Sandy Lender

Starting Jan. 1, 2020, sulphur fuel regulations will be changing, and will likely increase binder prices. The maximum sulphur content allowed in fuel oil of any ship or vessel operating anywhere in the world will be 0.5 percent m/m. Here’s how things will change, and what the asphalt industry will do about it.

Air ages liquid asphalt cement (AC) just as surely as ultraviolet light does. This is why material stored in the asphalt silo requires as much forethought and care as the material traveling to the jobsite. Here’s how you can solve oxidation in the silo.

On June 23, 2018, the second phase of the OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) regulations go into effect for general industry and maritime. Here’s what you need to do if you’re an asphalt plant owner to safeguard the health of your workers from silica dust.

How will new aluminum and steel tariffs impact the asphalt industry–and how will the industry react?

To set an adequate paving speed, the foreman on the job and the paver operator need to have confidence in a host of factors. Here’s what you need to consider.

Were you planning to offer face masks to workers who may enter dusty areas during the work day? While that sounds like an excellent way to protect workers from inhaling respirable silica dust, it’s a solution that opens up another set of requirements.

Switching from nighttime to daytime paving, working long hours in one cab or any number of off-the-job factors can result in worker fatigue during the job. When project activities require operation of heavy equipment, it’s essential that workers remain alert not only for their own safety, but also for the safety of colleagues in the […]

Retain What You Pay for During Training At this year’s World of Asphalt/AGG1 conference and expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, attendees have three days of courses from which to select education opportunities. Between the WOA’s People, Plants and Paving Conference, and AGG1’s Aggregates Academy alone, there are over 110 seminars […]

When the 320-degree material gets placed at night, ambient temperature can start to play with your workability. For P&S Paving, Daytona Beach, Florida, knocking the production temperature down to the 270-degree range can be the answer. They include Evotherm warm-mix asphalt (WMA) additive from Ingevity of North Charleston, South Carolina, in all their mixes, and […]

Is your ground man stuck at the top of a nonfunctioning scissor lift? There are safety protocols to get him back to earth and some common maintenance practices to prevent scissor lift failure. This is the time of year when ground personnel, mechanics and other plant workers are busy gearing up for spring start-up. Not […]

Finding the right materials for statewide use is a monumental task when you have an area as big as Texas. State materials engineers for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) are charged with finding ways to increase the amount of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) used in asphalt pavement mixes, and lengthen the life of pavements […]

At press time, both houses of Congress had passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1). Given the level of emotion that can be stirred when discussing tax reform, this article will present facts and quotes from government arms of industry associations without editorializing. Dec. 20, 2017, the Associated General Contractors of America’s CEO, […]

In the January 2018 issue, Courtney Jones and Mike Heitzman from the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn, shared “Michigan Tests Friction Aggregates” from their contribution to the fall 2017 NCAT Newsletter. This excellent article can be reviewed on www.TheAsphaltPro.com. The authors shared results of evaluating 11 aggregates for high friction surface treatments […]

For the asphalt industry, bringing new workers on board could be as simple as encouraging the women of the construction world to stand up and get noticed. Of course, asking women to stand up and get noticed in business is anything but simple. In the summer of 2017, Asphalt Pavement Alliance National Director Amy Miller, […]

For the 10-Year Anniversary of AsphaltPro magazine, we will help asphalt companies teach new workers some back-to-basics techniques for best success in the field, at the plant and in the lab. Even veteran employees will be reminded of best practices with these refreshers throughout the year, but the goal is to help readers who are […]

Is your roller running out of water too often during the paving shift? When a spray nozzle is plugged or when the scraper bar is not held against the drum properly, you will get poor water coverage on the drum. It costs time to refill water tanks again and again. Letting the roller run with […]

If the lights in the control house dim when your plant manager presses the button to start production, you can bet you’re pulling a full load of amps. Whether he runs at full production or half the plant’s rated capacity, the burner, blowers, fans, cold feed belts, pumps, etc. are pulling maximum energy unless you […]

