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In This Issue
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Feature Articles |
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Asphalt Wins Alternate Bid on US -31
On April 9th, MDOT received bids for the reconstruction of 3.27 miles of concrete freeway on US-31, from the Michigan state line to US-12 in Berrien County.
Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc. submitted the low bid of $12,099,470 using the asphalt pavement alternate. The second place bid of $12,623,219 was a concrete pavement alternate.
The low bidder was determined by a life cycle cost calculation which included the construction cost plus the user delay cost and the future maintenance cost. These costs were converted by formula to an Equivalent Uniform Annual Cost (EUAC) based on a 26 year analysis period and 2.8 % discount rate. Rieth-Riley's EUAC using the HMA alternate was $702,071 and the second place concrete bid had a EUAC of $717,387.
Each bidder had to calculate their amount of user delay based on the number of days that mainline lanes and various ramps would be closed. The contractor will be penalized for each day of lane / ramp closure that exceeds their bid amount. See the Special Provision for Alternate Pavement Bid Calculations for more details about the EUAC and user delay calculations.
In order to keep traffic moving during construction, one direction of the freeway will carry all of the traffic while the other direction is removed and reconstructed. The traffic staging plan for the project specifies temporary median crossovers with two way traffic separated by temporary concrete barrier.
As part of their winning bid, Rieth-Riley devised an innovative traffic staging plan which resulted in a significant reduction in their user delay costs. By constructing an additional HMA temporary lane to accommodate traffic, the company is able to maintain a total of three lanes of traffic (2 in one direction, with a single lane in the other direction separated by the temporary concrete barrier). This helped reduce the user delay to $1.330M compared to the $3.010M user delay cost of the second low bid.
Additionally, Rieth-Riley will be recycling the old concrete pavement by crushing it for reuse as a dense graded 22A aggregate base under the new HMA pavement. This is an excellent example of how asphalt pavement contributes to sustainability by incorporating recycled products into a flexible pavement cross section.
Congratulations to Rieth-Riley Construction Co. Inc for their innovative approach to this project and for proving once again that asphalt pavements are the best value.
Click here for a detailed breakdown of the bids received
Click here for a comparison of the asphalt and concrete pavement section
2009 Transportation Funding Package Unveiled
Members of the Transportation Funding Task Force (TF2) unveiled a package of bills on May 14th that would provide a long-term boost to Michigan's deteriorating roads and bridges.
The legislative funding package would replace the current 19-cents per gallon fuel tax and replace it with a percentage tax on the wholesale price of gas. It would also increase the vehicle registration fee by 10 percent the first year and 20 percent the subsequent four years. When fully implemented, depending on the price of fuel, the state could increase transportation funding by as much as $1.8 billion annually, and serve as a down payment on fixing Michigan's deteriorating roads and bridges.
Click here for a copy of the press release.
Click here for more details.
Now is the time for APAM members, and their employees, to call their legislators and urge them address the funding issue before the summer break in early July.
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APAM Happenings |
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APAM Scholarship Golf Outing
The 3rd Annual Scholarship Outing is right around the corner! The date is Tuesday, July 28, 2009; the place is Bucks Run Golf Club in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. It will be the same format as in the past with a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m. Please see the sponsorship opportunities and the brochure for further details.
John Krispin Appointed to APAM Board
At the March 17th meeting of the Board of Directors John Krispin, Barrett Paving Materials, was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Bruce Bolen who took a position with Iosco County Road Commission. Welcome John!
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MDOT News |
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MDOT Announces Additional Bid Lettings
MDOT has announced additional bid lettings to be held on June 19th, July 24th, and August 21st to provide flexibility in meeting the delivery of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funded projects. The intent of these additional lettings is to provide the local agencies the opportunity to get their ARRA funded projects let and under construction as soon as possible. MDOT will continue to focus their project delivery efforts to meet the current regularly scheduled lettings, but may decide to move a trunk line project to one of these special lettings on a case-by-case basis.
Updated MDOT Letting Projections Posted
MDOT's letting projection information does contain American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects that were programmed as of the 4/22/09 publication date.
