Asphalt paving contractor and consultant shares tips and techniques to set up each pull successfully

Do you ever get frustrated after setting up the paver and pulling off a start joint only to realize you are too low or too high after just the first 13 to 16 feet (4 to 5 meters) or so? We all take pride in delivering the best outcomes we can and need to do so repeatedly for our good reputation and good pay. Let me share a few “go to” tips for achieving consistently great results that avoid re-work, stopping the paver, or having to fix low spots because the screed took a dive immediately after coming off the starting reference.

Quick Primer on the Starter Plate and Fluff

Low or high spots created by an improper takeoff cause handwork that affects the quality of your lift. Typically, it takes the crew at least 10 to 15 minutes to correct a poor start-off defect. And no matter how good your guys are (and I’m blessed to have several incredibly talented team members who possess excellent handwork skills), handwork always shows up as a different mat texture. It usually doesn’t look as nice or as “ironed” as a well compacted, homogenous lift placed by a paver that’s been set up properly and operated correctly.

Let’s talk about how to start off correctly.

Typically, it takes the crew at least 10 to 15 minutes to correct a poor start-off defect. And no matter how good your guys are, handwork always shows up as a different mat texture.

Irregular areas must be filled by hand prior to paving. You want to pre-compact these areas with a plate compactor or tamper, so you get the entire patch compacted. If you attempt to roll these areas with a steel drum roller, you may bridge the internal area and fail to achieve proper compaction.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

First, I would like to reference some excellent steps from Caterpillar with their “Paving by the Numbers” step-by-step process. This is an effective and good method to follow. Most paver manufacturers such as Blaw-Knox, Bomag, Vogele and Roadtec/Astec have their own similar but unique guidelines that are well worth carefully studying and adopting.

In addition, John Ball of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire, has excellent best practices and on-site training. I have attended many of his classes at industry events and can recommend them.

Complex Warehouse Lot Provides Training Opportunity for Commercial Paving Crews

Just so you know, even after 39 years in the asphalt industry, I still attend at least three refresher or new education sessions at events like World of Asphalt (WOA) and CONEXPO-CON/AGG and attend Todd Mansell and Caterpillar’s excellent courses annually. It’s important to stay sharp, up to date and on point with new industry lessons, new techniques and new material types. Plus, one can never have enough good old-fashioned refresher courses. Let’s face it, we don’t always remember every single thing, especially if you don’t do much of a particular technique.

High areas that won’t allow proper depth of paving need to be leveled with the mill. You might think it’s acceptable to leave these “high” areas alone and let the screed scrape across the top of them, saving yourself the cost of material, but these will be areas of low quality in the mat where the compaction train will encounter problems.

Mandatory Start-Up Steps

We want to apply the new practices to our quality paving while remembering the important basics to start off every job right. My go-to start-up steps that I use every single time, no matter what type of job I’m doing, include those discussed here.

I would rather take an extra five to seven minutes at the set-up stage of each pass to be sure these small but critical details are right, than cutting corners and getting caught with a bad start.

Mark low spots, outlining the area with a color that indicates the repair to be made. On large enough projects, you may wish to write out the tonnage required for repairs.

1. Check the screed and paver.

Ensure the screed plates are not warped or out of shape from being overheated or being hung up coming off a lowboy that didn’t have long enough ramps for a paver. This is surprisingly common.

You cannot expect to deliver quality outcomes with a damaged screed or paver that isn’t within tolerance. A screed is a precision tool that must be treated as such. It needs to be operated professionally by competent people and maintained and repaired as required.

Think of it this way: a professional musician wouldn’t mistreat or neglect their prized guitar or piano, nor would a sportsperson wreck or damage their tennis racket or golf clubs. I’ve never seen a first-class fitter turner or skilled tradesman treat their lathe or other essential tools of trade in a bad manner. We are professional craftsmen; a screed needs to be treated the same way. Respect it and operate it like a pro.

Get a Straight Line of Pull

Get underneath it every morning and have a look at it. Don’t just assume it’s okay; verify it! Don’t allow it to be slammed into obstructions trying to avoid the tiniest bit of handwork. Professionals don’t do that.

* Remember: safety first. Be sure to engage the screed locks, apply the parking brake, chock the wheels/tracks etc. before inspecting the equipment.

If you put down a starting tarp, you can avoid having excess material to clean off the existing surface, and you can provide a clean, well-defined starting transverse joint. This allows the breakdown roller to get onto the mat quickly and efficiently. Place your take-off boards (which need to be about 40 inches long) in the correct position on top of the tarp. One of the single most important determiners of nailing a professional take-off joint is sizing the thickness of the take-off boards correctly.

2. Inspect the screed more closely.

Assuming your screed and paver are in acceptable condition to place a great mat, if it’s the first time you’re using this machine (maybe it came from another crew), you need to physically check the screed for the following:

• Check for correct flatness front and rear of the main and extender plates. Use either an aluminum straightedge or a stringline and 3 X equal size nuts to verify the leading edge and trailing edge are essentially flat transversely and if required, a slight positive lead crown. (Check with manufacturers recommendations regarding lead crown; don’t automatically assume it is required.)
• Examine the strike-off plate condition. These often get bent or damaged on ironwork on mill-and-fill jobs, or caught on a lowboy when loading/unloading.
• Check the strike-off plate vertical height. You’ll refer to your screed manufacturer’s recommendations; often it’s ½- to 1-inch (12.5- to 25-mm) above the bottom of the screed plate, but this depends on your material thickness, nominal maximum aggregate size (NMAS) and viscosity of the binder, etc., as these all affect the screed’s ability to float on the mat and one size doesn’t fit all. You have to experiment on different jobs to find the sweet spot for that screed, on that material and thickness that allows the screed to float properly at the right angle of attack.
• Check the extender slope stops are correct, and the scales or gauges for crown, slope and match height are calibrated correctly. Most manufacturers have a step-by-step screed adjustment and set-up process that guides you through these critical checks. You wouldn’t believe the number of times I’ve come across pavers and screeds with bent or missing delta plates, warped or bent screed plates, and screed frames in a poor state of repair.

