Asphalt Pro - June/July 2013

Crush, Recycle Materials

Tilcon joins Three in One Stay Safe: Guard Limbs

Michigan Owner Grows Recycle Failed Concrete Cat Heats Endgates Crush Base in Place June/July 2013

contents

Departments Letter from the Editor 5 Help Them Understand the Need

14

Around the Globe 6

44

Safety Spotlight 8 Check the Guard

By Cliff Mansfield Mix it Up 10 Specs Change From National Center for Asphalt Technology Producer Profile 14 Growth Means Adding Second Plant Superior Asphalt expands business with commitment to industry, service, planning ahead

By Sandy Lender Equipment Maintenance 20 Guardian Diagnoses Equipment Problems, Tracks Routine Maintenance

By AsphaltPro Staff Project Management 26 TC Fixes San Diego One Piece at a Time From Caterpillar Paving Products Equipment Gallery 58 Caterpillar Heats Your Endgates

By AsphaltPro Staff Here’s How It Works 64 Pine Instrument’s AFDL1 Data Logger

Articles 20 Track, Crush Tracked equipment helps CJ Moyna meet deadlines From KPI-JCI 38 Estimate What 2013 Will Bring You

By Sandy Lender 44 Crush Concrete Oakes’ impact crusher brings big concrete slabs down to size

By Tom Kuennen

Resource Directory 65

50 Tilcon Combines Three Plants in One

By AsphaltPro Staff

Last Cut 66 Oil Prices Spring Around From Energy Information Administration

56 That's a Good Idea Signal Truck Drivers

By John Ball

Crush, Recycle Materials

8

26

20

Tilcon Combines Three in One Stay Safe: Guard Limbs

Michigan Owner Grows Recycle Failed Concrete Cat Heats Endgates Crush Base in Place JUNE/JULY 2013

On the Cover Tilcon New Jersey ramps up production by combining facilities.

See related article on page 50.

Photo courtesy of Gencor, Orlando.

editor's note June/July 2013 • Vol. 6 No. 8

Help Them Understand the Need

2001 Corporate Place Columbia, MO 65202 573-499-1830 • 573-499-1831 www.theasphaltpro.com Group publisher

Chris Harrison publisher

Sally Shoemaker sally@theasphaltpro.com (573) 499-1830 x1008

editor

Sandy Lender sandy@theasphaltpro.com (239) 272-8613

Art Director

Kristin Branscom operations/circulation manager

Cindy Sheridan business manager

Renea Sapp AsphaltPro is published 10 times per year: January, February, March, April, May, June/July, August/September, October, November and December by The Business Times Company, 2001 Corporate Place, Columbia, MO 65202 Writers expressing views in AsphaltPro Magazine or on the AsphaltPro website are professionals with sound, professional advice. Views expressed herein are not necessarily the same as the views of AsphaltPro or Business Times Company staff, thus producers/contractors are still encouraged to use best practices when implementing new advice.

Subscription Policy: Individual subscriptions are available without charge in the United Sates, Canada and Mexico to qualified individuals.

One year subscription to non-qualifying Individuals: United States $90, Canada and Mexico $125.00. For the international digital edition, visit theasphaltpro.com/subscribe-2.

Single copies available $17 each.

For some reason, not all members of Congress realize the transportation construction industry is struggling to keep our nation’s highways and bridges safe.

Representative Andrew Koenig (R-Mo.) was quoted in the Kansas City Star saying, “If we give them too much money, they’ll end up doing more than what’s needed.

I drive I-70 almost every day, and I just don’t see a desperate need to add lanes.

At its worst, you get a little traffic buildup and you can’t speed. But you’re not supposed to be speeding anyway.”

Mr. Koenig, I lived in Kansas City for 13 years while my parents lived in the St. Louis area. That four-hour drive of inconsistent surfacing wreaked havoc on my vehicles and at its worst, I-70 became a two-lane parking lot because it doesn’t have dedicated truck lanes but it does have “crazy busy” traffic. Even though I now live in a state that doesn’t have to clear the roads of snow and ice, I’d like to see “them” lay a dedicated truck lane alongside I-70 to reduce traffic congestion, increase economic efficiency and save a few lives. But legislators aren’t going to base decisions on my non-scientific definition of “crazy busy” from eight years ago when they have oh-so-reliable data such as “I just don’t see a desperate need to add lanes” from one of their own.

We members of the asphalt industry can’t let one representative’s assessment frustrate us into inaction. Instead, we can join voices with letters to our representatives, site visits like the one discussed in our April/May issue or participation in NAPA’s first legislative fly-in this Sept. 11 & 12. Let’s get the message across: The concept that our highway system might get more attention than necessary is ludicrous.

Our infrastructure needs immediate and vital attention to make it safe.

The idea that a department of transportation would perform extraneous work with taxpayer monies is an example of one person’s mis-understanding. We do work on a low bid system that is transparent to the public. DOTs have checks and balances built in to track where taxes and tolls are spent. If news reporters don’t catch a slip-up in accounting, you can bet Internet trolls will.

The transportation industry has no room in our current situation to mess around. Let me rephrase: The road construction industry, including the DOTs, doesn’t have time, energy or funds to play around. We’re on a collective mission to fix what needs fixing and make America’s infrastructure safer for America’s taxpayers.

With this editorial column, I’m obviously preaching to the choir. But I’d like to encourage you to keep highway funding at the front of your mind as you go about your daily business. MAP-21 will only carry us through fiscal year 2014, and then the members of Congress will need to vote on how to let us support infrastructure for the next two or three or five years. I’d like to see those members of Congress be less paranoid than Mr. Koenig of Missouri. I’d like them to be fully educated on what the road construction industry brings to the table. We’re not out there adding lanes willy nilly. We’re out there protecting his constituents.

Stay Safe,

“If we give them too much money, they’ll end up doing more than what’s needed.”—Rep. Andrew Koenig (R-Mo.)

Sandy Lender www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 5

around the globe

Industry News and Happenings from Around the World Canada Montreal will be the hotbed for learning about petroleum robotics—and much more—this Aug. 11 through 15. Visit www.ISARC2013.org for information on the 30th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction and Mining, which hosts 600 delegates from around the globe.

Chile The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), owner of CONEXPO, has signed a letter of intent with the Chilean Chamber of Construction to co-locate CONEXPO Latin America with the Chamber’s Edifica exposition to be held October 2015 in Santiago, Chile. Source: AEM

China During January and February of this year, China imported 487,350 megatonnes of bitumen, most of it to different ports such as Nanjing, Hangzhou and Qingdao. Then in March China Communications Import & Export General Co., and Xiamen Huate Group Corp. Ltd. imported the most bitumen into China at 281,659 megatonnes combined. Source: Petrosil’s Bitumart

Hungary ContiTech Air Spring Systems has opened a new plant for rubber compounds in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. Commercial vehicle replacement customers and the air spring systems business unit itself are set to benefit from the compounds produced there.

• For up-to-the-minute info and updates that impact the asphalt industry, follow http:// twitter.com/AsphaltPro.

Iowa

Go golfing with the Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa (APAI). The first outing will be Tuesday, June 25, at the Amana Colonies Golf Course in Amana. The second will be Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Carroll Country Club in Carroll. Call Minnie at (515) 233-0015 to join a team and support APAI.

Maryland

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), Lanham, Md., and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have released a new survey of sustainable construction practices in the asphalt pavement industry that takes a look at reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS). Survey says! “The use of recycled materials in asphalt pavements saved taxpayers more than $2.2 billion during the 2011 paving season.” NAPA reports that about 3.7 million tons of liquid asphalt binder was saved through the use of RAP and RAS during 2011; about 19 percent of all asphalt produced in the country that year was made using warm-mix asphalt (WMA). The whole survey with a state-by-state breakdown of data is available at www.AsphaltPavement.org/Recycling. Source: NAPA

Qatar A recent press release states Qatar plans to spend more than $20 billion during the next five years to upgrade its road network. The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) plans to build about 136 kilometers of new roads in Qatar by 2014 and has just approved a new system for bitumen selection (within QCS-2010), which could change the qualifying and trading of bitumen used in Qatar.

South Africa AEM and Messe Munchen are forming a joint venture called bC Expo South Africa (Pty) Ltd. The first bauma Africa will be held in Johannesburg in September.

United States • Under MAP-21 the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is required to develop performance measures for a number of entities within 18 months of enactment.

6 June/July 2013

Missouri

The American Subcontractors Association (ASA) Midwest Council announced the winners of its 20th Anniversary Awards Gala April 13 in St. Louis. The 2013 Outstanding Specialty Subcontractor (category A) went to T.J. Wies Contracting and (category B) Golterman & Sabo. The 2013 Service Provider/Supplier of the Year was Volvo Rents.

Nevada

If you’d like to be a part of the IFPE Technical Conference, held March 4 through 8, 2014, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in conjunction with the CONEXPO-CON/AGG exposition, you can submit your abstract to until June 6, 2013.

Visit www.ifpe.com in the Education section.

North Carolina

The next secretary of transportation could be Anthony R. Foxx, the mayor of Charlotte, N.C.

As of press time, the President had nominated Foxx for the post, according to the New York Times. The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) released a statement saying Foxx “has demonstrated that he sees the intersection of transportation infrastructure investment and economic development. As mayor of Charlotte, he’s been a thoughtful voice in advocating for development of all modes of transportation in order to help spur the local economy, create jobs and improve mobility.”

Pennsylvania

Need training for your Eriez® products? Eriez of Erie, Pa., has produced a variety of installation, maintenance and educational videos spanning multiple product categories. View them at www.youtube.com/eriez.

Washington, D.C.

• A new report “The U.S. Transportation Construction Industry Profile” by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) Chief Economist Dr. Alison Premo Black shows money invested in transportation construction industry employment and purchases generates $354 billion in annual U.S. economic activity. That’s equal to 2.25 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The report finds the annual value of transportation construction reached nearly $120 billion in 2012, which ranks it larger than industry sectors such as commercial and health care structures; motion pictures; amusement parks and recreation; and others.

Source: ARTBA • Mike Lewis, the president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, testified before the Highways and Transit Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee April 25 to deliver state and local perspectives on the implementation of the new surface transportation bill, MAP-21. AASHTO reported that the majority of Lewis’ testimony dealt with the need for Congress to allow full implementation to take place before making major changes to the law.

