tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62795684175117631482024-03-06T12:01:31.525-08:00The Asphalt ForumA site for responsible quarry managers, asphalt producers and laydown specialists to discuss aspects of the industry sponsored by AsphaltPro Magazine.Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-28533247584859084012012-09-11T12:11:00.001-07:002012-09-11T12:11:34.727-07:00What do You Pay for Veteran Workers?<h3>
How Do Employers Continue to Compensate Skilled Workers in Trade Industries?</h3>
<br />
In the asphalt industry, as with most segments of the construction industry as a whole, veteran employees are worth their weight in gold. Unfortunately, employers in today's economic environment aren't always able to pay that price to keep the skilled, 20-year or 30-year worker in his or her position on the team.<br />
<br />
John Ball is the proprietor of <a href="http://www.tqpaving.com/" target="_blank">Top Quality Paving</a> out of Manchester, N.H. He travels to asphalt paving sites around the United States to consult and teach others best paving practices. He has shared with me that our veteran employees who retire leave a knowledge gap that is difficult to fill. The last thing an owner or manager needs to do is let skilled employees leave the industry or--worse--leave the company to join the competitor down the street.<br />
<br />
The younger generation employee with his lower wage requirement may look attractive at first, but his lack of knowledge, unfamiliarity with the industry, short attention span, different work and learning style than the older generation, and other qualities can make him more expensive in the long run. From mistakes to insurance premium hikes to training time, newbies of any age add to overhead.<br />
<br />
What do we as an industry do to train up the next generation of veteran, skilled workers, and how do we accomplish that training while keeping current veteran workers well-compensated and on our team?<div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com1Cape Coral26.5628537 -81.949533124.7373537 -84.476388599999993 28.388353700000003 -79.4226776tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-11693299460672556992011-06-14T14:03:00.000-07:002011-06-14T14:03:14.065-07:00Don't Waste Time When Delivering AsphaltBy John Ball, Proprietor of <a href="http://www.tqpaving.com/">Top Quality Paving</a><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>From the April/May issue of </em><a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/">AsphaltPro</a> <em>Magazine</em></span></span><br />
<br />
It bears repeating: we work with a perishable product. When a haul truck leaves the asphalt plant with a load for the paver, the driver of that truck needs to take the most direct and timely route to the work zone as possible. There shouldn’t be stops along the way for coffee or even tank fill-ups. The foreman on the project has calculated the day’s yield based on many factors, including how long each truck will take to complete the circuit from loadout to loadout.<br />
<br />
<br />
As I’ve outlined in <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine before, on a perfect day, it takes 3 minutes for the truck to get loaded at the plant, another 3 minutes to pick up the loadout ticket and get the tarp in place. If the work zone is 15 miles from the plant, you can figure it’ll probably take the truck 20 minutes to get from point A to point B. It should take another 20 minutes for the truck to back into position, charge the hopper in an even manner and move to the designated area for a quick clean-out. It’s 20 minutes back to the plant and 4 minutes in line to loadout.<br />
<br />
That kind of calculation is valuable to the foreman and others on the paving crew. Truck drivers need to be educated as to why a mess-up in that schedule is detrimental to the crew’s success.<br />
<br />
One of the problems a driver creates if he performs maintenance items or personal business during the route is getting trucks out of number order. The foreman wants to keep the trucks in sequence to keep the mat temperature consistent. Truck 4 should not bypass Trucks 2 and 3 on the way to the paving site because this sets up the crew for mix temperature and compaction variations behind the paver.<br />
<br />
If a truck driver thinks he or she needs to stop for fuel, which would take the truck out of sequence, the foreman needs to tell him that fueling is a house-keeping item to address when the bed is empty. Fuel up before the shift or, if necessary, on the way back to the plant. A truck that takes too long getting to the site and is too far out of sequence suddenly has a load of expensive RAP to haul back to the plant.<br />
<br />
Another idea I recommend is traveling the route before the project begins. If the foreman can assess traffic patterns and when interruptions in traffic patterns might cause asphalt delivery delays, he can adjust the route haul trucks take during peak traffic times or set up an alternate route altogether.<br />
<br />
For instance, if the most direct route between the plant and the work zone takes drivers past a school that experiences heavy bus and carpooling traffic—not to mention children on foot—at regular times in the morning and afternoon, the foreman may suggest a different route that is less direct, but more timely and more comfortable for the community. Maybe the foreman can arrange the paving schedule so deliveries aren’t necessary during the affected hours of peak traffic. Whatever scenario you arrange, taking a pre-project drive of the delivery route will ease the foreman’s mind and set the haul truck drivers up for success.<br />
<br />
Tracking haul trucks has become easier with all the GPS products on the marketplace today. I’ve mentioned Minds Inc. before. Navman Wireless—featured on page 38 of the April/May issue—is another company with GPS tracking software for fleets. These and other companies offer products that give owners the ability to check on truck staging and timing. When a haul truck reaches the plant, the foreman can receive a ring on his phone. He gets another ring when the truck departs. When the truck stops, the GPS lets the system know. Truck drivers get paid by the hour, so GPS tracking can help cut wasted time and money in some situations, and definitely help track the cycle of our perishable product and its best window of opportunity for perfect laydown and compaction. <br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/John%20Ball" rel="tag">John Ball</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/trucking" rel="tag">trucking</a>, <a href="http://technrati.com/tag/hauling" rel="tag">hauling</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/GPS" rel="tag">GPS</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-6232469573629069252011-06-02T13:00:00.000-07:002011-06-02T13:00:07.581-07:00Vote to Extend Now Rather than Later<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">by <a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/"><em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine</a> Editor Sandy Lender</span><br />
<br />
I’m a pretty optimistic person. I do ascribe to the theory that “only the paranoid survive,” but that’s more of a survival mantra than a viewpoint. When it comes to the transportation funding options floating around Congress these days, I’d say my take on things mirrors a mix of paranoia, preparation, hope, prayer, survival plans—a cornucopia of caution, if you will. When it comes to Congress, I don’t often feel comfortable.<br />
<br />
For instance, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is what I’d call a loon.<br />
<br />
She presented a nearly $340 billion plan ($339.2B over six years to be precise) for surface transportation legislation from her Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week that would authorize funding for six years. The mind-boggling aspect of her plan, given all the talk of the Highway Trust Fund an<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjFxA4cfkJlSKQZA5dW5KKqJkHEcmZAOhO7oy3ccEIXuwqCqEDEOlPx_u-FVh2GfYD8bYfquTaq3vTRhGQVf5rGAV5S_-SdpPsLXKzdNGfNGBMMbEgNKujrdBtA3UBnRjjpjk7_UGHQs/s1600/notmyjob+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjFxA4cfkJlSKQZA5dW5KKqJkHEcmZAOhO7oy3ccEIXuwqCqEDEOlPx_u-FVh2GfYD8bYfquTaq3vTRhGQVf5rGAV5S_-SdpPsLXKzdNGfNGBMMbEgNKujrdBtA3UBnRjjpjk7_UGHQs/s320/notmyjob+pic.jpg" t8="true" width="233" /></a></div>d reliable funding during the past few YEARS, is its lack of funding suggestions.<br />
<br />
The woman went on record saying that’s the Finance Committee’s job.<br />
<br />
Really, Babs? Can no one follow through anymore? Does no one take responsibility for the schemes they create? You sound like Ray LaHood. (with less whining)<br />
<br />
As if the $340B price tag—and its football-field-size gap from what The House has been murmuring about—isn’t enough to make a reader stop and say, “Wait, will that pass in today’s climate?” here’s something else of interest she’s suggested for state departments of transportation (DOTs) that are trying to make long-term plans concerning development, redevelopment and repair.<br />
<br />
Borrow what you need.<br />
<br />
Thousands of former homeowners can comment on this option. Boxer recently joined the cheerleading squad to expand TIFIA (the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act). This act gives low-interest loans to states for their federal transportation projects. Apparently, Congress has magically increased TIFIA’s lending power from $122 million annually to $1 billion annually. Boxer encourages state DOTs to get on board the housing market—I mean the transportation market train now to take care of their long-term projects.<br />
<br />
Look, no one has the crystal-encrusted magic wand that makes all members of Congress—especially the freshmen members who don’t think they have a stake in transportation legislation—suddenly work in blissful harmony to pass a highway authorization bill within the next four to six months.<br />
<br />
Senator Boxer has done her Democrat best to present a plan for which someone else will need to prep a funding plan, and John Mica (R-Fla.) will need to raise his sights to reality to get a little closer to her plan. Then everyone else will need to work in concert to draft a bill that gives the transportation industry the money and the confidence it needs to repair the infrastructure that’s been floundering during the highway bill extensions the past couple of years and to build the roadways that ease congestion (thus pollution) and assist economic recovery where necessary.<br />
<br />
If no one in Congress thinks that bill can pass in the next four months, they should go ahead and vote for the SAFETEA-LU extension now, rather than waiting for it to come up to its next deadline in September. Then state DOTs can at least plan for the immediate future and immediate, emergency needs.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(Opinions are those of <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine Editor Sandy Lender.)</span><br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Highway%20Trust%20Fund" rel="tag">Highway Trust Fund</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Highway%20Bill" rel="tag">Highway Bill</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/TIFIA" rel="tag">TIFIA</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-44635324659017694972011-06-02T12:48:00.000-07:002011-06-02T12:48:22.659-07:00Put the Phone Down<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(from the April/May 2011 Editor's Note in <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine)</span><br />
<br />
Smart phones bring a new level of control and communication to the foreman on the paving site. With today’s fleet tracking telematics, the foreman or supervisor can touch a button on the phone’s screen and see any number of facts about the haul trucks and tonnages <em>en route</em> to his project.<br />
<br />
<br />
Think the clouds on the horizon look ominous? Hit the weather app and check into it.<br />
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We could brainstorm a hundred reasons to have a smart phone, an iPad and/or walkie talkies on the paving site including communication with the plant operator, DOT inspectors, dispatchers, quality control personnel and other crew members who aren’t close at hand. Those are wise uses of technology for ground personnel at the plant or foremen out on the road.<br />
<br />
But smart phones have weaseled their way into dangerous positions in our work zones, too. From paver operators to the folks driving 33-plus horsepower compaction equipment through the work zone, construction personnel are taking risks by playing with technology toys at the worst of times.<br />
<br />
When you’re in the control house, on the paver, on the roller, in a haul truck or working in any construction-related capacity, the last thing you need to be doing is sending text messages or visiting with buddies on the phone. You might think you can multi-task with the best of them, but you’re slowing your reaction time and dividing your focus.<br />
<br />
I ask you to stop that.<br />
<br />
Four or five years ago, would you have stopped the paver at a rest stop, hopped down while it was still running, and made a personal phone call to your wife or CPA or fishing buddy from the pay phone next to the rest room? Of course not.<br />
<br />
To leave a paver running while unattended is unheard of. So why would you run a roller while talking on a cell phone to a friend? Why would you run a paver while texting your picks for the next fight to your bookie? Why would you risk quality or safety by dividing your attention between the job you’re being paid an hourly wage to do and personal riffraff?<br />
<br />
Don’t try to justify unsafe practices by texting about work, either. If you have information about the equipment you’re operating, the mix you’re laying or the mat you’re compacting to communicate to a supervisor, there are signals in place to get that information across.<br />
<br />
Since the dawn of paving, we’ve used flags, lights, whistles, hand signals and our voices to communicate more efficiently than putting a phone to our ears amid the engine noise on a paving project.<br />
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Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood may irritate the stuffins out of me when it comes to his policies on high speed rail and funding, but I have to agree with him on his push to get cell phones out of drivers’ hands. Distracted driving too often results in deaths and injuries that could so easily be prevented. Let’s not get into the habit of distracted paving.<br />
<br />
Stay Safe<br />
Sandy Lender (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/distracted%20driving" rel="tag">distracted driving</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/distracted%20paving" rel="tag">distracted paving</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/cell%20phone" rel="tag">cell phone</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/communication" rel="tag">communication</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/smart%20phone" rel="tag">smart phone</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-7466329250449996062011-06-02T12:38:00.000-07:002011-06-02T12:38:54.775-07:00Don't Lie to Me<em><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(from the March 2011 Editor's Note in </span></em><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1139020562"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">AsphaltPro </span></a><em><a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">Magazine</span></a><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">)</span></em><br />
