “Teach them the value of fiber reinforcement for asphalt.”

2. “Show them the ease of using this product in any asphalt plant.”

HEATEC    WOA-1630

Look for heating equipment and storage solutions in the Heatec booth.
Direct your questions to Tom Wilkey, president; Robert Wilfong, vice president; Jerry Vantrease, construction sales manager; Phil Brady, regional sales manager; or Randy Osby, parts manager or Heatec, Inc., Chattanooga, when you stop by booth 1630.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “Convince buyers that our equipment is not a commodity and it is important to consider details when comparing equipment.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “It is important to look at long-term payback, not just initial cost.”

2. “Although heating and storage equipment comprises only a small portion of the overall plant, it can still have an important impact on plant operation.”

The team at Heatec values its improvements as innovations. “We constantly explore new technologies that could improve our products and offer it as options when it appears to have suitable cost/benefits for our customers.”

LB PERFORMANCE    WOA-2704

Look for a number of updated products in the LB Performance booth, from the brand new evolution of the PF150 paver line with a new screed, new endgates, Tier IV engine and more horsepower to the safety improvements on the road wideners RW100B and RW195E.

Direct your questions to Al Cleeland, Rick Smith, Andy Valentine or Cory Furhamn when you stop by booth 2704.

Along with new screeds delivering more heat for the end user, the team at LB Performance Paving has taken on other innovations. “We’re responsible for the evolution of the Blaw-Knox brand. Sustaining engineering had to be brought back up to speed—modernizing for safety, automation, engine Tier compliance, etc. We’ve accomplished re-engineering the engines as far as we needed to. We have our eye on the deliverable product for the contractor.”

MAJOR WIRE    AGG1-1532

Look for the Flex-Mat® 3 high-performance screen media in the Major Wire Industries, Ltd., booth.

MASABA    AGG-1153

Look for a demonstration of Masaba’s patented track technology at the booth.
Direct your questions to Jerad Higman, president; Jim Peterson, vice president; Bob Brewer; Ken Brozek; Jeff Elmes; Joe Elmes; or Steve Nelson of Masaba, Inc., Vermillion, S.D., when you stop by booth 1153.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “Expand dealer network, lead generation.”

MEEKER    WOA-TBA

Look for hot oil heating equipment in the Meeker booth.

Direct your questions to David Garrett, Derek Garrett, Andrew Wellock and Jeff Meeker of Meeker Equipment Co., Inc., Belleville, Pa., when you stop by the booth.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? Increase brand awareness. “Our hot oil heater provides up-to-the-minute data on the hot oil heater status. Emails personnel when a heater is not working.” Later in 2015, Meeker plans to release a “hot oil heater with iPhone controls.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1.“Most hot oil heater problems are with the heat transfer oil, not the heater.”

2.“Filtering your hot oil is paramount to a successful heating system.”

MWV    WOA-3417

Look for information on Evotherm and ways to maximize your WMA potential at the MeadWestvaco booth.

Direct your questions to Heather Dolan, Mike O’Leary, David Yates or others when you stop by booth 3417.

MeadWestvaco offers innovation in additives and WMA optimization.

PHCO    WOA-1618

Look for information on electric heating.

Direct your questions to Rick Jay, president of Process Heating Co., Seattle, when you stop by booth 1618.

Jay considers the products PHCo offers to be innovative because they are low maintenance, clean—devoid of emissions—and safe electric heat for an asphalt plant.

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “Effective insulation with any heating system will save thousands of dollars.”

2. “Proper interlocking of and use of timers will reduce electric costs.”

PINE    WOA-1552

Look for information on the Los Angeles Performance Test at the Pine Instruments booth.

Direct your questions to Dave Savage of Pine Instrument Co. Test Equipment Division, Grove City, Pa.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “To introduce the LA Performance Test.”

RAP TECHNOLOGIES    WOA-3530

Look for information on running 100 percent RAP mixes.

Direct your questions to Bob Frank or Todd D’Anna of RAP Technologies, LLC, Linwood, N.J., when you stop by booth 3530.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “To connect with contractors interested in producing 100 percent recycled hot mix.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth? 1. “RAP can be restored to provide a flexible and durable pavement when rejuvenated with suitable light oils.” 2. “Heating RAP up to laydown temperatures without adding recycling agent is invitation to pavement failures and damaged reputations.”

ROADTEC    WOA-1329

Look for a host of paving and pavement maintenance equipment at the Roadtec booth.

Direct your questions to Jeff Richmond, president; Eric Baker, director of marketing and sales; Chris Connolly, national sales manager; Joanna Peddicord, product manager; Frank Reiland, national sales manager; Mike Kvach, executive vice president sales and marketing; Jeff Ensell; Mark Smith, national sales manager; Austin Miller, national sales manager; Tommy McClain, regional sales manager; Rick Pare, regional sales manager; Jeff Smith, vice president product support; and Jimmy Richardson, rebuild manager of Roadtec, Chattanooga when you stop by booth 1329.

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth? 1. “Tips on maximizing up-time.” 2. “Tips on increasing the quality of work.”

