Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Lori Wilson will be the keynote speaker at the CalAPA Annual Membership Meeting & Awards Dinner, which will take place on Thursday, Jan. 16 at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles. Details and on-line registration for the event is HERE.

Wilson, D-Suisun City, represents the 11th District in the Assembly, which includes all of Solano County and portions of Contra Costa and Sacramento counties. Cities that fall within her district include Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Oakley, Rio Visa, Suisun City, Vacaville and Vallejo. Prior to her election to the Assembly in April of 2022, she was the first black female mayor to serve in Solano County. First elected to the Suisun City Council in 2012, she served as vice mayor for six years before being elected mayor in 2018. CalAPA members met with her earlier this year during the association's annual "Fly-in" to the State Capitol. Her official biography is HERE.

The festive evening will include an installation of officers for 2025, and the induction of longtime paving contractor and CalAPA Board Member Norman "Skip" Brown into CalAPA's "Hall of Fame," as well as other festivities.

The Annual Dinner, one of the most popular CalAPA events of the year, will take place once again at the elegant Jonathan Club, 545 S. Figueroa St. in downtown Los Angeles. The surf-and-turf menu, fine wine and epic desserts make the event one members and spouses look forward to attending every year. The dress code for the event is business attire, and it will be strictly enforced by the Jonathan Club. Details on the dress code can be found HERE.

The reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the dinner program commencing at 7 p.m. Space is limited and offered on a first-come, first served basis, so early registration is strongly recommended. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Sophie You of CalAPA at (916) 791-5044.

Earlier this year, Caltrans created a technical working group with industry partners to develop a new asphalt mixture design methodology that aligns with national Balanced Mix Design (BMD) trends. This mix design methodology incorporates testing that provides both rutting (i.e. stability and deformation) and cracking (i.e. fatigue, thermal, etc.) characteristics of the designed asphalt mixture.

The consensus of the group is the current design methodology (both Hveem and Superpave) utilized by Caltrans does not adequately assess the mixture performance when materials other than rock and virgin binders are combined. This new design methodology will allow designers and owners the ability to optimize mixture performance and sustainability by assessing mixtures that contain higher percentages of recycled materials (i.e. RAP, RAS, Rubber, plastic, etc.) and that include performance additives (i.e. WMA, polymers, rejuvenators, fibers, etc.).

Recently, the University of California Pavement Research Center (UCPRC) completed construction of several new Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS) test sections that will assist in the Caltrans’ evaluation of the BMD methodology. These full-scale test sections were constructed by a CalAPA member, the Reed Family Companies (formerly known as the George Reed Co.), on a cool and breezy November day at the UCPRC Advanced Transportation Infrastructure Research Center (ATIRC) in Davis. In the picture at right, the paving machine is shown placing asphalt mixture as the orange HVS is in the background.

The UCPRC will test and evaluate the surface layers placed to understand how the proposed BMD test methods characterize the mixtures for rutting and reflective cracking. The four asphalt surface mixtures used in this study include a control asphalt mix typical of mixtures produced in the Sacramento region, the same mix with natural sand instead of manufactured sand, the control mix with a high rejuvenator addition, as well as the control mix with a significantly increased binder content. UCPRC researchers will utilize the HVS to simulate decades of traffic loading within months.

Data collection and evaluation is scheduled for completion in late 2026. The test sections were constructed on top of a rich bottom layer and an intermediate layer that typifies the design methodology for the Caltrans Long-Life (Perpetual) Pavement Design. These lower sections of pavement will remain in place after the BMD section evaluation is completed and will be utilized in future pavement research efforts.

The information from this HVS evaluation will assist the Caltrans/industry working group to develop and implement the BMD methodology in California. For more information on the UCPRC, click HERE. An in-depth interview with Dr. John Harvey, the Director of the UCPRC, that appeared in a past issue of CalAPA’s California Asphalt Magazine, can be accessed HERE. For more information, contact CalAPA Director of Technical Services, Brandon Milar, P.E., at (916) 791-5044.

CalAPA members and the asphalt industry were well-represented last week at the Rocky Mountain West Pavement Preservation Partnership conference held in Sacramento.

