(from the December Editor's Note in AsphaltPro Magazine)
My editorial notes to you rarely sway from industry topics, but this month’s issue is so full of heady material and industry forecasts that I had to give you and me a break. What better time of year to slow down for a moment and enjoy a bit of peace and tranquility than the advent of the holidays? As this issue lands in your mailboxes, you’re probably polishing off the last of the pumpkin pie and turkey sandwiches from Thanksgiving. I have an African Grey parrot who joins you in that. She is addicted to pumpkin pie, and while she’s not old enough to form full words yet, she recognizes what words precede yummy treats.
Something else is happening as the State of the Industry issue arrives this year. The United States, as a nation, is recovering from an economic recession. Because I live in a continual state of paranoia, I won’t be rushing out to invest in anything just yet, but it does my heart good to hear pundits on the news stations advising Americans that the housing market will turn around next and the time to buy stock is now and so on and so on. It gives us hope where there previously has been too much fear.
I don’t want to linger on the subject of funding here, but that’s where our minds wander when we wonder about recovery. The construction sector of this country builds more than infrastructure; it builds families, communities, local economies and that "hope" I mentioned above. Just a few days before I sent this letter to press, The Journal of Commerce reported that 6,547 projects were under way thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Another 3,500 or so had been approved. Think of the number of men and women working on those projects. It may seem only a drop in the bucket, but it’s 6,547 more projects—and that many more workers—than we had in motion prior to the act’s passage in February.
Also at this time, I’m preparing to celebrate Christmas, which always raises my spirits. Don’t let my profession of Christianity frighten you. I have plenty of friends who practice other religions who are celebrating other holidays at this time of year. I wish all of us a peaceful, loving, hope-filled season with loved ones gathered around us. It’s been a difficult year for some. I know of losses we’ve suffered in this industry, in our families. It’s a good time to reflect on those lives and reach out to our friends in love and comfort. It’s a good time to worship with friends and family and thank our God for His provision. It’s a good time to pause and enjoy the small stuff.
I wish you all a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender, Editor (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, Merry Christmas, industry forecast, state of the industry, asphalt industry
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The Answer: We Must Stop Driving
(from the November Editor's Note of AsphaltPro Magazine)
Shortly, you will see how simple it is. The answer to our country’s economic problems lies in the fact that we all own cars. What selfish pigs we are to expect freedom.
Let me delve into reality for just a moment. At press time, Congress had voted to extend the currently expired SAFETEA-LU program another seven weeks. That means, by the time you receive this in the mail, we’ve got just more than a month (through Dec. 18) for legislators to come up with a new plan to get funding in place to keep additional monies flowing for federal highways, to accept an 18-month extension, to accept a six-month extension, to accept an extension to Dec. 31, or to accept Oberstar’s approximately $500 billion six-year bill.
At first blush, it seems like a lot of options are on the table and we should be swimming right along with keeping infrastructure up to par. Unfortunately, when the last bill expired Sept. 30, states felt a jolt. Money was rescinded. Some people in this country who have a difficult time understanding the very real need for a healthy and safe highway and roadway system have suggested this is for the best because we shouldn’t be driving cars anyway.
A byproduct of the current rescission of $8.7 billion in federal transportation funds that I don’t think anti-roads lobbyists expected is the cancellation of green projects. For instance, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) reported that officials at the Tennessee Department of Transportation (DOT) pulled $30 million out of its coffers for enhancement grants. That means:
* no restoration of old train stations
* no new bike trails and
* no new sidewalks.
AASHTO also reported that Nevada DOT officials are cutting $8 million from transportation enhancements. They’re also cutting $4 million from their federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) projects and another $4 million from the Safe Routes to School Program.
These are not positive developments, but state money movers have little choice. Back in 2007, Congress decreed that when state officials make cuts (rescind funds) from programs, they have to do so proportionally. That means if you take a little from this road, you have to take a little from that CMAQ project, too.
