AsphaltPro Staff

Colony Construction grows its Virginia footprint year by year.

Grace Industries LLC embraces new technology to mill John F. Kennedy Airport taxiways.

With the November edition of AsphaltPro, we turn our product gallery to the production side of the industry.

Stone matrix asphalt (SMA) blends are gaining popularity on interstates and high truck-traffic routes across the United States. One state that is having success with this technology is Illinois.

50 states. 4.12 million miles of road.1 More than 2.6 million miles of highways and paved roads, 94 percent of which use asphalt.2 With such a significant impact, asphalt producers and contractors keep this country up and running. This makes the work they do, and the equipment they do it with, critical to safety and […]

Each year, asphalt professionals gather to share the latest technical information and review field reports in the area of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) construction at the Illinois Bituminous Paving Conference. It’s a compact, one-day program that brings together highway and technical engineers, contractors, government officials, and consultants. The conference is designed specifically for people actively involved […]

One of the most important aspects of construction is delivering a quality project. Owners hire contractors to perform a specific function, and they expect a superior product. Implementing a quality control program that evaluates the work process from initial steps all the way through to completion ensures customer satisfaction and long-term success, according to Eric […]

United States Congratulations to Mary E. Peters, who is the 2019 recipient of the Frank Turner Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Transportation. Peters is former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, and Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation. She is currently principal of Mary Peters Consulting Group LLC. Source: Transportation […]

You may already be aware of autonomous equipment use in mining operations. What you may not know is that this autonomous technology is also making its way into asphalt paving jobs.

Cargill partners with NCAT, MnROAD to demonstrate reliability of performance-based evaluations of high RAP mixes.

Construction Angels Inc., Lighthouse Point, Florida, offers financial support to families of construction workers who have lost their lives while working on a construction job site. Kristi Lyn Ronyak has been the national executive director of the non-profit since its founding in 2011. AsphaltPro spent some time getting to know Ronyak and learning about how […]

A selection of ALLU D-Series Transformers helped process a variety of materials in four different countries in Asia and the Middle East. The ALLU equipment has been provided and supported by ALLU’s dealers in the countries. The ALLU Transformer D-Series comprises an excavator/ loader/ tractor-mounted attachment which screens, crushes, aerates, blends, mixes, separates, feeds and […]

iCone Products LLC, Cato, New York, developed its iCone real-time traffic message board system. Here’s how it works.

Intercounty Paving, Carmel, New York, has performed asphalt paving for more than 60 years.

Superior Paving’s Entry Prevention Interactive Control (EPIC) Safety System keeps workers from breaking the “electronic tether” between the MTV and paver and prevents workers from getting struck by equipment.

Sweeping is an essential part of road construction operations. Over the years, Broce has led the way in safety innovations by being the first to include a fully enclosed cab with air conditioning on their sweepers.

Trouble-shooting tips for roller operators to minimize downtime at the job

Kyle Neisen, product manager for pavers & MTVs at Roadtec Inc., Chattanooga, shared some ways to keep your pavers running smoothly.

Easy cold mill start-up begins with the kind of care the machine gets the evening before.

Chemung Contracting partners with Germanna Community College, Culpeper, Virginia, to develop an apprenticeship program for new talent.

Lakeside Industries (Lakeside) was first established when Rhoady Lee Jr. and three family members purchased Lakeside Sand & Gravel Co. of Bellevue, Washington, in 1954 (just a few miles east of Seattle).

Asia GlobalData reports construction output in the member states of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) should expand by over 6 percent yearly on average during 2018 to 2022. Belgium Experienced senior bitumen and asphalt industry professional and former EAPA Secretary General Max von Devivere is the new person heading up Eurobitume Benelux, the […]

The team from Heatec discusses one solution for monitoring multiple tanks across multiple facilities with a case study at C.W. Matthews Contracting Co. Inc., headquartered in Marietta, Georgia.

Today, Green Asphalt’s 100 percent RAP asphalt mix is approved for use in New York DOT and New York City Department of Design and Construction projects, and Capasso has a new goal in mind.

Maine Asphalt Pavement Association’s Tanya Bentley talks about how MAPA is working to promote the asphalt industry in the state.

Let’s look at how internal gear pump technology can be the ideal choice for the most challenging bitumen- and asphalt-handling applications.

CPWR’s new Best Built Plans program aims to improve the way the construction industry manages manually material handling.