You cannot achieve precision asphalt paving with a screed that isn’t fit for purpose or in a proper condition for the intended use. Get these basics right first, before even thinking about placing a mat. It’s best to perform this screed check the day before in a workshop with a clean, flat concrete floor and with the assistance of a competent mechanic or fitter. Follow the OEM steps methodically.

Here’s a quick tip! Be sure you lay the tarp down neat, square and straight just back from the edge of the take-off joint, leaving the joint exposed ¾ to 1 inch (19 to 25 mm). This is to allow just enough overlap of material onto the existing grade to form a proper, tight and dense transverse joint, but not so much you then have to go back and start bumping the joint or tempting well-meaning laborers to try to push the edge back. We need to avoid that.

3. Assess the grade.

After you have ensured the tractor and screed are both calibrated and in proper, serviceable condition, you may think you’re ready to go lay some mix. But wait! Have you checked the grade?

A number one mistake we often fall victim to is assuming that the surface we are going to place mix on is flat, smooth and free from high areas and low spots. That’s the exception in my experience; it’s hardly ever within spec. If it’s a commercial car park with grader placed or skid steer placed granular base like stone or base coarse, invariably that will require careful inspection. You may have to check with a straightedge and correct by hand to fill low areas.

Remember: asphalt generally compacts approximately 22 to 25% after the full compaction process. Therefore, if you are placing a 2-inch (50-mm) compacted mat, this means you need to pave it about 2.5 inches (62 mm) loose from the paver to allow enough compaction. When you find those random low spots that are about 1/2- to 1-inch (12.5- to 25-mm) or more, which I guarantee most jobs have, mark them out with spray paint, fill them by hand and compact them before you even think about using the paver.

Prepare Tomorrow’s Transverse Joint for a Fast Start in the Morning

As an example, on a recent FAA resurfacing project my team and I were on, the pre-leveling generally took between 20 and 60 minutes to complete before paving began. This was on an area of around 3,109 square yards (2,600 square meters) per day. We had to comply with less than a 1/4-inch (6.4-mm) finished level tolerance, and as we were only placing a single layer of asphalt, it was essential to ensure the grade we placed it on was level.

You want to plan for a similar 20- to 60-minutes depending on the extent of the areas to be filled. High areas need to be cut off with a milling machine on milled surfaces and cut down by the motor grader on granular base and reprepared and recompacted.

This should be evaluated and identified by the paving supervisor or other competent individual well prior to the crew, paver and gear arriving on site. Inspect each site one to two days prior and preferably rectify these problems before you turn up to pave it.

Get the client to attend the site walkover or pre-handover visit with you so there is no doubting what the situation on the ground is. Preferably get a surveyor to take levels to validate the low areas. Then ensure the client or client’s representative agrees with you on the additional make-up material and time and labor for the fix. You need to get this in writing, or it’s going to be on you after you have paved the project to try and recover the extra costs later. This is such a fundamentally important step in the process for a quality outcome and a happy client.

Avoid having to touch the start joint by hand by using a length of truck tarpaulin—or similar tarp material—at the start-off point. You want to place it about 1 inch from the joint and have it extend about 1 to 2 feet wider on each side of the lane.

4. Plan to minimize handwork.

You’ve ensured the paver and screed are in good condition and you’ve ensured the project area is ready for the paving crew to do its best work. Now let’s eliminate handwork at the takeoff joint. Place a tarpaulin at the start point.

It’s all about working smarter, not harder.

A procedure I like to use on any job, whether it be a commercial parking lot, city street or an airport, is to try to avoid having to touch the start joint by hand. I want to avoid having to “fix it up” after the paver’s pulled off the joint. No matter how good your best laborers are, the moment you touch material by hand, some degree of segregation is going to occur, and it will stand out.

Not only that, but handwork also compacts differently than paver placed material due to not having the weight of the screed imparting a degree of pre-compaction on the material. The paver placed mat always has a nice, ironed appearance to it and is always going to be more homogeneous in appearance than handwork if it’s being set up and operated properly and the feed system operating in a consistent, steady manner.

How to Set the Augers

Try to minimize the amount of handwork you need to do, by paying more attention to the set-up steps for the screed, which I’ll share next month.

The tip I’m sharing right now is to use a length of truck tarpaulin—or similar tarp material—at the start-off point. It needs to be at least 1 to 2 feet (305 to 610 mm) wider on each side than the width of the lane. It also should be at least 40 inches (1 m) deep (front to back) to allow enough coverage to avoid material having to be picked up by hand. Just before you are ready to set the paver down to place each pass, lay this tarpaulin down on the grade at the take-off joint.

Place your starting or take-off boards (which need to be about 40 inches or 1 m long) in the correct position on top of the tarpaulin. One of the single most important determiners of nailing a professional take-off joint is sizing the thickness of the take-off boards correctly. If the milling crew didn’t cut that transverse take-off joint quite deep enough, you need to reduce the thickness of your starting reference accordingly. Otherwise, you’re going to be too high and losing time rushing back to fix it by hand.