As morbid as this will sound, it will be easy to remember: If you will be working or walking on a surface that is more than six feet above a lower surface, you must have fall arrest protection to safeguard you from going six feet under. The harsh and horrible reality is that not all […]

Contractors performing winter pavement maintenance should be clamoring for the jobs that service porous asphalt pavements. It would be irresponsible to say merely “you get to leave it alone,” but the fact is porous asphalt pavements require fewer deicing chemicals and less work than do impervious pavements. Here’s why. First, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) […]

Results of an industry-wide survey of 1,600 respondents conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Autodesk this summer showed 70 percent of construction firms reporting difficulty in filling hourly craft positions. The positions represent the bulk of the construction workforce. The responses represent a labor drought the asphalt industry has become well […]

Let me begin this exposition on the asphalt industry’s use of asphalt cement (AC) and additives in environmentally positive configurations with a diversion. This diversion is toward the fantastic. Picture, if you will, a wasteland in which the missing windows of high rise buildings mimic broken teeth. Along litter-cluttered sidewalks, vines escape their cracked pots […]

If misalignment of the screed sections leaves a line in the mat, the roller operator is called on to smooth it out. Mat imperfections, divots, cool spots, anything that isn’t perfect gets left to the breakdown, intermediate and finish rollers to take care of. That means the roller operator’s equipment must be in perfect working […]

In 2016, the Russellville School District in Arkansas awarded a large contract to reroof its middle school facility. As part of the project, the general contractor took 120 tons of shingles off the roof in late December, and wisely partnered with a local roadbuilding contractor that kept the material for future use. “There was some […]

Since 2003, Carolina Sunrock LLC, a family-owned construction and materials supplier and highway contractor, with headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been accumulating Diamond Achievement Commendations for Excellence in Asphalt Plant/Site Operations from the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). Carolina Sunrock, a subsidiary of Sunrock Group Holdings, received its most recent commendation for its Butner […]

For this year’s training directory, we must address the elephant in the room. Asphalt companies, just like construction companies overall, are losing long-time, skilled employees to retirement. These workers have put in decades of exemplary service, helping the asphalt industry create masterpieces across North America. They have combined skill sets that company owners and project […]

For the 2017 paving season, we dive into an essential area of project management for asphalt professionals: safe and timely delivery of hot-mix or warm-mix asphalt (HMA/WMA) to the paving site. During this eight-part series, you have seen some back-to-basics best practices to share with veteran and new haul truck drivers, in addition to new […]

For the 2017 paving season, we dive into an essential area of project management for asphalt professionals: safe and timely delivery of hot-mix or warm-mix asphalt (HMA/WMA) to the paving site. During this eight-part series, you’re getting some back-to-basics best practices to share with veteran and new haul truck drivers, in addition to new tips, […]

Typically, standards voted on within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) don’t impact the asphalt industry directly, according to Ray Brown, Ph.D., director emeritus at the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University. This truism has changed to some extent with the adoption of ISO 17025 calibration of measurement standards by the American […]

If the screed leaves a line in the mat, the roller operator is called on to smooth it out. Mat imperfections, divots, cool spots, anything that isn’t perfect gets left to the breakdown, intermediate and finish rollers to take care of. That means the compaction equipment must be in perfect working order, so the first […]

With specs for polymer-modified liquid asphalt cement (PMA) more exacting today than they were a dozen or so years ago, you want to confirm material specifications. You want to be certain of what each tank at your facility holds. During The Association of Modified Asphalt Producers’ (AMAP) Modified Asphalt Workshop held in Tampa in February, […]

Editor’s Note: A few of the ideas in this article involve adding lighting and other elements to the haul truck. Make sure any aftermarket safety equipment is installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s specs. Then be sure to test it for proper operation before going into the field. Include aftermarket devices in routine maintenance and […]