Even with the worry building around whether or not Congress understands the process involved in realistic transportation, there’s some ray of hope for motorists. Note that states can still let state projects (if there’s a state budget for that). Counties can still let county projects (if there’s a county budget for that). Cities can still work on city projects (if there’s a city budget for that). You catch my drift.
The problem is everyone gets nervous when you talk about cutting his or her budget for next year in half. And rightly so. What’s worse is we’re talking about cutting the budget in half for “who knows how long?” Folks suddenly worry about all their projects.
I’m a proponent for cautious creative funding (I’ll call it CCF). If you’re a state DOT official, you’ve got to get creative with your project funding. There are interstates and bridges that need repair. There are asphalt roadways that might not need repair yet, but by performing preventive maintenance on them, you extend the pavement’s life. You make a small investment now to keep a larger investment from happening 10 or 20 years from now. But if your budget’s just been slashed, what on earth is going to compel you to run out and perform anything but the absolute worst-case reconstructs?
Some municipalities have raised their own bond measures, sales taxes and property taxes to pay for everything from specific road projects to maintenance of specified areas of the grid. What this leads to is shiny streets and well-kept utilities right up to the federal-funded interstate that’s causing high car-maintenance bills for those folks who just voted to have their taxes raised. I bet those citizens won’t be too keen on another tax hike next election season.
Some counties have seen toll measures pass. Funds for future repairs, enhancements and preventive maintenance start rolling in, but motorists unwilling to add $5 to $10 to their weekly commute take alternate routes not built for the increased traffic loads. Safety problems, repair costs and user delays rise on the parallel routes.
The solution to all of this has been suggested already. We must stop driving. Anti-roads lobbyists have actually suggested that people in both rural and urban settings must get out of their cars and into buses (although I’m not sure what the buses will be driving on), trains, trolleys and other people movers. While I can see a logical pattern to mass transit in city situations, it boggles the mind to think this would work in rural areas. But this is the suggestion put forth to clear cars from roadways, thus getting us “off” that horrid road and oil dependency we have.
Obviously, we have to raise taxes and spend inordinate amounts of money to build a metallic people-moving infrastructure. While we’re at it, I suggest we train ourselves to be lackadaisical about deadlines and meeting times because, coming from a purely cynical point of view, I don’t think these things are going to run in a timely fashion. They’re being created by legislative action, after all.
If we recycled our cars into something else (and I’m sure there are people in Canada and Switzerland working on that “something” now) and all moved into cities where the mayors have magically raised the funds to build superfragicagilisticexpialodociocidous (I changed it so as not to get sued) mass transit services to move people around, why, there would be no need for cars or roads or road R&D or safety or innovation or jobs or any of those crazy things that the Federal Highway Fund has been encouraging.
All our goods would be delivered by train because trains never have accidents thus don’t require funding to find ways to make them safer or more efficient or to ensure none of their operators (remote or otherwise) have sleep apnea. And we can conduct all business meetings by teleconference and Internet now so we no longer need airplanes. No one actually has to see their loved ones in person when we have Webcams. Besides, once the current generations kick off, people will be living in those insular inbred cities anyway. There’ll be no need to travel far…
So why is it important to renew funding for transportation? Why think of CCF ideas to supplement a gas-tax-based funding program? Why worry about a road that needs repair? Why worry about bridges that crumble into the waters beneath them? Why make plans to resurface and keep asphalt pavements in pristine condition for maximum safety and perpetual life? I mean, isn’t the world ending December of 2012 anyway?
Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender, Editor (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, highway funding, Congress, SAFETEA-LU, green projects
Shortly, you will see how simple it is. The answer to our country’s economic problems lies in the fact that we all own cars. What selfish pigs we are to expect freedom.
Let me delve into reality for just a moment. At press time, Congress had voted to extend the currently expired SAFETEA-LU program another seven weeks. That means, by the time you receive this in the mail, we’ve got just more than a month (through Dec. 18) for legislators to come up with a new plan to get funding in place to keep additional monies flowing for federal highways, to accept an 18-month extension, to accept a six-month extension, to accept an extension to Dec. 31, or to accept Oberstar’s approximately $500 billion six-year bill.