I would rather take an extra five to seven minutes at the set-up stage of each pass to be sure these small but critical details are right, than cutting corners and getting caught with a bad start. The bad start could take 10 to 15 minutes to sort out and will never look as nice as a joint that was completely placed by the paver.

With these basic start-off tips in mind, you’re set for a successful beginning to each pull. What’s next? See you next month for the sequel to “Start Paving Off Right.”

Benjamin Everett is the owner of About Asphalt Ltd., and has worked in the asphalt industry for nearly four decades. For more information, contact him at bjeverett@aboutasphalt.co.

The asphalt professionals at Road Builders paved approximately 200 tons a day on a Waikiki mill-n-fill project amid heavy tourist traffic

Performing a pavement maintenance project in paradise may sound like a dream job, but it takes the same dedication from the crew and commitment to best practices that paving anywhere else in the world requires. In fact, the rehabilitation of Kalakaua Avenue on Waikiki also required strategic work zone setup and safety vigilance to keep foot-traffic off the fresh mat—a mat that met specs for the City & County of Honolulu Department of Design and Construction (DDC). Let’s take a look at how an experienced team from Road Builders Corporation, Honolulu, handled it all.

Project Manager Jennifer Gallego-Nakamoto shared the team worked together to ensure the project could “flow as we go,” with communication between crew members, foremen, engineer, superintendent, project manager, city inspector, safety officer, traffic control technicians and special duty officers. Operational Manager Mike Park said the company hired six Hawaii Police Department officers to assist in traffic control and used common courtesy as part of standard operating procedures. “You have to be humble,” Park said. “You can’t have arrogant people coming in. We have to be gentlemen,” he said of the way everyone carefully directed tourists around the site. “They did a great job out there.”

Hawaiian Project Specs

For the 2024 Rehabilitation of Streets, Unit 76A Kalakaua Avenue project, Road Builders milling and paving crews began in May, milling at a depth of 4 inches. The width, varying from 19 to 24 feet, depended on the lane structure. You see, Kalakaua is a four-lane thoroughfare with bike lanes along its ocean side and multiple four-way intersections with turn lanes. Mike Park, VP of operations, said “every day presented different challenges” even though every day the crew milled and paved back at least two lanes of an 800- to 1,000-foot section between 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

To accomplish all this, they used a Wirtgen W 210 Fi cold planer and Astec’s Roadtec RP-195 10-foot tracked paver. Seven haul trucks delivered a State IV mix from the ADM EX 8844 Series plant located about an hour from the job site. Production averaged 160 to 180 tons per hour at a temperature of 330°F.

Back row, from left: Alani, Larry, Noah, Mana, Lewis, Johnny, Pana, Mike, Derek, Vinny. Front row, from left: Jennifer, Aaron, Jay, Edgar. This is the Road Builders paving crew that achieved paving and safety success along Kalakaua Ave. in the summer of 2024.

“Kawika Ishikawa has been in the asphalt industry for about 19 years and has worked as a plant operator for 16 of those 19 years,” Project Manager Jennifer Gallego-Nakamoto shared. “He currently is the plant manager/operator at Ala Imua LLC, which supplies the hot mix for Road Builders Corporation. We are fortunate to have him on our team. He’s not just the operator, he’s also our troubleshooter and will work tirelessly to find solutions whenever challenges arise. His expertise has been instrumental in continuing to keep our plant in operation.”

Paver Operator Aaron Manuel is a veteran asphalt industry professional as well. Gallego-Nakamoto shared Manuel “has worked in the asphalt industry for 16 years with 8 years as a paver operator with Road Builders.” She remarked that his positive, “do-whatever-I-have-to-do” attitude makes him a valuable part of the team.

As one of seven haul trucks brought State IV hot mix to the Roadtec RP-195 10-foot tracked paver, multiple Road Builders workers handled traffic control on the Kalakaua Ave. rehabilitation project. If you look closely, you can see one worker in PPE near the “top” of this photo drawing attention to a sandwich-board sign. A multitude of safety cones delineated the lengthy work area and yellow caution tape was tied to trees as one more “flag” to pedestrians to pay attention and prevent them walking into danger. Photo courtesy of Project Manager Jennifer Gallego-Nakamoto, who took a number of these photos from the rooftops of Outrigger Hotel and Waikiki Circle Hotel

Behind the paver, the team ran a SW654ND Sakai roller. The 8-ton roller with 58-inch drum achieved 91% compaction and a Sakai 5-ton roller took care of finishing and final compaction of 94%.

Gallego-Nakamoto explained they built transverse joints by trimming the cold joint each day, applying tack coat and paving into the edge of the joint. In fact, she spoke of the crew’s performance on the joints with pride. “Our crew did a good job with the transverse joints. Roller operator John Dorser thoroughly compacted the transverse joint, ensuring a smooth transition. John did a great job achieving his rolling pattern to reach the required compaction.”

The 4.5 lane miles of Kalakaua Ave. to be rehabilitated were between Olohana St. to Monsarrat Ave. and Dillingham Fountain to Poni Moi St. Currently there are four, one-way lanes that reduce to three lanes toward the end of the roadway. The avenue is the main thoroughfare to Waikiki connecting tourists to shops, restaurants, entertainment venues and, of course, the beach. “Originally it was called Waikiki Road, and later changed to Kalakaua Ave., which was named after King Kalakaua, the last male monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1905,” Gallego-Nakamoto explained.

This EX 8844 Series plant by Asphalt Drum Mixers (ADM) features three 150-ton silos. It’s owned and operated by Ala Imua LLC, which is part of the Road Builders Corporation family and supplies three Road Builders’ paving crews. In this image, you can see the spray platform where drivers can stop to spray release agent in the beds prior to loadout. Photo courtesy of John Ball, Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire

Managing Foot Traffic

Getting a smooth transition despite all the stops is something to take note of. Both Park and Gallego-Nakamoto spoke of the challenges the general public posed on this job.

