Register by June 7 for Mid-Yr Mtg Hotel Discount!! Podcast; Ferrebee Lecture; FHWA; TRIP; Perspectives; El 11° Congreso Iberoamericano; AASHTO NPPC21 Conference; SPS-2 Pooled Fund Study:
REGISTER for Mid-Year Meeting by June 7
After more than a year of pandemic isolation, there are now fewer than 4 weeks until the 2021 ACPA Mid-Year Meeting, to be held June 22 to June 24 at the Saint Kate–The Arts Hotel, 139 E Kilbourn Ave, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ACPA is encouraging all members to attend this meeting for the latest technical and business-related information, as well as some camaraderie and fun! Jerry Voigt, President & CEO-ACPA said, “I truly believe that our members are looking forward to getting together face-to-face to talk about concrete pavements and to enjoy industry fellowship. For many, it has been a long time during—over 15 months—between opportunities to get together. I expect the social events will be as valuable to participants as any of the committee meetings they attend. [Also,] We want our members to know that ACPA, our reception vendors, and the Saint Kate Hotel are committed to following best practices to deliver an event with enhanced health and safety measures. We don’t want anyone to hesitate about participating, so if you want to get out of the house, then the ACPA Mid-Year Meeting presents a great opportunity to reconnect and enjoy participating with your industry peers.”
ACPA, reception vendors, and The Saint Kate Hotel are committed to following
best practices to deliver an event with “CleanCare Pledge“:
For the 6-page PDF, click on image above, or go to: https://www.acpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SaintKate_CleanCarePledgeBrochure.pdf
Please register as soon as possible for the event and hotel rooms. Discounted rooms are available, starting at $219/night, until close of business on Monday, June 7 or until sold out. Online event registration will close on Friday, June 11. To view the one-stop ACPA Mid-Years Meeting page for details and links to reserve a hotel room and register, please go to: https://midyear.acpa.org/#!event-register/2021/6/22/registration-acpa-mid-year-meetings
A detailed agenda may be found online, but just a few of the highlights for the week include:
Tuesday, June 22
• Meet the new ACPA President (a Q&A session)
• Luncheon with the Wisconsin DOT Secretary
• ACPA Legislative Issues Committee Meeting
• Tour & Reception at the Famed Harley Davidson Museum
Wednesday, June 23
• Chapter/State Committee
• Ad hoc Task Forces (organized under the ACPA Functional Committees)
• Research Technology and Innovation Functional Committee
• Design and Engineering Functional Committee
• Quality Construction Functional Committee
• Marketing and Communications Functional Committee
• Strategic Advisory Committee
• Milwaukee Brewery Reception
Thursday, June 24
• Board of Directors Breakfast & Meeting
Podcast Added to Construction Law Program
ACPA is pleased to announce the launch of their first concrete pavement industry podcast—digital audio files that can be played on computers and other digital devices, either directly or through dedicated music and podcast apps. Late utility location is the latest podcast in ACPA‘s construction law program. The podcast is presented by Tom Olson-Olson Construction Law,* introducing monthly podcasts on what contractors should know about topics and how to manage the associated issues in public works construction projects, on:
• Implied warranty of design
• Relevant construction law topics
• Contractors’ rights and responsibilities when unanticipated utilities are located
• Variety of concrete pavement industry topics for ACPA members, chapters, staff, and others interested
The podcast can be viewed online or on popular music and dedicated podcast channels:
• Spotify
• Radio Public
• Google Podcasts
• Apple Podcasts
• Apple iTunes
• Breaker
To see and hear the two latest podcasts, please click on image above, or go to: https://www.acpa.org/acpa-podcasts/
Bill Davenport said, “Podcasts are ideal for interviews and reports on topics that can help our contractors and other members. The podcast format allows people to listen on demand when it’s most convenient.” Additional construction law podcasts and other topics will be released, so stay tuned!
