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In This Issue
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Featured Article |
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Economic Stimulus Bill Signed - $ 847M in Highway Funds Headed to Michigan
On Tuesday President Obama signed H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, into Public Law 111-5. The bill provides $27.5 billion for highways and the funding is available through September 30, 2010. In total Michigan will receive $847 M. MDOT anticipates it will receive about $635 M for trunk line road and bridge projects with the remaining federal dollars going to local units of government for road and bridge projects. Stimulus projects will begin showing up in the March 6th letting with more projects to be bid in the next several monthly lettings in order to meeting the program obligation requirements.
Click here for a Summary of the Highway Provisions and the official highway funding by state and metro areas.
Click here to view a Transportation and Infrastructure Spending Levels Report
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APAM Happenings |
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2009 Asphalt Paving Conference Just Around the Corner!
Our 53rd Annual Asphalt Paving Conference will be held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo, MI on February 25 & 26. The theme of this year's conference is "Asphalt Pavements for Sustainability, Performance and Value" We are excited about bringing the conference to the Kalamazoo area.
There is still time to register!
Click here to view our brochure which contains complete conference and registration information.
We are looking forward to a great conference.
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MDOT News |
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Greg Johnson Promoted to Chief Operations Officer
MDOT has announced that Greg Johnson, MDOT's Metro Region Engineer, will replace Larry Tibbits as Chief Operations Officer who is retiring on March 31st.
Greg joined MDOT in 1989 after working six years for the City of Battle Creek. He worked in the Kalamazoo project office as a resident engineer for six years, and was promoted to TSC manager, serving from 1997 to 2002. In 2002 Greg was appointed Deputy Region Engineer for the Metro Region, and in 2003 he was promoted to Region Engineer. Greg is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a master's degree in public administration from Western Michigan University.
As Chief Operations Officer Greg will oversee the seven MDOT regions, and all aspects of MDOT's operational, project development, and project delivery functions.
Congratulations to Greg!
MDOT Round Robin Testing Program Underway
MDOT has recently announced the schedule and other program details for the 2009 Round Robin Testing Program. All labs performing quality control testing or quality assurance testing on MDOT projects are required to participate. Samples are now available to be picked up at the C & T Lab in Lansing and test results must be submitted by March 13th.
Click here for the complete Program announcement, schedule and other details.
Click here for Round Robin data entry sheet.
MDOT Fills New Laboratory Quality Systems Engineer Position
Adnan Iftikhar joined Lansing C&T at the beginning of January, 2009 as Lab Quality Systems Engineer. Adnan has been working in the Construction & Technology Section of the MDOT Metro Region Office; working on design, rehabilitation and geotechnical aspects of pavements. He has a Masters' Degree in Civil Engineering from MSU. He will be working with the MDOT central & region labs as well as consultant and contractor QC/QA labs to ensure quality and uniformity by improving conformance to State and Federal standards and best practices.
CQP Pilot Projects
The Construction Quality Partnership (CQP) is piloting joint training again this year. There are 4 HMA pilot projects for 2009. There are specific training modules that key contractor and department personnel must complete prior to the start of construction. The specific training modules for HMA paving pilot projects include flagger training, soil erosion and sedimentation control training and the "forces of compaction" online course from NAPA. The details for completion of the training are included in a special provision that will be included in these projects.
Click here to view the CQP Special Provision
The following is a list of the CQP pilot projects for HMA:
February Let: CS 12022 JN 79093A (Southwest Region)
1.88 mi of hot mix asphalt cold milling, resurfacing, reconstruction, curb and gutter, sewer and watermain replacement, pavement marking, and signing on US- 12 from west of Quincy Grange Road easterly to east of Brown Street and on North Main Street from Jefferson Street easterly to West Park Street in the village of Quincy, Branch County.
March Letting: CS 82062 JNs 83403A, 83404A, 89072A, & 103413A (Metro Region)
2.50 mi of hot mix asphalt cold milling and resurfacing, sidewalk ramp upgrades, bridge replacement, hot mix asphalt overlay, joints, deck patching, and substructure patching on US-12 eastbound and westbound over the Rouge River and over M-39, and on US-12 (Michigan Avenue) from Elm Street easterly to Firestone Street in the city of Dearborn, Wayne County.
March Letting: CS 59032, JN 59563 (Grand Region)
1.60 mi of hot mix asphalt cold milling and resurfacing, HMA reconstruction on M-91 from Gibson St. North to Wise Rd, Montcalm County.
April Letting: CS 03023, JN 79981 (Southwest Region)
Hot mix asphalt cold milling and resurfacing on M-89 from Jefferson Ave. to Wilmott St., Allegan County.
Construction Advisory -
Traffic Actuation of Temporary Traffic Signals CA-2009-02
BOHIM 2009-02
Local Agency Cost Reimbursement for Liquidated Damages
Engineering Operations Committee Minutes
The minutes for the Engineering Operations Committee meeting held on November 6, 2008 have been released. Please click here to read the minutes.
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