As stated above, milling started in May and paving ended early July, according to Gallego-Nakamoto, with a total of about 6,300 tons of asphalt placed in two 2-inch lifts while the team kept tourists, surfers and shoppers from walking between machines. The scope of work included new concrete curbs and gutters; adjustment of utility manholes; and restoration of pavement striping, marking and markers, which were subcontracted.

The daily closure for milling and paving was two lanes, but when the crew cut from the gutter side to the center of the road, the last pass of the milling impacted the third lane, which was the live lane. They took extra precautions to safeguard workers and the traveling public.

Due to heavy traffic along the work area, the city denied Road Builders’ request to close three lanes and only allowed the closure of two lanes at a time, leaving vehicular and foot traffic moving around their work zone in what could have been a safety nightmare if not for careful planning and diligent execution. Gallego-Nakamoto explained the traffic control plan (TCP) in detail, saying it was a challenge to get it approved prior to the start of the project due to the limitations of lane closures:

“Because it’s a busy road, we could only close two lanes at a time. However, three-lane closure would be ideal, that way we could work on two lanes each day and have one lane as a buffer of safety precautions for both public and crew members. As a result, we made adjustments to work safely for both public and crew members. Our daily closure for cold planing and paving was two lanes; and when we cut from the gutter side to the center of the road, the last pass of the cold planing always impacted the third lane, which was the live lane. As a result, we made our last pass 3 to 5 feet so we had less impact on traffic. Time was sensitive to the project, we had 270 calendar days to complete the project. With the delays we had from getting traffic control plan approved and rainout days, we were able to get a time extension.” An additional 204 calendar days were added to the contract, with a total of 474 calendar days to complete the work.

The rolling train included an 8-ton SW654ND Sakai roller in the breakdown position.

Gallego-Nakamoto gave credit to Derek Samson, the foreman, for clever planning. “He played an important role because he mapped it all out for us.”

The general public doesn’t necessarily understand the dangers an active work zone presents or the importance of staying off an uncompacted mat. To that end, the team had to communicate with shops and hotels along the route and stay one step ahead of the work zone closure as the crews progressed. Just because the paver had passed an area didn’t mean pedestrians could safely walk past an orange cone or drivers could pull a vehicle out of a hotel’s driveway. They still had to wait for the roller operator to compact the fresh mat and meet compaction requirements. Signage and communication were key, and crew members had to keep their heads on a swivel.

The blending control screen shows the operator his five cold feed bin and two RAP bin levels with a popup screen in the corner showing production targets. Key elements are shown as illustrations with PG grade, capacities, temperatures and other metrics specified on one screen. The corresponding bins outside are prepped for production, complete with berms to prevent aggregate sizes from bleeding into the wrong bin. Both photos courtesy of Ball

The blending control screen shows the operator his five cold feed bin and two RAP bin levels with a popup screen in the corner showing production targets. Key elements are shown as illustrations with PG grade, capacities, temperatures and other metrics specified on one screen. The corresponding bins outside are prepped for production, complete with berms to prevent aggregate sizes from bleeding into the wrong bin. Both photos courtesy of Ball

Jade Richardson, the president of Road Builders, spoke of the safety team’s efforts on site. “This project was challenging due to its high visibility and popularity as a tourist destination. When I say all eyes were on us, I mean literally. Our safety manager, Lewis Boucher, sometimes doubled as traffic control to keep the pedestrians from crossing through our cut and in between the equipment just to avoid walking around the project.”

As Park stated, a typical paving job requires everyone to be vigilant, but this project required everyone’s senses to be on high alert. “While you’re working, you’re also watching everything around you,” he said, estimating thousands of tourists walked past their work zone. “Jennifer was in constant communication with all the vendors and businesses in Waikiki. She knows the tonnage and how far it’s going to pave. All our engineers do a great job, but she was on top of it.”

The paving train included the Roadtec RP-195, now from Astec Industries. This tracked, 10-foot paver was equipped with an extendible screed to accommodate the changing widths the crew handled from day to day, extending up to 21 feet wide.

As the paving crews moved down the avenue, the work zone delineation moved as well. Gallego-Nakamoto explained: “We placed precaution tape along our work areas every day. Our safety officer, special duty officers and traffic control technicians played an important role in keeping the work area safe. We tried our best to keep pedestrians crossing the road away from the work area.

“Coordination with hotel personnel was also a challenge. We needed to stay ahead of the paving work to ensure hotels were informed when we would close their driveways.”

Keeping the bike lane “safe” was another piece of the puzzle. “The bike lanes were also a challenge,” Gallego-Nakamoto said. “We needed to pave bottom and top lifts each day when paving the bike lanes to avoid any tripping hazard when opening the work area.”

Note in this image the material charging the hopper was sliding as a homogeneous mass, leaving a clean truck bed behind.

Smooth Crew Makes A Smoother Finish

Along with the personnel mentioned above, Gallego-Nakamoto pointed to the importance of Pana Widemann’s contributions to a successful project. Widemann has been in the paving industry for 15 years. She listed Widemann as an asset to the project, saying, “He was always working with the pedestrians, hotels and businesses ensuring projects would flow. He works well with the public and ensures the safety of everyone is met. He works with the foreman and project manager as far as daily production schedule.”