For the 2017 paving season, we dive into an essential area of project management for asphalt professionals: safe and timely delivery of hot-mix or warm-mix asphalt (HMA/WMA) to the paving site. During this eight-part series, you’ll get some back-to-basics best practices to share with veteran and new haul truck drivers, in addition to new tips, […]

When the clock struck midnight, ushering in 2017 and the Tier 4 Final (T4F) mandates for engines, not all coaches immediately turned into squat orange pumpkins. While many projects that benefit from federal funding will require a certain percentage of equipment used on the job meet T4F emissions standards, that doesn’t mean every asphalt contractor […]

I type this headline with tongue in cheek because of course asphalt contractors look back at their pavements. We look back with pride, and double-check densities and smoothness. One of the wonderful aspects of being an asphalt contractor is the instant gratification of seeing a job well done at the end of the day. Not […]

Asphalt professionals in the southeast remain alert for more than just rain delays at this time of year. It’s hurricane season as well as paving season for states along the east coast of the United States, and the team at Halifax Paving in Daytona Beach, Florida, can attest to the fast pace of emergency projects […]

For the 2017 paving season, we dive into an essential area of project management for asphalt professionals: safe and timely delivery of hot-mix or warm-mix asphalt (HMA/WMA) to the paving site. During this eight-part series, you’ll get some back-to-basics best practices to share with veteran and new haul truck drivers, in addition to new tips, […]

American Asphalt Co., headquartered in West Collingswood Heights, New Jersey, runs two plants side by side on its Burlington Township property. One is a 5-ton Stansteel batch plant. The other is a 400-TPH Dillman duo-drum. Putting the two on the same property made perfect sense from a permitting, footprint and cost standpoint, and inspired the […]

Save on Costs with Your Professional Guide to Asphalt Mix Delivery Part 2—Put in an Eye to Safety For the 2017 paving season, we dive into an essential area of project management for asphalt professionals: safe and timely delivery of hot-mix or warm-mix asphalt (HMA/WMA) to the paving site. During this eight-part series, you’ll get […]

Save on Costs with Your Professional Guide to Asphalt Mix Delivery Part 1—Take a New Look at Haul Truck Maintenance For the 2017 paving season, we dive into an essential area of project management for asphalt professionals: safe and timely delivery of hot-mix or warm-mix asphalt (HMA/WMA) to the paving site. During this eight-part series, […]

In the past, technology hadn’t paved the way for the successful use of ground tire rubber (GTR) in asphalt mix designs the way it has today. Now we have the means to grind tires “finer.” We can use advanced mixing chemicals that facilitate the use of wet process and dry crumb rubber modified asphalt cements […]

Daily commuters and tourists traveling north on state highway 145 to festivals in Telluride brought the heaviest traffic past the SH145 resurfacing project for Elam Construction of Grand Junction, Colorado. Michael Brennan’s team at Alert Traffic Inc., Bayfield, Colorado, handled the setup of work zone parameters on the two-lane highway to keep the crew safe […]

While they tackled placing large Tier 4 engines, after-treatment systems and diesel exhaust fluid tanks in machines for the January 2017 deadline, asphalt industry OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) saw problems with visibility creeping into design. They worked to solve those challenges to create an environment that is both safe and smart from the operator’s point of […]

What started in the ’80s as a father and son sealing team has adapted to age, growth and regional demand for Earnest (Earnie) R. Beckner, Jr. He and his father, Ray Beckner, Sr., began Beckner’s Asphalt Pavement Maintenance in 1984 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Around 1992, they dissolved the company and moved north, where Earnie […]

  Producers need to take advantage of winter downtime to get asphalt plants in optimum condition for season startup—that’s a given. Let’s dive right into modern ideas. The manufacturers who visit plant sites and place the orders all year long took some time to share what’s hot among your peers for updating the facility and […]