• The NAPA Legislative Committee task force will develop NAPA’s legislative recommendations to Congress, which will be released during the NAPA asphalt fly-in Sept. 11 and 12, 2013. To be a part of the fly-in, visit the “Government Affairs” tab at www.asphaltpavement.org.

safety spotlight

Check the Guard T

he asphalt plant can be a dangerous work environment. Accidents happen far too often when workers don’t pay attention to details, aren’t taught good safety practices or become complacent over time. As we’ve seen in the past few articles on this topic, most accidents can be traced to the same root cause: production needs supersede common sense safety practices. Now let’s take a look at another common causality. Maintenance personnel must include the replacement of guards and safety items in their repair steps.

For instance, an 18-year-old novice ground man tried to grease the head roll on a collecting conveyor and found himself mangled for life. Earlier in the day, the guard on the chain-driven unit had been removed to facilitate the replacement of a broken chain.

8 June/July 2013

To grease the drive side of the head roll, the victim had to reach through the moving chain to access the bearing, which was hidden behind the drive sprocket. When he attempted to pump the grease gun, his hand became entangled in the moving chain. In an instant, the victim’s hands were drawn into the chain’s pinch-point and around the drive sprocket. Both hands were severely mangled, requiring many operations including the amputation of several fingers on each hand. He’ll be on state accident insurance fund disability for the rest of his life.

In the final analysis, this accident was due, in part, to his negligence. To a greater degree, it’s due to the company’s failure to provide clear and strict guidelines for this kind of situation.

by Cliff Mansfield

Two things combined to cause this accident. First, the ground man wasn’t sufficiently trained in his new job to realize the dangers posed by moving equipment, especially chain drives. Being young and eager to impress his new boss, the kid made a poor choice that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

The second and more important issue in this case is the failure to replace the guard over the drive unit when needed repairs were finished earlier in the day.

With trucks backed up and the paving superintendent calling for mix, it’s not hard to see how the pressure of production quotas probably influenced the operator’s decision to leave the guard off. In retrospect, it was a decision everyone involved regretted. OSHA levied heavy fines in this incident and, of course, the lawsuits continue.

LEFT: No matter what style or age of conveyor you’re working with, all moving components demand attention and respect. Photo courtesy of Cliff Mansfield. ABOVE: The important feature to note here is the blue guard over the gear motor. Guards could have prevented the accident discussed in this article.

Photo courtesy of Cliff Mansfield.

This particular company instituted a new policy as a result of this accident: “Under no circumstances shall a piece of equipment be operated without the appropriate guards in place. Period. There are no exceptions to this rule. Any employee found in violation of this rule is subject to immediate and final termination.”

Perhaps this is a rule that should be adopted by every asphalt company.

A common thread in asphalt plant accidents is a disregard for safety issues in deference to production pressures. Asphalt plant operators often feel tremendous pressure to produce by any means possible. Unfortunately, this shifts the focus off safety and onto money without anyone realizing it’s happened.

A clear-cut set of guidelines dealing with the company’s policy on safety issues should be drawn up and distributed to everyone involved

with the plant. Be sure to include the paving superintendent so he or she doesn’t unknowingly exert pressure on the plant operator.

Remember: Everyone wants to do a good job that the state inspector or owner/agency will approve. Sometimes employees go to great lengths to get results. To that end, conditions are overlooked that would never be overlooked or forgotten under normal circumstances. When dealing with safety issues, one must keep in mind the fact that you need to be safe all the time; you need only be careless once for tragedy to strike.

Cliff Mansfield is an asphalt plant engineer and a freelance writer specializing in asphalt plants. For more information, contact him at (541) 352-7942 or send him your question through the “Ask the Plant Expert” form on the home page at www.

TheAsphaltPro.com.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 9

mix it up

Specs Change T

From National Center for Asphalt Technology

he National Center for Asphalt Technology reportmore projects as the DOT has found this to be a great ed in its Spring 2013 edition of Asphalt Technology tool to assist the contractor in improving operations and E-News “Specification Corner” the following updates in reducing thermal segregation. Current MnDOT specs states and Canadian provinces. use a binder replacement requirement rather than a The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) maximum percentage of recycled asphalt pavement has developed two new asphalt mix gradations: a 3/8(RAP). Plant results are taken every 20 minutes, and all inch mix (ST) and a #4 mix (SF). These mix gradations readings of the plant operation are recorded. will be specified when thin lift overlays are deemed the For 2013, the Missouri Department of Transportation most appropriate surface treatment. This is a revision of (MoDOT) plans to increase tack coat rates to levels conSection 703—Aggregates for Hot Mix Asphalt, of the sistent with NCHRP Report 712. Missouri began investiCDOT spec. (Editor’s Note: CDOT was evaluating the gating delamination of pavement layers shortly before need to revise the RAP spec, to be based on percent of release of the report. It was discovered that as tack maasphalt binder replaced, instead of the current spec that terials transitioned from cutbacks to emulsions, the spec is based on percent RAP in the mix. The revision was aprates were not adjusted to account for the residual asproaching the final approval process and could be fully phalt content of emulsions. implemented by press time.)

An adjustment to the bulk specific gravity spec is also In July 2013, the Florida Department of Transportaplanned for 2013. When using AASHTO T 166 for the tion (FDOT) will implement a new PG76-22 binder that bulk specific gravity of cores with high air voids, Missouri will require the use of a minimum of 7 percent ground is disallowing the use of AASHTO T 275, bulk gravity ustire rubber (GTR). This binder will be required to meet ing paraffin-coated specimens. It was discovered that all of the requirements for a PG76-22 binder, with the this method can falsely inflate the bulk specific gravity exception of solubility. Additional requirements include results by wax permeating internal voids. Vacuum seala separation test and the Multiple Stress Creep Recoving, AASHTO T 331, and Parafilm, ASTM D1188, will be ery (MSCR) test. The bindthe allowed methods when er can be made exclusiverequired by T 166. ly with GTR or a blend of Nevada has added perODOT has recently allowed GTR and polymer. This new missive language to allow Elvaloy® and will soon be binder will be called PG76using warm-mix asphalt 22 (ARB). FDOT will contin(WMA). Plant mix bitumiallowing GTR as other options ue to use an SBS polymernous surface may be mixed to SBS and SB polymers for pre- and placed at lower temmodified binder—PG76-22 (PMA)—on all high traffic blending for modified PG binders. peratures than normally specified when using one volume projects and any of the technologies covprojects with a history of ered by the term WMA. If desired, WMA may be prorutting. FDOT will also adopt the MSCR test (Jnr and posed for placement of dense graded plant mix bitumipercent recovery) for all modified binders beginning in nous surface.

July 2013.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has Michigan implemented a longitudinal joint spec in recently allowed Elvaloy® and will soon be allowing 2012 to improve the quality and durability of long joints. ground tire rubber (GTR) as other options to SBS and The DOT is currently reviewing the data and plans to SB polymers for pre-blending for modified PG binders, make further revisions. The state has increased the albased on successful past projects. lowable use of RAP. It’s also allowing the use of a fineODOT has recently allowed the production of PG64-28 toothed mill for ride quality corrections. It has a crumb binder using polyphosphoric acid (PPA) rather than polyrubber pilot project scheduled for 2013 wherein the conmer modification. A truly neat PG64-28 binder is hard tractor has the option of terminal blend or wet process. to produce and not refined locally. Because we only use The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mnthis binder for intermediate courses, there was no justiDOT) reports “good results” with limited use of stone fication to force producers to use only polymers. There matrix asphalt (SMA) and Ultra Thin Bonded Wearing is still a PG64-28 polymer-modified spec with PG plus Course. It would like to use more of these mixes on futesting for those producers who do not wish to use PPA. ture projects. The Pave-IR bar will also be required on

10 June/July 2013

mix it up There have been no reports of issues with the PG64-28 mix. They also made the maximum specific gravity procedure specific to one procedure/equipment to keep conPPA-modified binder in the field. tractors and DOT consistent.

ODOT plans to create a spec for a highly polymerized PG binder, around 7 to 8 percent SBS, for high stress areas, Tennessee has added a trackless tack to the list of availpavement reductions and other applications. It currently able options for use as tack coat. Specified tack coat rates has a PG76-22M, which contains roughly 4 percent SBS. for non-milled surfaces were changed from a maximum of ODOT is also working on a spec for trackless tack prod0.05 gallon per square yard “residual bitumen” to 0.05 to ucts to replace existing plan 0.10 gallon per square yard notes. Trackless tack use has applied emulsion. Specified MTO is developing a increased over the past few tack coat rates for milled suryears, so a spec is needed. faces were changed from a performance-based spec for In the past, ODOT has demaximum of 0.20 gallon per termined theoretical maxi- crack sealing in HMA pavements. square yard “residual bitumum specific gravity using men” to 0.08 to 0.12 galIt has a two-year warranty the saturated surface-dry lon per square yard applied period on the performance of (SSD) method on all mixes. emulsion.

In a recent change to a spec, The Ministry of Transportathe sealed cracks.

SSD will now only be pertion of Ontario (MTO), in partformed on mixes that retain nership with Ontario’s hot mix more than 0.18 percent water based on dry weight. This asphalt industry, has developed a permissive spec for uschange was due to a majority of mixes retaining very liting warm-mix asphalt (WMA). It allows contractors to use tle water in the SSD condition, so the maximum specific WMA in lieu of HMA. WMA mix design should follow AASgravity was barely affected. Other benefits are less time HTO R35 Appendix X2. for testing and more immediate results in the field as well Since 2012, MTO has fully switched to using highas a potential one-tenth increase in percent binder in the speed inertial profilers for acceptance of asphalt pavements. The spec requires that pavement smoothness be measured using the QA profiler. Pay factors are identified based on IRI for each 100-m sublot. The overall pay factor will be an average of all the sublot pay factors.

Localized roughness is identified using the Smoothness Assurance Module of ProVAL 3.3. Localized roughness areas are either subject to payment reduction or to repair, based on their severity.

Based on concerns with premature cracking of asphalt pavements, MTO requires all PGAC grades to have an ash content of less than 1 percent, according to an MTO lab testing standard, LS-227. Additionally, PGAC grades, with the exclusion of PG58-28 and 52-34, are required to meet specific testing criteria for LS-299 (Double Edge Notched Tension test) and Multiple Stress Creep Recovery testing (Non-recoverable creep compliance at 3.2 -Jnr3.2 and average percent recovery -R3.2).