Richardson spoke of the effort her team put into making the project run smoothly. “Jennifer is an outstanding project manager,” Richardson said. “She wants to avoid attracting attention to herself, although I can say that this project went well because she was at the helm. Tiny but mighty, her attention to detail and her ability to communicate effectively with the crew and the city inspector are contributing factors to the success of this project. She earned and was given the respect of others who towered over her 4-foot, 11-inch frame.”

The quality control team took readings with a nuclear density gauge, showing an average 91% compaction behind the breakdown roller, and achieved a gorgeous mat over the project.

Gallego-Nakamoto has been in the industry 20 years, the past three have been with Road Builders. For this specific project, she was in charge of running the project, ensuring the scope of work was met, and working directly with subcontractors and the city agency. As Park noted above, she was on top of the details, keeping meticulous paperwork. She explained part of her responsibilities were “making sure specs were met and proper submittals were submitted before, during and after project. Communicating with Waikiki personnel was important so that businesses were aware of our closure each day.” She sent the weekly schedule to notify all businesses and worked with the foreman and engineer to ensure the project was flowing.

The collaborative atmosphere shone through the discussions with the Road Builders team. From communication to best practices, the crew kept everyone’s safety top of mind for a lengthy and high-profile mission.

The quality control team took readings with a nuclear density gauge, showing an average 91% compaction behind the breakdown roller, and achieved a gorgeous mat over the project.

“I am equally proud of this crew and their exceptional ability to work as a team,” Richardson said. “With Derek as their foreman and Pana as their QC/project engineer, they effectively communicated the daily production rates; everyone knew their task and performed it well. It was beautiful.”

Carbon capture seals demo project for National Grid

This case study of National Grid’s use of Modern Hydrogen’s carbon-sequestered asphalt in New York offers a look at sustainability in the pavement maintenance sphere. In a live demonstration at National Grid’s facility in Long Island on Sept. 30, 2024, Modern Hydrogen showcased its carbon-sequestering asphalt, Modern Asphalt, for the first time in the Northeast.

The technology integrates captured carbon into the asphalt mix and replaces a portion of the bitumen, offering a sustainable solution for decarbonizing road construction. Policymakers, labor unions, asphalt contractors and others came out to view the demonstration and ask questions, as this demonstration aimed to highlight a scalable approach that could be used by Department of Public Works (DPW) and Department of Transportation (DOT) teams in the region.

Meet a Woman of Asphalt: Modern Hydrogen’s Emily Houston

Decarbonize Asphalt Production

In New York, over 18.5 million tons of asphalt are produced annually and the traditional asphalt binders used in that production are derived from crude oil. Reducing the carbon footprint of road construction requires innovative approaches like the one demonstrated by Modern Hydrogen. This event marks a milestone, as it is the first demonstration of carbon-sequestering asphalt in the Northeast.

At the event, which brought together regional DPW and DOT officials, engineers, and asphalt producers, the team from Modern Hydrogen introduced its carbon-sequestration technology. This process captures carbon from natural gas and renewable natural gas (RNG) and integrates it into the asphalt binder. By replacing a portion of the bitumen in asphalt, Modern Asphalt locks carbon away from the atmosphere, aligning with New York State’s ambitious climate goals.

With the successful demonstration of Modern Carbon, Tony Tata stated, “Municipalities and asphalt producers now have a scalable solution to reduce emissions during production while using lower-carbon input materials.”

Demonstrate Innovation

The demo showcased the practical application of Modern Asphalt by paving a 4×4-foot patch with hot-mix asphalt (HMA) containing 10 pounds of carbon derived from RNG. Key stakeholders and officials, including representatives from National Grid, Rason Materials, Nassau County DPW, Suffolk County DPW, highway engineers, and union leaders, witnessed firsthand how Modern Carbon was seamlessly incorporated into the asphalt mix.

Rason Materials and New York Paving handled the project’s execution. Michael Baba, senior product development manager for Modern Hydrogen, explained, “Rason Materials produced the asphalt. It was delivered in a truck as virgin material, with the final step of blending in Modern Carbon done on-site.”

To prepare the existing patch of damaged asphalt, Baba explained the contractor sawcut the 4-foot by 4-foot area and cleaned the edges. Next, the subgrade was leveled and compacted.

The crew elected not to use tack as it was deemed unnecessary. Baba explained: “No tack was required to be put down. Rason’s virgin HMA blended with Modern Carbon does not need it.”

The Future is Now: Examining Construction’s Power Alternatives

Once the HMA with Modern Asphalt was blended and placed in the patch area, “it was smoothed and graded with rakes,” Baba said. “Final compaction was done with a vibratory roll compactor.”

Baba shared the ambient temperature on the day of the demonstration was around 70F and the mix performed as expected. “Workability was as expected for a standard HMA.”

The event sparked excitement about the potential of the technology, with Matthew Aracich, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, commenting, “the sky is the limit for hydrogen applications and technology.”

The Road Ahead: A Scalable Solution

Modern Hydrogen’s demonstration showed the technical feasibility of carbon-sequestering asphalt. For every ton of Modern Carbon integrated into asphalt, approximately 3.66 tons of CO2 emissions are prevented from entering the atmosphere. Read more about that in the white paper titled “Modern Carbon Slashes HMA Emissions and Costs” at TheAsphaltPro.com.

“Modern Carbon Slashes HMA Emissions and Costs” White Paper

Tony Tata, senior advisor for Infrastructure and Energy Security at Modern Hydrogen and former secretary of transportation of North Carolina, remarked, “Today’s demonstration represents a major milestone for the industry. Municipalities and asphalt producers now have a scalable solution to reduce emissions during production while using lower-carbon input materials.” The event underscored the importance of innovation in achieving global and regional climate goals.

