The 2018 3rd biennial (every other year) “North Carolina (NC) Concrete Pavement Conference” was held in October in centrally located Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. This biennial conference is held in the fall for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and members of the American Concrete Paving Association–Southeast Chapter (ACPA-SE) (NC, SC, Ga, & Tn)—including contractors, cement companies, consultants, and equipment and material suppliers. There were a variety of speakers involved in the conference who included those from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH), University Professors, CP Tech Center, ACPA National Executives, NCDOT leaders, and others in the concrete pavement and research industry (including Mark Snyder, Past President-ISCP; Leif Wathne, ISCP Board Member; and Gordon Smith, CPTech Center).
Hosted by Greg Dean, Executive Director-Carolinas Concrete Paving Association (CCPA) chapter of the ACPA-SE, the 2018 conference drew 260 registrants—exceeding the 2016 conference of 225 registrants, and doubling the inaugural 2014 conference of 125 registrants! There were 13 exhibitors and 13 sponsors. Tim Little, P.E., NCDOT Chief Engineer and Michael Fox, Transportation Chairman-NCDOT kicked-off the conference. Both expressed their support for sharing best practices and new technologies to help ensure construction that projects are delivered on-time.
Dean recognized the contributions of the “N.C. Rigid Pavement Committee” towards setting the conference agenda topics. The committee is comprised of NCDOT, CCPA, ACPA-SE, and industry who meet two times a year to discuss concrete pavement specifications and new technologies, as well as the upcoming biennial conference.
The first day’s presentations included ACPA’s “2040 Vision”, presented by Leif Wathne, Executive VP-ACPA and ISCP Board Member; the essential practices of quality concrete pavement construction, performance engineered mixtures, dowel bar trends; and pavement preservation strategies. Please see ISCP’s 2040 Vision article titled “Highlights of ACPA “Shape the Future Workshop” & “Vision2040″—Future Challenges, Solutions”: https://www.concretepavements.org/2018/07/12/highlights-of-acpa-shape-the-future-workshop-vision2040-future-challenges-solutions/
The second day’s presentations included NCDOT’s use of Value Engineering and New Products evaluations; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH)’s research of Interstate highway performance data; NCDOT’s use of performance measures, asset management, concrete overlays, diamond grinding, roller-compacted concrete, and full-depth reclamation with cement. Several topics included project case studies that helped illustrate concrete pavement constructibility, durability and longevity.
Guests also enjoyed an evening networking Reception with Exhibitors.
For the links of this conference, please see below:
Conference Presentations 2018 (seen in image above) on the ACPA SE Chapter ACPA website: https://pavementse.com/past-events/
2018 Conference site: https://pavementse.com/nc-concrete-pavement-conference/
Past Conference Presentations 2016 and 2014 (and other ACPA Chapters): https://pavementse.com/past-events/