At first blush, it seems like a lot of options are on the table and we should be swimming right along with keeping infrastructure up to par. Unfortunately, when the last bill expired Sept. 30, states felt a jolt. Money was rescinded. Some people in this country who have a difficult time understanding the very real need for a healthy and safe highway and roadway system have suggested this is for the best because we shouldn’t be driving cars anyway.
A byproduct of the current rescission of $8.7 billion in federal transportation funds that I don’t think anti-roads lobbyists expected is the cancellation of green projects. For instance, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) reported that officials at the Tennessee Department of Transportation (DOT) pulled $30 million out of its coffers for enhancement grants. That means:
* no restoration of old train stations
* no new bike trails and
* no new sidewalks.
AASHTO also reported that Nevada DOT officials are cutting $8 million from transportation enhancements. They’re also cutting $4 million from their federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) projects and another $4 million from the Safe Routes to School Program.
These are not positive developments, but state money movers have little choice. Back in 2007, Congress decreed that when state officials make cuts (rescind funds) from programs, they have to do so proportionally. That means if you take a little from this road, you have to take a little from that CMAQ project, too.
Even with the worry building around whether or not Congress understands the process involved in realistic transportation, there’s some ray of hope for motorists. Note that states can still let state projects (if there’s a state budget for that). Counties can still let county projects (if there’s a county budget for that). Cities can still work on city projects (if there’s a city budget for that). You catch my drift.
The problem is everyone gets nervous when you talk about cutting his or her budget for next year in half. And rightly so. What’s worse is we’re talking about cutting the budget in half for “who knows how long?” Folks suddenly worry about all their projects.
I’m a proponent for cautious creative funding (I’ll call it CCF). If you’re a state DOT official, you’ve got to get creative with your project funding. There are interstates and bridges that need repair. There are asphalt roadways that might not need repair yet, but by performing preventive maintenance on them, you extend the pavement’s life. You make a small investment now to keep a larger investment from happening 10 or 20 years from now. But if your budget’s just been slashed, what on earth is going to compel you to run out and perform anything but the absolute worst-case reconstructs?
Some municipalities have raised their own bond measures, sales taxes and property taxes to pay for everything from specific road projects to maintenance of specified areas of the grid. What this leads to is shiny streets and well-kept utilities right up to the federal-funded interstate that’s causing high car-maintenance bills for those folks who just voted to have their taxes raised. I bet those citizens won’t be too keen on another tax hike next election season.
Some counties have seen toll measures pass. Funds for future repairs, enhancements and preventive maintenance start rolling in, but motorists unwilling to add $5 to $10 to their weekly commute take alternate routes not built for the increased traffic loads. Safety problems, repair costs and user delays rise on the parallel routes.
The solution to all of this has been suggested already. We must stop driving. Anti-roads lobbyists have actually suggested that people in both rural and urban settings must get out of their cars and into buses (although I’m not sure what the buses will be driving on), trains, trolleys and other people movers. While I can see a logical pattern to mass transit in city situations, it boggles the mind to think this would work in rural areas. But this is the suggestion put forth to clear cars from roadways, thus getting us “off” that horrid road and oil dependency we have.
Obviously, we have to raise taxes and spend inordinate amounts of money to build a metallic people-moving infrastructure. While we’re at it, I suggest we train ourselves to be lackadaisical about deadlines and meeting times because, coming from a purely cynical point of view, I don’t think these things are going to run in a timely fashion. They’re being created by legislative action, after all.
If we recycled our cars into something else (and I’m sure there are people in Canada and Switzerland working on that “something” now) and all moved into cities where the mayors have magically raised the funds to build superfragicagilisticexpialodociocidous (I changed it so as not to get sued) mass transit services to move people around, why, there would be no need for cars or roads or road R&D or safety or innovation or jobs or any of those crazy things that the Federal Highway Fund has been encouraging.