A spokesperson for Roadtec shared, “Roadtec offers a variety of products that help customers increase quality and production and lower operating costs. The Guardian telematics system is a great example of new technology that allows the customer to remotely access and monitor the equipment through a wireless signal. The SB-2500e material transfer vehicle increases production and quality of the paving operation by remixing the asphalt mix to remedy material and thermal segregation and also providing a means of storage on the job site.”

STANSTEEL/HOTMIX PARTS    WOA-3113

Look for the display of the Accu-Shear WMA system, blending systems, the RAP-Gator, the Recycling Breaker, a parts tree of asphalt plant components and a demo setup of the Accu-Track plant controls system at the Stansteel-Hotmix Parts booth.

Direct your questions to Steve Elam, Chet Reinle, Brad Oller, Rick Reed, Kim Blandford, Raluca Loher, Chris Loher or Julie Boone when you stop by booth 3113.

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “How to customize the individual plant to increase RAP or RAS use to have significant savings.”

2. “We can explain how to do inline blending of liquids to modify their performance grade at the plant site.”

One of the innovations Stansteel is ready to discuss with attendees is that of using plant controls in the quality assurance realm. “With the Accu-Track Quality Assurance System, we have developed a comprehensive system to help them blend a quality asphalt product with aggregate, recycle, binder, etcetera. We track the use of material and we have devices to activate an alarm if they deviate from a set point. If you can earn a bonus on your mix, which more states are offering, you need quality assurance to track your mix.”

TRANSTECH    WOA-1548

Look for four different items specifically in the TransTech booth. The PQI 380 is the latest generation of the TransTech non-nuclear asphalt density gauge. It’s designed to provide quick, accurate readings of density and temperature of hot mix asphalt pavements. This model has a touch screen, graphical user interface, GPS, and other user-friendly features. The PQI 380 conforms to ASTM Standard D7113 and AASHTO T343-12. The SDG 200 is a non-nuclear soil density gauge designed for the civil construction industry. It is designed to give users reliable, accurate, repeatable readings in real time.

The SDG 200 conforms to ASTM Standard D7830. The Notch Wedge Joint Maker (NWJM) shapes the longitudinal joint as the HMA is spread, providing two vertical surfaces plus a tapered edge that can be adjusted on the run to meet mix and jobsite requirements. The TransTech Systems Shoulder Wedge Maker™ (SWM) is the original solution to road edge drop-off. It mounts directly on most paver screed extensions against the end gate and provides a beveled shoulder edge.

Direct your questions to David Apkarian, president and CEO; Jaret Morse, COO; and Ron Berube, P.E., corporate vice president of TransTech Systems, Schenectady, N.Y., when you stop by booth 1548.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “Increase market share and company/technology profile within the industry. Obtain recognition in the industry as a leader in soil and asphalt construction quality control. TransTech wants to be your go-to company.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “Lose the badges, costs and aggravations associated with using nuclear gauges.”

2. “Use our experience and expertise to gain knowledge about best practices.”

WILLOW    WOA-3220

Look for the new spring-loaded notch wedge and safety edge systems in the Willow booth.

Direct your questions to Jeremy Harget, field expert with Willow Designs & Fabrication, LLC, of East Berlin, Pa., when you stop by booth 3220.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “To talk to as many people as possible and to push our onsite/field consulting service that specializes in building/compacting notch wedge joints and techniques for building functional safety edges after compaction.”

What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1.”How much money they can save by using Willow Designs Systems.”

2.”How fully adjustable safety edge is necessary to keep the angle of the safety edge in spec after compaction.”

Jerod Willow shared that Willow Designs was founded on innovation. “My products are unlike anyone else’s with simple yet effective designs that were born in heavy highway construction. The notch wedge and safety edge systems are compatible, meaning both devices mount exactly the same on the paver. Willow Designs is also the only manufacturer of notch wedge and safety edge systems that can be removed while the paver is n full production.

Here is one more advantage: we offer onsite consulting specializing in building notch wedge joints and safety edges so inexperienced crews get first-class results from the word “go.”

WIRTGEN    WOA-1012

Look for equipment related to asphalt and aggregate processing.
Direct your questions to Bruce Monical, director of marketing, Wirtgen America, Inc., Nashville, Tenn.

What is a goal your company has for this year’s show? “To leverage the strong impetus for, and exposure to, Wirtgen America products for the North American market created at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2014.”
What Top 2 Tips can your sales personnel teach the contractors who stop by your booth?

1. “In today’s post-Interstate era – with its growing emphasis on pavement preservation and recycling of pavements – Wirtgen has introduced or improved equipment that will make that work easier, more productive and more profitable.”

2. “Our high-performance cold milling and recycling machines; Vision Series, Super Series and SP Series pavers; CompactLine and tandem asphalt rollers; and portable crushing and screening equipment all are uniquely suited to pavement preservation practices such as mill-and-overlay, fine milling, materials recycling, optimization of RAP in mixes, low-energy or “cold” asphalt mixes, thin asphalt lifts, spray-applied thin lifts, and compaction of difficult mixes.”