2009 Asphalt Paving Awards

The 2009 APAM/MDOT Asphalt Paving Rules and Award Nomination Form has been emailed to all APAM Contractors, MDOT Region and TSC Engineers and County Engineers. If you need a form it is posted on our website at www.apa-mi.org. The Superior Region deadline is fast approaching Monday, October 5, 2009. If you have any questions regarding the nomination process you can contact either Chuck Mills cmills@apa-mi.org or Beth Wilson bwilson@apa-mi.org at the APAM office at 517.323.7800.

Please reserve Thursday, December 10, 2009 and plan to attend the Awards Banquet at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center in East Lansing.

Deadlines for 2008 Project Submittal:
Superior Region: Monday, October 5th
North Region: Monday, October 12th
All Other Regions: Monday, October 19th

When submitting your award forms keep in mind the deadlines and include 3 digital photos and the project location map.

 

APAM Scholarship Program

Scholarship applications have been sent out to contractor members, associate members and colleges and universities. To date we have only received 2 applications. The deadline for submittal is October 1, 2009. Please remind all interested parties that this is just days away. After all with today's economy who couldn't use an extra $2,000.00? If you have any questions call either Beth Wilson or Chuck Mills at the APAM office. Click here for the scholarship application.

APAM Annual BBQ A Success!

Around 50 people attended the BBQ Wednesday, September 9, 2009. It was held on the MITA grounds under the big top. We had a beautiful day, good food, cold drinks, door prizes and a great opportunity to mingle amongst our industry friends. APAM appreciates your continued support to the association. To check out the action shots from the BBQ visit the Photo Album section on the website.

M-115 Named one of "America's Top Ten Transportation Projects"

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced today that work on M-115 in Clare County was selected by AAA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) as one of America's 10 best transportation projects.

Named in the "innovative management" category of the national competition, the M-115 project involved upgrading 5.5 miles of a rural two-lane highway from Lake Station Avenue to the Osceola/Clare county line. Work included rubblizing and placing HMA overlay, intersection drainage improvements, guardrail upgrades, and bridge replacements. MDOT invested approximately $4.5 million to repair M-115.

The M-115 project used several innovative construction techniques, including pre-cast bridge construction, self-adjusting temporary signals, temporary object markers to eliminate vehicle run offs, and a best value award process that took mobility and construction staging, along with safety and cost, into account. Overall, traffic delays during construction averaged two minutes, 16 seconds. APAM member Central Asphalt, Inc. of Mt. Pleasant was the prime contractor on the project.

MDOT's M-115 project is now eligible to compete for the America's Transportation Awards Grand Prize, which will be determined by independent judging and will be presented at the AASHTO annual meeting on Oct. 25, in Palm Desert, Calif. The top 10 projects also will compete for the People's Choice Award, which will be decided by popular vote. Online voting is now under way at the competition's official Web site through Oct. 23 at w ww.americastransportationaward.org. Click on the "Vote Now" box on the left side of the page. We encourage everyone to cast a vote of support for this project.

Congratulations to MDOT, Central Asphalt and all the people who were involved with this project.

 

MDOT Announces Moratorium on Alternate Bid Projects

MDOT Chief Operations Officer Greg Johnson recently advised the industry associations that the department is putting a moratorium on all future alternate pavement bidding projects with the exception of the I-94, St. Clair county project (9/25 letting item 901) and the I-475, design / build project in Genesee county (11/ 19 letting).

Projects that had been previously identified to be alternate bids will revert back to the lifecycle cost / pavement selection process for determination of the pavement type.

According to Johnson, this moratorium is a result of the number of questions and concerns that have been raised related the equivalency of the alternate pavement designs, alternate bid project selection criteria and bidding / contract issues. Mr. Johnson also stated that alternate pavement bidding will be added to the topic list for the upcoming "broad technical issues" discussions between MDOT and the industry associations.