All our goods would be delivered by train because trains never have accidents thus don’t require funding to find ways to make them safer or more efficient or to ensure none of their operators (remote or otherwise) have sleep apnea. And we can conduct all business meetings by teleconference and Internet now so we no longer need airplanes. No one actually has to see their loved ones in person when we have Webcams. Besides, once the current generations kick off, people will be living in those insular inbred cities anyway. There’ll be no need to travel far…
So why is it important to renew funding for transportation? Why think of CCF ideas to supplement a gas-tax-based funding program? Why worry about a road that needs repair? Why worry about bridges that crumble into the waters beneath them? Why make plans to resurface and keep asphalt pavements in pristine condition for maximum safety and perpetual life? I mean, isn’t the world ending December of 2012 anyway?
Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender, Editor (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, highway funding, Congress, SAFETEA-LU, green projects
New Oil and Sea Turtles
(from the October Editor's Note in AsphaltPro Magazine)
My name is Sandy Lender and I’m an environmentalist. It’s good to see I’m among friends here in the asphalt industry. Truly, if you’re a member of the asphalt industry, you’re an environmentalist. You’re a conservationist.
I could harp on this industry’s care of the land we mine for aggregates, our caution keeping dust out of the air, our excellent track record keeping contaminants out of the ground, or our successes protecting workers from what minimal fume our end product emits, but people reading this column already know these things. Instead I’m going to tell you something that might surprise you a little bit.
I’m what you would call a “raving” environmentalist. Yes, I abhor the plastic water bottles. I carry cloth bags with me to the grocery store. In fact, when my first novel was published, I had cloth bags with my book cover printed on them made up to hand out as promotional items to help with that whole “Down With Plastic Bags!” movement. I participate in coastal cleanup days and I volunteer with a sea turtle conservation project called Turtle Time.
That brings us around to the Gulf of Mexico, the large body of water near which I live. I moved here from the Midwest for one reason, but stayed for the conservationist opportunities available to me here. I’m not saying you can’t find worthy and rewarding causes to aid in the upper states—and I encourage everyone to get involved in a cause that brings you a sense of accomplishment and joy—but my heart is at home with the marine issues.
Recently, some workers for BP drilling way out by the Keathly Canyon in the Gulf found an incredibly deep, and incredibly flush, reserve of oil. When I say incredibly deep, I mean that they sunk the drill to the depth of the height of Mount Everest (or a little further). That’s how far into the planet the workers probed to extract the blood we need.
This looks like it’s going to bring in about 3 billion barrels of domestic oil once it’s producing. Now, that’s not going to happen until about 2015, give or take, but it’s supposed to make life nicer around these parts.
Some might say the Tiber Project has really come through.
I stopped to consider what I thought of that. Are the folks at BP putting responsible practices in place for pulling that much product up and getting it to shore? We’ve got a declining loggerhead sea turtle population along the Gulf shores of Florida right now. Will increased activity a few years from now worry those turtles right away from one of their few ideal nesting grounds? Maybe the canyon is far enough away, being about 250 miles southeast of Houston, that the turtles will just gracefully glide on by. Maybe the officers at BP care about marine life management enough to take such things into consideration while they plan for increased profits and increased traffic. I’ll be one of the members of the environmentalist asphalt industry watching to see how they handle it.
Stay Safe
Editor, Sandy Lender (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, oil, loggerhead sea turtle
My name is Sandy Lender and I’m an environmentalist. It’s good to see I’m among friends here in the asphalt industry. Truly, if you’re a member of the asphalt industry, you’re an environmentalist. You’re a conservationist.
I could harp on this industry’s care of the land we mine for aggregates, our caution keeping dust out of the air, our excellent track record keeping contaminants out of the ground, or our successes protecting workers from what minimal fume our end product emits, but people reading this column already know these things. Instead I’m going to tell you something that might surprise you a little bit.
I’m what you would call a “raving” environmentalist. Yes, I abhor the plastic water bottles. I carry cloth bags with me to the grocery store. In fact, when my first novel was published, I had cloth bags with my book cover printed on them made up to hand out as promotional items to help with that whole “Down With Plastic Bags!” movement. I participate in coastal cleanup days and I volunteer with a sea turtle conservation project called Turtle Time.