Low temperature limiting grade and grade loss determined according to MTO LS-308 are conducted for information purposes.

MTO, in consultation with the industry, is developing a performance-based spec for crack sealing in HMA pavements. It has a two-year warranty period on the performance of the sealed cracks. This spec is near completion and should allow the contractor to select rout geometry for the Rout & Seal option, in addition to the Clean & Seal option available. It should also allow the contractor to select the type of hot-poured rubberized asphalt crack sealant. MTO is developing a performance-based spec for asphalt pavements based on a five-year warranty period.

12 June/July 2013

producer profile

Growth Means Adding Second Plant Superior Asphalt expands business with commitment to industry, service, planning ahead

H

ow many 16-year-olds build a company that still serves a community 30 years in the future? When Jeff Kresnak was 16, he planned ahead for the purchase of a 1-ton roller and 1-ton truck a year later to accommodate driveway sealing schedules that lasted until 10 p.m. most days. He formally started his own company at age 21 and incorporated it in 1993. With the opening of his second asphalt plant April 15, 2013, he’s still planning ahead. One of the forward-looking aspects of his new ALmix drum plant is a 140-foot Thurmon scale under two 200-ton silos. The engineers designed the silo footings so he can expand to six silos in a row, and Kresnak anticipates that will happen before long.

“We like the long 140-foot scale versus having two scales side by side,” Kresnak explained. “To me this is easier and more efficient. It keeps everything simpler and we are still able to get a truck loaded and off the scale in short order. You can see the pillars coming up so we can add four additional silos here in Lansing.

This gives us lots of growth potential and will enable us to do our own pav-

14 June/July 2013

ing and take care of our retail sales as well.”

He said the two silos get them going for the time being. “I would expect, as we did in Grand Rapids in 2010, within a few month we will be adding a couple more silos.”

The company Kresnak has built from the ground up is Superior Asphalt, Inc., in Grand Rapids, Mich., with the newest division, Lansing Asphalt in Lansing, Mich. The new plant in Lansing is an ALmix drum plant rated at 400 tons per hour. It features ALmix Millenium controls, which are total plant controls that can store as many mix designs as the hard drive can hold, according to ALmix President Mike Shurtz.

What Kresnak has done with these two plants in a less-than-favorable economic climate is impressive. The director of the Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan (APAM) in Okemos, Mich., A. John Becsey, spoke highly of Kresnak’s accomplishments.

“It’s not very common in Michigan for a brand new asphalt plant to be located on a brand new site,” Becsey said. “In 2010 Superior’s plant in Grand Rapids was the first brand new

By Sandy Lender

asphalt plant to be located on a newly permitted site in about 20 years.

It’s a beautiful state of the art facility, very clean and nicely landscaped.

In fact, it has achieved NAPA’s Diamond Achievement Commendation for Excellence in Hot Mix Asphalt Plant/Site Operations. I think this is a testament to Jeff’s strong commitment to operating his facilities in an environmentally responsible manner and being a good neighbor to the surrounding community.

“The Lansing Asphalt plant is also a brand new plant on a newly permitted site, and is a beautiful plant that is following in the footsteps of his facility in Grand Rapids. So, to my knowledge, they are the only company in the last 23 years to have done it not once, but twice, which is quite an accomplishment.

“I’m also very pleased that Superior Asphalt is a member of the Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan. They immediately joined our association shortly after opening the Grand Rapids plant and continue to be an active member of the association. I think Jeff recognizes the importance of supporting the industry in addition to appreciating the value of the benefits of APAM membership.”

Superior Asphalt is involved with the community in more ways than one.

“Andy Maioho of Superior Asphalt serves on our Board of Directors and is also a member of our Scholarship Committee,” Becsey said. “I really appreciate Andy contributing his time and effort to help guide our association and Superior’s support of our activities and programs.”

Superior Asphalt is also a member of the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), the CutlervilleGaines Chamber of Commerce, the Associated Builders and Contractors—Western Michigan Chapter, the Michigan Municipal League Foundation, the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, and the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

As mentioned above, the company has started with two 200-ton silos at the new Lansing facility and anticipates growth soon. The new plant manager is Brian Stewart, a gentleman who’s been in the Michigan asphalt industry for a number of years. Stewart shared that he worked for another asphalt company for nine years before going to work for the Michigan Department of Transportation.

“When I came here, I had been working for the state of Michigan for five years,” Stewart said. “I never thought I’d be interested in going back into the asphalt industry.

I was real impressed with Jeff and his quality and what he expects. This is a beautiful place, just a beautiful plant.”

The Lansing plant sits on about 25 acres, according the Stewart, and is fully paved and landscaped because Kresnak had a specific vision for it.

The team knows all about the drying efficiencies achieved when dry aggregate is fed to the plant, so the stockpiles are placed on paved surfaces on an uphill slant. The team also knows about capturing dust and using it as fines in mixes, so the plant includes collection systems at the baghouse and along conveyors.

They’ve gone above and beyond Michigan requirements.

“One of the pleasures in working with Jeff Kresnak on this project was that he is a plant owner who does not cut corners,” Shurtz said. “Starting with the location he chose, the site preparation he undertook, the equipment he specified,

the installation of that equipment, and ending with the yard paving and landscaping, Jeff had a vision and he and his team made it happen.”

Mix in Quality

Stewart manages the Lansing plant, which will be producing state mixes most of the time for Superior crews and customers. He anticipates making Superpave mixes in the future.

The plant has warm-mix capabilities with the ALmix Warm Mix system and can produce mixes with recycled asphalt pavement (RAP). Stewart and Kresnak have similar philosophies when it comes to adding recycle to mixes.

“We will run recycle, around 15 percent RAP to 30 percent RAP,” Stewart said. “We have competitors—and there are companies across the nation—who run high percentages of RAP. You can be really successful at it or not. Jeff and I subscribe to the old school of thought, which is to use lower percentages of RAP with more virgin materials.”

Kresnak spoke about percentages as well. “We will watch closely what percentage of RAP we use to make sure we use the correct liquid asphalt binder to produce great material

below: Jeff Kresnak of Superior Asphalt said, “We are very happy with our ALmix 400 TPH plant. It’s heavy steel, well designed with great welds and the cold feeds, in my opinion, are second to none.” Notice that the team has seven cold feeds clearly marked to help the loader operator deliver the right aggregate to the right bin. Photo courtesy of ALmix, Ft. Wayne, Ind.

producer profile

even if that makes us more expensive than our competitors in some cases.

We will try our best to make every ton of material the best possible way we can just as if we were to use it on our own road, driveway or parking lot.”

With that philosophy, Superior Asphalt has grown consistently for the past 30 years. It’s not just equipment Kresnak has added. The company has more than 120 employees—all Michigan residents. “In Grand Rapids and Lansing markets, we are proud to be the only asphalt facility that is a Michigan-owned and Michigan-headquartered business.”

He anticipates adding 20 to 40 more employees in the next 12 months.

He considers those employees the best in the business; they’re people who were willing to follow him and assist in bringing his vision to life.

16 June/July 2013

“It’s all about making good mix,” Kresnak said. “People will know the difference between what’s good material and what’s not good.”

One of the materials Superior makes is a recycled pavement with the Bagela recycle mixer for winter paving. “The recycler we use in Grand Rapids and Lansing is a Bagela,” Kresnak said. “They produce up to 10 tons of hot mix per hour at 300plus degrees. The material they make for us in the winter months is as nice as most plant mix. We use virgin asphalt top from our jobs throughout the summer months and make a couple thousand tons for the machines in the late fall.”

Making the recycled winter mixes is another area that showcases Kresnak’s forward thinking. He has crews make an extra ton or two of

ABOVE: “This particular installation returns all the dust,” Mike Shurtz of ALmix said. Notice the galvanized pipe under the silos at the left edge of the image. This is a part of the blue smoke capture system, which the state of Michigan requires. You can also see fugitive dust and emission capture systems dotted around the plant to make this facility as environmentally friendly as possible. As Shurtz said, “One of the pleasures in working with Jeff Kresnak on this project was that he is a plant owner that does not cut corners.”

Photo courtesy of ALmix, Ft. Wayne, Ind.

mix for commercial jobs so they don’t run out during a shift, and then he stockpiles any extra mix for the winter jobs.

“What’s nice about having the recycler is in the paving season when you’re not sure if you need 15 or 16 tons to finish a job, we order a few extra tons. This way we’re never

producer profile

ABOVE: A. John Becsey of the Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan shared that the Superior Asphalt Lansing plant is a beautiful, brand new plant on a newly permitted site that is following in the footsteps of Jeff Kresnak’s facility in Grand Rapids. Superior Asphalt is the only company in the last 23 years to have erected new plants on newly permitted land not once, but twice, in the state of Michigan. Plant Manager Brian Stewart explained that the crews paved the surfaces at the Lansing facility to get proper drainage for better energy costs, etc. “Jeff has done his homework,” Stewart said. Photo courtesy of Bryan Musser, Stadel Media, Inc. 18 June/July 2013

short and we bring the extra material back to the yard to be crushed to run through our recyclers in the winter.

Nothing hurts worse than being on a driveway close to dark and being a ton or two short. This way we’re always covered.”

This also makes the winter mix top quality. “Our winter mix has an average bitumen content of approximately 5.7 to 6 percent. It’s perfect for top course repairs in the winter.

We always tell our customers the

areas for HMA have to be at least 2 inches deep and dry. If it doesn’t meet these criteria, you should use U.M.P. cold patch material; we feel that is the best cold patch going and we supply that out of both of our locations.”

By providing mix year-round, you might think a company in the climate Michigan offers is taking a chance with winter conditions.

Kresnak doesn’t think that way. Instead, his crews pay attention to

OPPOSITE PAGE TOP: “We poured our silo pad and footings and silo piers for six silos,” Jeff Kresnak said. “We have two silos up now, but this gives us the opportunity to put up four more 200-ton silos in the future without tearing everything apart. We built the plant to grow and thought ahead as much as possible for future expansion. We like the 140-foot scale versus having two scales side-by-side. To me, this is easier and more efficient. It keeps everything simpler and we are still able to get a truck loaded and off the scale in short order. We know jumping into a new market will be challenging but that’s what keeps our industry fun.