American Asphalt invests in a modern software platform for estimating and operations to improve how his organization captures, manages and uses data to improve performance.

As the construction season winds down in some northern parts of the country, pavement maintenance season heats up in other parts. No matter how much work you have on the books for the remainder of the season, you’re probably looking at the deals original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are rolling out to finish 2018 and help […]

Here are some tips to ensure employee confidence in leadership’s commitment to fairness in the workplace.

Predictive maintenance can reduce equipment downtime and repair costs, improve operator safety and increase resale value of equipment. Here’s how OEMs are taking advantage of what predictive maintenance has to offer.

Maxam’s patented ConVector™ liquid asphalt heater/agitator takes advantage of the physical properties of an eductor to both improve heating efficiency and create non mechanical agitation of liquid asphalt in storage tanks. Here’s how it works.

How to use asphalt plant control add-ons to make operation easier while reducing downtime

Quality starts way back at the quarry and refinery. It continues at the asphalt mix plant. For this edition focused on quality control and best lab practices, it only makes sense that we present some of the latest and greatest offerings for the production of a mix that’s on spec. Asphalt Drum Mixers Inc. Asphalt […]

OAPA has been led by Executive Director Larry Patrick for the past six years. AsphaltPro spent some time getting to know Patrick and learning about how OAPA is working to promote the asphalt industry in the state of Oklahoma.

RS Asphalt invests in a SealMaster 575-gallon tanker trailer to expand its offerings to include water-based sealing.

The National Asphalt Pavement Association has conducted the survey of the U.S. asphalt pavement mix production industry for each construction season since 2009. Here are the 2017 results.

Asphalt Contractors Association of Florida (ACAF) announced the 2018 winners of its annual Excellence in Pavement Awards in Florida, at the annual awards banquet June 16. Here they are.

A well designed and implemented process control program should improve quality, prevent failures, reduce cost, and add value to HMA plant customers.

There are three specific areas where projects could be deficient in testing and summarizing data. Here are three steps to improve your quality control (QC).

The Myers Mobile Training Center is a fundamental tool to train Allan Myers’ 2,000 employees at its 20 locations in the mid-Atlantic.

Anywhere you observe visible dust clouds at your facility, set up a way to monitor the actual exposure level at that location. Check out this and more tips to solve dust at the plant.

Rieth-Riley Construction Co. Inc. uses iCone’s real-time message board on its a 73-mile-long reconstruction project on the Indiana Toll Road.

The California Supreme Court’s ruling in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles alters the way California businesses must classify independent contractors. Here’s what you need to know.

Starting a business in any field can be an involved and complicated process, but the construction industry can be even more arduous. Here are four tips to starting a paving company.

OEMs have begun to offer parts online that are shipped directly to the customer. This can reduce lead times, increase price transparency and offer customers a wider array of parts.

Vögele’s Passive Remixing Insert with an Active Remixing Module can help avoid segregation of your asphalt mix. Here’s how it works.

If you want to reduce the variability of your gyratory specimen test results, you must improve the uniformity of the asphalt specimens you produce. Here are a few basic tips for compacting better asphalt specimens.

The Estonian Road Administration (ERA) carried out a pilot project in 2017 to measure the retroreflectivity of road markings on all main state roads, altogether 3721.6 kilometres, in Estonia.

Water use restrictions and permitting challenges continue to increase, making it harder for operations to find ways to stay profitable while using fewer resources. As a result, aggregates and mining operations are moving toward new technology to conserve natural resources while increasing long-term savings and return on investment. Here’s how. Reduce Water Use One way […]

Deloitte Global identified 10 key trends facing the industry in its recent Tracking the Trends report.

In April 2017, construction of a new taxiway was completed at a 400-acre, three-runway air field on the crystal coast in Beaufort, North Carolina. Originally named the Beaufort-Morehead City Airport, the facility was renamed Michael J. Smith Field to honor one of the Space Shuttle Challenger pilots who was born and raised in Beaufort. We […]

International asphalt news in August 2018

AsphaltPro spent some time getting to know Michael W. Johnson and learning more about NSSGA and the benefits it provides to its members in the aggregate industry.

Florida has tackled occasional premature failures of high friction surface treatments (HFSTs) with a new specification and guidebook for use in the Sunshine State.

Have you heard the old fable about boiling a frog? It goes something like this: if you drop a frog into boiling water, it will immediately jump out. But, if you place it in tepid water and slowly bring it to a boil, the frog will not perceive the rising temperature. However morbid the metaphor […]

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including Cat and Volvo, are making the opportunity to remotely control and monitor equipment a reality.