Current CalAPA Chairman Scott Metcalf with Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions and former CalAPA Chairman Jeff Reed with the Reed Family Companies were among the attendees on hand to hear the latest on pavement preservation best practices, techniques, standards and more. New Caltrans State Pavement Engineer Tigi Thomas also was in attendance to represent the state of California.

Buzz Powell, Ph.D., P.E., Technical Director of the CalAPA-supported Asphalt Pavement Alliance attended to provide a national perspective on asphalt pavement maintenance, durability and value. He is pictured with CalAPA Technical Director Brandon Milar at the event. Powell recently sat down for an in-depth interview with CalAPA's California Asphalt magazine, which can be accessed on-line HERE.

The Rocky Mountain West Pavement Preservation Partnership is made up of representatives from 13 state DOTs, local highway agencies, two Canadian provincial transport agencies, consultants and academia. The AASHTO TSP-2 sponsors four regional pavement preservation meetings to support sharing of information and best practices on treatment designs, construction practices, performance measures and research. To learn more about the partnership, click HERE. To learn more about the CalAPA-supported Asphalt Pavement Alliance, click HERE.

Susana Mitchell with CalAPA member Taylor Environmental Services proudly represented the Women of Asphalt California Branch during a recent event held at an Astec Industries facility in Tennessee.

News coverage of the Nov. 7-8 event in Chattanooga, Tenn., can be found on-line HERE.

"The seminar was great," Mitchell tells Asphalt Insider. "I got to hear stories of how peers made it to their careers in the asphalt industry, and also hear the challenges faced along the way. It was great to see old friends and meet new faces. I highly recommend attending a seminar in the future!"

To learn more about the Women of Asphalt California Branch, click HERE.

Recent developments in the oil industry impacting California has prompted the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to seek to meet with industry representatives to determine if changes are warranted in the Statewide Crude Oil Price Index used by contractors to guard against price fluctuations between the time they bid on a contract and when the asphalt is actually purchased and placed during construction.

As it has in the past, CalAPA is partnering with Caltrans to hold the meeting and is gathering names of those who would like to participate. Joseph Dongo with the Caltrans Division of Construction, is the point-person on the effort for the Department. Those who would like to receive an invitation to the meeting should contact CalAPA, or alternately, contact Caltrans at: Oil.Index@dot.ca.gov . The meeting is expected to take place sometime in December.

The Caltrans Statewide Crude Oil Price Index was first developed during the 1970s in response to wild price spikes triggered by the Arab Oil Embargo. It has been refined several times since. It is used to calculate payment adjustments for paving asphalt under the special provisions section "Payment Adjustments for Price Index Fluctuations" for those contractors who have opted in to the index. If prices increase past a certain level, contractors can seek additional compensation from Caltrans, and if prices decrease, the department can seek a price credit on the contract.

Caltrans and industry representatives last met on the topic in 2020, during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when oil prices globally underwent major changes. The California Statewide Crude Oil Price Index is determined each month by Caltrans using the average of the posted crude oil prices by Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips for the Buena Vista and Midway Sunset fields. Chevron recently announced that it would no longer post its California domestic crude prices as of Jan. 1. That announcement is HERE. Meanwhile, and the Phillips 66 refinery complex in Los Angeles County recently announced they would cease operations sometime next year. That announcement is HERE. Those events prompted Caltrans to seek a review the index. More information about the index can be found HERE.

CalAPA members seeking more information on this topic should consult a Nov. 8 "Member Alert," or contact CalAPA Executive Director Russell Snyder at (916) 791-5044.

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

ADMIXTURE: That which is added and mixed. For example: Calcium or sodium chloride, clay, sand, etc., added to a gravel road surface.

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.

PROJECT REVIEW: Every paving project should start with a detailed review of the project's contract, plans, and specifications. Any questions arising from this review should be directed to the design firm's engineers.

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.

INTERNATIONAL ROUGHNESS INDEX: Mathematical measurement of road's smoothness.

"If I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me."



– Ralph Waldo Emerson

We hope you enjoy CalAPA's Asphalt Insider newsletter. We are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information on technical issues, regulation, news, analysis, people, events and trends in California that is of interest to the asphalt pavement industry and our various agency partners. To subscribe to the newsletter, click HERE. For comments, questions or to suggest a story idea, click HERE.

Sincerely,

Russell W. Snyder, CAE

Executive Director

The California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®