<br />
I’m sure there are honest people within the concrete paving industry. I wonder if they’re as irritated as I am by their industry’s misrepresentation of information about our respective pavement products.<br />
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<br />
I’ve complained in this column before about the Portland Cement Association’s use of incorrect assumptions in their lifecycle cost analyses when comparing asphalt and concrete pavement thicknesses. PCA members didn’t appear interested in facts and figures from members of the Asphalt Institute to make corrections to their equations, so their software remains flawed. The Asphalt Pavement Alliance has since released realistic lifecycle cost analysis software, which can be accessed at <a href="http://asphaltroads.org/">http://asphaltroads.org/</a>. <br />
<br />
At the 56th annual meeting of the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) in Orlando in early February, presenters showed ads from a $1 to $2 million campaign the concrete industry launched against the asphalt industry last year. It’s frustrating to see an ad in which someone claims asphalt pavements fail in a certain number of years. (It sort of makes their lifecycle cost analysis efforts look silly.)<br />
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On a bright note, Howard Marks of NAPA shared a slide in which the actual carbon footprint of HMA sat comfortably on a level just slightly higher than the carbon footprint of WMA with 20 percent RAP. Both were at less than 500 CO<sub>2</sub>e for the 50-year lifecycle of the pavement. It’s impressive to see how little energy asphalt production requires. On that same slide, there was a tall tower of color that represented the carbon footprint of PCC. It was at nearly 2,000 CO<sub>2</sub>e for the same lifecycle of the pavement.<br />
<br />
Holy cow. <br />
<br />
<br />
I didn’t realize how bad it was. So I did some research and found a disturbing quote from a May 24, 2009, article at ScienceDaily.com. “Many scientists currently think at least 5 percent of humanity’s carbon footprint comes from the concrete industry…” The article explained that civil and environmental engineering professor Liv Haselbach of Washington State University is evaluating the lifecycle carbon footprint of traditional and new concrete applications, and looking for ways to improve them.<br />
<br />
Apparently, they need improvement because the PCC folks are making up concepts like “feedstock energy” to try and make asphalt pavements appear as bad as the concrete industry’s product. According to the collective minds in the concrete industry, the “feedstock” known as petroleum that becomes entrapped in an asphalt pavement is supposed to remain flammable after its entrapment, thus remain capable of emitting bad stuff. Apparently, if you retract the asphalt from the pavement and burn it—and by doing this alone—you can bring an asphalt pavement’s carbon footprint “up” to a concrete pavement’s carbon footprint.<br />
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You can also make a concrete pavement appear to save on fuel use if you coast downhill on it. Real physics tells us that smooth pavements cut fuel use—thus costs. Real physics, and profilographs, tells us that asphalt pavements are smoother than concrete pavements. Those are facts that can’t be removed by the guise of coasting downhill and publishing the findings in some PR campaign. If we must find something nice to say about that, I guess it would be that by costing the end user more in fuel dollars, the concrete industry is contributing more substantially to the gas tax than the asphalt industry.<br />
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I again invite you to visit <a href="http://asphaltroads.org/">http://asphaltroads.org/</a> to download the free publication “Carbon Footprint: How Does Asphalt Stack Up?” and other items researchers have prepared. These white papers and publications will give you real-world facts and figures you can quote when someone outside of our industry misrepresents information. I find that arming myself with facts and information with which to correct others lessens my irritation.<br />
<br />
Stay Safe<br />
Sandy Lender (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphaltpro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphaltpro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/lifecycle%20cost" rel="tag">lifecycle cost</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/carbon%20footprint" rel="tag">carbon footprint</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-75911422815052258822011-02-18T06:25:00.000-08:002011-02-18T06:25:38.723-08:00What Comes After CONEXPO?<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>(From the February 2011 editor's note in The </em></span><a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>AsphaltPro</em></span></a><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em> Magazine)</em></span><br />
<br />
This issue of The <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine is dedicated to two things: technology and CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011. I’ve noticed that, similar to the turn of a new century, winding up to CONEXPO sends the construction industry into a sort of burst of technological advancement. There’s more on that concept in this issue’s technology roundup article “Automate Your Production Control” on page 18, so I’d like to concentrate on the “event” side of things here.<br />
<br />
With technology and automation comes the promise of doing things more efficiently, more quickly, with better quality, with better control, with precision and with confidence. Whether it’s mixing asphalt at the plant, loading it safely from the silo, tracking it by the minute from Point A to Point Z, or placing it at the perfect depth and rolling it to the perfect density, there’s an app for that. What I wonder is will there be a need for that?<br />
<br />
What are we going to do after the excitement of CONEXPO dies down and we all stare at the messes in our research & development departments. Technology has been on everyone’s collective mind as we rush toward the deadline of March 22—and much earlier if you’re shipping the final product out to a stand in Vegas.<br />
<br />
Drayage invoices and credit card statements make for a financial hangover that puts corporate bosses in a foul mood. They don’t feel so technologically-motivated after CONEXPO, do they? Who carries the load then? Who’s going to come up with the next great idea that provides a super funding idea for the transportation construction industry?<br />
<br />
Ah, yes. After CONEXPO, we still have to fight for our right to support the nation. The President’s State of the Union address Jan. 25 suggested he’s all for taking care of our crumbling infrastructure. He’s all about getting people back to work fixing our roads, bridges and transportation network.<br />
<br />
The problem is he’s got this grand idea that we can do all that and build a bunch of high-speed trains that few people are interested in while Congress is going behind our backs with secret ballots to appropriate federal highway funds for whatever special need they come up with. AEM’s Dennis Slater and AASHTO’s John Horsley can get up the morning after such a speech and say they’ll hold the President accountable for his promises (and they did), but who in this country believes that man can get anything besides stump speeches done in the next two years?<br />
<br />
It’s Congress we have to appeal to.<br />
<br />
It’s Congress we have to write to.<br />
<br />
It’s Congress that has to create a reliable highway bill this spring.<br />
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It’s Congress that has to pass a strong, fully funded highway bill that contains provisions that keep special interest groups—such as Congress—from undercutting the Highway Trust Fund on a whim.<br />
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It’s Congress that we have to get in touch with and get in touch with right now.<br />
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You all saw the timeline Jay Hansen outlined in this magazine in December. Get on the ball! The President releases his budget in early February, about the time this magazine hits the streets. By the time dandelions start blooming in the cracks in your concrete sidewalks, Congress needs to have a transportation authorization bill drafted. That’s not a lot of time for members of this job-creating force of ours to get ideas in front of the drafters.<br />
<br />
Have you informed your representatives of just how important it is to improve roads and highways? As sad as it sounds, you also have to inform them of how important it is to guarantee funding for improving those roads and highways so your state can make long-term, realistic, efficient plans. Stop-gap measures don’t cut it anymore. This is where we put technology and intelligence to work.<br />
<br />
I asked you what we do after CONEXPO. We can’t wait until after CONEXPO. You and I have to pick up the phone today. After CONEXPO, what does all our fancy technology matter?<br />
<br />
Stay Safe,<br />
Sandy Lender (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Federal%20Highway%20Funding" rel="tag">Federal Highway Funding</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/CONEXPO-CON/AGG" rel="tag">CONEXPO-CON/AGG</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/automation" rel="tag">automation</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/technology" rel="tag">technology</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-67901315956291863362011-02-18T06:13:00.000-08:002011-02-18T06:13:40.504-08:00Let's Sue Someone in 2011<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>(from the January 2011 editor's note in The </em></span><a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>AsphaltPro</em></span></a><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em> Magazine)</em></span><br />
<br />
A new year always rings in with people asking what your New Year’s Resolution will be. I find that irritating 99 percent of the time. As a magazine editor, I have goals and deadlines every day of my life. As a member of the asphalt industry, I have additional goals that involve legislation and letters to city planners. Why would I add more? One of the goals I’d like to specify this January is to talk less about this obnoxious funding issue we’ve been facing the past few years. Aren’t you sick of it? Aren’t you ready for a big ol’ lawsuit to put it to rest?<br />
<br />
<br />
Think about it.<br />
<br />
Roads need to be fixed. The entities that own the roads must be responsible for fixing them or the motorists getting injured are going to sue the pants off those entities. (Pardon my glibness; it’s a function of my frustration with the subject.) I have to believe that once the first multi-million dollar lawsuit hits the courts for a federally-funded highway that didn’t get federally fixed because Congress couldn’t gets its collective act together on funding, we’ll see faster action. What’s the saying? It takes money to make money. For our purposes, I think it takes a discussion of loss of money to make money.<br />
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Perhaps that’s cynical, but it’s better than sending zombies from the concrete industry’s ill-planned pollutant-reactions to frighten our representatives into passing meaningful legislation. (See last month’s editorial column.)<br />
<br />
I mean, the House did vote in a landslide 212 to 206 victory to approve H.R. 3082 back on Dec. 8, which would have continued appropriations for all of FY11. That means all federal government operations, including federal surface transportation and aviation programs, would get extended authorization through Sept. 30. Status quo, people. Status quo. That should be good enough for government work. Then the Senate stepped in and said, “wait, we’d like to add these 7,000 special items right here.” Enter government progress, right?<br />
<br />
So we ended up with more hashing and re-hashing of the same old argument about spending and money and funding and earmarks. In the end, the continuing resolution will only carry our working government through March 4. Name one state DOT that can plan with that.<br />
<br />
James Oberstar, ousted rep from Minnesota, got up Dec. 8 to say he’d rather we were voting to approve an adequate transportation bill that funds a real highway plan. Amen, Brother! As stated on the http://transportation.house.gov website, Oberstar stated that H.R. 3082:<br />
<br />
• rescinds all remaining highway earmarks designated in the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 (STURAA) (P.L. 100-17);<br />
<br />
• rescinds all remaining highway earmarks designated in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) (P.L. 102-240);<br />
<br />
• rescinds all highway projects designated in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) (P.L. 105-178) that have not obligated at least 10 percent of the funds authorized for the project; and<br />
<br />
• rescinds all High Priority Project program funds authorized by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) (P.L. 109-59) that were not designated for use on a specific project.<br />
<br />
What’s left? Apparently, we have $42.3 billion for federal-aid highway programs and $10.5 billion for federal transit programs. I think we’re all aware that that’s not enough to maintain the current system, let alone allow DOTs to plan ahead for serious maintenance projects or congestion-relief projects down the line.<br />
<br />
It looks like 2011 is going to be another spot-check kind of year for industry. I encourage you to call on your Congressmen about funding, but I’m sick and tired of harping on it. I don’t want to spend the next nine months of FY11 haranguing readers to do what should have been done two years ago. This industry needed a long-term authorization plan, and a reliable system to pay for it, long before H.R. 3082 rescinded items and offered meager droppings from Congress’s table. If you’ve not already made the decision to participate in this May’s legislative fly-in to discuss this with your representatives, I can’t imagine a few sarcastic comments in my frustrated editorial column will convince you that you need to add it to your calendar.<br />
<br />
Maybe you need to fall back to Plan B: Find someone who’s already had an accident or lost a loved one on a deteriorated federal roadway. Convince them to sue the pants off one of those Congressmen.<br />
<br />
Let’s get to work.<br />
<br />
Stay Safe,<br />
Sandy Lender (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Federal%20Highway%20Funding" rel="tag">Federal Highway Funding</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
your business with our knowledge base.
Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-90706762948473565132011-02-11T11:05:00.000-08:002011-02-11T11:22:37.981-08:00New Concrete Additive Triggers Zombie Apocalypse<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>(from the December 2010 Editor's Note in </em></span><a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>AsphaltPro</em></span></a><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em> Magazine)</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #f9cb9c; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">"It’s just interesting to theorize about the displacement of decomposed pollutant products from a chemical reaction within a concrete pavement."</span> <em>-Sandy Lender, AsphaltPro Editor</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">This is an editorial column, so I hope everyone sees this use of dramatic license as humorous. I guess I could have saved it for April 1st but this is the fourth annual State of the Industry issue of <em><a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/">AsphaltPro</a></em> and we should discuss what the competition is up to. Apparently, the Portland Cement Association (PCA) as a collective is preparing to release toxic decomposed organic compounds into the air and groundwater of densely populated communities as the association’s pavements erode, crack and fail during the next decade, slowly turning us into the walking dead.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
By the time PCA officials complete this insidious plan, all DOT engineers will have been brainwashed into believing they helped the environment, when in fact they sped society’s eventual collapse by bringing about a zombie apocalypse. I wonder if anyone at MoDOT suspects they’re spurring the end of civilized society in the United States. See the fact-oriented, related article on page 24 and note the integrity of MoDOT to cooperate with <a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/">AsphaltPro</a> to get information to you about the Ladue Road/photocatalytic concrete project. My hat’s off to the gentlemen there for helping me present just the facts.<br />
<br />
As most zombie-causing infectious diseases do, the concept of smog-eating concrete starts with intelligent science. Researchers in Europe have put Titanium dioxide (TiO2) in concrete. This ultra white pigment makes the concrete very pretty.<br />
<br />
TiO2 also causes a chemical reaction within the concrete when exposed to ultraviolet light. Here’s where the zombie movie picks up speed and audience members lean forward in their seats.<br />
<br />
The chemical reaction takes place between ultra-ickies from the air (like dirt, soot, mold, etcetera) and the TiO2. The “bad” reactants break down—decompose—but the TiO2 is supposed to remain unharmed and ready for more pollutants from the air to settle on the pavement and get caught in its wily web.<br />
<br />
To be honest, that’s pretty cool. But where do the products of the chemical reaction within the pavement go? According to Italian research (Ground Zero in zombie apocalypse terms), the concrete matrix traps the decomposed toxins.<br />
<br />
Once again, that’s pretty cool. But there’s a catch. We all know concrete spawls. We all know concrete fails. We all know concrete has those obnoxious bumps every few yards where water gets in and causes the rebar to rust and expand and send cracks up to the surface. We all know concrete has to be “fixed.” As the concrete fails, the decomposed pollutants do what? And, of course, some products of the chemical reaction, by the photocatalytic concrete pavement’s design, wash down and away.<br />
<br />
I theorize that these decomposed pollutants escape into the ground water (by design) and into the air (through pavement failures) on a regular basis and <em>en masse</em> during a pavement’s reconstruction. This is the part of the movie where somebody on-screen breathes too deeply, convulses and starts eating his fellow construction worker’s brain. Someone in the audience screams and tosses popcorn. The camera pans to a bloodied hard hat on the ground.<br />
<br />
Of course this whole editorial column is designed to be a bit corny. No zombies will rise up from the use of photocatalytic concrete pavements. It’s just interesting to theorize about the displacement of decomposed pollutant products from a chemical reaction within a concrete pavement. If smog suddenly defies its natural tendency to float skyward, that is. I mean…does it settle onto pavements? There’s a funneling trick I’d like to see.<br />
<br />
I’m off to buy an industrial-strength can opener and more ammo for just in case! In the meantime, I wish you all a lovely holiday season devoid of monsters and filled with family and friends. May you have a peaceful and prosperous 2011.<br />
<br />
Stay Safe, <br />
Sandy Lender, Editor (sandy @ theasphaltpro dot com) <br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/concrete" rel="tag">concrete</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/additive" rel="tag">additive</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Titanium%20dioxide" rel="tag">Titanium dioxide"</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/zombies" rel="tag">zombies</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/zombie%20apocalypse" rel="tag">zombie apocalypse</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-57646794520468096282011-02-11T10:48:00.000-08:002011-02-11T10:48:18.248-08:00Have You Renewed?<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>(from the November 2010 Editor's Note in The </em></span><a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>AsphaltPro</em></span></a><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em> Magazine)</em></span><br />
<br />
Funny. This note is NOT about recycling (or this month’s automation and technology theme). This note is about subscribing. Let me give you a short story that’s directly related to my point.<br />
<br />
<br />
In my non-asphalt life, I write fiction. One of the most prominent magazines in my second career is called <a href="http://www.rofmag.com/">Realms of Fantasy</a> (<em>ROF</em>). That magazine went under a couple years ago and a great outcry from the fantasy fiction community was heard around the world. A new publisher took up the reins immediately, and <em>ROF</em> had new life. They depend on both subscriptions and advertising to pay the bills. It has ample advertising support, but far too many readers believe it’s still defunct. The editorial board provided an awesome review of my second novel in their June 2010 issue, but I wonder how many readers saw it. They need more subscribers to sign up for the magazine.<br />
<br />
Now let’s apply that story to the print version of your asphalt industry resource. <em>AsphaltPro</em> is advertiser-supported, so we get to mail it to you free of charge if you reside in the United States, Canada or Mexico. Overseas subscriptions are another ballgame, but we still get it to you.<br />
<br />
The thing is, we have a similar concern to <em>ROF</em>. We need subscribers to fill out a subscription card (found in every issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em>) to receive the magazine so we can prove to our advertisers that folks out there know we exist and read our pages.<br />
<br />
You and I know readers are paying attention to <em>AsphaltPro</em> content. You call me on the phone. You send me notes—both e-mail and snail mail. You grab my arm at tradeshows and annual meetings to tell me about something you read in the magazine that you used at the plant or in the lab or on the paving site (such as the IC or plant controls articles in this month’s automation and technology issue).<br />
<br />
Folks, that stuff makes my day!<br />
<br />
But marketing reps can’t convince their bosses to advertise in a magazine based on the editor sharing anecdotes. We have to prove that you’ve sent in a signed subscription card. Gone are the days when people merely trust each other.<br />
<br />
Isn’t that a shame?<br />
<br />
If you enjoy <em>AsphaltPro</em>, fill out the subscription card in this magazine and send it back to us with your signature on it so we have it on file. If you have to share your issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em> with someone else in your company, fill out the card in this magazine to get your own copy. Maybe you want a lab tech or maintenance crew member in your company to get a copy; fill out the form for him or her. <em>AsphaltPro</em> makes an inexpensive Christmas present. (Although you probably ought to get him or her a Hickory Farms basket, too.)<br />
<br />
If someone has already used the card in this issue, visit our website at www.theasphaltpro.com and click on the “Subscribe Now” link to fill out <a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/subscribe-contact/subscribe">the form</a> online. We’ll set you up with your own free subscription and we’ll be able to prove to the world what you and I already know.<br />
<br />
Stay Safe, <br />
Sandy Lender, Editor (sandy @ theasphaltpro dot com) <br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/subscriptions" rel="tag">subscriptions</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
your business with our knowledge base.
Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-83552338679985067222010-10-28T11:48:00.000-07:002010-10-28T11:50:12.342-07:00The Man Said NoWith a concept similar to what state DOTs have dealt with for the past couple of years, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made a decision this week. He decided not to move forward with the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project.<br />
<br />
ARC was a large, multi-billion-dollar rail tunnel project that would move commuters from New York to New Jersey and back again. The published goal was to reduce congestion.<br />
<br />
While that’s a nice goal, it left me with a few questions concerning its proposed drop-off points. I felt sympathy for the taxpayers who wanted New York’s DOT to foot a commensurate amount of the bill with New York’s benefits from the project, and with those who wanted more important stops added to the train’s destination. It looked as though political haggling would then delay a project that the higher-ups needed to ramrod through right away.<br />
<br />
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who seems more interested in where we have our hands when we’re driving than where we’ll get funding for making roads safer, made a special plea to Governor Christie earlier in October to keep the project alive. You see, the feds were only paying part of the bill, yet seemed to hang their political hats on the project’s success.<br />
<br />
According to the Oct. 27 post on <a href="http://transportationnation.org/2010/10/27/lahoods-arc-reaction-i-am-extremely-disappointed/">TransportationNation.org</a> bemoaning Christie’s economic decision and giving LaHood yet another place to whine, “FTA does not require cash commitments to deal with such contingencies, and only requires that a project sponsor identify a non-Federal funding stream that could be called upon to cover contingency costs.”<br />
<br />
Apparently, Christie didn’t want to search for additional funding streams. He didn’t want the offered loan from the USDOT Railroad and Rehabilitation Improvement Financing program. He didn’t want to set up a public-private partnership assuming some of the risk.<br />
<br />
I wonder if he figured he’d be looking for streams to fund the drying federal well. Think about it. If you’re counting on funds from an unreliable national trough, why move forward with a $9 billion-plus project that someone has already said might creep over the $10 billion mark if a few small bits and pieces go awry?<br />
<br />
So Governor Christie has made a sound business decision based on what all 50 states have been basing infrastructure decisions on for the past couple of years: lack of long-term funding reliability from the top. Where’s the reauthorization plan to back up the infrastructure plan LaHood wants Christie to sign off on? Ain’t seen it yet.<br />
<br />
Let’s get a long-term authorization plan for transportation infrastructure in place before we badmouth the planners for not planning ahead. The project that Christie had no confidence in could have reduced congestion. It could have provided jobs and stimulated the economy exponentially because that’s what construction projects do. But construction projects don’t materialize out of thin air. They require reliable funding sources. I think Governor Christie gets that.<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/ARC" rel="tag">ARC</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Governor%20Christie" rel="tag">Governor Christie</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/reauthorization" rel="tag">reauthorization</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/federal%20highway%20funding" rel="tag">federal highway funding</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-19510368705964408262010-10-13T07:29:00.000-07:002010-10-13T07:29:18.600-07:00AP Website Delivers the How-to Industry Resource You’ve Been Waiting For<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;"><em>(from the October 2010 Editor's Note in AsphaltPro Magazine)</em></span><br />
<br />
Let’s face it: when creative minds get together, they tend to overproduce a project. I think that’s one of the reasons people roll their eyes when you suggest forming a committee to work on something. Committees tend to slow progress. For <em>AsphaltPro</em> magazine, we’ve been working on a creative project off and on for three years—our website. Here’s where the committee comes in.<br />
<br />
<br />
The staff at <em>AsphaltPro</em> is more than the Chris Harrison-Sally Shoemaker-<a href="http://www.authorsandylender.com/">Sandy Lender</a> team that you’ve known for years and met at tradeshows and state association meetings. While the three of us have our experience in publishing and the asphalt industry to recommend us for building a first-class asphalt business website, we also have our creative sides that recommend us for building something aesthetically pleasing.<br />
<br />
Then we have two artists in our headquarters office who can build, create and design in their sleep! Combined, the staff has 62 years in magazine publishing (more than 33 of it specifically in the asphalt industry). That’s a lot of creative juices. Add in a whole company in our headquarters town that designs websites for a living and I think you get the picture.<br />
<br />
I don’t mind telling you that the team has pulled out a lot of hair over the website project. We wanted something that looked full, yet clean and easy to navigate. We wanted something filled with content and useful information, yet quick to load. We wanted something that complemented the print magazine, yet didn’t compete with it and certainly wasn’t redundant. I can’t tell you how annoyed I get with magazine sites that merely regurgitate their print information. Why would I pay for one when the other is free? Why would I support the murder of innocent trees to have a magazine sent to my home if the editor’s just going to put the information up on a website a week or two after it arrives? That’s stupid and irresponsible. I have no patience for it.<br />
<br />
Creative minds want to build something superior to that.<br />
<br />
So we did.<br />
<br />
I present to you: <a href="http://theasphaltpro.com/">TheAsphaltPro.com</a>.<br />
<br />
Of course there are departments and articles that bear regurgitation. But it doesn’t take an outside expert to tell us that magazine readers and web readers tolerate different styles. We’ve edited our content for the web to make it user-friendly. When you visit <a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/">http://www.theasphaltpro.com/</a>, you’re not going to be stuck in front of a monitor trying to read tiny type in magazine format. No…I give classes on website and blog development and intelligent online social media use. I’ll be presenting this kind of marketing information at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in March to assist contractors and producers to use their online presence effectively.<br />
<br />
We know what we’re doing at <em>AsphaltPro</em> not just in the asphalt arena, not just in the magazine publishing arena, but also in the website presentation arena. Now we’re offering a pleasing, informative, useful website to the masses. I invite you to visit <a href="http://www.theasphaltpro.com/">http://www.theasphaltpro.com/</a> often for updates and information that impacts your bottom line. Then be sure to send me a note about the site’s efficacy. Let me know what else we can add to the site or to this blog to enhance your business.<br />
Stay Safe,<br />
Sandy Lender (sandy @ theasphaltpro dot com)<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/website" rel="tag">website</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/launch" rel="tag">launch</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/CONEXPO-CON/AGG" rel="tag">CONEXPO-CON/AGG</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
your business with our knowledge base.
Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-82522611369432932472010-09-09T07:37:00.000-07:002010-09-09T07:37:52.510-07:00What Nice Rhetoric You Offer, Mr. PresidentBy Sandy Lender, Editor, <em>AsphaltPro</em><br />
<br />
At a Labor Day celebration earlier this week, President Obama unveiled a surprise for road-builders. He has a six-year plan for re-building roads and rail. Apparently, he doesn’t have a plan to PAY for re-building roads and rail, but he’d like to see us fix up 150,000 miles of road and put down 4,000 miles of track.<br />
<br />
Not too shabby.<br />
<br />
I’d like to suggest to my boss, whom many of you know, that we just hire some extra editorial staff, bump up the pages of <i>AsphaltPro </i>to about 102 per issue, add three safety features per issue, and tack on some producer and contractor profiles per issue so we can showcase more “here’s how your peers can help you succeed” information. Wouldn’t that be cool? Who cares how it gets paid for!? My plan is what’s important. Now aren’t all you readers behind me? You’d help me get the extra staff elected, right?<br />
<br />
Not too shabby.<br />
<br />
The fact of the matter is 20 percent of the construction industry is out of work right now. Fact check that at any unemployment, ARRA, or construction resource you like. We’ve all got the same figures. During President Obama’s speech Monday, he called it “nearly one in five construction workers.” (For non-industry readers visiting the blog, that number will see its seasonal increase this winter.) The scary thing is this: folks are afraid of how we’re going to pay to keep roads and bridges safe, thus the 80 percent of workers employed right now and the President’s strategy for transportation are endangered.<br />
<br />
I think it would help if we could get it through representatives’ minds that user fees and taxes are different beasts, and they need to educate their constituents on that fact. Here’s an example:<br />
<br />
I have a friend named Joe who owns a small red car. Joe purchases gas for that car regularly, thus pays a user fee for the Highway Trust Fund. Joe has a friend whom we’ll call Pete who does not own a car. Pete does not have a driver’s license. (Pete isn’t a conspiracy theorist, but he does live “off the grid,” if you catch my drift. In fact, I’m not using his real name.) Pete never pays the user fee for the Highway Trust Fund because Pete does not buy gas to walk around on our sidewalks and streets. When Pete has a doctor appointment in Miami, he borrows Joe’s little red car and has a friend, whom we’ll call Dolores, drive him across the state. At that time, Pete buys gas for the car. He’s using the system and paying the user fee that day.<br />
<br />
Do you see? The gasoline user fee is not a tax. Pete doesn’t pay it when he’s not using it. Neither does anyone else who opts to ride a bike or walk around or take free transportation.<br />
<br />
Is that how we’ll pay for the President’s new transportation strategy? Or will Congress, already hesitant to talk about “taxes,” shoot it down? You can visit <a href="http://www.hotmix.org/highwaybill">NAPA's site</a> to get more information. Also check out a <a href="http://fs1.hotmix.org/jay/mi.pdf">popular Congressional opinion</a> on tax increases.<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Federal%20Highway%20Funding" rel="tag">Federal Highway Funding</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/transportation" rel="tag">transportation</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/user%20fee" rel="tag">user fee</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
your business with our knowledge base.
Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-70034303860704692422010-08-25T15:38:00.000-07:002010-08-25T15:38:43.191-07:00Give Us Something We Can Rely On<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(from the August/September 2010 Editor's Note of <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine)</span><br />
<br />
For quite some time now I’ve suggested that raising the gasoline user fee to supplement the Highway Trust Fund would be problematic. I’ve encouraged members of the asphalt industry to write in with their ideas for funding; I’ve offered some painful ideas of my own. Now, I’m disappointed to say, the secretary of transportation has made what I consider an irresponsible announcement for someone in his position by stating “raising the gas tax is not an option.”<br />
<br />
How dare he slam that door?<br />
<br />
He’s falling back on the already disproved concept of toll roads and the not-yet-disproved Obama plan for highway funding. I cringe. I assume I don’t have to explain to the <em>AsphaltPro</em> audience the problems with relying on tolls for funding—or the sudden detriment to parallel corridors and those corridors’ pavement maintenance plans when tolls are set in place.<br />
<br />
We can all agree the current gasoline user fee doesn’t cover Highway Trust Fund needs. You don’t need me to tell you it’s been losing “currency” for years due to inflation and, more recently, due to fewer miles driven and ethanol additives, etc.<br />
<br />
What the trust fund needs is a good shot in the arm with a cost-of-living tax hike. Whether or not such a beast can be conjured during this economy is for the pundits to debate. Although I have an opinion on the matter that’s south of positive, I’m not ready to go down without a fight. There are people who can read a graph, if you present it to them logically. There are people who will understand that the gasoline user fee is a deficit-neutral item that is truly a user fee. If you don’t use the road today, you don’t pay the fee on gasoline today. It’s pretty simple.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the loss of the gasoline user fee’s effectiveness coupled with Congress’s inaction on a long-term reauthorization bill has gutted infrastructure planning and expenditures. Jay Hansen of NAPA pointed out during a transportation coalition webinar at the end of July that this means highway jobs and conditions are at risk. Jobs are at risk to the tune of 870,000 people over the next two years. That’s something your representatives need to know. They have a chance to save their constituents’ jobs if they’ll just get on the ball and get a user fee increase and a reauthorization bill taken care of.<br />
<br />
While we’re on the topic, Congress has bandied about a new transportation bill that throws another $4 billion on top of the expired SAFETEA-LU’s allotted monies. Again, where does the funding come from? We love to see Congress finally give attention to an industry that can rescue the economy and create lasting jobs from one end of the construction spectrum to the other, but <strong>we must enforce the idea that this industry of superheroes deserves to have a strong, reliable, lasting bank account behind it.</strong> Congress needs to put in place not just the rosy idea of planned projects that make a safe, positive transportation infrastructure, but also the resources that make the building of those very real and solid projects possible.<br />
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We must enforce the idea that long-term planning at the state level happens when agencies and owners can rely on the money promised in a transportation bill. The bill must be lasting, it must be stable, it must be adequate for the times. Otherwise, a soft and mushy set of half-plans and half-promises leaves unsteady work orders on tap. What Congress must do is deliver a strong and reliable bill backed by a strong and reliable funding stream so we, as an industry, can deliver a strong and reliable work force with strong and reliable infrastructure for the future.<br />