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Industry Info |
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The new NAPA Diamond Quality Commendation is online and ready to go. Patterned after the highly successful Diamond Achievement Commendation, the Diamond Quality uses stringent standards to recognize quality in the process of producing asphalt pavement material. By receiving the Diamond Quality Commendation, a facility is recognized as one that measures up nationally. The rigorous self-assessment process requires examination of every step in the process by which pavement material is produced. In addition, both have won NAPA's Ecological Award. To apply for the Diamond Quality, go to www.hotmix.org and click on diamond Program at the top right. The applications are handled online.
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News on our Members |
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APAM Members Win Awards at NAPA's Annual Meeting
At NAPA's 54th Annual Meeting, held in San Diego, CA, an Awards Breakfast was held. APAM is proud to have some of our members as recipients. The following APAM members won Quality in Construction Awards:
Quality in Construction Awards - Airports
Highest Score: Rieth-Riley Construction Co. Inc. for Wexford County Airport rehab of Runway 7/25.
Quality in Construction Awards - Highway Pavements over 50,000 tons
John Carlo, Inc. for I-94, Macomb County.
Quality in Construction Awards - General Paving:
Ajax Paving Industries for the Michigan Proving Ground High Speed Oval reconstruction
Northeast Asphalt, Inc.(division of Payne & Dolan, Inc.) for STH 139, Long Lake, WI
Rieth-Riley Construction Co. Inc., (Prudenville, MI) for M- 72, Fairview, MI
Rieth-Riley Construction Co. Inc., (Lansing, MI) for Fowlerville Proving Ground
In the Safety Innovations category we had two finalists; Barrett Paving Materials, Inc. for its Drum Door Removal and Installation Attachment which allows employees to safely position the heavy doors of a drum mixer using a lift made of angle iron, channel iron, and flat stock welded together. The attachment catches the edges of the door snugly and holds it so the door can be lowered safely.
And, Payne & Dolan, Inc. for Traffic Control Trailer for setting control devices that allows crews to better organize the traffic signs and cones needed on paving job sites and offers protection while setting up and removing signs.
Payne & Dolan was also the recipient of the Outstanding Brochure Award which best represents the interests of the hot-mix asphalt industry. They created an eight-page brochure entitled, "Environmentally Sustainable, Economically Viable Pavements."
APAM was the winner for the Outstanding Website Award in the State Association category. This award recognizes Web sites that first and foremost promote the use of HMA and the HMA industry. They are also rated on user friendliness and the quality of information provided. We are proud to have been chosen. (Press Release)
We congratulate everyone on this national recognition!
Rieth-Riley Construction Acquisition
Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc. acquired the Michigan and Indiana paving and construction assets of Aggregate Industries on February 17, 2009. The five newly acquired properties will be merged with Rieth- Riley's current operations.
To read the complete Press Release, click here

Goodbye Starr Kohn, You Will Be Missed
On January 31st, Starr Kohn, PhD, PE suddenly passed away. He was the Senior Vice President at Soil and Materials, Inc. (SME). Starr dedicated over 30 years to pavement engineering excellence, his passion. SME has been an Associate Member of the Association for many years and Starr was very active in our various committees in the early 1990s.
For Memorial info and to read his complete obituary, click here

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In Other News... |
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Support NCAT and Maybe win this Chopper
The NAPA Associate Member Council has organized a NAPAREF fundraiser to purchase laboratory equipment for the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University, Alabama. A custom made chopper, Smooth Rider, will be raffled off to raise the funds. Smooth Rider made it debut at the recent CONEXPO-CON/AGG Show in Las Vegas. The winning ticket will be drawn March 12, 2009 at the World of Asphalt in Orlando, Florida. Tickets are $100 each.
Since 1986, NCAT has supported the HMA industry through it's world class research and education. This is a great opportunity to return the favor.
Please visit www.smoothrider.org to purchase your tickets. Detailed specs on the chopper and a list of laboratory equipment needed is also available on the website.
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Other Meetings |
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2009 World of Asphalt
March 9-12, 2009 For more info click here
Asphalt Pavement Conference 2009
March 9-10. In conjunction with the World of Asphalt.
Airport Pavement Workshop
April 7-9, 2009 Rosement, IL For more info click here
Past Issues of APAM News |
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