Without challenges, we would all be bored and content and not strive as hard to make our industry more successful.” Photo courtesy of Bryan Musser, Stadel Media, Inc. RIGHT: An employee for the City of Lansing visits with Jeff Kresnak before getting a load of mix. Superior Asphalt works with the city, with municipalities and with the state. Photo courtesy of Bryan Musser, Stadel Media, Inc. FAR RIGHT: From left, Brian Stewart is the plant manager of the new Lansing facility and Jeff Kresnak is the president of Superior Asphalt. Photo courtesy of Bryan Musser, Stadel Media, Inc.

quality control, best practices and customer service.

“We can produce hot mix yearround with our recyclers. You really can’t tell the difference between our hot mix in the winter through our recycler or hot mix out of the asphalt plant [Gencor plant in Grand Rapids] in the middle of July. We’ve been making mix in the winter months for almost 15 years and have lots of municipalities that prefer our hot mix over cold patch. They come into our yards daily to buy our hot mix for just a few dollars more than cold patch material. We sell a lot of our hot mix in the winter to Michigan DOT and many county road commissions.

They know we’re driven to be customer-friendly.

“Service is our first and most important aspect when it comes to customers. As you know, the customer is always right. What’s neat with our company is if for any reason someone isn’t happy with our material in the winter, hot mix or cold patch, we replace it at no charge. If we drop the ball with our plant mix, we’ll be

the first to step up and admit our error and make sure the customer is always happy at the end of the day. We pride ourselves on still doing lots of our jobs on trust and a handshake.”

So far, trust and a handshake has worked well for a company that works with quality.

“Superior has built a reputation for delivering quality projects,” APAM’s Becsey said. “This is evidenced by the fact they won a 2011 APAM/MDOT Award of Excellence for paving the Gateway Drive & Walsh Drive Reconstruction project in Kent County.”

The project Becsey mentioned was one that required a little more than 10,000 tons to pave the drives and taxi-ways at the Kent County Airport in 2011. Superior won the bid and performed the work.

With more projects of that caliber in Superior’s future and plenty of commercial work that requires the personal touch Superior crews provide, Kresnak knew it was time to expand to a second plant not long after the Grand Rapids plant was in place.

As Becsey pointed out, it has been more than 20 years since a company in the state has put a new plant on a newly permitted site—until Jeff Kresnak took his driveway sealcoating business to new heights.

“I want to congratulate Jeff Kresnak on opening his new asphalt plant in Lansing,” Becsey said. “Jeff should be proud of this major accomplishment and how he has grown his business....Even though I’ve known Jeff for only a few years, I can tell he cares deeply for the industry and is dedicated to making his operations the best they can be.”

That kind of care and commitment to not just his company and customers, but also to the industry he’s a part of give his company a shining opportunity for more growth. And that gives Kresnak more “planning ahead” to do.

For more information, contact Jeff Kresnak at (616) 451-3200 or visit either the www.SuperiorAsphalt.com or www.LansingAsphalt.com sites. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 19

equipment maintenance

Guardian Diagnoses Equipment Problems, Tracks Routine Maintenance

F

inding equipment problems quickly means you get equipment back up and running quickly. You might even prevent work time interruption.

To that end, Roadtec introduced its Guardian telematics system in 2012.

Since then, the company has made the remote monitoring technology available on additional equipment.

The Guardian telematics is a system that lets an operator find just about 20 June/July 2013

any machine problem through either the display screen on his milling machine or remotely from a laptop or personal computer. The Guardian system also monitors machine performance and service requirements.

It allows service techs and owners to protect the company’s investment and keep operating costs low by monitoring a specific machine in real time through the wireless signal. Workers

By AsphaltPro Staff

ABOVE: Roadtec offers the Guardian remote diagnostic system on its e-Series milling machines and e-Series pavers now. In this picture, a contractor in Snoqualmie Valley, Wash., uses the RX-600e milling machine with Guardian software installed to track any equipment problems. Photo courtesy of Roadtec, Chattanooga.

equipment maintenance can address any issues that arise while to Kyle Hammon, Roadtec technical the machine works. Roadtec customer marketing coordinator.

It’s Live service personnel can remotely view Engine or machine faults then imGuardian’s intuitive Live the machine in real time and be there mediately trigger an e-mail to the maSchematicsTM allow owners for the customer. The engine, hydrauchine’s owner. An e-mail will also alert and techs to see all electrical lic system, electrical system and grade the owner when the machine is due circuits in a simple layout with control can all be monitored in detail. for service. If a fault occurs but no cell real time status of all switches, (Owners can also locate the machine by phone connection is available, the onvalves and settings.

GPS using the Guardian system.) board computer stores fault informaAs alluded to above, Roadtec first tion until an Internet connection is reoffered Guardian on its e-Series Tier stored. Then Guardian sends the e-mail.

4 milling machines including the RXThe Guardian system allows the opsaid. “That gave us some indication 600e. Now it’s also available on the 10erator to monitor fuel consumption, of the run time versus the standby foot e-Series asphalt pavers. Let’s take engine codes, and other functional time. And we were able to evaluate a look at a couple of milling machine systems including alarms, starting cirall of that from the office.” case studies to see how Guardian influcuit, cutter function, water, conveyor Concannon said his company ences equipment maintenance. speeds, propel functions, load control, worked with Roadtec to solve a probFirst of all, Guardian can provide the hydraulics and more. lem with the calibration of the rear milling machine’s (or paver’s) operating For example, Grathwol said the systrack steering. “It was off, and we data such as productivity and time-totem displays electrical circuits by showwere able to call in to Chattanooga service intervals. If there’s a machine or ing inputs on the left, interlocks in the to change the calibration,” he said. engine fault, the system automatically center and outputs on the right. The “We got that zeroed out and had it sends an e-mail to the ownrunning perfectly in a matter er (or to Roadtec) reporting a of minutes.”

“You can tell where your power problem has developed with a Concannon anticipates the specific system on the mill. remote diagnostic capability flow stops and you can tell if Kyle Grathwol, the owner of will improve machine uptime. it’s an open or shorted circuit.

Grathwol Automation and auHe appreciates the onboard thor of the Guardian software, A technician can see the whole diagnostic capability of the gave an example of RoadGuardian system. “You don’t schematic of the system.” tec receiving an e-mail from a necessarily have to use remachine in Florida. The e-mail mote diagnostics,” he said. alerted Roadtec that the signal from circuits are basically displayed as a live “Just trouble-shooting on the systhe left front pulse pickup had been schematic. If you look at cutter inputs, tem itself is a big plus. The operalost. That means the milling machine you might see the left cutter switch on. tor is able to search out the problem operator couldn’t trust the speed he Then look at the outputs. Actual millihimself.” was reading of the hydraulic motors amps of current and desired milliamps Operators also get e-mails informdriving the tracks. are shown on the output side. If the deing them of upcoming maintenance “An engineer at Roadtec logged into sired output is 3 milliamps but the acneeds. “Our operators carry their that machine in Florida and confirmed tual output shows zero, it means you smart phones so they can get e-mails the condition,” Grathwol said. The have an open circuit. about services needed right away,” Roadtec engineer called the owner of “You can tell where your power flow Concannon said. the milling machine and told the cusstops and you can tell if it’s an open With Guardian, operators can pull tomer the problem, and the customor shorted circuit,” Grathwol said. “A up filter part numbers directly from er quickly found a broken wire. “The technician can see the whole schematic the screen when they see a filter problem was solved within 30 minutes of the system.” change is pending. of the time Roadtec got the e-mail,” Steve Concannon, the operations With the use of telematics in the Grathwol said. manager at Pavement Recycling Sysconstruction industry, equipment With the Guardian software, Roadtec tems, Mira Loma, Calif., tried out the owners, operators and mechanics can connect remotely to any RX-600e RX-600e with the Guardian system. have additional means for controlling milling machine in the world and examHe said his team was able to get reuptime. Anticipatory maintenance ine all of its systems from a computer in ports on the operating performance helps the crew keep machines in opChattanooga. The connection from the of the machine. timum working order and partnermachine to the computer is wireless, “It was very beneficial for us to see ing with OEMs who have a finger on with a cell booster to ensure that the what the fuel burn was and what the the pulse of equipment issues keeps machine has a strong signal, according load on the engine was,” Concannon downtime to a minimum.

22 June/July 2013

project management

From Caterpillar Paving Products

TC Fixes San Diego One Piece at a Time T

he city of San Diego breaks its preservation projects into many pieces—both large and small. TC Construction, Inc., Santee, Calif., won two bids that included many of those projects. To turn a profit completing the projects, TC Construction 26 June/July 2013

put the pieces together in an orderly fashion so the paving crew could be uninterrupted and productive.

Organizing the jobs presented challenges in part because the size of the projects varied greatly from one to the next. Work on thoroughfares

required as much as 15,000 tons of mix while smaller streets might have used as little as 120 tons.

“The total tonnage was 84,000 on the overlay bids we won, but it was spread out over dozens of individual projects,” Art Hernandez said. He’s

OPPosite PaGE: Booster trucks with hauling capacities of 66,000 pounds brought mix to the paver one night. BELOW: A CD54B handled finish work with four passes on a mat of about 170oF.

“At one point, we had to notify 500 people that we wanted to pave at night, and ask them if it was okay,” Hernandez said. “We’ve never done that before.” the paving estimator at TC Construction, which is located just outside San Diego.

Regardless of size, nearly every project had its own logistical challenge. Each required approvals from various government agencies or lastminute adjustments to the milling process. Other challenges fell outside the scope of everyday paving.

TC Doubles Up

The city overlay was two separate projects: One entailed 64,000 tons; the other required 20,000 tons. The individual streets weren’t grouped in any particular order, but instead spread out across the city. They included full width mill and fills, countless dig-outs, hundreds of pedestrian ramp upgrades and overlays.

After winning both bids, TC Construction took efforts to combine the jobs. Hernandez posted a map and marked each and every overlay. He then developed a plan on how to handle each street repair efficiently.

This made sense in terms of efficient use of the crew and equipment, but the more efficient the field operations became, the more details there were to track from an administrative standpoint. For example, each street and its associated mix had to be billed against a specific project.