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Have you shared this message with your representatives? Do they know how important their actions are when it comes to transportation funding legislation? I encourage you to fill them in. Please visit <a href="http://www.hotmix.org/highwaybill">NAPA’s website</a> to download toolkits for contacting your representatives. Also, be sure to take advantage of the brief window you have with your representatives while they’re in their home districts as this issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em> hits your desk. They return to Washington soon and you can reach them in their offices there after Sept. 13.<br />
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Stay Safe,<br />
Sandy Lender<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Highway%20Funding" rel="tag">Highway Funding</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/reauthorization" rel="tag">reauthorization</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-50230103142638276352010-08-25T15:14:00.000-07:002010-08-25T15:40:02.370-07:00Highway Funding from a Local POVYour <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine editor, Sandy Lender, was invited to prepare an article for a Southwest Florida magazine, <em>Business Currents,</em> on the topic of highway funding after ranting about the Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act to the editor one evening. (You will find information about the Kerry-Lieberman bill in the posts below.)<br />
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If you're interested, you can read the locally-slanted piece titled "Highway Funding Affects You, Your Clients" at the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/SandyHwyFunding">Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce website</a>, or try this shortened URL:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/SandyHwyFunding">http://tinyurl.com/SandyHwyFunding</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Sandy%20Lender" rel="tag">Sandy Lender</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Highway%20Funding" rel="tag">Highway Funding</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-82513673025164566212010-07-02T08:38:00.000-07:002010-07-12T08:05:15.467-07:00Sammy Hagar Funding Initiative<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(from the June/July 2010 Editor's Note of <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine)</span><br />
I ask you to bear with me for just a moment while I plagiarize Sammy Hagar.<br />
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<em>Go on & write me up for 125</em><br />
<em>Post my face, wanted dead or alive</em><br />
<em>Take my license & all that jive</em><br />
<em>I can’t drive 55!</em><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6SFL0WHH7Wpt-Rr4FYFYDoulPVOBhB-phS_cpYBPGHj0LAu1qyF_gcO9WMtZAyDqIHmtLaIxAJ-7zZjhuakmbIwdUckVyBU3LjfMNctqORHtF9CZlsC0x7Ev4Ye8_PJcaqd40-H1JaI/s1600/JacksonHagar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6SFL0WHH7Wpt-Rr4FYFYDoulPVOBhB-phS_cpYBPGHj0LAu1qyF_gcO9WMtZAyDqIHmtLaIxAJ-7zZjhuakmbIwdUckVyBU3LjfMNctqORHtF9CZlsC0x7Ev4Ye8_PJcaqd40-H1JaI/s400/JacksonHagar.jpg" width="400" /></a>(Many thanks go out to Steve Jackson of NB West Contracting, Missouri, for sending this shot of himself with Sammy at a show July 1, 2010! Rock on!)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">There’s a reason I’m channeling ’80s hair band rock today. I’ve got an idea. You see, I read an article online about a month or so ago claiming county police officers were stepping up their diligence in detaining and ticketing speeding motorists in an effort to make up languishing budgets in our current economic distress. Of course the obligatory quote from a sheriff suggested that officers are always diligent in keeping motorways safe, thus there’s no increase in ticketing these days. (Statistics showed otherwise, but that’s not the point of this editorial piece.) The point of this editorial piece is to suggest we make good use of increased diligence in all state highway patrols.</div><br />
I would like to suggest all speeding fines be increased dramatically.<br />
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I would further like to suggest that a significant percentage of all speeding fines assessed by state highway patrol officers be allocated specifically to highway funding.<br />
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I would further like to suggest that the imagined “10-mph grace” allowed for motorists to travel in excess of posted limits be decreased. This will not only enhance motorists’ safety on our nation’s roadways, it will add funding to much-needed highway building and maintenance coffers in every state.<br />
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Now, I have to admit that it pains me to write this editorial. I’m guilty of driving too fast most of the time. The only time I truly slow down is when passing a work zone because I’m aware of the danger to workers there. You can imagine the irritation I cause for following drivers when I approach a work zone and start slowing in accordance to the law.<br />
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I-75 runs up and down the state of Florida with a posted speed limit of 70 mph. Drivers run up and down I-75 at a clip of 80 mph on a good day. We hit 90 when we can get away with it. Surely members of the state highway patrol are as aware of this as the rest of the driving public. Why aren’t they out there slowing us to something safer? Why aren’t the citizens of Florida sharing the profits in the form of safer roads? Yes, a percentage goes into the funding coffers now. Apparently, it’s not enough.<br />
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The FAA funding bill faces its headaches that spell another delay this July 3. The Lieberman-Kerry bill dooms potential user fee increases later this year (see the post below for more on that). Current measures fall short of necessary funding for infrastructure maintenance. What’s the nation to do to keep commerce lively and safety in check?<br />
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It’s time to hike up the consequences for speeding and hike up the benefits for the highway system. The next time a Lamborghini races a Corvette—and, yes, that happens down here in Collier County—toward Miami, a string of Florida’s finest should be waiting in ambush to hand them citations that will make my Charger’s smug—and easy—drop to 70 mph feel smoother. (Or maybe I just have to live with Dodge’s funky transmission problem that the dealer refused to fix while the car was under the original warranty…)<br />
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As Mr. Hagar says, it’s difficult to drive those slower speeds, and therein lies the genius of this funding plan. Speeders can’t keep their feet off the accelerators. One of those crazy TV channels even has a show about it. We’ll be getting funding from here until the end of time, no matter what kind of car the motorist drives or what kind of fuel he/she puts in it. Now who wants to take the idea to his senator? You know Ray LaHood will sign off on it if you add in a no-cell-phone-use-while-driving clause.<br />
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Stay Safe,<br />
Sandy Lender, Editor<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/highway%20funding" rel="tag">highway funding</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-26283612227870085092010-05-18T11:49:00.000-07:002010-05-18T11:49:14.391-07:00Where are Those Transportation Monies Going?Late last week, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced the American Power Act (APA). I wish these things would have more transparent names. This particular bill could be called the <strong>Gouge Energy Companies Until They Gouge Consumers at the Gas Pump Act</strong> (GECUTGCGPA). The acronym would sound a bit like hacking up something unpleasant. <br />
<br />
Fitting.<br />
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What the Kerry-Lieberman bill proposes is that GHG emissions in the transportation sector would be addressed by mandating oil companies purchase carbon allowances at a price set during quarterly auctions. To offset the hit in profits, companies would probably pass those price-problems along to consumers at the gas pump. Sounds about like a motor fuels user fee, doesn’t it? Why on earth would any tax-paying, red-blooded American vote for a user fee increase to help get monies into the transportation fund later on down the road if he or she is already feeling the effect of a user fee increase at the pump? Presents a conundrum, doesn’t it?<br />
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As it turns out, Kerry and Lieberman’s bill will allocate a bit of money to transportation funds, but it’s paltry at best. It’s not enough to keep current systems solvent (and that includes the mass-transit leeches sucking money from the parts of transportation that move our economy). So there’s no time like the present to get on the phone to make your voice heard in Congress. Let your representatives know that we need ALL transportation monies funneled to transportation resources.<br />
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I invite you to visit NAPA's <a href="http://legislative.hotmix.org/">government affairs</a> page to get more info and to get connected with your Senator today. When you talk to your Senators and their staff, please discuss the following:<br />
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* The amount of funding for the Highway Trust Fund in the Kerry-Lieberman bill is inadequate.<br />
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* Will they contact Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and other Senate leaders to insist that 100 percent of new fees on motor fuels detailed in the bill should be returned to the transportation sector and invested under a multi-year authorization bill.<br />
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* Explain to your Senators that because the bill will raise the price of motor fuels, it will be almost impossible to finance a long-term authorization bill unless a much larger portion of the APAs revenues are dedicated to the Highway Trust Fund.<br />
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<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/highway%20trust%20fund" rel="tag">highway trust fund</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Kerry-Lieberman" rel="tag">Kerry-Lieberman</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-12462105616518796122010-05-07T10:51:00.000-07:002010-05-07T10:52:45.134-07:00Adopt a Safety Culture<span style="background-color: black; color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(from the April/May 2010 Editor's Note of <em>AsphaltPro</em> <span style="background-color: black;">Magazine</span>)</span><br />
<br />
While at the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s 55th annual meeting back in January, I sat at a table with a gentleman from the Midwest who is in charge of safety for his company. I didn’t ask him if I could use his name in the magazine, so I’ll paraphrase what we talked about. He stated during our conversation that safety in a company has to become the standard. Well-being has to become a part of the company’s culture. If you can establish a safety culture in your company and with your employees, you have a much better chance of keeping employees safe from harm. You have a much better chance of seeing them take better care of their health. You have a much better chance of keeping insurance costs manageable. It comes down to mindset and culture.<br />
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
I’ve talked with dozens of safety directors, consultants and OEMs who agree with him. Safety has to be drilled into each employee. When I climbed up on a Cat paver at the Rocky Mountain Asphalt Conference and Exhibition Show in February, <strong><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;">I heard Jeff Richmond’s voice in my head telling me, “Maintain three points of contact,” from a Roadtec training school I’d attended more than 10 years ago.</span></strong> Now, I wasn’t out on a paving job. Slipping from the back of the paver on a carpeted tradeshow floor wasn’t going to smash my skull against a milled, hard surface. But the safety lesson was in my brain and I heard it the way I’d learned it.<br />
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That’s the kind of safety you want “in” your employees. When a member of the ground crew is about to step out of the tool shed at the plant, something in his brain should say, “Am I wearing my PPE? Will the loader operator notice me?” No one should be smoking around equipment or chemicals. No one should let summer heat surprise them with sunstroke or other sickness. No one should step between a dump truck and the paver. These may seem like simple statements, but they’re part of a safety culture that your safety director can orchestrate. Once every employee’s safety mindset increases, accidents, injuries and insurance costs decrease.<br />
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Think about insurance for a moment. A construction company without insurance isn’t in business. If your employees are racking up accidents and injuries, your insurance company is going to get nervous. Your premium will rise, if the agency doesn’t cancel the policy outright.<br />
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I don’t want to be so callous as to suggest that financial risk is an owner’s big concern when it comes to safety, but it’s one concern you’ve got to consider. Yes, you want employees to return home to their families safe and sound at the end of each shift. You want them healthy and happy and eager to be part of your team. But you also want them working toward lower overhead costs. Insurance is a pretty big line item when it comes to overhead costs.<br />
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April 19 through 23 is National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week. Visit the <a href="http://wzsafety.tamu.edu/">Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse</a> for more information and special events you can host to increase your workers’ safety awareness.<br />
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As you’ll see throughout the pages of this special safety issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em>, your magazine staff takes all angles of the concept seriously. From programs for the asphalt professional to simple devices contractors can use to keep workers and motorists safe, we’ve gathered information pertinent to a sound safety mindset. Please review not just this issue, but every Safety Spotlight department in every issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em> for tips and advice from the industry professionals who deal with safety every day. Our hope is that accidents, injuries and fatalities can be prevented when we all adopt a safety culture.<br />
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Stay Safe<br />