At E.T. Simonds Materials’ Campbell Hill, Illinois, location, the company had been operating a 1967 model Stansteel batch plant for over 30 years. Beck Simonds, president, shared why it was time for an upgrade. “The primary reason was due to the age of the existing plant, and we wanted to do more recycling.” While the […]

When considering how highway projects are let, you may leave it to the state to decide whether the materials involved will be asphaltic or something else. You may let the state or national association influence how state materials engineers view one option over another, thus sit back and wait for the chance to do business—or […]

C.R. Jackson Inc. began in 1972 as a small landscaping company working primarily in Columbia, South Carolina. Over the past 44 years the company has grown in scope, capacity and geographic footprint to become one of the state’s premier highway heavy contractors. Today the company owns five asphalt plants from Columbia to Myrtle Beach and […]

  UPDATE: At the November 15 meeting of the Carcinogen Identification Committee in Sacramento, the panel’s health experts agreed that the further study of paving asphalt is a “low priority.” By the time this issue is mailed, representatives of the California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA) will have discussed the differences between roofing and paving asphalt […]

When its plant at Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, had reached the ripe old age of five years, management at Highway Materials Inc. (HMI) a division of The DePaul Group, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, revamped its inner workings. The hybrid ALmix/Meeker dratch plant had served them well, producing mix at up to 500 TPH with 900 tons of […]

At the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) mid-year meeting in Seattle in July, the association gave a 2015 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award to Superior Paving Corp. of Gainesville, Virginia, for its implementation of a McCav air brake warning system. The system visually and audibly alerts drivers if they leave the vehicle without engaging the […]

IMP Technologies (IMPTEC) of Adelaide, Australia, has developed a super fine crusher that is designed to reduce comminution costs and the energy associated with producing material for ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Spokesperson Chris Kelsey explained the piece of equipment will not be displayed outside of Australia until license agreements have been finalized, but the company […]

Make training part of your professional culture for safe, quality asphalt jobs How many times have you heard a veteran paver operator say something along the lines of “back in my day we didn’t use those newfangled computer controls” when discussing proper paving technique? He’s not wrong. There was a time not so many years […]

During the midyear meeting in Seattle, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announced that Oldcastle Materials—Montana Companies, based in Helena, Montana, had garnered a 2015 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award for developing an asphalt drum non-entry rescue system. While that sounds like something to feature in our Safety Spotlight department, it pertains specifically to plant […]

  AsphaltPro sets the standard for equipment and service information by focusing on what’s new in the industry. There are manufacturers and service providers in the asphalt industry with R&D departments that have crafted remarkable components for aggregate and asphalt production that stand the test of time. Over the years, those components require mere tweaking […]

Two aspects of the chip sealing project keep it profitable for the company performing the work. Consider the management of the materials and the management of the process. For this delivery-themed issue of AsphaltPro, let’s take a look at the best practices for getting a chip seal project right, examining the way one crew in […]

To deliver mix with minimal material segregation, drivers—and plant operators—are instructed to load haul trucks in a three-drop method under the silos. You’ve see this illustrated in AsphaltPro before. The driver pulls the truck under the designated silo to receive one drop in one end of the truck bed. Then he moves the truck back […]

Equipment fleet owners who deliver asphalt mix will be interested in the final ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agencies submitted for publication in the Federal Register Aug. 16, 2016, the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Medium- and Heavy-Duty […]

Ask anyone in the asphalt industry what the drawback of using crumb rubber additive for a recycling project is and they’ll tell you the temperature creates a “scent” issue. While the aroma of highly heated crumb rubber may smell like saved money and environmental sustainability to those of us in-the-know, it smells stinky to the […]

During the midyear meeting in Seattle, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announced that Valley Asphalt Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio, had garnered a 2015 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award for developing a freestanding transfer slat catwalk. While that sounds like something to feature in our Safety Spotlight department, it pertains specifically to plant maintenance. Check this […]

Whether or not the use of high percentages of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) or recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) in mixes can correlate to premature pavement cracking, is the catalyst for new action in the state of California. It’s no secret that adding RAP or RAS to the production process means you’re adding a binder that […]