“We came up with a coding system for the tickets,” Hernandez said.

“It wasn’t anything special, but the point is that while we were combining these projects, we also had to keep them separate, too.”

Specs required TC Construction to mill 2 inches of existing asphalt and then place 3 inches of new material.

The milling—and later the asphalt mat—were tapered so existing curb and gutter matched. TC partnered with a subcontractor to handle the milling. Originally, they planned to let www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 27

project management

ABOVE TOP: Specs required TC Construction to mill 2 inches of existing asphalt and then place 3 inches of new material. The milling—and later the asphalt mat—were tapered so existing curb and gutter matched.

ABOVE: The CD54B brought up the back of the rolling train. The operator reported that it “hardly used any water.”

the subcontractor perform the milling, and then have TC paving crews come in a day later to complete the overlay. The city, however, wanted the paver to work immediately behind the mill to minimize the length of the street closures. That meant they had to adjust the process so the paving crew worked 400 to 500 feet behind the mill.

“We preferred to work separately, but the city had traffic concerns,” Hernandez said. “It wasn’t stipulated in the specs, but understanding the importance of relationships, we 28 June/July 2013

wanted to keep the city happy. We adjusted.”

The change presented some challenges. First, the subcontractor only had a single mill allocated to the job.

He planned to make two passes with the one machine. With the new direction, there wasn’t enough time for that process.

“There had to be two mills,” Hernandez said. “We needed that productivity because we had to finish the paving quickly, too.”

To solve their dilemma, they added a second milling crew. “Having two milling crews there, along with our paving crew, made for a crowded job site,” Hernandez said.

Paving so close to the mill had other repercussions. “You’re adding an entirely new layer of machines and labor, all of which can impede or halt production at any time,” Hernandez said. “Sometimes on these streets, you have no idea what’s underneath.

One time the milling crew hit an old set of railroad tracks that nobody knew were there.”

Breakdowns were rare, but still caused significant problems that needed to be handled efficiently when they occurred. In addition,

achieving a continuous mat meant trucking the asphalt through Southern California traffic.

“We utilized about 15 to 20 trucks per day,” Hernandez said.

Paving crews had to be sure they could use the mix that was in transit, even if the mill had problems. “We typically ground far enough ahead so that if there was a breakdown, we could use the asphalt that was in transit,” Hernandez said.

The milled surface also had to be swept before tack could be applied.

“Cleanup was a big issue during the milling process,” Hernandez said.

“At first we utilized only one sweeper. We convinced the subcontractor to add a second.”

At the early stages of the project, sweeping left the surface too wet for tack. That was remedied easily enough by adding the second sweeper, but it quickly became clear that more attention to the milling and cleanup operation was vital.

Pave, Compact

Asphalt was delivered using booster trucks with strong arms and hauling capacities of 66,000 pounds. The maneuverability and efficiency of the trucks was a perfect match for San Diego’s traffic.

Paving widths were usually 18 feet, although the contractor occasionally used Cat’s wing extensions to achieve a width of 20 feet.

“Sometimes the city would require a certain width because they wanted the joint line under the striping,” Hernandez said.

Sourced from two plants, the mix used ½-inch aggregate. “The fact it came from two plants was another consideration,” Hernandez said.

“Fortunately, we rarely received mix from both plants on the same day, but we did alternate plants day-to-day. It meant adjusting to the haul lengths and the traffic flow at different times of the day. The only real difference was the impact on trucking.”

The mix was 320oF at the plant and about 280oF in the hopper. It was

project management

ABOVE: A Cat CB54 handled breakdown compaction, typically making eight passes—four in vibratory mode—when the mat measured 270oF.

typically 270oF behind the screed. A Cat AP1055D placed the mix at the 3-inch depth. Only one lift was required.

A Cat CB54 handled breakdown compaction. It typically made eight passes with four of the passes in vibratory mode. A pneumatic compactor made four passes working at a mat temperature of about 200oF. Handling finish work was a CD54B with four passes on a mat of about 170oF. “That machine hardly uses any water,” Hernandez said. “It was quiet, with good visibility. But the operator really noticed the water usage. He said he could go all night on seven gallons of water.”

Not all of the specs mentioned night paving. Those requests came after the bidding when a city division reviewed each traffic plan. “That’s when they would make a determination of day or night,” Hernandez said. “When they came back to us and said it had to be night, we had to make some adjustments. It is a changed condition.”

Hernandez credited the city for partnering with TC Construction whenever it could. For example, the city proved extremely flexible and often allowed TC crews to work an hour longer if a street had been changed from day to night paving.

30 June/July 2013

The material supplier would have to open the asphalt plant at night and TC crews would incur additional expense with lighting requirements in a night work zone. On the positive side, traffic changed at night.

“At night we didn’t have to deal with traffic, so sometimes we actually preferred that time,” Hernandez said.

When traffic would be a significant issue, TC requested a change to a night shift. That’s when crews turned into public relations officers, as alluded to above.

“We had to get a noise permit,” Hernandez said. “We had to knock on doors and ask permission. On one street there were 500 people we had to talk to.”

Reaching work zone neighbors required more than a knock and then moving to the next door; followups were required if the door wasn’t answered. Not every resident granted permission, but enough said “yes” that TC was able to get the permit and work at night. Such efforts were not required if the city directed TC to pave at night.

Another challenge resulted when a governmental agency in addition to the city of San Diego became involved. They had to secure permission to post a sign in another situation; Hernandez said getting an

encroachment permit from Caltrans took six months.

Other delays involved working around the hustle and bustle of San Diego. If TC Construction can teach other contractors a quick lesson in project management, it would be to plan for the busy activities that clog potential work zones. Paving in a downtown environment means checking schedules for 10K races, beach activities, special events, city moratoriums and other special events that may mean cars are driving or parked on the pavement you want to mill up. Luckily for TC Construction, they could plan around it all. “The people we worked with at the city were more than reasonable,” Hernandez said. “They handled every request we made and were extremely cooperative. We have nothing but good things to say about them.”

Perceive

As the estimator, Hernandez compared thoughts when the bid is made to the realities you find on the jobsite.

“When you work on a bid, you’re in an isolated office environment,” Hernandez said. For example, he anticipated traffic on certain streets, but was still surprised by some volumes.

“It’s not just the number of vehicles on a street, it’s where they’re going,” he said. “There were a few businesses that were really busy, and we didn’t anticipate that much traffic trying to get into that particular entrance.”

Yet he and the crews made the jobs work, no matter what challenges emerged. “As we all know, successful paving is about adjusting to changing conditions and learning from each and every project completed. You can’t look at worst-case scenarios every time you prepare a bid; you would never get a bid. You have to do the best you can, and consider all known factors, obviously. But at some point you just have to get out there and get the job done.

That’s paving.”

32 June/July 2013

LEFT: The FT5260 and FT6203 plants then processed the concrete material, fed at 6-inch minus, crushing and screening it to 1 1/2-inch for use as granular sub-base. Marmann explained that the granular sub-base provided excellent drainage for stormwater control.

Track,Crush Tracked equipment helps CJ Moyna meet deadlines From KPI-JCI

“In the past, with recycle jobs, we would typically break, haul, crush and truck before we put the material back down,” Jason Marmann said.

He’s the equipment manager for CJ Moyna & Sons, Inc., Elkader, Iowa.

Marmann said Moyna’s recycle projects in the past had all been county and state road projects. “Crushing along a 10-mile stretch of Interstate, however—this was a first for us.”

Marmann refers to 10 miles of northbound I-35 in south-central Iowa. The highway was concrete with asphalt overlay, and Moyna had won the bid to pull the old pavement, handle grading, recycle the asphalt and concrete, and then place the material back onsite for use as subbase and granular sub-base prior to paving.

Although CJ Moyna was founded in 1947 as a grading contractor, over the years the company has grown to include mining and processing of stone, sand and gravel, as well as asphalt and concrete recycling; today it has more than 200 employees and a second office in Cedar Rapids.

“We’ve handled aggregate and recycle processing since 2000,” Marmann said. “And we have a pretty large fleet of portable and tracked equipment that we use for recycle jobs, in our smaller pits and for added production.” When the company won the bid for the I-35 project, Marmann said they knew they needed to find tracked equipment with the production capacity that would allow them to crush all the material onsite.

The ability to crush recycled asphalt and concrete onsite is a positive aspect for a few reasons. First, crushing onsite saves money because trucking material is arguably the highest cost incurred in a project such as this, even if the material is recycled for reuse.

The practice is also environmentally friendly. Most importantly, it boosts safety with fewer trucks on the road during the project.

Moyna officials determined that for the I-35 grading and recycling job the best solution would be to employ tracked plants that could follow the grade and move under their own power. Marmann said that

they wanted a tracked processing system that would allow the company to crush, screen and windrow material as it simultaneously walked the grade along the highway.

“We had another project going on at the same time as the I-35 project…so we needed mobile equipment that would give us good production, too. We knew we would have to pull it off of I-35 in the middle of the job and use it at the airport before taking it back to I-35. So the two projects justified the equipment purchase.”

Marmann was familiar with KPIJCI; CJ Moyna owned several crushing, screening and washing plants manufactured by the Astec companies, and had also rented KPI-JCI equipment occasionally when projects demanded additional equipment. He had worked closely with factory personnel in Yankton, S.D., and Eugene, Ore., as well as CJ Moyna’s local dealer, Road Machinery & Supplies Co. (RMS), for prior equipment purchases, and this purchase was no different. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 33

“We had made factory visits,” he said. “And even then we talked opportunities and where we see the market going. They were very handson and very open with the lines of communication. They listened and they have adjusted and tailored their products to fit the market.”

Marmann said this willingness to work with CJ Moyna also played into its ultimate equipment choice. The company made its decision and ordered a KPI-JCI FT5260 horizontal shaft impact (HSI) crushing plant and a KPI-JCI FT6203 6-foot by 20-foot three-deck horizontal screen plant.

CJ Moyna’s responsibility for the I-35 project included pulling up the concrete with its asphalt overlay in a 10-mile stretch along the northbound lanes. The milled asphalt was stockpiled along the outside shoulder. CJ 34 June/July 2013

Moyna broke the concrete with an excavator and left it piled along median shoulder. The asphalt-treated base under the concrete was then chunked and laid on top of the asphalt overlay millings.