 

MDOT Rubblization Spec

MDOT has approved there new frequently used special provision for rubblization, 03SP304 (A). This new special provision includes clarification of acceptance criteria. Rubblized particle size should be less than 10 inches, debonding of reinforced pavements occurs if you meet the particle size, and quality control check done by mechanical excavation highlight the changes. MDOT did remove the pay item for steel, hand pick and make it incidental. They also left in a section where the engineer can perform spot inspections using manual methods.

Click here to view the specification for Rubblizing Portland Cement Concrete Pavement.

Construction Advisories

CA 2009-13 Density Testing and Inspection

MDOT Links

Click here to view a listing of Construction Advisories

Click here to view a listing of Instructional Memorandums

Click here to view a listing of EOC Minutes

Chuck Mills, APAM's Director of Engineering, was a presenter at the Vacationland Council of the County Road Association of Michigan (CRAM) on August 27th. Within CRAM, there are nine regional councils that cover the state of Michigan. The Vacationland Council includes Alcona, Arenac, Clare, Crawford, Gladwin, Iosco, Isabella, Midland, Ogemaw, Oscoda, and Roscommon counties. Chuck discussed the benefits of using HMA Ultra-Thin and highlighted projects that have been completed in the area. Bill Adair, Reith-Riley, discussed recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) and highlighted a project where they used RAS in HMA Ultra-Thin. The meeting was very well attended with about 30 engineers and commissioners in attendance. Porous asphalt continues to be a hot topic. Chuck attended a meeting with the U.S green building council, Lansing chapter on September 17th. The meeting was held on site at the newly paved porous HMA parking lot at the MSU recycling center.

Environmental Issues of Recycling Tear-Off Roofing Shingles

October 7, 1-2:30 PM Eastern

Presenters:
John Bartoszek, Payne & Dolan
Robert. P. Grefe, Engineer, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Division of Air and Waste Recycling & Solid Waste
Geoffrey D. Strack, P.E., Beneficial Use Coordinator, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Jason Haus, Vice President, Dem-Con Companies

This webinar will focus on how the federal NESHAP standard for asbestos applies to asphalt shingle recycling and how some states are implementing those standards. Regulators will discuss how asbestos rules are interpreted and enforced in select locales. Representatives from the asphalt paving and shingle processing industries will also offer their perspective on this important issue.

An agreed state asbestos standard for recycling shingles will open the door for widespread, cost-effective processing of this material, which could reduce asphalt pavement costs, reduce demand for virgin materials, and significantly reduce the millions of tons of shingles that enter our nation's landfills each year.

Who should attend: State and national regulators, government solid waste and recycling specialists, local and state roadway owners, roofing contractors, shingle processors, asphalt pavement material producers, waste haulers, consultants, engineers, and other interested professionals.

Registration fees:
Agency officials $25
General attendees $65
Register Now

Deadline Fast Approaching For NAPA's 2009 Awards Program ENTER ONLINE NOW!

Don't delay in preparing your awards nominations - only a short time is left to get entries into the NAPA office for the following categories: Asphalt Operations Safety Innovations, Outstanding Brochure, Community Involvement, Ecological Awards for New and Existing Asphalt Plants, and Outstanding Web Site. Nominations for the above award categories must be postmarked by September 18, 2009. (That's tomorrow!)

The Quality in Construction Awards - general paving, non-typical paving, and airports are open to both NAPA Members and non-members. The Quality in Construction deadline is a postmark of October 2, 2009.

Nomination forms are downloadable and can be completed online at www.hotmix.org. A link to the nomination forms is located at the top right corner of the home page. For more information, contact Tracie Christie, Associate Director of Awards & Marketing, at tchristie1@hotmix.org.

International Conference on Perpetual Pavement 2009
Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 , 2009 in Columbus OH Visit http://www.ohio.edu/ic pp/ for more info.

2009 Young Leaders Conference and Tour
October 14 & 15, Washington, D.C.
Registration now open!

4th Annual Asphalt Shingle Recycling Forum Program
Nov. 5-6, 2009, Chicago, IL
Go to www.shinglerecycling.org for more info.

NAPA's 55th Annual Meeting
January 17-20, 2010 in Maui
More info