Oklahoma-based contractor Sherwood Construction takes asphalt matters into its own hands on turnpike project

Grooving roads or airport taxiways requires precision work; the team at Diamond Products Ltd. built the PC1504 pavement grinder & groover to take care of that.

Taking the bumps out of roads takes precise work; the team at Diamond Road, located in American Fork, Utah, built the Diamond Road Smoother to perform that precision grinding. Here’s how it works.

Adequate space and ease of accessibility are essential in every aggregate storage building, but neither makes a difference if water damage occurs. Tension fabric structures are one way to keep materials dry.

This month’s product gallery headline felt a little odd as I typed it because the product gallery typically focuses on robust pieces of iron. I noticed, though, the news releases I’ve received this spring and early summer have been for the “accessories” to paving. You know what I mean: putty knives and temperature guns. Of […]

Midwestern County Improves Its Patching and Coating Processes with Electric Heat

The concept of pavement preservation—in which the right treatment to the right pavement at the right time forestalls or eliminates future high costs of reconstruction—is hitting its stride, and the nation’s road agencies are benefiting from it.

The latest in pavement preservation news.

Beckage Sealcoating has grown into an 18-person operation with four crews servicing central New Jersey. Investing in top-quality equipment is key to the company’s continued growth.

Intermountain Slurry Seal uses special provision spec on Utah Department of Transportation’s SR 36 in the City of Tooele.

How Yeager Asphalt grew from a teenager with a truck and a barrel of sealer to starting its own asphalt plant under the name of U.S. Paving and Stone.

In the first installment of this three-part series, we get to know heavy civil highway contracting company Texas Cordia. Over the next few months, we’ll follow them as they establish their first asphalt plant, get it set up, and start selling hot mix asphalt.

Discussing the asphalt plant and aggregate operations this month includes a look at trucking. MyLogic Inc., headquartered in Pennsylvania, has released a free app called Dump Truck Math, which is available on iOS and Android devices, to help estimators, foremen, and truck drivers streamline simple hauling calculations. The app started as an Excel spreadsheet MyLogic […]

The team at PSS has developed the RoadQuake® RAPTOR™ Rumble Strip Handling Machine that fits on the front of a work truck to transport, deploy, realign and retrieve RoadQuake 2F Temporary Portable Rumble Strips (TPRS). Here’s how it works.

Asphalt industry events around the world

A new protocol has been put in place regarding asphalt storage tank inspections. Does your AC tank inspection program pass the test?

Over more than two decades in business, Southeast Asphalt and Maintenance LLC has expanded its reach nationally.

Here are five key tech trends that will change manufacturing for good. Some of these trends are already affecting how business is done, while others are expected to become more prominent in the years ahead.

The National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) and Jiangsu Sinyue Asphalt Co. of China have established a 10-year research and development agreement focused on advancing cost-effective and sustainable asphalt pavement practices in China and throughout the world.

If you need to take liquid asphalt cement (AC) samples from your 4-inch or 6-inch line that feeds liquid AC to your mixer, the engineers at Maxam Equipment, Kansas City, Mo., have developed a sampling device to assist you. This in-line capture features an enclosed sampling system to dispense the asphalt into quart or gallon […]

The latest new and innovative products for asphalt paving contractors

What’s happening in the world of asphalt in June of 2018

Rubber modified asphalts (RMA) have been around for decades to offer excellent performance with environmental and cost benefits. Despite real-world experience, RMA still constitutes less than 20 percent of modified asphalts. We see two primary drivers for this: limited application field and processability. Here, Tom Rosenmayer shares his vision of the future of rubber modified asphalts.

Pace Construction, St. Louis, Missouri, applies innovative practices through the value engineering process for a 55,000-ton mill-and-fill project spanning a stretch of 22 miles of Highway 63 just south of Rolla for MoDOT.

In the wake of the June 2016 completion of the Panama Canal expansion, Gulf Coast–an Oldcastle Materials Company–constructed an overpass for a Houston ship channel project. 

AsphaltPro spent some time getting to know more about Asphalt Pavement Association of New Mexico and its executive director, Brian Jones, and what they’re doing to promote asphalt in New Mexico.