With the success of the demo in Long Island, Modern Hydrogen plans to expand the application of its technology across the Northeast and beyond. The company is already looking ahead to scaling the technology for broader implementation.

“As the demand for low-CO2 paving materials continues to grow, municipalities and asphalt producers have two key levers to reduce emissions: first, by targeting the emissions generated during asphalt production, and second, by using input materials that inherently have a lower carbon footprint,” said Tata.

Technical Insights for Asphalt Producers

Throughout the Long Island demonstration, technical questions from asphalt professionals provided valuable insights into the performance and feasibility of Modern Asphalt. Several key areas were addressed:

• Recyclability of Carbon-Modified Asphalt: Modern Asphalt retains the recyclability of standard HMA blends, as the carbon does not chemically modify the binder. This means that the carbon-sequestering asphalt can be recycled similarly to traditional asphalt.
• Impact on Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP): Modern Hydrogen has successfully tested asphalt mixes that include 40% RAP without any negative impact. Following balanced mix design (BMD) principles ensures high performance, even with the addition of carbon.
• Compaction and Flowability: Testing conducted by the University of Wisconsin’s Modified Asphalt Research Center showed carbon-modified asphalt maintains similar compaction and flow characteristics as standard asphalt mixes. The compaction curve remained consistent, even at varying temperatures.
• Health and Environmental Considerations: Another concern raised was whether the inclusion of carbon in the asphalt would create environmental or health risks during recycling or use. Modern Hydrogen’s team assured attendees that once integrated into the asphalt, the carbon is permanently sequestered.

Serial entrepreneur Rebecca Neidich, co-founder of Pothole Heroes, is a WIC to follow

Rebecca Neidich, co-founder of Pothole Heroes is the heart and soul of the company. She brings a background in human resources, construction, marketing and entrepreneurship to her eco-friendly asphalt maintenance company, which has rapidly expanded to serve the Southeast United States and the Ohio tri-state area since its founding in 2021. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Neidich was the human resources & recruiting manager at a major nationwide furniture chain’s corporate office. This background in organizational development and employee relations would serve her well as she went on the road to entrepreneurship.

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Neidich knew that practicing preventive maintenance throughout the lifespan of an asphalt surface can extend its usable life and dramatically reduce long-term costs.

Neidich’s first foray as a business owner was in 2003, as the co-founder of walk-in tub manufacturer, Safety Tubs, LLC, with her husband, Andre Neidich. After Safety Tubs and its patents were acquired, she took some time off to be a stay-at-home mom and ponder her next opportunity. When she and her husband realized that asphalt maintenance was an underserved area, it led to the establishment of the company, Pothole Heroes, which was named by her nine-year-old daughter.

As the co-founder and owner of Pothole Heroes, Rebecca Neidich encourages more women to join the growing asphalt industry. She’s a member of several industry groups, including the Women of Asphalt. “There is much room for growth for women in the industry…It is good, steady work that pays well and there are always roads, highways, paths and parking lots that need maintenance.”

Pothole Heroes started in Orlando in 2021 and was an immediate success. Neidich hasn’t looked back. Over the past three years, Pothole Heroes has grown to serve Tampa, Daytona, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Miami, Naples, Marco Island, Pensacola, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach, Florida, as well as the Cincinnati, Ohio tri-state areas. In the first four months of 2024 alone, Pothole Heroes expanded to two new locations—Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia. Expansion plans include additional locations in the Southeast.

Pothole Heroes is a woman-owned business providing sustainable asphalt maintenance to commercial, multi-family, HOAs and municipalities. One day, Neidich’s team might be repairing the asphalt in the parking lot of Mt. Hermon Lutheran Church in Statesville, North Carolina, or resealing the asphalt at Bunker Hill Condominium Association in Mount Dora, Florida. In addition to pothole repair and pavement patching, her company also specializes in sealcoating and striping, concrete services, utility cut repairs, trip hazard repairs, ADA compliance, and emergency repairs.

Neidich knew that practicing preventive maintenance throughout the lifespan of an asphalt surface can extend its usable life and dramatically reduce long-term costs. And preventive maintenance is one key to Pothole Heroes’ success. Another element that contributes to the company’s high standing in the industry is their sustainability practices.

The Pothole Heroes custom clean-fuel trucks are equipped with solar panels for recharging battery-powered peripheral equipment like saws and blowers.

One of the company initiatives Neidich is most proud of is the focus on environmentally friendly processes. Pothole Heroes uses infrared technology, which helps asphalt repair be more efficient and reduces the carbon footprint. Called “hot in-place,” this type of repair recycles the asphalt that is already in place. This is an environmentally friendly, cost-effective method of rejuvenating asphalt surfaces to good-as-new condition. Like all recycled asphalt treatments, hot in-place has a small carbon footprint and reduced binder consumption, which leads to reduced emissions.

“We are dedicated to reducing the company’s carbon footprint and hot in-place infrared recycling goes a long way to helping our clients achieve that goal,” Neidich explained. “In addition to the dramatic cost-benefit of recycling 100% of existing pavement, hot in-place has the bonus of reducing business disruption and user delays.”

Pothole Heroes’ infrared recycling system combined with their fleet of state-of-the-art eco-friendly trucks gives the company an edge when it comes to reducing the carbon footprint. Pothole Heroes has a goal of achieving 100% sustainability and net zero CO2 emissions within 10 years.

Pothole Heroes crews perform hot in-place infrared patching to reduce the company’s carbon footprint during pavement repairs. Neidich explained, “In addition to the dramatic cost-benefit of recycling 100% of existing pavement, hot in-place has the bonus of reducing business disruption and user delays.”