That brings us around to the Gulf of Mexico, the large body of water near which I live. I moved here from the Midwest for one reason, but stayed for the conservationist opportunities available to me here. I’m not saying you can’t find worthy and rewarding causes to aid in the upper states—and I encourage everyone to get involved in a cause that brings you a sense of accomplishment and joy—but my heart is at home with the marine issues.
Recently, some workers for BP drilling way out by the Keathly Canyon in the Gulf found an incredibly deep, and incredibly flush, reserve of oil. When I say incredibly deep, I mean that they sunk the drill to the depth of the height of Mount Everest (or a little further). That’s how far into the planet the workers probed to extract the blood we need.
This looks like it’s going to bring in about 3 billion barrels of domestic oil once it’s producing. Now, that’s not going to happen until about 2015, give or take, but it’s supposed to make life nicer around these parts.
Some might say the Tiber Project has really come through.
I stopped to consider what I thought of that. Are the folks at BP putting responsible practices in place for pulling that much product up and getting it to shore? We’ve got a declining loggerhead sea turtle population along the Gulf shores of Florida right now. Will increased activity a few years from now worry those turtles right away from one of their few ideal nesting grounds? Maybe the canyon is far enough away, being about 250 miles southeast of Houston, that the turtles will just gracefully glide on by. Maybe the officers at BP care about marine life management enough to take such things into consideration while they plan for increased profits and increased traffic. I’ll be one of the members of the environmentalist asphalt industry watching to see how they handle it.
Stay Safe
Editor, Sandy Lender (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, oil, loggerhead sea turtle
Monday, August 24, 2009
What Green Job Do Your Workers Participate In?
The article titled "Green Job Safety" from the August/September 2009 issue of AsphaltPro Magazine asked what environmentally responsible practices have introduced new work habits to your work force. Do your crews participate in green jobs such as:
* Shingle grinding?
* WMA production?
* RAP stockpiling?
* Running mills or rubblizers?
These and other environmentally responsible asphalt industry practices force workers to step out of the normal routine. How does that put them at risk? Have you trained your workers for the new steps in the otherwise daily operation? Let’s discuss it at here at The Asphalt Forum. There's no password needed to participate in this open dialogue, so click on the "comment" link below to voice your opinion or concern.
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, green jobs, environmentally responsible, job safety
* Shingle grinding?
* WMA production?
* RAP stockpiling?
* Running mills or rubblizers?
These and other environmentally responsible asphalt industry practices force workers to step out of the normal routine. How does that put them at risk? Have you trained your workers for the new steps in the otherwise daily operation? Let’s discuss it at here at The Asphalt Forum. There's no password needed to participate in this open dialogue, so click on the "comment" link below to voice your opinion or concern.
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, green jobs, environmentally responsible, job safety
Friday, August 14, 2009
Prevent Shorts in Automation Controls at the Hot Mix Asphalt Plant
From your AsphaltPro Staff and Participating Members of the Automation/Controls Industry
For the August/September issue of AsphaltPro Magazine, we included an informational article on cleaning and maintaining automation controls for minimum downtime and maximum safety. Here are some extra tips from the folks at Systems Equipment, Waukon, Iowa, for preventing shorts or malfunctions in automation controls:
1) Purchase controls that are pre-fabricated, documented units, such as a burner control or silo control.
2) Have your equipment installed by a qualified technician with knowledge of both the control and your equipment.
3) Be sure that all of the old equipment and wiring are removed as part of the installation process.
4) Replace all questionable cables and components. Remember the new controls are only as good as the equipment and cables they are controlling. A new control panel will not correct a bad limit, meter or probe.
5) Have your equipment serviced by a qualified technician with knowledge of both the control and your equipment.
