A number of new Calttrans executive leadership appointments have been announced, many with asphalt pavement connections. And a key vacancy will occur next month when the chief of the Caltrans Office of Asphalt Pavement, Cathrina Barros, retires from state service, Asphalt Insider has learned.

Former State Pavement Engineer Sergio Aceves, a 26-year veteran of the department, was named new District 3 director, a regional office based in Marysville that encompasses a wide swath of the Central Valley, including Sacramento and is home to 2,200 full-time employees.

In addition to heading up the Division of Pavements, he also served as a resident engineer. SHOPP Manager, Deputy District Director of Maintenance and Traffic Operations. For a time he served as acting Deputy Director for Maintenance and Operations. Aceves has had numerous interactions with the asphalt pavement industry, including from his leadership position at the Caltrans-industry Pavement & Materials Partnering Committee (PMPC), and speaking at CalAPA events.

In a Nov. 5 internal e-mail, Caltrans Director Tony Tavares said Aceves "emphasizes the importance of collaboration, working with internal and external partners to shape planning and programming efforts effectively."

Tavares also announced that Janice Benton was appointed permanent Deputy Director for Maintenance and Operations. She has currently serving in the role as an acting capacity. Maintenance & Operations is one of the sponsors of the PMPC and is over the Division of Pavements.

Tavares noted she has been with Caltrans for more than 30 years, and recently served as the department's point person on its middle-mile broadband initiative. She also worked for nine years in the Division of Design, including five years as division chief. She also spent 16 years in various areas in Traffic Operations.

"I’m excited about the opportunity to lead our Maintenance and Operations programs and look forward to continuing the great partnership with industry organizations to further our core principles of Safety, Climate, Equity and Prosperity," Benton told Asphalt Insider. "Strong partnerships and collaboration across Caltrans and Industry are so important to being successful in meeting our mission of improving lives and communities through transportation."

Tavares also announced that Grace Magsayo was appointed District 10 Director. She has been working in the regional district based in Stockton for the past 18 years, and most recently served as acting district director. She joined the department in 1998 and also worked in Caltrans Districts 4 and 6. She also has design manager, project manager and, most recently, Deputy District Director for Program, Project and Asset Management. She gained notice through her work with several internal reorganizations, Tavares said in the announcement.

The new District 11 Director, based in San Diego, will be Ann Fox. For the past year she has been acting Deputy Director for Planning and Modal Programs. With 29 years experience at Caltrans, she has worked in planning, design, project management and traffic operations. Tavares said that while in District 11, "she managed wide-ranging multi-modal programs ... implementing a portfolio of highly visible, complex transportation projects within San Diego and Imperial counties."

Marlon Flournoy was appointed as Deputy Director of Planning & Modal Programs. Flournoy began his career with Caltrans in 1999 and has more than 25 years experience in transportation planning at the state and local level. He has been the chief of the Caltrans Division of Transportation Planning since August of 2019.

Meanwhile, Cathrina Barros, the current chief of the Office of Asphalt Pavements within the Division of Pavements, will be retiring from state service next month, Asphalt Insider has learned.

Barros is a familiar face to the asphalt pavement industry, having been active in the implementation of Warm Mix Asphalt standards in 2010, and speaking at numerous CalAPA events. After taking on other assignments, she returned to her asphalt roots when she took over as the Chief of the office of Asphalt Pavements in 2021. She was made permanent in the position in 2022. She also took up the mantle of co-chair of the Women of Asphalt California Branch. A previous Asphalt Insider story about Barros HERE. Information on the Women of Asphalt California Branch is HERE.

Contacted by Asphalt Insider, Barros said, “First of all, I’d like to thank all the CalAPA colleagues that I’ve worked with over the past three years. The input and expertise I’ve received is a great contribution to our office. Leaving my position is truly bittersweet. I am thankful that my 37-year Caltrans career provides me the benefit of closing this chapter at a relatively young age. But I recognize there are so many exciting, upcoming efforts that Caltrans and industry are just getting started, such as BMD (Balanced Mix Design) and EPD’s (Environmental Product Declarations), that I would love to see through."