“We are typically in and out in far less time than conventional repairs,” Neidich explained. “Less time on the job and running back and forth to asphalt plants means less CO2 spewing into the air. In addition, all our Pothole Heroes custom clean-fuel trucks are equipped with solar panels for recharging our battery-powered peripheral equipment like saws and blowers. These measures offer the opportunity to save money, save time, and help us all breathe a little easier.

“Our company mission is to make a difference in the asphalt industry, with a commitment to promoting women in leadership roles, educating outsiders about sustainability and better environmental practices, and creating solid community leaders,” she continued. “Pothole Heroes and the executive team are determined to help make the world a little nicer than we found it.”

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Neidich is a member of several industry groups, including Women of Asphalt, which supports women in all aspects of the asphalt industry through mentoring, education and advocacy, and encourages women to seek careers in the asphalt industry. She’s also in the Society for Human Resource Management, the leading professional human resources
membership association.

“There is much room for growth for women in the asphalt industry,” Neidich said. “I encourage more women to enter this growing field. It is good, steady work that pays well and there are always roads, highways, paths and parking lots that need maintenance.”

For this month’s deep dive into products and services that enhance your paving and pavement maintenance efforts, we start with a look at a partnership revolutionizing pothole repair. EZ STREET®, Miami, joined its partner Superior Paving Corp., in an open house event at Superior’s Bealeton, Virginia, facility April 25, 2024, to unveil robotic technologies for production of Ambient® Asphalt Technology without displacing jobs.

The open house featured the introduction of a state-of-the-art robotic arm that packages 50-pound bags of EZ Street. David Helmick, EVP operations at Superior Paving, emphasized the positive impact of automation. “Our new robotic operation is a pivotal moment for us as we escalate our efforts to combat pavement challenges across the Mid-Atlantic and beyond. This technology allows us to enhance our operations while ensuring job security and efficiency for our employees.”

David White, president at Superior Paving, said, “This is fundamentally about harnessing technology to work alongside our people, enhancing and innovating within the asphalt industry. It’s not just about adopting new tools; it’s about embedding these technologies into our workflows to improve both product and process.”

This robotic solution is part of Superior Paving’s broader strategy to adopt Ambient® Asphalt Technology by EZ Street.

The sentiment was echoed by Dag Seagren, co-founder of EZ Street, who highlighted the human element at the core of technological adoption. “Adopting robots and technology can work in tandem with companies that love people. Automation and robots are not about taking jobs but about enhancing safety and accuracy in repetitive tasks, allowing our staff to focus on more critical aspects of their roles,” Seagren explained.

The event was not only a showcase of technological advancements but also a celebration of the strong community ties and the skilled workforce at Superior Paving. The presence of all employees from The EZ Street Company underscored the company’s ethos of being in the “relationship business,” reinforcing that innovation does not detract from their community focus.

Superior Paving remains at the forefront of the asphalt industry’s shift toward high-tech solutions. This open house marked a significant step in the company’s journey toward redefining industry standards and leading the way in infrastructure improvement.

For more information, visit their website or contact Elyssa Maslach at elyssa@ez.st.

The robotic arm at Superior Paving has a unique name in honor of two members of the Superior family. The story goes, one day, Jim Mitchell (at left) was thinking the robot needed a name. He thought to himself, “What does the robot do? Obviously: It stacks bags.” Someone else who stacked bags was Superior Paving Chairman Frank Surface (middle).

Mitchell thought about Surface, who loves to go visit with the crews. Unlike others who might just greet workers with a simple, “Hey, how’s it going,” Surface is known for challenging them by asking who is the fastest or who can do the most push-ups. This usually results in the crew stopping to figure it out.

Surface enjoyed stacking bags—a task that requires physical labor. Normally, you would need two people for this task. After his first time stacking, Surface took a week off, and it became apparent they needed a robot for the job. Mitchell thought, “Who should be helping Frank?” Well, his best buddy from college, Joe, who lives in Warrenton, would have been perfect for the job. He’s an awesome guy, but he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 20 years ago. If not for his condition, he would be in that room and doing awesome stuff for Superior and stacking bags alongside Surface, challenging the robot.

Frank and Joe attended college at Lenoir Rhyne (LR) University in North Carolina where they played football together. Their numbers were 47 and 49. Thus the name of the robotic arm was born. The Frank&Joe LR-4749.

Also in the photo is Superior President David White (at right).

“Preserve” can be defined as to keep in good condition or to keep safe from harm; to prevent decay and maintain. Think about preserving or upkeeping your home’s exterior. Rather than tearing everything down and starting over, properly timed preservation techniques can help to keep your house looking like new and functioning properly and efficiently. Some of these techniques include painting or replacing the windows or the roof. Applying these treatments at the right time prevents costly repairs and even complete reconstruction.

Maintaining an asphalt pavement is like preserving your house. There are times you don’t have to do full reconstruction of the road or even mill off the surface of the pavement. There are treatments to extend the lifespan of the pavement, keeping it in good condition and safe for the driving public. Not only does this extend the life of the pavement, but it also benefits the bottom line. Roads are a capital investment. Maintaining them properly can save money and stretch a tight budget.

Simply stated, pavement preservation is applying the right treatment to the right place at the right time. An asphalt deterioration curve can help determine timing and treatment.

Surface preservation treatments are meant to delay the need for rehabilitation or milling of the structural asphalt. As the pavement moves from fair to poor condition, the treatments available to you must be more structural in nature. Figure 1 shows an asphalt deterioration curve with different treatments applied to the pavement as the condition deteriorates.

Pavement preservation treatments can be divided into four categories:

• Surface treatments
• Pre-treatments
• Recycling and reclamation
• Base treatments

Some common surface treatments are crack seal, rejuvenating fog seal, micro surfacing and thin lift HMA overlay. Let’s discuss those in some depth.