2009 Fiscal Year Projected Lettings
Three Months Projected Lettings
Click here to view: MDOT Bid Letting Webpage
MDOT Announces Staff Promotions
Recently MDOT announced the following staff promotions:
Mr. Paul C. Ajegba has been appointed the new Deputy Region Engineer for Metro Region.
Paul served as the Oakland TSC Manager for the past four years. His prior assignments were as the Delivery Engineer in the Tecumseh field office and the Region Traffic & Safety/Operations Engineer in University Region. Paul holds a bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Prairie View A&M University in Texas and a master's degree in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Michigan. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Michigan and is a 2004 recipient of the MDOT Director's Award.
Mr. Brad Wieferich has been appointed as the new Engineer of Design in the Bureau of Highway Development. Brad has served as the Marshall TSC Manager for the past 5 ½ years.
Congratulations to Paul and Brad.
Ride Quality Equipment Certification Underway
MDOT's Ride Quality Equipment Certification program for 2009 is now underway. All Profilers must be certified/recertified each year for use on MDOT projects. Contact Tom Hynes at 517-322-5711 or hynest@michigan. gov to schedule an appointment to have your equipment certified in Lansing.
MDOT Selects Additional Alternate Bid Projects
MDOT Engineering Operations Committee has approved the following two projects to be let as alternate pavement bids:
US-12: Union St (in the town of Union) east to the St. Joseph River, Southwest Region. Project length is approximately 5.9 miles. The alternatives are: HMA over rubblized concrete or an unbonded concrete overlay.
M-53: 34 Mile Road to Bordman Rd (Macomb/Lapeer County Line), Metro Region. Project length is approximately 4.6 miles. The alternatives are full depth HMA or concrete reconstruction.
Both of these are non-freeway facilities.
BOHIM 2009-04
Contract Administration and Oversight Guidelines for Projects Containing Warranty Work
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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The Smooth Road |
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Chuck Mills, APAM's Director of Engineering, has been meeting with various counties, cities, villages and consulting engineers to find out what issues the APAM members are facing in the marketplace. In the last month he has met with 20 customers (including 14 counties), did a presentation on the sustainability of HMA, and met with two MDOT regions. The number one issue is funding, or lack thereof. Many of the counties, cities and villages are struggling just to maintain their existing roads. There is continued interest in HMA Ultra-Thin, as many of our customers are learning that it is a cost-effective alternative to chip- sealing and micro-surfacing. Chuck will continue getting out and let your customers know about the value of HMA and how it can stretch their paving dollars.
Chuck is also working on getting some articles written that focus on the benefits of choosing HMA to build and maintain our roads. If you have any ideas for possible articles, including job stories, please pass them along to Chuck.
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Industry News |
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APAM Sends Out Press Release on Asphalt Scammers
In order to alert the public about this potential problem we recently sent a press release to area Michigan newspapers. It is also posted on our website. To read the press release - click here
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Technical Training |
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NAPA Webinar - LEED for Contractors
Howard Marks Ph.D, NAPA's Director of Regulatory Affairs will be presenting a program for contractors on the LEED rating system on May 27th from 1-2 p.m. Eastern time.
In this webinar, you will learn:
* what the LEED system is and how it works
* how LEED credits are assigned to projects
* how asphalt pavements are positioned to help developers obtain needed credits.
Registration fee: $85 general attendees, $45 NAPA members.
For more info - click here or to register
Troxler HAZMAT Training Course Offered
Receive the comprehensive and expert training you expect from Troxler without leaving your desk. This course is available online at www.troxlerlabs.com . Click on the training link. And, it meets the requirements for certification or re-certification. Online Nuclear Gauge Safety Training coming soon!
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Other Meetings |
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NAPA Webinars
Warm-Mix Asphalt & Recycling Webinar (govt. agency employees only) June 8-10, 2009
Mix Type Selection, June 24, 2009. Presenter: Kent Hansen, NAPA
Click for info
NAPA Mid-Year Meeting and Plenary Sessions
July 27 -29, 2009, Hilton Head, NC
Registration now open!
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