In the June 2013 edition of AsphaltPro, we shared the inner workings of the Guardian telematics from Roadtec, Chattanooga. Since then, we’ve shared updates to that system and innovations in other OEMs’ telematics. At the 2016 World of Asphalt trade show in Nashville, I visited with the team from Zonar Systems, Seattle, to discuss their […]

  To pave a smooth mat, a number of variables must be managed, including the condition of the paver. Paving Consultant John Ball, the proprietor of Top Quality Paving and Training, Manchester, New Hampshire, shared that the most important part of the paver to keep in tip-top shape is its screed. If the screed is […]

Problem: State and local agencies have been dealing with limited budgets for such a long time that some pavements in their jurisdictions have passed the point where a pothole patching or crack filling crew will adequately solve the distresses. Solution: Asphalt professionals can help agencies decide when a thin asphalt overlay is the right tool […]

Norris Asphalt Paving Co shares how it won the top industry award with Iowa’s US34 project—over hill and dale Merrill G. Norris founded what is now Norris Asphalt Paving Company (N.A.P.Co.) in 1947 and the company has been paving Iowa ever since. The company purchased a portable 300 ton per hour (TPH) Barber-Greene drum mix […]

Gone are the days when you would drive the paver from one section of a paving project to another section two or three miles down the road. Instead, the supervisor for the project arranges to have a low bed trailer in the staging area to transport the paver and rollers to the second site. In […]

It feels as though this year’s World of Asphalt and AGG1 conferences and trade shows in Nashville were a lifetime ago, when in fact they were March 22 through 24. A mere five months ago, asphalt and aggregate professionals from around the globe gathered at the Music City Center to share knowledge and learn what’s […]

As mentioned earlier in this issue, it feels as though World of Asphalt 2016 (WOA) took place ages ago. Yet we have continued uses, of course, for the innovations that were launched at that trade show and in the months following the show. The big topic the past few years has been the slow march […]

WOA, AGG1 delivered record numbers and tired feet for the asphalt paving industry. Let’s take a look at what all the hoopla delivered to industry members. The 2016 World of Asphalt Show & Conference and AGG1 Academy & Expo concluded their March 22 through 24 run as the most successful combined event yet, with record […]

At this time, states don’t expect a contractor to submit a separate mix design for warm-mix asphalt (WMA) pavements that are part of a project. Instead, the contractor will submit the hot-mix asphalt (HMA) design with modifications. No extra testing required. Does that mean the producer who is committed to quality should ignore the opportunity […]

AsphaltPro sets the standard for equipment and service information by focusing on what’s new in the industry. As components require tweaking—or complete overhaul—to meet new codes or standards, these pages serve to bring you information about those modifications. As companies revamp complete systems, software, iron and parts to make completely new products or controls to […]

As members of the asphalt industry wrapped up the largest trade show event of the year March 24, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its final rule on silica standards. Reducing the permissible exposure limits (PELs) to crystalline silica was the first revision OSHA had made to the standards in more than 40 […]

If you learn that eating sandwiches made with white bread on a daily basis could lead to intestinal problems, would you continue to eat white bread every day? Some consumers might look for other ways to cut back on the use of refined white flour, lessening the use of genetically modified grains in the diet […]

Know your legal limits, as well as your untapped potential, for sUAS in your asphalt business When the use of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS)—drones, in layman’s terms—first cropped up in the road construction industry, savvy contractors were using them to get images and footage for marketing purposes. Like children playing with their fathers’ tools, […]

AsphaltPro sets the standard for equipment and service information by focusing on what’s new in the industry. To that end, we bring you a fresh way to look at what will be offered at this year’s World of Asphalt trade show in Nashville this March 22 through 24. In this month’s product gallery, we’ll show […]