Crack Seal

Placement of material into existing cracks.

Crack filling is the placement of modified asphalt material into non-working cracks to prevent the infiltration of water and incompressible materials like gravel and sand. Routing and sawing is performed as needed to create a more uniform area for the filler allowing for better control and ensuring a proper seal to the existing pavement.

There are certain conditions that should exist for a pavement to be a good crack sealing candidate:

• New or recently rehabilitated surface
• Limited linear cracking
• Little or no secondary cracking
• Little or no raveling at crack face
• Good base support
• Limited structural deterioration

Cracks must be cleaned and dried prior to applying the filler or sealant. Having a dry road is even more important than the air or pavement temperature. It’s also important to keep the meter tank no less than ¾ full to maximize the effective melting point.

How to Crack Seal Right, Step By Step

Rejuvenating Fog Seal

Process of restoring chemical properties of the aged asphalt binder.

A rejuvenating fog seal or asphalt rejuvenation does not provide any structural improvement, rather it’s an emulsion that penetrates the top 3/8” of pavement restoring the aged asphalt binder. The effectiveness of the treatment is typically determined by the reduction of the binder viscosity. It is a “top of the curve” preventative maintenance and extends a typical pavement life by 3-5 years per treatment when applied at the right time.

Asphalt rejuvenation works by re-proportioning the aged fractions (asphaltenes) to the fluid portion (maltenes) of the asphalt binder. The maltene fraction gives the asphalt binder its flexibility. Asphaltenes effects the viscosity of the asphalt; as this fraction increases with age, the viscosity also increases making the pavement less pliable and prone to cracking. Thus, by restoring the maltene to asphaltene ratio like that of a new binder, the life of the pavement is extended. This process is not unlike a bowl of spaghetti (asphaltenes) with sauce (maltenes).

Over time the water in the sauce evaporates causing the sauce to dry out or age making it difficult to move or separate the spaghetti. Refreshing (rejuvenating) the sauce brings the bowl of pasta back to life, making it easier to separate the spaghetti noodles and move them around. Rejuvenation aims to restore the pavement’s flexibility and resistance to cracking.

MDOT, NCAT Show How to Place New Rejuvenating Fog Seal

Micro Surfacing

Surface treatment mixture of polymer-modified asphalt emulsion, mineral aggregate, water, and additives. The mixture is made and placed on a continuous basis by mixing the ingredients using specialized equipment.

The micro surfacing formulation is based on mix design parameters: resistance to raveling, lateral displacement and resistance to moisture damage. The emulsion plays a key part in micro surfacing. The wrong emulsion or an emulsion that doesn’t work well with the other components can cause issues such as long set times, durability, and delamination.

Remember that temperature, humidity, and wind conditions all affect emulsion break and cure times. If using a micro surface in combination with crack sealing, ensure crack sealing material is not excessive where it can be picked up by the paver tires and spreader box runners. Screen the material immediately prior to loading the mobile support unit so there is no possibility of contamination when re-handling the material. Treat vegetation with herbicide early to prevent it from returning after the project is completed.

Many agencies have reported ten years or more of service life when micro surfacing is installed on newer asphalt pavements in good condition. However, when used as a “band aid” or as a stop-gap measure on an asphalt pavement in marginal condition in order to delay rehabilitation/reconstruction, surface treatments including micro surfacing will have a shorter service life. Having the proper mix design for the micro surfacing is critical to ensure all materials work together. Some emulsion chemistries do not work with certain aggregate combinations, and some react poorly to excessive mineral filler.

How to Micro Surface

Thin Lift HMA Overlay

Applied thin layer (1.5 inches or less) of hot mix to the surface of the road.

Thin lift overlays can be used to extend the life of a pavement by sealing small cracks and providing a new riding surface. Overlays can be applied with or without milling, but the existing pavement must be in good condition since the overlay provides little additional structure. Thin lift overlays are available as conventional dense graded mix, open graded friction course (OGFC) and stone matrix asphalt (SMA).

Thin lift overlays improve ride quality and surface friction, correct surface defects, enhance appearance, seal the surface, and reduce splash and spray.

Regardless of the pavement preservation technique, quality control and quality assurance (QC/QA) are vital prior to, during, and after construction. Look at these three elements of the typical preservation project—the emulsion, the distributor truck, the aggregate.

Emulsion

• Certificate of Analysis (Manufacturer)
• QC Sampling and Testing
• Temperature

Distributor Truck

• Calibrate ➔ Quantity
• Proper Pressure, Spray and Coverage
• Speed

Aggregate

• Proper Certified Test Results
• Quality Control Results
• Mix Design

While the materials for HMA and pavement preservation treatments are the same (aggregates, liquid binder, emulsions), the equipment varies, and the material testing is different. In efforts to standardize the testing and material selection, the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) created an emulsion task force (ETF) in 2008. Material standards, design standards and construction guides have since been developed, and in a 2012 passage from the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century (MAP-21), state DOTs could begin to use federal funds for pavement preservation.

This high level of confidence was only one benefit to the on-going AASHTO standardization efforts. Other benefits include educating the next generation of DOT staff and preservation crews and offering a consistent way to select materials, test and design. Constant collaboration and education will only further enhance the quality of the pavement preservation techniques, ultimately extending the life of our pavements.

Best Practices for Asphalt Overlays and Thin Lifts

The team at Asphalt Testing Solutions & Engineering LLC, Jacksonville, Florida, prepared this back-to-basics article for the AsphaltPro and PreservationPro audience.