As the company graded the road site, it crushed the asphalt with a KPI-JCI FT4240 closed-circuit HSI plant and put that material down on the graded road site as sub-base.

The FT5260 and FT6203 plants then processed the concrete material, fed at 6-inch minus, crushing and screening it to 1 1/2-inch for use as granular sub-base. Marmann explained that the granular sub-base provided excellent drainage for stormwater control. After that step, the paving contractor for the job came in behind CJ Moyna.

ABOVE: CJ Moyna and Sons used a KPI-JCI FT5260 horizontal shaft impact crushing plant and a KPI-JCI FT5203 6-foot by 20-foot threedeck horizontal screen plant to complete a 10-mile pavement project along Interstate 35 in Iowa. First, they milled off the asphalt overlay and stockpiled that material along the outside shoulder. Second, they pulled up failed concrete with a Cat excavator, leaving the slabs piled along the median. Third, they chunked the asphalt-treated base that had been under the concrete and laid it on top of the asphalt overlay millings.

As one crew graded the road site, another crew crushed the asphalt with a KPI-JCI4240 closed-circuit horizontal shaft impact crushing plant and placed that material on the graded road site as sub-base.

The FT5260 and FT6203 tracked plants then processed the concrete material from 6-inch minus to 1.5-inch for use as a granular sub-base. The I-35 project was CJ Moyna’s first Interstate highway recycling job, and it was KPI-JCI’s first setup with an FT5260 and FT6203 crushing and screening as the plants walked the grade.

ABOVE: The CJ Moyna & Sons crew broke the existing failed concrete base along I-35 with an excavator and left it piled along median shoulder. The FT5260 walked the grade, crushing the material and stockpiling it alongside the project.

According to Marmann, when RMS delivered the plants, the dealer provided a pre-delivery inspection followed by setup and training. After that, CJ Moyna put the plants to work. The I-35 project was Moyna’s first Interstate highway recycling job, and it was KPI-JCI’s first setup with an FT5260 and FT6203 crushing and screening as the plants walked the grade.

“For a first time for both sides, it went really well,” Marmann said. “If we had questions or little tweaks that needed to be done for our applications, between RMS and KPI-JCI, we could talk to them one day and have www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 35

TOP ABOVE: The I-35 project was Moyna’s first Interstate highway recycling job, and it was KPI-JCI’s first setup with an FT5260 and FT6203 crushing and screening as the plants walked the grade. ABOVE: The milled asphalt was stockpiled along the outside shoulder.

36 June/July 2013

a solution by the next. It was pretty flawless. And the beauty of it—this setup is so versatile and usable—at one point when we needed material really quickly in one of our pits, we pulled the plants off of the I-35 job, unloaded at the pit, put the plants together and started crushing, just like that.”

Despite heavy rain and pulling the new plants for other applications, CJ

Moyna completed its I-35 project on time and within budget. “We had good equipment and some fortunate weather breaks. The material itself also provided some breaks; we had good luck with our material,” Marmann said. “And personnel stepped up to meet the challenge. But if the equipment hadn’t performed for us, it would have been hard for us to make up for that lost time.”

Estimate What 2013 Will Bring You

By Sandy Lender

H

eavy Construction Systems Specialists, Inc. (HCSS) has released its 2013 Heavy Civil/Infrastructure Estimating Survey results. It offers insights to issues affecting the heavy/ highway industry. You can download your free copy of the results at www. hcss.com/estimating-survey to learn about the trends in estimating and bidding during the past two years and what your peers anticipate for the remainder of 2013.

Highlights of the findings include: • More bidders per job and more competition—40 percent of respondents stated they saw an increase in the number of bidders on jobs in 2012 versus 2011.

• Companies must adapt to stay in business in today’s economy—one way companies are doing so is by expanding their scope outside of their normal specialties or bidding jobs outside of their normal geographic range.

• Companies are generally optimistic for 2013.

Check out a few of the morsels gleaned from the survey for your information here. All facts and figures quoted herein are from the 2013 Heavy Civil/Infrastructure Estimating Survey.

Let’s start with a picture of 2012’s bidding landscape. The average total dollars that an estimator bid in 2012 was less than $25 million for 48 percent of the responders. Only 17 percent of respondents bid between $25 and $50 million for the year; 11 percent of responders bid between $51 and $100 million for the year; 9 percent of responders bid between $101 and $200 million for the year. What’s strange is that 8 percent of responders didn’t know how many total dollars they bid in 2012.

What everyone wants to know is how those total dollars compared with previous years. One of the questions HCSS asked was how the bidding 38 June/July 2013

ABOVE: Two Wirtgen milling machines work in echelon on a mill-and-fill project on I-10 west of Houston in the summer of 2011. Photo courtesy of Wirtgen Americas, Nashville.

volume dollars in 2012 compared to the volume of 2011. It turned out the 10 percent of responders considered their total volume of bids in 2012 “significantly higher” than their total volume of bids (in dollars) in 2011. The most responders—35 percent—considered their volume in 2012 “somewhat higher” than in 2011. Those who considered their bidding volume stayed flat numbered 21 percent.

The change in department of transportation bid volume dollars between the two years decreased quite a bit for the responders. Only 19 percent of respondents saw an increase in DOT opportunities from 2011 to 2012, while 33 percent saw a decrease. What’s interesting is that 26 percent of respondents thought DOT opportunities remained “flat” and the remaining 21 percent of respondents didn’t know or didn’t go after DOT lettings.

On the other hand, 35 percent of respondents saw an increase in private bid volume dollars from 2011 to 2012.

One of the topics pundits have bandied about during the past few years of economic uncertainty is that of contractors and producers expanding their areas of expertise to bring in more work. HCSS asked about that. Responders were fairly split on the concept. It turns out that 53 percent of respondents did bid on work

outside of their “normal” geography or specialty area in 2012, which left 47 percent who did not.

Looking forward, only 3 percent of respondents had a gloomy disposition, thinking they’d have a difficult time staying in business through 2013. HCSS had 23 percent of its respondents indicating they’d have a fairly good year; 46 percent indicating they’d have an “ok” year with a small profit; and 14 percent indicating they’d break even in 2013. In fact, 33 percent of respondents expect to expand their work force in 2013. Of course, that leaves 56 percent saying they don’t expect to expand their work force and 11 percent indicating they don’t know if they will or not, but having a third of respondents expecting to hire more employees is a positive sign.

Hiring employees isn’t the only sign of company health. One of the questions dealt with compensation.

It appears that 45 percent of companies have given raises to estimators in the past two years; 50 percent of companies have not given raises to their estimators and another 5 percent of responders claimed not to know whether the company handed out raises or not. Even with the few confused responders, 57 percent of respondents indicated that field wages have increased over the past two years, while only 2 percent of respondents indicated that field wages have decreased.

“As far as our customers go, HCSS has not seen a significant drop in customers on annual software maintenance,” HCSS President Mike Rydin said. “Although the survey was only of HCSS customers, it’s reassuring to see that only a few of those responding to the survey expect to have a hard time staying in business given the current economy.”

For more information, visit www. hcss.com.

Crush Concrete Oakes’ impact crusher brings big concrete slabs down to size

By Tom Kuennen 44 June/July 2013

OPPosite PaGE: ‘Birds nest’ of embedded reinforcing steel (foreground) is removed from the stream by a powerful magnet and awaits recycling. BELOW: Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) from failed pavement slabs is used as road base on same project.

L

ate last season a Mobirex MR 130 ZS EVO impact crusher from Kleemann helped a Wisconsin contractor bring concrete highway demolition slabs down to size ahead of reuse as fill on the same reconstruction project.

On the outskirts of Racine, Wis., the Mobirex crusher reduced 24- to 30-inch slabs—some up to 10 inches in depth—of portland cement concrete (PCC) highway to a select crush size of 6- to 8-inch minus and

1.25-inch dense-graded base course recycled concrete aggregate (RCA).

The highway surface was broken by mobile drop hammer and dug out by a backhoe. The RCA was used as road base on the same state highway, Wis. 32 (Douglas Ave.).

“We’re using a breaker and a backhoe on the highway to remove the pieces from the right-of-way,” Dan Oakes said. He’s the president of A.W. Oakes & Son, Racine, Wis. “The pieces are taken to our adjacent

yard, crushed up and hauled right back to be placed.”

The drop hammer was employed for precision demolition around an abundance of manholes, water shutoff boxes and other appurtenances in the existing pavement. These broken slabs were removed by mass excavation bucket on a Komatsu PC 200 and loaded on truck for delivery to Oakes’ north Racine yard.

The select crush material was placed from 1 to 3 feet deep in the www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 45

ABOVE TOP: Kleemann MR 130 ZS EVO reduces concrete slabs to reusable sizes. The Mobirex reduced 24- to 30-inch slabs—some up to 10 inches in depth—of PCC to a select crush size of 6- to 8-inch minus and 1.25inch dense-graded base course RCA. RIGHT: At the north Racine yard, failed concrete slabs were crushed—recycled—for use in the road’s base.

right-of-way, depending on undercuts, and the dense-graded base would go 8 inches deep on top of that layer, prior to placement of driving course. “We test the material for gradation to make sure it meets DOT specification, and we test it for sound and wearness using the L.A. Abrasion test,” project manager for Oakes Crushing Division Kevin Hokanson said.

46 June/July 2013

ABOVE: A drop hammer gave the Oakes crew precision demolition around an abundance of manholes, water shut-off boxes and other appurtenances in the failed concrete pavement. A Komatsu PC 200 equipped with a mass excavation bucket removed broken slabs and loaded them into trucks for delivery to the Mobirex at Oakes’ north Racine yard. There, a backhoe fed the Mobirex’ hopper.

48 April/May 2012

“We are fortunate that we have very experienced people,” Oakes said. “They make sure we don’t put any objects or deleterious material into the crusher that could jam or back it up. Sizing and mixing of materials are the key to keeping the production up to an average of 300 tph with the Kleemann crusher.”

Oakes acquired the Mobirex MR 130 ZS EVO, its first, earlier in 2012.

“Out of the units we’ve demo’ed and tested over the last couple of years, Kleemann is superior overall,” Oakes said.