AsphaltPro sets the standard for equipment and service information by focusing on what’s new in the industry. There are companies in the asphalt industry with R&D departments that have crafted remarkable components for aggregate and asphalt production that stand the test of time. Over the years, those components require mere tweaking here and there to […]

No recycling issue would be complete without discussing the management of materials. Let’s get back to basics with the concept of proper stockpiling of virgin and recycle materials. This may serve as a refresher course for some managers; it will hold nuggets of cost-saving information for new materials managers. Either way, whether you’re dumping millings […]

When a liquid binder has a high degree of ductility, the mix designer is able to mold and shape it more easily than when the bitumen has a low degree of ductility. When a liquid binder has a high degree of brittleness, it is more likely to “break” than when it has a low degree […]

As we discussed in the Vol.9, No.3 issue of AsphaltPro, liquid asphalt cement (AC) prices have seen a most welcome decline as petroleum prices have decreased during 2015. The article “Slow Your Roll” from the December 2015 edition (online at www.TheAsphaltPro.com) shared information on specific price trends. It also offered tips for equipping the asphalt […]

New technologies for tracking equipment seem to hit the market place each week. From RFID tags to GPS locators, contractors have myriad intelligent options to keep an eye on each machine in the fleet and to monitor each machine’s vital signs. Through that tracking, you can keep a limited eye on employee location as well. […]

Whether you lay down tack prior to paving or you spread a pretty sealcoat to lengthen the life of a community’s roadways, the spraying equipment you use requires routine maintenance to stay in good condition. Any buildup of tack, emulsion, sealant, paint or other material used on the job can turn into a bad day […]

With the cost of virgin asphalt cement (AC) on an overall decline throughout 2014 and 2015, asphalt producers have had an almost reprieve when it comes to at least one material expense. I say you’ve almost had a reprieve because the price of AC has been difficult to stomach since 2007/2008. The curve toward more […]

You may know that Charlie Blalock and his sons formed a company called Charles Blalock & Sons, Inc., in 1963 in Sevier County, Tennessee. This past year, the company purchased an Astec Relocatable 400 TPH Double Barrel® plant for its Park Road location in Sevierville. What they’ve done falls under the category of smart asphalt […]

Learning to use blending and loadout controls at the asphalt plant is only one portion of today’s plant operator’s job. AsphaltPro asked a number of controls and plant OEMs to share specifically how the plant operator or ground personnel can participate in the routine maintenance of controls to keep unplanned downtime at bay. Here are […]

Author’s Note: Many articles discussing intelligent compaction systems have taken up page-space in trade publications during the past few years. This article will delve into exactly how the systems can help your roller operator achieve desired density. Let me begin this discussion of intelligent compaction (IC) by reminding contractors we have an article about training […]

An Aug. 11, 2015, notice from the U.S. Department of Labor explained why three Illinois construction companies face $1,939,000 in fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Here we discuss what happened and how members of the road construction industry can avoid not just the fines, but the actions that brought about the OSHA […]

There’s more to telematics than increasing fuel savings. While installing a tracking device in fleet vehicles gives managers the opportunity to more efficiently monitor maintenance intervals based on actual hours of use, it also gives managers the opportunity to increase driver safety practices. For this month’s Safety Zone, I’ll use the CarChip Connect from Davis […]

As stewards of the land we work on, members of the asphalt industry take seriously our responsibility to protect resources. We also take seriously the opportunities to conduct business in the most efficient manner when it comes to controlling quality and keeping costs within reason. When the arguments for and against the Keystone XL Pipeline […]

When the members of the crew are invested in the success of the company, the owner and managers typically have fewer worries about lost time or missing parts stacking up to cause a dent in the bottom line. Savvy owners still keep track of employee behaviors that can have an impact on project costs. The […]

OEMs hope new IC technology can replace assurance testing in the construction of asphalt pavements More than mere lines on a touchscreen, intelligent compaction (IC) systems have evolved during the past few years to something that involves complex software and equations working “behind the scenes” while the roller operator works with what she can see […]

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 […]