Sometimes samples are sent to an outside lab to perform a test you cannot perform in-house. Sometimes you’ll have a contract dispute that requires testing performed by a third party. In either case, following a few best practices will save a lot of headaches and ensure the sample you sent represents the material produced. Here are four keys for the best lab tests.

Rebounderz CEO outlines what it takes to turn another party’s infringement on your intellectual property into an ancillary income stream for you

NCAT offers pressure aging vessel tips and tricks for your new lab tech to age the binder properly for testing.

The two mounds known as the Pirmin Hills situated in the Ortenau district in the heart of the town of Sasbach, Switzerland, needed to be levelled to create space for a new supermarket. Four multi-family dwellings and an underground garage will be constructed in parallel in the direct vicinity of the supermarket. All in all, […]

Roadtec’s CB-100 Conveyor Broom is designed to clean the surface behind the milling machine, as well as capture fines for use back at the asphalt plant. Here’s how it works.

Carolina Sunrock LLC paved an award-winning project on Sandy Forks Road in North Raleigh, winning a Quality in Construction Award from the National Asphalt Pavement Association, but was also recognized as the first project in the state to receive a silver certification from Greenroads Foundation.

Kraemer North America and Martin Marietta bring innovation and cost savings to an award-winning 8-mile job on E-470 in Colorado.

The Daniel K. Inouye Highway (DKI), also known as Saddle Road, spans nearly the entire width of Hawaii Island, from Hilo on the east coast to Route 190 south of Waimea. Recent improvements to the road have made it safer and more well-traveled.

CJ Miller received four awards for paving quality at the Maryland Asphalt Association’s 56th annual paving conference in March. The awards come just one year shy of the company’s 60th year in business, demonstrating just how accurate a motto can be.

Washington Asphalt Pavement Association was formed in 1954, and its regular (HMA producing) members represent 98 percent of HMA/WMA production capacity in the state. AsphaltPro spent some time getting to know Executive Director Dave Gent, WAPA and what they’re doing to promote asphalt in Washington.

This month’s product gallery focuses on equipment and services that are designed to help the bottom line of the asphalt and aggregate producer.

Asphalt industry news and events in May 2018

Precise specimen preparation is a key step in performing reliable performance testing, regardless of the material tested or the sophistication of your testing systems. Let’s explore some basic steps for achieving the appropriate range of specimen preparation.

Among Midwest Construction Workers, Jill Manzo shines a light on a broad-ranging public health crisis that killed nearly 1,000 Midwest construction workers at a cost of more than $5 billion in 2015.

Blythe Construction uses GSB-88® asphalt emulsion as the base material to produce its 2017 fog seal projects.

At the AGG1/World of Asphalt 2018 show in Houston, Terex EvoQuip displayed the Cobra 230 impact crusher with output potential up to 275 tons per hour.

With the increase in polymer-modified asphalts (PMAs) in our industry comes the need to blend polymers into product efficiently. The team at Heatec, an Astec Industries company, Chattanooga, Tennessee, has built the Polymer-blending skid to facilitate the process and offer return for additional blending. Here’s how it works. While the process is “quick” enough that […]

Imagine this. Your road crew is doing a single-lane shutdown at night. Someone drives past your jobsite, pulls over and walks back to the flagger, asking to speak to the site manager. What do you think he might say? “He told the site manager that he could see the entire crew due to their Halo […]

When Chuck Calvert started Hot Mix Materials, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, in 2007, he had already been operating a successful asphalt laydown business. As he continued to need more and more asphalt for his jobs, he began to run into issues getting everything he needed from existing asphalt plants in the Kansas City metro area. […]

Researchers in Canada give new hope to the use of recycled glass in asphalt pavements with the work of a large partnership. During a Dec. 1, 2015, press conference, Robert Poëti, Quebec’s Minister of Transport, lauded the integration of glass as a component of road manufacturing in the industry’s overall efforts to limit green house […]

If you see an attenuator driving through a Florida road construction zone with no one in the cab sometime soon, don’t worry. You just might be seeing the first autonomous TMA, or truck mounted attenuator, at work. Royal Truck & Equipment Inc. of Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, is currently at work to deploy the first driverless TMA […]

What does “clean” smell like? “If you ask your Grandma, she’d probably say bleach. Mom would say Pine Sol, but we usually think of citrus—lemon or orange,” Andy Shafer said. He’s the executive vice president of sales and market development at Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc., Woodbridge, Illinois. Citrus ingredients are commonly used in cleaning products […]