Sandy Lender, Editor<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/safety" rel="tag">safety</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/safety%20culture" rel="tag">safety culture</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-16635966496291106252010-05-07T10:41:00.000-07:002010-05-07T11:01:06.886-07:00Avoid Accidents, Injuries at the Plant<span style="color: yellow;">Back to basics tips take the challenge out of battening down the HMA and quarry sites for safety directors</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;">by Sandy Lender, Editor <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine</span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKKtsxgBoRxf3XZl4ScwyIFiVclXBSN28suzWt-voSFRa-K64yyjZvhd7bDHHlvUDjqZBdAh3ZNNo1c40oOKsSD77dBhZUYJnk-_oX-iukqZrEpmR84-sa8KXoSIEYiJjIxqfRiH2BE8/s1600/ADMTampaWatertruck.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKKtsxgBoRxf3XZl4ScwyIFiVclXBSN28suzWt-voSFRa-K64yyjZvhd7bDHHlvUDjqZBdAh3ZNNo1c40oOKsSD77dBhZUYJnk-_oX-iukqZrEpmR84-sa8KXoSIEYiJjIxqfRiH2BE8/s320/ADMTampaWatertruck.JPG" tt="true" width="320" /></a>As dusk drapes a heavy fog over the landscape, and stockpiles take on the form of hills and mountains, savvy plant personnel snap on additional lighting for personal protection. An object that looks like a skid steer loader burdened with material for the current mix slips into shadow at a certain time of day and becomes a trick of the eye.</div></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Did the ground man hear that right? Is the loader coming up behind him? Or is the night air playing tricks with the echo off the new RAP bins? Can the loader operator see him?</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Such worrisome situations don’t happen only as daylight is waning. When the sun is angled just right and summer temperatures are high, a man stops to mop his brow and a haul truck driver unfamiliar with your quarry site layout turns a corner too quickly. The worker standing in the yard with his hard hat in hand is in a danger zone. The sun blinds the driver. The worker jumps. Is he fast enough? Does the driver ever see him?</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The chances for accident or injury abound at an asphalt plant or quarry site. Human beings with human failings work around large, heavy, moving equipment with large, heavy, moving parts. Accidents can happen on regular days when everything seems to be working smoothly.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Luckily, company officials hire safety directors to put health and welfare first and foremost in employees’ minds. Associations, departments of transportation and other groups research best practices and put together manuals, seminars, workshops and safety sheets to help train employees for clean and healthy work environments. The manufacturers of the equipment that asphalt professionals work around have tips and advice to help workers stay safe.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It’s that sense of caring for each other that George Moody, safety manager for Astec, Inc., Chattanooga, shared in his points for readers. One of the methods he promotes for keeping workers safe is keeping them in touch with each other. “Look out for others,” he provided. “Always use machine guards when you are working on or repairing equipment. If you need to step away from the machine, lock it out and tag it out.”</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In Moody’s information, he suggested that it’s all right to let a supervisor know if a co-worker routinely does something unsafe. This falls under looking out for your colleagues. “If you see co-workers doing something unsafe, let them know. If they continue to work unsafely, talk to your supervisor. They are putting themselves, and others, in jeopardy.”</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A good safety program will include a chain of command or hierarchy for protecting workers, and a way to reward those who have the good sense to speak up when dangerous practices are afoot. Owners aren’t promoting “backstabbing” or “tattling” in such a program; instead, they are promoting a safety culture where workers watch out for and respect each other. If a colleague doesn’t respect himself or a fellow co-worker enough to stop dangerous behavior, he will have to follow the direction of a superior.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>This comes down to understanding and following the rules of a safety program. As Moody pointed out, “Understand the safety policies for your workplace. When it comes to workplace equipment, be sure you know how to properly operate it. Read your manual and understand the machine’s capabilities and its hazards; follow preventive maintenance guidelines. Remember, shortcuts aren’t worth the risk.”<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Dennis Hunt of Gencor Industries, Orlando, Fla., reiterated Moody’s feelings. “Think,” Hunt said. “Stop and think before you do anything at the plant. Especially when there is break down. Don’t rush to fix the plant and put yourself or others at risk. You can never explain away an accident, injury or fatality by saying ‘I cut corners to get the plant running.’”</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A good place to start with hot mix asphalt (HMA) plant safety is to know where your employees are. Jeff Meeker of Meeker Equipment, Lansdale, Pa., suggested owners have a sign-in/sign-out sheet that shows plant operators and managers who is on the site and when. If someone hasn’t been seen or heard from in a while, it’s a good idea to contact him or her by radio to make sure all is well.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thus having a good communication system is integral to safety. And as Meeker pointed out, good communication systems contribute to a safe atmosphere at all times.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">“Carry handheld radios or install hands-free intercoms in multiple locations on the plant,” Meeker said. “Radios allow for good communication between operators and ground personnel. Intercoms allow operators to communicate with other plant personnel in a hands-free mode when troubleshooting.”</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOg65yxdRTevN3VAFj-641K2L_s9aaZxvdNDEUBNyckYM6n8gpdHU1zsfBXtgdwDIbjlQdSZ5E4StxOXoOAXbGVdYU-k14AdWSPdVj3k9rAOx4OPqM9hGr4Am8hEGe8LzphDvmj9fYiv4/s1600/MaxamTrucks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOg65yxdRTevN3VAFj-641K2L_s9aaZxvdNDEUBNyckYM6n8gpdHU1zsfBXtgdwDIbjlQdSZ5E4StxOXoOAXbGVdYU-k14AdWSPdVj3k9rAOx4OPqM9hGr4Am8hEGe8LzphDvmj9fYiv4/s400/MaxamTrucks.JPG" tt="true" width="400" /></a>Not all personnel will enter the quarry or plant with a walkie talkie in hand. Once a newcomer comes to the site, he or she needs to know where to go. Owners need another form of communication for them. Meeker reminded owners to post clear signage around the grounds for truck drivers and other visitors.</div><br />
“Let drivers know where to place orders, where to get loaded, and the truck pattern for leaving and entering the site,” Meeker said.<br />
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Something that will go a long way toward communicating with personnel—both newcomers and regular employees—is sound. Meeker recommends owners use a plant start-up siren and/or start-up lights to signal the commencement of production. This is a sure sign that movement will begin, fires will start burning, the drum will start turning, etc.<br />
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“Start up sirens allow plant personnel, truck drivers, and others around the plant to know that the plant is about to start,” Meeker said. “This gives them time to move away to a safe place prior to the plant starting.”<br />
When it comes to safety around the plant site, Gencor’s Hunt suggested starting with the senses. Rely upon your senses to stay in tune with what’s going on around you.<br />
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“Look around you before you do anything at an asphalt plant,” Hunt said. “Look where you are walking, standing or climbing. Be aware of your surroundings. There is constant motion of machinery and equipment at a plant site. Watch out for trucks and loaders; they generally have the right of way.”<br />
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Moody added to this with action. Report any hazards that you notice when you’re looking around, whether you think it’s your responsibility or not. It might sound cliché, but safety really is everyone’s responsibility.<br />
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“Think you can’t do anything about that dim fluorescent light or that loose railing? Think again,” Moody provided. “By immediately reporting safety hazards, you may save someone…from unintentional injury. If you notice a potential hazard, talk to your supervisor or building maintenance personnel right away.”<br />
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The next sense Hunt turned to is sound, telling workers to listen for sounds that aren’t normal or usual for the plant. If something sounds out of place or out of alignment, it probably is, and could pose a threat to someone’s well-being.<br />
<br />
Finally, think about the sense of touch. Do you want to come in contact with a burner that’s heating asphalt to 300 degrees F? No way.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOYYetDAaB1b4_ZS1ho6u34X-F_9eMtmMEGF9xaN8sEy_Sfp5NSqcrwFUAhx42qsGMm-Y98PRVt5RaGA9171okNn5WbfIhyphenhyphenftkKa1EjxNvqHATguIZbmqnFWBeDSyJXU6w6Juc4G0w_M/s1600/Goblin_Four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOYYetDAaB1b4_ZS1ho6u34X-F_9eMtmMEGF9xaN8sEy_Sfp5NSqcrwFUAhx42qsGMm-Y98PRVt5RaGA9171okNn5WbfIhyphenhyphenftkKa1EjxNvqHATguIZbmqnFWBeDSyJXU6w6Juc4G0w_M/s200/Goblin_Four.jpg" tt="true" width="133" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">“Don’t ever touch moving plant parts,” Hunt warned. “Don’t touch lines, pipes or valves. Assume that everything at an asphalt plant is hot.”</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">With most surfaces at the plant storing heat, sources advise personnel wear the appropriate clothing for the job—long sleeves, thick gloves, safety glasses, etc. Something every source agreed upon was the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) also want to see plant personnel wearing safety vests, hard hats and the gear typically reserved for the paving crew in the work zone out on the highway.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">“Wear safety glasses, hard hats, steel tip shoes, gloves, and bright yellow safety vests,” Meeker said. “There are many things going on at an HMA plant. Trucks are getting loaded. Liquid asphalt and fuel are being off-loaded into tanks. Loaders are filling bins. Aggregates are being delivered to stockpiles. With plant personnel on the plant and around the plant, highly visible clothing and protective covering allows plant personnel to be seen by many.”</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Gencor’s Hunt took clothing a step further. “Long sleeve shirts are a must at an asphalt plant,” he said. But he also warned: “Don’t dress the same color as the plant.”</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">While safety programs should be in place to prevent haul truck drivers and skid steer loader operators from fighting sun blindness, worker fatigue or dusky shadows, the fact of the matter is gray clothing will blend into a gray plant. Light-colored clothing will blend into a light-colored plant. Be aware of your surroundings and try to stand out, both with your PPE and your uniform.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">No matter how careful workers are at a facility, accidents and injuries do happen. When the unthinkable occurs, a well-practiced emergency plan can keep a situation from going from bad to worse.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Meeker suggested that owners institute a clearly defined emergency plan. Make sure personnel know the phone numbers for police, ambulance, hospital, etc. Moody recommended owners add evacuation routes and an assembly area to that plan. You want to meet in an agreed-upon area where all personnel can be counted, and accounted for, if a serious accident takes place.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If an accident happens, workers need to know what to do and need to be so comfortable with the plan that they stay level-headed throughout the emergency. With a good safety program and adherence to safety guidelines, the number of accidents at the asphalt plant will hopefully remain low. The goal is to have everyone go home safe and sound at the end of every shift.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Some good sites for safety directors to mine:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.atssa.com/">American Traffic Safety Services Association</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.agc.org/cs/safety">American General Contractors</a> and <a href="http://www.agc.org/cs/career_development/safety">AGC safety training</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.safetymaterials.org/">Association of Equipment Manufacturers</a></div><a href="http://www.aem.org/technical/pictorialdatabase">AEM Safety Pictorial Database</a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safety.htm">Federal Highway Administration</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/wz">FHWA Work Zone and Mobility Safety Program</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/">MUTCD</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.nhtsa.gov/">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/niosh">NIOSH</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.osha.gov/">OSHA</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/">REACH</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://wzsafety.tamu.edu/">Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/safety" rel="tag">safety</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/safety%20training" rel="tag">safety training</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/plant%20safety" rel="tag">plant safety</a>, <a href="http://technorti.com/tag/safety%20director" rel="tag">safety director</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/HMA" rel="tag">HMA</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-62945751198516557392010-05-07T10:08:00.000-07:002010-05-07T10:08:59.759-07:00The Future of America's Roads: Purple Frog or Living Legacy<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(This Letter to the Editor appeared in the April/May 2010 issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine. If you have an opinion to share, send your correspondence to Editor, </span><a href="mailto:sandy@theasphaltpro.com"><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">Sandy Lender</span></a><span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">. <em>AsphaltPro</em> staff reserves the right to edit information for clarity, length and accuracy.)</span><br />
<br />
When we use words like preserve, protect or sustain, we inevitably think of something that is endangered. In business, those words can mean something entirely different. Generally speaking, to preserve or sustain a certain level of sales or market share we find ourselves setting the bogey higher than the lowest level we are willing to accept so we can make sure we don’t fall below that projection. Another way of looking at this is that if you’re not busy growing, you’re probably busy dying.<br />
<br />
<br />