We’d like to thank the automation controls manufacturers who participated in bringing our readers useful, how-to information in the automation article. They are, in alphabetical order:
ADM contact Steve Shawd
B&S Light contact Richard Young
Libra Systems contact Ken Cardy
Systems Equipment contact company
Thermal Cable and Wire contact Joe Dougherty
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, automation, controls
For the August/September issue of AsphaltPro Magazine, we included an informational article on cleaning and maintaining automation controls for minimum downtime and maximum safety. Here are some extra tips from the folks at Systems Equipment, Waukon, Iowa, for preventing shorts or malfunctions in automation controls:
1) Purchase controls that are pre-fabricated, documented units, such as a burner control or silo control.
2) Have your equipment installed by a qualified technician with knowledge of both the control and your equipment.
3) Be sure that all of the old equipment and wiring are removed as part of the installation process.
4) Replace all questionable cables and components. Remember the new controls are only as good as the equipment and cables they are controlling. A new control panel will not correct a bad limit, meter or probe.
5) Have your equipment serviced by a qualified technician with knowledge of both the control and your equipment.
We’d like to thank the automation controls manufacturers who participated in bringing our readers useful, how-to information in the automation article. They are, in alphabetical order:
ADM contact Steve Shawd
B&S Light contact Richard Young
Libra Systems contact Ken Cardy
Systems Equipment contact company
Thermal Cable and Wire contact Joe Dougherty
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, automation, controls
Should We Grow the Ultimately Green Product?
(from the August/September 2009 Editor's Note in AsphaltPro Magazine)
I’ll start this opinion piece with a surprising question, just to get your fingers itching to respond. What do you think of legalizing marijuana?
I told you it would get you itching to respond. Before you call me irresponsible, let me tell you why I ask. The asphalt industry could get some intriguing benefits from the Cannabis sativa L. plant.
Now, before anyone gets too nervous, I’ll share that I have my reservations about a flat legalization of hemp growth. I’m paranoid enough about our youth and that group’s propensity for using a gateway drug to get into serious trouble with health (and the law) to suggest that any legalization of Cannabis sativa would have to come with close regulations and actual enforcement of those regulations. So when I ask if we should legalize marijuana, I’m not talking about handing a baggie and some rolling papers to a teenager. I’m talking about an ultimate green product for the asphalt industry.
According to the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp (CRRH), the Cannabis sativa plant produces more protein, oil and fiber than any other plant on earth. It’s that “oil” concept that caught my attention. Because the CRRH Web site makes grossly inaccurate, sweeping statements about petroleum, I double-checked its facts about the plant’s benefits against white papers and grant-funded research. Lo and behold, those people are onto something. I also learned that the permit-holding growers who produce medicinal marijuana do so with environmentally responsible practices, whereas the illegal growers are left to literally poison water supplies and animals with their unlawful habits. This leads me to think that legalization and regulation offer yet another benefit to the environment.
The grossly inaccurate, sweeping statements CRRH officers made about petroleum and diesel make me uneasy, though. I’m not going to call anyone a conspiracy theorist (mostly for fear of getting sued), but it sounds a wee bit reactionary of the CRRH organizers to accuse the petrochemical industry as a whole of causing the prohibition of marijuana. I imagine there are some religious groups who fall into lock-step with the concept that teens and tweens getting their hands on readily accessible pot is a negative idea. I would agree with them. I believe in the gateway drug concept. Seen it in practice. Do I believe there are ways to use hemp for good without putting the pretty leaves in the public domain where teens and others will grab it for dangerous entertainment? Of course. And that’s what I’d like to discuss here.
If we as an industry can come up with a suggestion for growing Cannabis sativa plants for positive, productive byproducts such as biofuels, fibers, medicine, etc., do you think we should draft the motion and put it before legislators? California’s looking for a way to tax it already. Find me a legislator who doesn’t like that concept these days. So what do you think? Is this country ready to legalize the growth and use of hemp? Do you think legislators could do it without legalizing the death-use of it?