“Kleemann’s feeding hopper and vibratory pan ahead of the main conveyor—and the way the pan processes the material and pulls steel out—is superior to everything we’ve tried,” Hokanson said. “The prescreen is a key feature, as it takes fine material out before it goes in the crusher, reducing wear. The pan feeder is steel, and increases our production by keeping embedded steel from tearing up the belt.”

50 June/July 2013

Tilcon Combines Three Plants in One

By AsphaltPro Staff

A

t the end of 2012, management at Tilcon New Jersey, a division of Tilcon New York owned by Oldcastle® Materials, Inc., made a substantial change to operations. They combined three facilities into one—in a manner of speaking.

The three Tilcon New Jersey plants located at Totowa (near Paterson), Bernardsville (near Basking Ridge) and North Bergen (near Secaucus across the river from Manhattan) had served the company well, but were due for some upgrades. To answer the company’s need for higher capacity and equipment modernization, management worked with the team at Gencor, Orlando, Fla., to build one large facility at Mt. Hope, N.J.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 51

TOP LEFT: The new filler silo ABOVE: Tilcon New Jersey has 10 cold feed bins for different sizes of material. Each is labeled clearly to make the loader operator’s job easier. This is a simple way to keep a handle on quality control for any producer.

ABOVE: In the foreground, notice the three RAP bins include grizzlies to help keep oversize material from entering mixes. ABOVE RIGHT: The nine silos Tilcon has erected at the Mt. Hope facility represent 2,700 tons of storage capacity. They also represent the expectation of more tonnage Tilcon New Jersey management anticipates providing for the area.

52 June/July 2013

The new facility boasts nine 300ton storage silos. Ten cold feed bins and three recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) bins feed the plant. The system is designed to handle mixes with up to 50 percent recycle and is rated at 650 tons per hour. Notice that the bins are labeled clearly for the loader operator to ensure the right material gets into the right bin for good quality control. The plant operator also has a handle on QC with the Gencor Ultralogiks automation. Tilcon uses Libra’s ticketing system.

The Genco Ultra II 200 burner heats material in the 11-foot, 6-inch diameter drum, which is configured with Gencor ARE flights.

that's a good idea

Signal Truck Drivers

By John Ball

The paver operator flips the switch to make the signal light change, telling the truck driver without words when it’s time to stop, when it’s time to lift the truck bed, when it’s time to lower the truck bed and when it’s time to pull away.

E

ven new truck drivers who’ve been subcontracted to work your asphalt job for one shift can operate in a safe manner if you give them signals they already understand. This APAC crew put a common practice into play on their pavers with stoplights and recognizable colors.

You can purchase stoplights and then change out the bulbs inside or the lens covers to customize them to your operation.

56 June/July 2013

In the picture here, the APAC paver operator uses the red lens at the top of the signal to tell truck drivers when to stop backing. This lets the paver operator slowly nudge the paver forward to meet the truck, minimizing the “bump” that can cause material segregation.

The next lens is an “up” arrow in a yellow lens that tells the driver when it’s time to lift the body up, charging the hopper. That yellow also means caution, so the driver knows to let

off the brake, allowing the paver to push—or drive—the operation forward slowly.

The next lens is the “down” arrow in a yellow lens that tells the driver when it’s time to lower the body.

Again, the yellow color reminds him to be cautious.

The bottom lens is clear. When the paver operator shines that one, the driver knows it’s safe to pull the truck away from the paver.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 57

equipment gallery

Caterpillar Heats Your Endgates

By AsphaltPro Staff

W

hen quality control (QC) and bonuses are on the line, veteran paving crew members look to every detail in the field to get the asphalt mat just right. One of the most important features of a good mat is the longitudinal joint.

To get that joint right, a hot ski on the end gate makes a big difference. The heat keeps the metal from grabbing mix and ripping little chunks or big gaps in the material. To address the end gate’s temperature, contractors can purchase heating packages or build their own heating system. The team at Caterpillar®, Peoria, Ill., has an answer, too. The AS4252C screed, developed by Caterpillar, offers heated end gates as an option.

The end gates on the AS4252C can be electrically heated for improved flow, especially in cooler temperatures. Heating end gates keeps mix at a more consistent temperature, enabling longitudinal joint matching and compaction, according to Cat representatives.

The AS4252C is a high performance screed with tamper bars and vibratory screed plates, which assist in compacting thicker mats. It combines operator-friendly controls, quick adjustments and reliable screed plate heating in order to deliver smooth, quality mats. The variable frequency tamper bars and vibratory screed plates provide initial compaction while electrically heated tamper bars and screed plates optimize flow under the screed. Rigid, double-width extenders ensure performance at wide paving widths and can be equipped with foldable end gates that reduce the overall width for easy transport.

The AS4252C screed paves up to 26 feet, 4 inches with extensions for performance on interstates, highways, airports and other wide-width paving applications. A standard extendable paving range of 8 feet, 4 inches to 16 feet, 4 inches makes this screed highly versatile for smaller job sites as well.

An intuitive LCD display keeps the operator informed of screed plate temperatures, tamper bar speed, vibratory speed and screed counter-balance pressure. The electric screed heat system is designed to get the plates and tamper bars up to the ideal operating temperature quickly for fast starts.

Caterpillar also announces the new Cat® Product LinkTM capabilities. The company has enhanced the ability of managers to monitor equipment remotely with its release of VisionLinkTM 2.7. Product Link’s intuitive user interface provides a mobile optimized web app, the ability to schedule automated delivery of VisionLink reports, and remote access to on-board payload system information.

The mobile app is available on iOS, BlackBerry, Android/Chrome and Windows operating systems. Introductory functionality enables viewing the location of assets on a map, tracking scheduled services, viewing fault codes and open alerts, and accessing idle, working and runtime through a smart phone.

58 June/July 2013

The AS4252C screed from Caterpillar® offers heated end gates as an option to assist with quality control for your longitudinal joint spec.

New productivity functionality leverages existing onboard payload systems for wheel loaders and off-highway trucks equipped with such systems. Managers can remotely monitor information such as total payload moved per day and total payload per hour and per unit of fuel. This new integration adds to the current productivity capabilities of the VisionLink app, which include the ability to track load counts and cycle times based on switch and machine movement input, as well as advanced integration with on-board grade control systems to enable detailed monitoring of earthmoving, grading and finishing projects.

In addition, VisionLink now provides visibility to the information your business needs through daily, weekly and monthly reports scheduled in advanced and delivered via email to those who need to know.

For more information, contact your local Cat dealer or visit www.cat.com.

ADM Offers Recycle Systems

Asphalt Drum Mixers, Inc., Huntertown, Ind., offers four models of portable and stationary recycle systems to enhance the cost-efficiency of asphalt plants. Recycle systems allow plants to use milled material in hot mix asphalt (HMA).

Because recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) is less expensive

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 59

equipment gallery than virgin aggregate, the result is a less expensive finished product that maintains the high quality of a pure virgin aggregate mix.

ADM’s recycle bins feature a 15-ton capacity and are continuously welded at the seams. The bins contain angle irons and midsection stiffeners for reinforcement, and their steeply sloped sidewalls are designed to prevent material bridging or plugging. A tapered discharge opening leads to the direct-drive belt feeder with a 5-horsepower motor, multi-ply belt, self-cleaning tail pulley and adjustable skirt boards.

To transfer RAP from the bin, the recycle system includes a heavy-duty weigh conveyor that features a channel frame and wind shroud protection for accurate weighing. The conveyor is 2 feet wide and, depending on the model, between 45- and 65-feet long.

It introduces RAP to the dried aggregate mix after the heating process. Based on conditions and type of plant, the mix can contain up to 50 percent RAP. An optional lump breaker is available for ADM’s recycling systems to break down large pieces of RAP into useable sizes. It features an adjustable steel breaker plate and replaceable tungsten-tipped teeth, and is powered by a 30-horsepower, high-efficiency motor with an open-mesh covered V-belt drive. Single- and double-deck scalping screens are also available to ensure oversized material doesn’t enter the aggregate mix. Other options include air cannons, grizzlies, bin extensions, adjustable legs with sand shoes and a skid with bolt-on support legs.

For more information, contact ADM at (260) 6375729 or sales@admasphaltplants.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

BOMAG Increases Recycler’s Power

Featuring a 482-horsepower turbocharged Deutz V6 engine, the MPH122-2 recycler/stabilizer from Bomag Americas, Kewanee, Ill., is designed to be an economical and environmentally friendly solution for various soil stabilization and in-place asphalt recycling tasks. The MPH122-2 offers three rotor options: a 91.7-inch-wide stabilizer rotor with Kennametal paddle-type teeth and a 19.7-inch maximum cutting depth; a 99.6-inch-wide universal rotor with a 16.5-inch cutting depth; and a 99.6-inch-wide universal rotor with bolt-on Kennametal tooth holders and a 16.5-inch cutting depth. Bolt-on tooth holders can be replaced at the work site without welding, thus reducing repair time.

The MPH122-2 has an integrated hydrostatic rotor drive to ensure optimal efficiency while keeping maintenance requirements to a minimum. The standard center-mounted universal rotor is 91.7 inches wide, with 192 cutting teeth and a maximum cutting depth of 19.7 inches. The maximum working speed of the machine is 211 feet per minute.

60 June/July 2013

Rotor speeds ranging from 100 to 170 revolutions per minute can be selected under load, allowing the MPH122-2 to be adapted to match specific job requirements, whether working as a soil stabilizer or performing various methods of asphalt recycling. Variable rotor speeds help to optimize the mixing process and allow binding agents and soil to be processed with maximum efficiency and minimal wear.

The MPH122-2 uses all-wheel drive for trouble-free operation on severe grades or in difficult traction conditions. A compact design and combination of articulated and rear-wheel steering further enhance maneuverability on restricted sites and in confined areas. A robust center joint provides a smaller turning radius than the previous model to ensure constant stability.

For added visibility and comfort, the MPH122-2 operator’s station includes a laterally adjustable seat with 90-degree swivel, two steering wheels, a double travel lever and an ergonomic control layout. ROPS/FOPS with seat belt is included for operator safety. Other safety features on the MPH122-2 include automatic rotor switch-off, automatic brake actuation and emergency stop switch to help protect workers in close proximity to the machine.

Maintenance points on the MPH122-2 have been minimized and conveniently positioned for easy access. An enclosed pressure-ventilated cab with filtered fresh air, heating and air conditioning is available as an option.