For more information, please go to: https://www.acpa.org/association-news/28438/
For the PODCAST PAGE, please go to: https://www.acpa.org/acpa-podcasts/
For app users, please go to: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1722596.rss
ERIC FERREBEE GUEST LECTURER AT WSU for SOMAYEH NASSIRI: “AASHTOWare Pavement ME; AASHTO 93 design guide; & PavementDesigner.org
In support of ACPA’s technical service and outreach activities, the last week of April, Eric Ferrebee, Director of Technical Services, was a guest lecturer at Washington State University (WSU) for the “Pavement Design Course (CE473)” for Somayeh Nassiri, Professor-WSU and an ISCP Board Member. Professor Nassiri had previously covered the main AASHTO design methodologies including AASHTOWare Pavement ME and the AASHTO 93 design guide, so Ferrebee focused on pavement design for streets and local roads, and covered:
• A brief history of pavement design dating back to the first concrete pavement in Bellefontaine, noting “this was a time when we weren’t really designing pavements, but just creating concrete slabs with as much concrete as we could produce.”
• Evolution of concrete pavement jointing
• First major road tests (Bates and Pittsburg)
• Westergaard’s stress equations …“This is the pre-history that sets the foundation for the modern highway concrete pavements,” he said.
• History of the AASHO Road Test and the subsequent AASHTO Design Guides that were based on it (including AASHTO 93, 86, 72, etc.) that inherently have limitations built in from the limited inference space of the road test. He noted that this works reasonably well for asphalt pavements, but significantly over designs concrete pavements.
•Development of the PCA method:
—Started shortly after the AASHO road test, but took a mechanistic approach (vs. the empirical approach at the road test). “This led to the developments of the PCA method
—1984: Update included erosion and edge support
—2005: ACPA’s purchase of the design methodology
—Introduction of StreetPave
—2012: Major updates”
• History of Pavement ME and how it is made for Interstate and state highways and is a great tool, albeit expensive and complex, and likely beyond the reach of many cities, counties, towns, and local municipalities.
• Opportunities in the concrete pavement industry
Ferrebee also gave a presentation on PavementDesigner.org—a global tool with 40% of all users being international, including South and Central American countries, which make up 7 of the top 10 countries worldwide in terms of users. The nearly 30 students in attendance had an opportunity to do real-world demo runs of PavementDesigner, including one that compared AASHTO 93, PD, and Pavement ME.
For the FREE PavementDesigner.org site, please go to: www.pavementdesigner.org
FHWA Meeting Focuses on AID-PT & New Demonstration Project
A May 10th meeting with FHWA covered important developments with the FHWA Pavement & Materials (P&M) program, including the the Accelerated Implementation and Deployment of Pavement Technologies (AID-PT) Program—a provision first included in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP 21)—which ACPA developed and advocated for inclusion in two highway bills. ACPA‘s Jerry Voigt and Leif Wathne, Executive Vice President, met with FHWA‘s Gina Ahlstrom, Latoya Jackson, and Brian Fouch, along with NAPA‘s Richard Willis. The meeting included and FHWA update on:
• FHWA reorganization of the P&M program update
• Progress of the FHWA pavement design policy update—FHWA considers the policy update a priority and noted that the review is currently in progress. The agency plans to post a notice of proposed rulemaking later this year.