I’m not suggesting we get into bed with folks who, at first blush, look like lying conspiracy theorists, but instead we could make our own friends in the alternate fuels arena to draft a concept legislators will actually read. Getting oil from alternate, renewable sources is a big win for an industry dependent on oil supply. When that source is something that can also produce fibers and medicines, it looks quite “green.” We just need a way to keep it from getting out of control and harming the population we wish to enhance and protect with our product—good roads.
Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender, Editor
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, legalize marijuana, biofuels, alternate fuels, green product
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Asphalt Wins in the Stormwater Management Arena
(from the June/July Editor's Note in AsphaltPro Magazine)
This is an opinion piece. So here’s my opinion. If you’re going to build a pavement that allows proper stormwater management, the right material to use is hot mix asphalt (HMA) or warm mix asphalt (WMA). I’m basing this opinion on my subjective bias and some pertinent facts, the latter of which I’ll outline now.
First, the idea of using porous asphalt pavements precludes using pervious concrete structures. There’s sound reasoning behind this. I’m not telling you anything new when I remind you that one of the elements in the design of a typical concrete pavement is a steel structure or grid. But consider this: Rebar doesn’t play nicely with water, so allowing stormwater to filter through a concrete pavement, trickling playfully across rusting infrastructure is unwise. Thus the concrete industry left this internal structure out of its pervious concrete design.
As it turns out, some pervious concrete sections placed in Denver metropolitan parking lots looked “unstructured” enough to members of the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (UDFCD) back in 2008 that they asked Thompson Materials Engineers, Inc., to check out a few of the failing pervious concrete sections. In June 2008, engineers cut samples from four areas. One of the areas was fine, exhibiting no signs of distress. This area, Site A, was used as the control. The other three areas they chose exhibited signs of distress from “minimal” to “significant.”
You can read the entire findings for yourself in the technical paper of Project CT14,571-356 titled Pervious Concrete Evaluation Materials Investigation Denver, Colorado in the downloads section of http://www.udfcd.org/, (or try http://tinyurl.com/PerviousPDF) but one of the sections that stood out to me alluded to concrete’s inability to serve as a viable option in stormwater management.
"Our data indicates elevated chloride concentrations in the bottom portion of the samples for two of the sites. The other two sites exhibit the elevated chloride concentrations near the surface of the sample. Deicing salts (e.g., chlorides) are deleterious to concrete. They are absorbed into the concrete as it dries, and the absorbed salt strongly attracts water during subsequent wet weather events. If the ambient temperature is cold enough, and the sample does not have sufficient drainage capabilities, the water freezes in spite of the deicer, and will contribute to accelerated deterioration from freeze-thaw conditions."
Luckily, the asphalt industry has an answer for agencies and owners who want to control stormwater in an environmentally responsible manner. It’s called porous asphalt and these structures have been constructed, tested and proved since the late 1970s, according to the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). Researchers have shown that by designing and constructing a porous asphalt pavement properly, you have a pavement that doesn’t fail. Period.
Another plus researchers have found for these pavements is a reduction in winter maintenance costs. Snow and ice naturally melt more quickly on a porous pavement. If you find it necessary to apply deicing compounds such as salt or liquid deicer, you can reduce quantities from past maintenance practices and you don’t have the fear of negative reactions found with concrete pavements. Researchers warn agencies and public works departments not to use sand or ash on the surface because clogging of the open graded friction course can occur, thus negating the infiltration ability of the structure. So there’s another winter maintenance cost savings porous asphalt offers.
Of course there are oodles more reasons to select a porous asphalt pavement for stormwater management, and NAPA offers publications that outline these. The association also offers publications that assist engineers in designing proper porous asphalt pavement structures. You can find these publications at http://www.hotmix.org/.
Now, what kind of publication would AsphaltPro be if we left you with just this idea? For this special Best Paving Practices issue, you can turn to page 24 to read a professional engineer’s article on how to construct a porous asphalt pavement—from the subbase up.
Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender, Editor (sandy at theasphaltpro dot com)
Tags: AsphaltPro Magazine, Asphalt Pro Magazine, porous asphalt, pervious concrete, construct porous asphalt pavement, stormwater management
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