"I have the utmost confidence that the current team will carry these through expertly," Barros added. "I am truly thankful to end my Caltrans career exactly how I wanted -- as the Chief for the Office of Asphalt Pavements.” 

CalAPA presents an exclusive offering in California of the Airfield Asphalt Certification class, to take place Dec. 16-19 in Cerritos. Successful completion of this nationally recognized class earns attendees a certificate required on many airfield projects. Details and on-line registration can be found HERE.

The class is being conducted by instructors from the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University. The class is typically held at Auburn University in Alabama, but by special arrangement by CalAPA the equivalent class will be held in Southern California, saving local attendees travel and lodging costs.

Space is limited and offered on a first-come, first served basis, so early registration is strongly recommended. The class will take place at G3 Quality, 13850 Cerritos Corporate Drive, Suite E in Cerritos.

The certification provided through the lectures and hands-on demonstrations will enable lab technicians to provide sampling and testing services on Department of Defense (DOD) airfield asphalt pavement projects. The Unified Facilities Guide Specification (UFGS) was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC), and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) for DOD construction projects. In November 2020, an update to the asphalt paving sections of the UFGS added the requirement for certified quality control project team members. Contractor submittals now require certifications for asphalt paving inspectors, asphalt laboratory technicians, and quality control managers. Students who successfully complete this course and pass the exam will receive the certification that meets the UFGS requirements for the asphalt laboratory technician.

Military airfield specification requirements can be significantly different from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projects. While the certification is not a requirement for work on FAA projects, the concepts and best practices are applicable to work on FAA projects.

This course consists of interactive lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on training of fundamental aggregate and asphalt mixture tests used during asphalt mixture production. The course will be split between classroom lectures and hands-on work using the testing equipment in the laboratory. The course will provide engineers, technicians and testing personnel with an understanding of the sampling and testing requirements associated with airfield asphalt mixture production and construction. Approximately 1 1/2 days will be spent in the classroom and 1 1/2 days will be spent in the laboratory.

A previous Airfield Asphalt Certification class hosted by CalAPA in 2021 sold out quickly. A past issue of CalAPA's California Asphalt magazine that focuses on the airfield market and FAA asphalt pavement specifications is on-line HERE.

For more information on CalAPA technical training classes, contact CalAPA Director of Technical Services, Brandon Milar, P.E, at (916) 791-5044..

Several Asphalt Insider readers reacted to last week's report about a new asphalt paver screed attachment that leaves lines in the freshly paved asphalt mat.

As we reported, Caterpillar has been promoting the field-installed option for its paving machines known as the "CAT SDX Screed Plate System." Caterpillar reports that the design provides dynamic flow of Hot Mix Asphalt through the screed plates to reduce air voids and increase density. Behind the paving machine, however, the device leaves unmistakable lines in the pavement mat that may be unfamiliar to pavement inspectors. The slight indentations diminish during the rolling operation but still may be visible to the naked eye. (A photo from a presentation by CAT's Jeff Mansell helps illustrate the point). A link to last week's Asphalt Insider story is HERE.

Travis McClung, national account manager for Caterpillar Global Construction & Infrastructure wrote, "Thanks for highlighting SDS. It is definitely a game-changer and from our testing, it makes a better mat."

Mike Robinson, a consultant who has conducted CalAPA paving smoothness classes, also pointed out that the device was originally developed by Mike and Stuart Frost of Mountain Construction / Axenox in Lovell, Wyoming. He said the screed attachment was used locally with much success before the devise was acquired by CAT. Axenox has also developed an innovative lute design. More information is HERE.

Of the screed attachment, Robinson said, "The obvious anecdotal evidence is how shallow footprints in the fresh mat are. The data I have seen indicates better compaction behind the screed. I can say I have never driven over mix placed with the screed that didn't ride well."

And finally, CalAPA's Technical Director, Brandon Milar, reminds us that the new and innovative paving technology was featured during a presentation at a 2022 CalAPA asphalt pavement conference by Todd Mansell of CAT.