• New pooled fund demonstration project aimed specifically at advancing new pavement technologies. 6-7 state DOTs have expressed support thus far, and more states have indicated an interest. The plan is to leverage federal investments with state DOT partnerships. The topics so far include:
—Performance engineered mixtures (PEMs)
—Preservation—Resilience (and incorporating it into the decision-making process),
—Pavement foundations
—Technical Advisory Committee topic suggestions
• FHWA plan to set up a “Friends of the TAC” group to engage stakeholders, including ACPA
• AID-PT PROGRAM: ACPA presented details about the ACPA/NAPA joint letter to House T&I and Senate EPW committees. To see the story about the letter, please go to: www.acpa.org/legislative-affairs/28346/
• ACPA shared details about areas of interest
• ACPA shared Administration’s highway-related priorities—including moving concrete overlays forward through the FHWA “Every Day Counts initiative”, focusing on pavement resilience as a means to Build Back Better, and including life cycle thinking in all aspects of decision-making, including economic and environmental
For the AID-PT PDF Report, please click on image above, or go to: www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/pubs/hif16031.pdf
ACPA Participates in TRIP Board Meeting
Dave Howard, Chairman-ACPA, Jerry Voigt, and Leif Wathne, represented ACPA in The Road Information Program (TRIP) 2nd quarter board meeting on May 12. As 2021 marks TRIP’s 50th anniversary, ACPA has participated as a partner and member of TRIP for more than two decades. TRIP’s mission is to provide educational, scientific, and public information relating to highway transportation—the need for and benefits flowing from the construction of adequate highways, roads, and other surface transportation facilities; and to promote interest and expansion in highway engineering as a profession. A few highlights of the meeting include:
• TRIP continues to generate significant news media, drawing attention to issues such as:
—Road conditions
—Traffic congestion
—Increased investment—Coverage need includes 155 television/radio news broadcasts; and 130 daily newspaper and internet news site articles with an earned media value of $5.8 million, with a potential reach of 19.5 million people (not including social media position from news sources, policymakers, and business groups)
• 8 grassroots reports have been released so far in 2021 (including NC, ME, WV, VA, CO, NM, CT, ND, LA), and TRIP has again provided the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) with a state-by-state data analysis for the Roads and Bridges sections of it 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.
For the 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, please click on image above, or go to: https://infrastructurereportcard.org
For the TRIP Website, please go to: www.tripnet.org
ACPA Offers Perspectives on Availability of Highway Materials
ACPA has released a perspectives statement on the availability of highway materials for the 2021 construction season. Specifically, the perspectives statement focuses on supply chain availability of two primary concrete paving materials key to meeting project demands:
• Portland cement and steel for dowel bars
• Basket assemblies
• Reinforcing
There are presently factors causing tightness in the market for both products, but these are considered temporary. Temporary challenges are expected to even out long before increased surface transportation funding is passed into law, appropriated to states, and is available for projects over a multi-year period.
Written with input from Portland Cement Association (PCA), and with information from recent news reports, special thanks to ACPA contractors, cement members, and dowel manufacturer members who generously shared their expertise and first-hand experiences on this issue, providing both details and an outlook for the months ahead.
Written with input from Portland Cement Association (PCA), and with information from recent news reports, special thanks to ACPA contractors, cement members, and dowel manufacturer members who generously shared their expertise and first-hand experiences on this issue, providing both details and an outlook for the months ahead.
The perspectives document will be available on ACPA‘s “Perspectives” page: www.acpa.org/advocacy/positions-and-perspectives/
For PDF of Perspectives Page, please click on image above, or go to: www.acpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Positions-and-Perspectives-Material-Availability.pdf
“El 11° Congreso Iberoamericano de Pavimentos e Infraestructura en Concreto
que se celebrará” (VIRTUAL: The 11th Ibero-American Congress of Concrete Pavements & Infrastructure)
Jerry Voigt and Eric Ferrebee participated in the VIRTUAL El 11° Congreso Iberoamericano de Pavimentos e Infraestructura en Concreto que se celebrará” (“11th Ibero-American Congress of Concrete Pavements and Infrastructure”) May 25-28. The event was organized by the Colombian Chamber of Cement and Concrete PROCEMCO, together with the Ibero-American Federation of Ready-mix Concrete FIHP and the Inter-American Cement Federation (FICE).
Voigt gave a presentation on the principles of managing a healthy road network. He said, “The international community has a thirst for concrete pavements and long-lasting infrastructure, and we are proud to be leaders in this arena and share our experience. It is interesting to reflect upon the road network management fundamentals that we have learned in the United States over many years, and to pass them along to people building new programs in growing countries. In some respects, public officials from Latin America are more open to these ideas than some state Departments of Transportation in the U.S.”