As Congress takes up the debate of the next transportation legislation, I believe we need to look at America’s transportation future with these two perspectives in mind. Next, commit ourselves to learn and understand the words contained in the <a href="http://t4america.org/blog/2009/06/22/chairman-releases-full-transportation-bill-text/">Oberstar Transportation Bill</a>. Finally, line this up with some good American history so we can influence our representatives as they take up the debate.<br />
<br />
While I read the transportation bill, I posted my thoughts in the margins of the large three-ring binder I store it in. I wrote things like, “Washington power grab, anti-road, anti-state, <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/obama-livability-initiative-really-a-ploy-to-stop-drivers">Livability</a>? (get definition), Comprehensive street design policy – what is this?, MPO—Metropolitan planning organization/supplants DOT? – What about DOT’s role?, Suburban – bad; Urban – good, Center for Disease Control?” And, finally, “<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/11/travel/main4662079.shtml">U.S. Bicycle Route System</a>.”<br />
<br />
The 775 page, ~135,000 word transportation bill, like others we have seen “pass” in Congress, reads something like an allegory. The “road” as we know it plays the role of antagonist. The protagonist is big government and The Office of Livability.<br />
<br />
But, it’s a transportation bill. Drafted by transportation folk, right? I don’t think so. One day, I thought I came across a cliff notes version of our latest transportation bill when I found a 100-page “Blueprint” for America. It was drafted by a group called <a href="http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/transportation.html">Transportation For America</a>.<br />
<br />
Transportation For America’s co-chair is Geoff Anderson, who is President and CEO of Smart Growth America. From my understanding, Transportation For America is the main umbrella organization of the Sierra Club. While it’s hard to understand who controls what, you will be able to find out what these organizations stand for by spending a few minutes on their Web sites. After all, their language is the language of the transportation bill.<br />
<br />
A quick tour of their Web sites reveals the various elements of their policy. One element is Social Equity, which they define with images of abandoned urban sprawl, and which you’ll find on page 201, line 116 of the Oberstar transportation bill.<br />
<br />
Just last week [March 23], Missouri’s leading Senator Kit Bond asked Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for a definition of Livability. It’s a word used 35 separate times in the transportation bill. LaHood offered the following definition: “Communities where people have access to many different forms of transportation and affordable housing and the ability to really have access to all of the things that are important to them, whether it’s a grocery store, drug store access.”<br />
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The Senator responded, <strong><span style="font-size: large;">“I’ve got a lot of constituents for whom livability means having a decent highway.</span></strong> They’ve got to drive between one town and another town.”<br />
<br />
History offers the road to answers. The 1950s and the early 1960s provided great debate about America’s roads, on both sides of the aisle. Invariably, representatives all pointed to the benefits of America’s interstate highway system. Surely if these guys were alive today, they wouldn’t be advocating a transportation bill full of federal bike trails.<br />
<br />
On Feb. 28, 1961, President Kennedy, in a special message to Congress regarding the Federal Highway Program, said, “it is a key to the development of more modern and efficient industrial complexes—turning marginal land into attractive sites for commercial or industrial development—and to lower motor transportation costs generally.”<br />
<br />
A year later, Kennedy commented on the role of Federal Government and transportation. His emphasis on a balance of use of transportation modes didn’t call for Washington controlling every street and sidewalk in individual states. The authors of the current transportation bill beg to differ.<br />
<br />
On the issue of financing, President Eisenhower was in favor of a gas tax increase, but his Congress voted it down. Kennedy faced similar challenges. But both couldn’t be more square on one thing: we should only pay for what we can afford to build.<br />
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Proposals run large today for a vast new multi-modal transportation network. Few, if any, contain details as to the funding of such. At least Kennedy and Eisenhower talked about the elephant in the room. But we’re locked and loaded to throw out a $1.75 trillion baby with the bathwater in exchange for a panacea in transportation. Sure, the advocates of this bill will say they are for roads. You’ll have to make them prove it.<br />
<br />
Practically speaking, roads drive economics. Bikes don’t.<br />
<br />
This past weekend, I had lunch with a friend in the <a href="http://www.anheuser-busch.com/">beer</a> business. I asked him how roads affect him. Surprisingly, he sprang to with a story.<br />
<br />
Federal law mandates that all beer be “dry docked” at a wholesaler’s location prior to being distributed to the customer. Once the beer hits the dock, it’s the property of the wholesaler. One such wholesaler had cited a specific example of the high percentage of broken bottles (shrink) that they have to bear the cost of because a particular road outside their warehouse is in bad shape. They’re considering re-paving the road themselves. That wholesaler is one of a dozen plus that helps to get product to some 16,000 customers throughout the state of Michigan by truck. <strong><span style="font-size: large;">That beer has been, is and will continue to be delivered to customers by truck. Not a train. Not a bike.</span></strong><br />
<br />
Yet a few days earlier, The Secretary of Transportation gave a press conference at the National Bike Summit thanking its attendees for being such great advocates of livable communities. He later blogged, “Today, I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. <strong><span style="font-size: large;">This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.</span></strong>”<br />
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Does the Secretary mean it? Don’t take my word for it. Oberstar’s bill, page 214, lines 1-6, states “The purpose of the U.S. bicycle route system program shall be to provide for the establishment and support of an interconnected, intercity network of bicycle facilities...to improve and enhance economic development.”<br />
<br />
FHWA now becomes FHW&BRA (Federal Highway and Bike Route Administration). As an aside, they actually do deliver beer by bike in China.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.edgeofexistence.org/conservation/purple_frog.php">purple frog</a> is an endangered species. I had no idea. I gather few people do. <br />
<br />
Sadly, a similar percentage value our roads—until their usefulness is depleted. Nothing against the purple frog, but when the sun starts setting on America’s roads, we’ll feel the pain. Only those of us in the transportation industry know that then it will be too late. Today, we can do our part to keep our legacy busy growing and not dying.<br />
<br />
Grab a copy of your <a href="http://t4america.org/blog/2009/06/22/chairman-releases-full-transportation-bill-text/">transportation bill</a>. Read it. Highlight it. Ask questions. <br />
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Educate yourself. Talk to a supplier about it.<br />
<br />
Latch onto some of the many industry efforts to be part of this process. Call your senators. It is ultimately they who will help shape the transportation bill. And yes, while we don’t have all the answers for the questions, neither did Eisenhower or Kennedy. For practical and robust legislation to prevail, you must get involved in a serious way. Otherwise, get ready to call in the sign company to the FHWA.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pothole.info/">Dag Seagren</a><br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/purple%20frog" rel="tag">purple frog</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/U.S.%20Bicycle%20Route%20System" rel="tag">U.S. Bicycle Route System</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/funding" rel="tag">funding</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/transportation%20bill" rel="tag">transportation bill</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-43673304422623097542010-05-07T09:36:00.000-07:002010-05-07T09:39:49.287-07:00Fund This<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(from the March 2010 Editor's Note in <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine)</span><br />
<br />
The Colorado Department of Transportation announced bid deferrals two weeks in a row (as we went to press). The Missouri DOT announced “indefinite” bid delays Feb. 26. An uncertain senator from Kentucky, whom we won’t name or lambaste here, held up flawed but necessary funding extensions Feb. 28. Liquid asphalt prices in most states, as reported on page 48, drifted a little higher…again.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>I could list more gloom and doom, but why? We’re all living it. The tireless Jay Hansen, vice president of government affairs for the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), Lanham, Md., provided a quick review of the “condition” of the Highway Trust Fund balance on page 30. It’s not pretty, but do you understand why? Hansen’s no-nonsense style spells it out plainly.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">He explained in a side note—which didn’t fit on the page—that state agencies are impotent to move forward with projects that could put contractors to work thanks to funding instability. States have got to have an appropriations bill as well as an authorization bill enacted before they can build or repair federally funded highways. Here’s how it works.</div><br />
“Before a state transportation department commits to fund a highway project it must be able to assign equal amounts of ‘contract authority’ from an authorization bill and ‘obligation authority’ from an appropriations bill. SAFETEA-LU (or an extension) is an authorization bill that provides states with a budget that can be committed for projects. The actual financing or cash for the projects is determined by Congress through the annual appropriations process. Finally, the Highway Trust Fund Highway Account is the source of funds provided in the appropriations bill.”<br />
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The next bill to hold industry’s attention is H.R. 2847. A 10-month band-aid doesn’t let states perform long-term planning, but at least clears the stage for immediate, 2010 construction season projects. As of a late press time, the House had just passed the bill and sent it back to the Senate. What industry members need to do is get on the phone to their representatives to encourage them to get H.R. 2847 in place. These cute little 30-day extensions might keep current work current, but they don’t let states make the necessary plans for real business, for a safe summer or autumn 2010.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmuCW8FpaU3C72VGhbS2nRRKHeizod1xtMSm9EzK9dRCzPxRiHwrRtHsSyFfrdU3UWPHGeX2JDYwjetSomfsUmnsMuBzfVBRLRLl48zv6LCa0CCjBZbJY9nb1aoGxX66uFCQ8nyjV5bvY/s1600/RMACEcatpaversandy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmuCW8FpaU3C72VGhbS2nRRKHeizod1xtMSm9EzK9dRCzPxRiHwrRtHsSyFfrdU3UWPHGeX2JDYwjetSomfsUmnsMuBzfVBRLRLl48zv6LCa0CCjBZbJY9nb1aoGxX66uFCQ8nyjV5bvY/s200/RMACEcatpaversandy.JPG" tt="true" width="200" /></a>A monthly publication like <em>AsphaltPro</em> is great for the how-to information and project stories we provide, but the lead time for monthly deadlines doesn’t let us bring up-to-the-minute updates on legislative action to you. For that, we developed this blog. I encourage you to check out the post titled “Funding Wars” for updates and links to funding information. Don’t forget your opportunity to influence legislation.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Stay Safe,</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Sandy Lender, Editor</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/funding" rel="tag">funding</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/legislation" rel="tag">legislation</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
your business with our knowledge base.
Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-34174375650906972162010-03-04T14:37:00.000-08:002010-03-17T11:34:14.466-07:00HR 2847 ProgressToday H.R. 2847 passed 217-207 in the House.<br />
It's now been kicked back to the Senate.<br />
<br />
Get a nice summary of the bill (again) and an update on its status as of late in the day March 4 at this <a href="http://www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/030410authorization.aspx">AASHTO link</a>.<br />
<br />
The "Hire Bill" extends funding for 9 months March 17. Story at <a href="http://www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/031710hireact.aspx">AASHTO link</a>.<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Federal%20Highway%20Funding" rel="tag">Federal Highway Funding</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/HR%202847" rel="tag">HR 2847</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Hire%20bill" rel="tag">hire bill</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-68391729324423511602010-03-03T08:14:00.000-08:002010-03-03T08:14:57.729-08:00The Next Step in FundingAs reported last night in the post titled "Funding Wars" below, H.R. 4691 passed in the Senate, allowing current road projects to resume (among other important issues for Americans). For the transportation construction industry, this gives a mere one-month window of opportunity to work on safeguarding the nation's roadways and economy. It's not enough for planning or future safeguarding. Luckily, representatives will debate something to keep the industry (and motorists) alive through the summer. As reported at AASHTO:<br />
<br />
"The House is expected to debate HR 2847, a jobs bill amended last week by the Senate to include a 10-month Highway Trust Fund authorization extension, $19.5 billion in additional General Fund revenue to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent into next year, restoration of highway funding this year to $42 billion from a reduced level of $30 billion, and additional federal support for states and municipalities who want to issue Build America Bonds to finance infrastructure construction."<br />
<br />
This is still a short-term fix for a long-term industry and economic question, but it offers at least a stop-gap measure while legislators look for real answers to pay for America's infrastructure requirements.<br />
<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Highway%20Trust%20Fund" rel="tag">Highway Trust Fund</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/General%20Fund" rel="tag">General Fund</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/HR%202847" rel="tag">HR 2847</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/infrastructure" rel="tag">infrastructure</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
news you need to protect your bottom line. Build
your business with our knowledge base.
Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-83216301849836905562010-03-02T08:24:00.000-08:002010-03-17T11:39:55.680-07:00Funding WarsAs the fight for Federal Highway Funding rages on, <em>AsphaltPro</em> brings you some links worth reviewing. Most of our readers are well-informed on the issue already, so here are the latest updates on what's happening. Follow editor <a href="http://twitter.com/sandylender">Sandy Lender</a> on Twitter as well. More links will be added as they deserve attention.<br />
<br />
First, I'll announce that HR 4691, Temporary Extension Act of 2010, just passed (9:16 p.m. ET) 78 for, 19 against. It looks like inspectors can return to work, thus road projects can resume. Other updates to be posted as the usual pundits post them tomorrow and beyond.<br />
<br />
To follow: older posted items that give play-by-play<br />
<a href="http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=1&docID=cqmidday-000003301212">CQ Politics</a>, A White House play for attention/relevance<br />
<a href="http://news.transportation.org/press_release.aspx?Action=ViewNews&NewsID=293">AASHTO</a>, More of the same rhetoric with extra gloom-n-doom thrown in<br />
<a href="http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=35&sid=1901196">Federal News Radio</a>, <strong>Explains the stalemate and furloughs succinctly</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/030310trustfund.aspx">AASHTO followup</a> to HR 4691 passage, good introduction of HR 2847<br />
<a href="http://www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/030410authorization.aspx">AASHTO's summary</a> of HR 2847's status as of March 4<br />
<a href="http://www.aashtojournal.org/Pages/031710hireact.aspx">AASHTO's report</a> of the <strong>HIRE Bill's passage March 17</strong><br />
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Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Federal%20Highway%20Funding" rel="tag">Federal Highway Funding</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/stalemate" rel="tag">stalemate</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/furloughs" rel="tag">furloughs</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Sandy%20Lender" rel="tag">Sandy Lender</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-63409951779145833522010-03-01T12:10:00.000-08:002010-03-01T12:10:27.433-08:00How to Incorporate Shingle Recycling<span style="color: yellow;">This article was originally published in the February 2010 issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em> magazine. To view sidebars, additional information, and other how-to articles from that issue, contact the circulation department to request a free subscription and copy of February at:</span><br />
<strong><span style="color: yellow;">AsphaltPro</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: yellow;">2001 Corporate Place</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: yellow;">Columbia, MO 65202</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: yellow;">(573) 499-1830</span></strong><br />
<br />
By Sandy Lender<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">N</span>ot all European roofs use asphalt shingles, but our colleagues in the Eurobitume association could benefit greatly if they did. Asphalt shingles in Europe contain roughly 40 to 60 percent asphalt content. In the United States, newer shingles contain about 19 to 22 percent asphalt. How can an asphalt professional mine this black gold and use it to his or her benefit? Kent Hansen, the director of engineering for the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), spoke at length about the topic at the 55th annual meeting in Maui, Hawaii. Here are some good ideas he brought up to augment information you’ve found in the pages of <em>AsphaltPro</em> before. Also, please note that NAPA has a new publication titled <em>Guidelines for the Use of Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles in Asphalt Pavements</em> available.<br />
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First, bringing state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies up to speed on the benefits of recycled asphalt shingle (RAS) use in asphalt mix design is a battle researchers have already begun. The Energy & Recycling Task Force reported during its Jan. 18 meeting that the NAPA strategic plan’s goal for increased recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) use in 2010 looks much the same as the plan for 2009 but now incorporates the use of RAS. Industry members in Iowa are taking part in a pooled fund study to test the benefits and use of RAS. Other states, mostly in the East, according to Hansen, bring their findings to the table as well. Hansen stated that it takes conversations and cooperation among regulators, DOT officials and contractors to bring good specifications for RAS use into agency documents.<br />
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Next, look at the way RAS can enhance your bottom line. As experts have pointed out, there’s a significant amount of asphalt in an asphalt shingle (see sidebar above). While not every state has manufacturers of asphalt shingles, those that do contribute to the approximately 1 million tons of manufacturers’ waste produced annually, according to Hansen. The other source of asphalt shingle material is in tear offs, which producers can find everywhere. That amounts to 10 million tons per year.<br />
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When roofing contractors and shingle manufacturers take waste to a landfill, they must pay a tipping fee to leave the waste there. If you can offer them a lower tipping fee, they should be interested in bringing that product to you. But Hansen suggested a variety of factors to consider before going into business collecting trash—even if it’s valuable trash.<br />
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Permits and licenses for accepting shingle material vary by state and county. You’ll be required to test for contaminants such as asbestos. While asbestos has been banned from shingle manufacturing since the early 1980s, there are old roofs out there with product that could find its way into your stockpile. There are some mastics and caulking that have trace amounts of asbestos, and you don’t want to accept those into your facility. You need to decide if you’ll accept tear offs with that looming—albeit miniscule—threat. If you choose only to accept manufacturers’ waste, you limit your sources and product availability, but also limit some of the processing worries that we’ll discuss next.<br />
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Accepting tear offs opens up your sources and product availability, but also opens up testing and processing challenges. You’ll need to make decisions regarding the condition tear offs must be in when you accept them, and make those conditions clear to suppliers. Will you accept material with flashing and wood attached? Or will you require roofers to remove this excess waste before delivering tear offs? You’ll never get shingles devoid of nails, so be prepared for that element of cleanup in your own facility.<br />
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Decide if you’ll restrict supply to only tear offs from private residential homes. This is another way to ensure the shingles you receive are of post-1980s manufacture. You can work with roofers to ensure you get clean material for your operation.<br />
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Tear offs must be certified free of hazardous substances and suppliers will arrive with some notice of certification from their testing. This won’t clear you of responsibility. In some states or counties, you’ll need to test the product when it arrives and again at various stages of your operation. For instance, the state of Maryland is reported to have three layers of testing for asbestos once shingles are at the asphalt facility.<br />
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It’s wise to pave the area where tear offs will be received and processed on your property, not just for aesthetic reasons, but also to make your job of clean-up easier if a hazardous substance is ever detected. For processing, the first thing to do with shingles is send them through a picking conveyor to remove obvious missed waste. Next is grinding, and the article in the August/September 2009 issue of <em>AsphaltPro</em> refers to a variety of grinding machines available at this time. After grinding, the material goes to a screen or may go back through for grinding again. Next it goes to a mix or a stockpile.<br />
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Asphalt shingle surface granules and fill are hard and abrasive on equipment; they wear grinding chamber equipment and create heat. Hansen reminded audience members to balance the amount of water used in cooling equipment. Also be sure you perform grinding in optimal conditions. When ambient conditions are too hot, you risk melting and chunking of material in the equipment.<br />
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This leads to thoughts on the stockpiles. As with RAP piles, you want to keep the RAS pile out of direct sunlight if possible to prevent re-agglomeration. An 80/20 blend of sand or RAP in the pile can also help keep re-agglomeration down. Cover the pile to protect it from the weather. When it’s time to make mix, pass the RAS material through a lump breaker or grind it again before feeding it into the plant. The goal is not to grind it further or resize it, but merely to break up any chunks and keep it at its proper size for mixing.<br />
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From the testing Hansen reported in January, getting density has proved easier with a RAS mix than expected while providing “a significantly stiffer binder.” Field emission testing has shown SO<span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span> and Formaldehyde “to be non-issues,” although workers reported some odor. There are more tests to do and more to report on, but getting started is the first step. For contractors and producers ready to add RAS to their cost-savings arsenal, the news is good. With the decline in tear offs that contain asbestos, the industry sees another recycled product that can enhance the HMA or WMA mix while keeping waste out of landfills and materials costs under control. <br />
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Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/RAS" rel="tag">RAS</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/shingles" rel="tag">shingles</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/recycle" rel="tag">recycle</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6279568417511763148.post-65768062291113892572010-03-01T11:54:00.000-08:002010-03-01T11:54:24.505-08:00Save the Dragonflies<span style="color: yellow; font-size: x-small;">(from the February 2010 Editor's Note of <em>AsphaltPro</em> Magazine)</span><br />
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We could talk about funding all day long and keep telling each other the same thing. We need alternative funding methods and we need to keep that message in front of Congress. Jay Hansen will iterate that more eloquently for you in the March issue. Right now, I want to touch on something environmental that sparked my interest recently.<br />
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Dragonflies.<br />
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Now, I’ve made it clear to everyone that I’m an environmentalist and a conservationist, as all members of the asphalt industry are. At the recent National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) 55th annual meeting, talk of our environmental excellence brought our good message to light time and time again. We’ll be covering those good messages in the pages of <em>AsphaltPro</em>, as you’ve become accustomed to, throughout 2010. But right now, I want to talk specifically about dragonflies in Illinois.<br />
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The folks at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) sent out a note about the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA) discovering a problem with a rare insect—the endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly. It sounds gorgeous. And expensive.<br />
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It cost ISTHA $6 million to build man-made ponds and “rivulets” and little insect condos along a highway in the dragonfly’s habitat. They also made sure a $355-million bridge going up across the Will County’s Keepataw Preserve and Black Partridge Woods in Cook County went up “higher” than usual so cars would be above splatter range, if you catch my drift. This means fewer dragonflies find themselves in conflict with windshields.<br />
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Personally, I think $6 million is a hefty price to pay to save an insect species. But I won’t begrudge these bugs their place in our world. If the sea turtles needed $6 million, I’d be the first in line to help raise the funds. So I’ll raise my glass to the folks in the ISTHA who came up with the plan to build little homes for the dragonflies and ponds for their better breeding practices. How else do you save a species but by encouraging good breeding, right?<br />
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I’m one of those crazy people who frets over the animals when the weather does something unexpected. I let a lizard come live in my house when the weather dipped into the 30s and 40s here in Florida in early January. (I might have fed him a non-endangered species of fly if one had been available.) So, yes, I feel sympathy for dragonflies that teeter on the edge of extinction, and applaud the agency workers who came up with a solution that protected the dragonflies while keeping commerce, economy and American motorists moving.<br />
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It’s something asphalt contractors and department of transportation engineers have to throw in the design plans once in a while—making special accommodations for animals in the area or for habitats “downstream.” It’s environmentally responsible. It’s the right thing to do. Sometimes it’s expensive. However it’s worked out, there are members of the industry like me who applaud you for protecting the parts and pieces of our world on one level while protecting the motoring public on another.<br />
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Stay Safe,<br />
Sandy Lender, Editor<br />
Tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/AsphaltPro%20Magazine" rel="tag">AsphaltPro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Asphalt%20Pro%20Magazine" rel="tag">Asphalt Pro Magazine</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/environmental" rel="tag">environmental</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dragonflies" rel="tag">dragonflies</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to AsphaltPro Magazine for the industry
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Call (573) 499-1830.</div>Sandy Lenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16199084967927013025noreply@blogger.com0