More information about the device can be found HERE. A brief video of the system is HERE.

While the dust continues to settle, and some votes are still to be counted, one clear outcome from last week's general election stands out: construction was the big winner.

The propensity of voters to change party control of the levers of government has for the most part benefitted construction in recent years, and in particular transportation and road infrastructure.

Consider: Democrats in the California Legislature in 2017 passed SB1, a $50 billion gas tax increase designed to fix roads. That same year, Republicans in Congress delivered on President Donald Trump's signature achievement in his first term, a series of tax cuts that included reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Taken together, both of those actions resulted in an unprecedented windfall for companies in road construction in California.

At the same time, the first Trump administration sought to tamp down on regulations and other profit-sapping measures. When Trump was defeated in 2020, the Democratic Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress delivered on a promise Trump failed to do: pushing through a major infrastructure bill. In this case it was the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. As criticism mounted that the money was too slow to arrive on the scene as projects, voters punished Democrats at the ballot box this year, returning Trump to the White House and turning Senate control over to Republicans. The GOP still maintains a tenuous grasp on the House of Representatives, with a few races, including several in California, yet to be called.

With Republicans firmly in control of Washington, expect more pressure to reduce red tape and regulations that can confound infrastructure construction even as IIJA funds continue to flow to projects. In California, as well, fuel-tax dollars continue to flow to transportation infrastructure projects. Also expect less of an emphasis on climate change, equity and the environment, and more more attention to traditional transportation improvements that enhance efficiency, safety and mobility.

In statewide elections held Nov. 5, meanwhile, the electorate in California continued a generally favorable view of investing in construction, with voters endorsing Proposition 2 (bonds for public school and college facilities), and Proposition 4 (bonds for water, wildlife and climate resilience). The lone defeat was Proposition 5, which would have lowered the threshold to 55% for approving of local infrastructure and housing bonds from the current two-thirds super-majority called for in California's Constitution. That measure was losing with 55% "no" to 44% "yes." The voters appear to be saying yes to building things, even if the state must borrow to do so, but don't mess with tax formulas, a nod to California's Prop. 13 anti-tax heritage of the 1970s.

The Newsom administration, fresh from demonizing the petroleum industry, has pledged to lead the resistance to Trump 2.0, convening a special session of the Legislature to, as his press release claimed, "protect California values." Beyond the political theater, expect government bureaucrats at all levels to hunker down as they try to decipher these mixed messages and figure out what it all means as they spend your money. Our suggestion: just keep it simple and fix the roads. Pretty much everyone can agree on that.

Each week we highlight a word, acronym or other term commonly used in the asphalt pavement industry in California.

RECYCLED ASPHALT SHINGLES (RAS): Removed and reprocessed asphalt shingles used as an additive in Hot Mix Asphalt and various other materials.

Each week we highlight a key point or best practice of interest to asphalt paving crews, inspectors and others working in the field. We welcome suggestions. More tips can be found in our "Asphalt Parking Lot Construction Checklist" HERE. Information on the CalAPA "Quality Paving Certificate" program is HERE.

COMPACTION/DENSITY: The plans and specifications should specify that density is tested. The

inspector needs to monitor the specified compaction density with a gauge to ensure that final

target densities are achieved. Regular visual inspection of the mat during compaction is also

required: look for segregation, indentations, properly sealed joints, and under-compacted areas.

Each week we highlight a term that is specific to climate-change issues related to the asphalt pavement industry. This feature is intended to raise awareness of the asphalt industry's climate-change initiatives and the specialized terminology that goes with them. More information on "The Road Forward" asphalt industry climate initiative can be found HERE. A recent CalAPA magazine story on the topic is HERE.

INTELLIGENT COMPACTION: Compaction of road materials using rollers, computer, and GPS.

"Fear an ignorant man more than a lion.”



– Turkish proverb

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Sincerely,

Russell W. Snyder, CAE

Executive Director

The California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®