Ferrebee gave an in-depth presentation on the background and use of PavementDesigner.org, including highlighting the incorporation of Metric units into the tool. It is a global tool with 40% of all users being international, including South and Central American countries, which make up 7 of the top 10 countries worldwide in terms of users. Eric said, “I am excited for PavementDesigner’s continued use around the world and to be an implementation leader ensuring that users are educated on properly designing concrete pavements!” ACPA encourages pavement designers both in the U.S. and abroad to utilize and adopt this user-friendly and FREE web-based pavement design tool. To use, please go to: www.pavementdesigner.org
For the ISCP April 2021 article on this conference titled “VIRTUALES: El 11° Congreso Iberoamericano de Pavimentos e Infraestructura en Concreto MAYO 25 AI 28 DE 2021”, please click on image above, or go to: www.concretepavements.org/2021/04/17/el-11-congreso-iberoamericano-de-pavimentos-e-infraestructura-en-concreto-mayo-25-ai-28-de-2021/
For FLYER and more information, please go to: www.procem.co/11-congreso-pavimentos/
“AASHTO NPPC21 TSP2 Virtual Conference”
John Roberts, P.E., President and CEO–IGGA, and Larry Scofield, P.E., Director, Pavement Innovation-ACPA participated in AASHTO’s “Transportation System Preservation Technical Services Program (TSP2)* 2021 Virtual National Pavement Preservation Conference” May 17-21. The national virtual meeting consisted of 9 sessions with approximately 400-500 attendees in each session.
The 7 of 9 sessions related to concrete technology included:
• Session 1: Opening Session: Provided key note addressing status and issues associated with infrastructure legislation
Kick-Off
Welcome: George Conner, TSP2 and AASHTO Maintenance Committee Chair
FP2 Update
FHWA Update
Keynote Address
• Session 2: Equipment and Placement Process: Consisted of short ten minute presentations on equipment and placement procedures. Both full depth repairs and diamond grinding were featured.
• Session 3: Pavement Preservation Basics: Provided introductions to the major preservation treatments including concrete treatments.
• Session 5: Concrete Preservation: Provided specific treatment information on partial and full depth repairs, joint sealing, dowel bar retrofit, and diamond grinding.
• Session 7: Pavement Preservation Research: Provided overviews of preservation research including automated distress measurement updates.
• Session 8: Training, Certification and Accreditation: MnDOT’s knowledge book as well as AASHTO’s laboratory accreditation process were presented.
• Session 9: Local Agency Approaches: Provided presentations on how local agencies were integrating preservation into their programs.
The Virtual National Preservation Conference 2021 was recorded. For the recordings, please go to the National Center for Pavement Preservation website: http://www.pavementpreservation.org/
For the ISCP article titled “NCPP2021 VIRTUAL Conf: May 17-21: 9 Sessions/5 Days; Concrete Pavements; Sponsorships!”, please go to: www.concretepavements.org/2021/02/16/ncpp2021-virtual-conf-may-17-21-9-sessions-5-days-concrete-pavements-sponsorships/
Looking Back at the SPS-2 Pooled Fund Study Results
Click to enlarge
The Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) SPS-2 experiment for Rigid Pavements is the largest and most comprehensive concrete pavement research program undertaken in the world. The pooled fund project will be concluding in October 2021, and in recognition of the value of this research, Larry Scofield provides a look back at the research and its major results
14 states constructed SPS-2 experiments
12 core test sections, along with optional additional sections of interest to the respective state, at each location:
—Constructed between 1992 and 2000
—64 % of the original 207 test sections are still in service
—Experiment evaluated the effects of 5 design variables on plain jointed dowelled concrete pavement:
-thickness
-flexural strength
-lane width
-base type
-drainage
—Climatic region and subgrade soil were also evaluated
—Comprehensive materials testing and rigorous performance monitoring occurred from cradle to grave
2013
• 7 states (AZ, CA, CO, GA, KS, NC, WA) formed a pooled study to investigate creating a SPS-2 preservation experiment to extend the life of the original experiment
—Washington DOT was the lead state for the pooled fund
—experiment evolved, it was realized that it would be useful to compare the predicted performance to the actual performance of each test section
—Advent of AASHTO’s PMED software, it is now possible to compare the predicted performance assumed by the design, to actual in-service performance
Table 1:
Indicates the many investigations that have occurred during this study
2015
The pooled fund contracted with NCE to conduct the SPS-2 research. As part of the pooled fund effort, NCE participated in all the SPS-2 Tech Days held at many of the sites. ACPA will be adding highlights of the research program to our website soon. For the ACPA page, please go to: https://www.acpa.org/industry-news/28960/