Other optional equipment includes emulsion and foam bitumen metering systems.

Bomag also offers its new BW211-50 Series singledrum vibratory rollers, which are designed to compact granular and cohesive soils. The BW211-50 Series consists of the BW211D-50 smooth drum roller and the BW211PD-50 padfoot roller. Each model is powered by a Tier 4i compliant, 120-horsepower Deutz diesel engine that features ECOMODE, a system that aids the operator in conserving fuel. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 61

equipment gallery Dual vibration frequencies and amplitudes ensure compaction performance is maximized on a variety of soil surfaces. Both rollers deliver frequencies of 1,800 and 1,980 vibrations per minute (vpm) across an 84-inch operating width. The BW211D-50 generates 53,100 pounds of centrifugal force in high amplitude and 32,141 pounds in low amplitude, while the BW211PD-50 provides respective centrifugal forces of 61,825 pounds and 37,434 pounds.

Maintenance on the BW211-50 Series is simplified by a polymer hood that opens vertically for quick access to the engine, hydraulics and all service points. Steering cylinder pins, travel bearings and a maintenance-free bolton articulation joint eliminate daily grease requirements, while the engine air intake is positioned high on the roller to increase filter life and reduce overall noise levels.

Controls on the BW211-50 Series are strategically placed for maximum operator comfort and jobsite safety. A vibration-isolated operator’s platform enhances productivity, while clear sight lines provide excellent all-around visibility of the machine. Additionally, each roller features an ergonomically positioned integrated instrumentation cluster, including audible and/or visual indicators for oil pressure, engine coolant level, brake control, electrical charge control and hydraulic oil level.

A 12-degree oscillating angle and 35-degree steering angle provide optimum maneuverability on the jobsite, and operation is simple with a single lever control for travel and vibration modes. Heavy-duty 12-ply tires and a rear axle with no-spin differential contribute to excellent traction, even in difficult conditions. Maximum gradeability is 47 percent with and without vibration.

Options include compaction measurement and control systems, front and rear working lights, padfoot or smooth drum segment kits, front frame or diamond tread rear tire ballasts, ROPS cab with heating, air conditioning, swivel comfort seat, CD radio with auxiliary input, rotary beacon and special paint.

Speedometer, voltmeter, frequency and tachometer gauges are also available.

For more information, contact BOMAG Americas at (309) 853-3571 or info. bomag@bomag.com. Visit the website at www.bomag.com/us. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Gauge Your Compaction

At the end of April, InstroTek Inc., Raleigh, N.C., released its latest generation of nuclear moisture-density gauges for the construction industry. The MC3 EliteTM moisture-density gauge features a lightweight design, easy-to-read display and backlit keypad, among other features.

The MC3 Elite comes from the combined expertise of two leaders in the nuclear gauge industry, InstroTek Inc. and CPN-International. The exterior of the MC3 Elite has been redesigned and field-tested for durability and efficiency. New features like a larger, four-line LCD display for faster navigation, backlit keypad for use during day or night, a lightweight top shell, and a precisionmachined base make the MC3 Elite one of the most refined nuclear gauges on market, according to the manufacturers.

The Elite’s interior has also undergone a 62 June/July 2013

transformation. InstroTek engineers have included a more intuitive software platform. The storage capability allows for multiple projects to be saved to a USB flash drive for cable-free downloads. New nickel-metal hydride rechargeable batteries extend battery life five times longer and the additional 9V battery backup keeps the Elite on the job, instead of on the charger.

Electronics have been sealed for better protection against the construction industry’s rugged environment.

The MC3 Elite is currently available directly from InstroTek. The unit comes ready for testing with all accessories and a shipping/field case for safe transportation and storage.

For more information, contact InstroTek at (919) 875-8371 or marbelaez@instrotek.com.

Weigh it to Store it

When you need to maintain and track inventory levels, Intercomp Company has on-board weighing systems to help. Frac sand operations, oil fields, silo storage facilities, construction sites, mining operations and truck drivers require cost-effective, efficient solutions to manage inventory. Load cells can be installed on vehicles, trailers or silos to assist in load monitoring, inventory management and help to avoid overloads. Systems can be mounted in a variety of configurations to accommodate specs.

Intercomp uses RFXTM wireless weighing technology. The RFX Wireless Handheld Transmitter serves as a controller as well as a scale indicator, eliminates unnecessary additional equipment, and lets the operator handle equipment functions by hand. The AT455TM Indicator stores date and time, type of product and destination of the load; shows individual and aggregate information for each record; includes an alphanumeric keypad for detailed entry and calculates yield per acre. The Inventory Management Web Interface tracks, analyzes and prints bin data reports; can be viewed on any Internet browser; sets alarms remotely; and has a dashboard that can be customized to meet individual requirements.

For more information, contact Intercomp at (763) 476-2531 or info@intercompcompany.com. Tell them you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine. www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 63

here's how it works

Step 1 Connect the AFDL 1 Data Logger to the side of the gyratory’s control panel.

Step 2 Run tests to generate data.

Step 3 Use the thumb drive for easy transfer of data.

Data downloads onto the thumb drive.

Pine Instrument’s AFDL1 Data Logger A

s computer hardware and our personal computing devices have advanced, the use of floppy drives and CDs has gone by the wayside. Getting information from one machine in your testing lab to the quality control inspectors at the state lab might not be as simple as sending data to “the cloud.” Pine Instrument Company, Grove City, Pa., made a device to simplify your life.

The company displayed a number of products at WOA/AGG1, including its new AFDL1 Data Logger. Ed Kaltenbaugh is a senior software engineer for Pine and he designed the new data logger that allows you to upgrade your current gyratory compactor to log data onto a flash drive.

64 June/July 2013

Here’s how it works.

First, mount the data logger onto the side of any Pine gyratory compactor (and some competitors’ models as well) via the serial port.

The data logger is the retrofit that allows you to collect the data you’re about to generate. Second, insert a USB storage device/Memory StickTM in the flash drive located on the front of the data logger. Third, run tests as usual, generating your data.

The data logger receives serial data during or after compaction of specimens. It saves the data to the standard USB flash drive, which is included with the unit. It places a timestamp and date on the files with an onboard, real-time clock.

The user then sends the saved files to a printer or imports them into Excel workbooks. The information is stored on the USB storage device/Memory Stick for easy transport/transfer.

For more information, contact Ed at edkbaugh@pineinst.com or (724) 4586393. Let them know you saw it in AsphaltPro Magazine.

Show us How it Works If you’re an equipment manufacturer with a complex product, let us help you explain its inner workings to the readers of AsphaltPro magazine. There’s no charge for this editorial department, but our staff reserves the right to decide what equipment fits the parameters of a HHIW features. Contact our editor at sandy@ theasphaltpro.com.

resource directory Almix………………................... .39 Tel: 260-672-3004 sales@almix.com www.almix.com Asphalt Drum Mixers…….....................24-25, 62 Contact: Steve Shawd or Jeff Dunne Tel: 260-637-5729 sales@admasphaltplants.com www.admasphaltplants.com Argo Industries…..................... .31 Contact Paul Vandermolen Tel: 1-800-244-2746 or 262-781-3995 Cell: 262-442-9895 Sales@argoind.com www.argoind.com

BOMAG Industries...............54-55 Tel: 800-782-6624 of 309-853-3571 www.bomag.com CAT Paving.............................. ..17 www.cat.com/paving

B & S Light Industries................ 47 Contact: Mike Young Tel: 918-342-1181 Sales@bslight.com www.bslight.com

Fast-Measure............................. 60 Tel: 888-876-6050 www.Fast-measure.com

CEI.............................................. 4 Tel: 800-545-4034 info@ceienterprises.com www.ceienterprises.com C.M. Consulting........................ 65 Contact: Cliff Mansfield Tel: 541-354-6188 Cmconsulting@aol.com www.hotplantconsulting.com Dillman Equipment................... 59

Astec, Inc............ …..37, 42-43, 61 Contact: Tom Baugh Tel: 423-867-4210 tbaugh@astecinc.com www.astecinc.com

EZ Street................................... 57 Tel: 800-734-1476 Info@ezstreet-miami.com www.ezstreetasphalt.com

Tel: 608-326-4820 www.dillmanequipment.com E.D. Etnyre................................ 63 Contact: sales@etnyre.com Tel: 800-995-2116 www.etnyre.com Ergon Inc................................... 11 Savemyroad.com

Gencor Industries...................... 13 Contact: Dennis Hunt Dhunt@gencor.com www.gencor.com Heatec, Inc.................... Inside Front Cover Contact: Sharlene Burney Tel: 800-235-5200 sburney@heatec.com www.heatec.com Humboldt…............................. .57 Contact: Robin Bailey Tel: 800-544-7220 Rbailey@humboldtmfg.com www.humboldtmfg.com KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screen........................... 49 Contact: Lisa Carson Tel: 605-668-2425 lisacarson@kpijci.com www.kpijci.com

Maxam Equipment............... insert Contact: Lonnie Greene Tel: 800-292-6070 lgreene@maxamequipment.com www.maxamequipment.com Meadwestvaco.......................... 29 Tel: 800-458-4034 www.evotherm.com www.mvw.com Reliable Asphalt Products......................Back Cover Contact: Charles Grote Tel: 502-647-1782 cgrote@reliableasphalt.com www.reliableasphalt.com Roadtec….............................. .7, 9 Contact: Sales Tel: 423-265-0600 Sales@roadtec.com www.roadtec.com Rotochopper, Inc..................... Inside Back Cover Tel: 320-548-3586 Info@rotochopper.com www.rotochopper.com Rushing Enterprises................. .12 Contact: Darrell Martin Tel: 800-654-8030 Dmartin@rushingenterprises.com www.rushingenterprises.com

Stansteel AsphaltPlant Products............... 40 Contact: Dave Payne Tel: 800-826-0223 dpayne@stansteel.com www.stansteel.com Stansteel.................................... 13 Contact: Dawn Kochert Tel: 800-826-0223 dkochert@hotmixparts.com www.hotmixparts.com Tarmac International, Inc........... 21 Contact: Ron Heap Tel 816-220-0700 info@tarmacinc.com www.tarmacinc.com Top Quality Paving….............…65 Contact: John Ball Tel 603-624-8300 Tqpaving@yahoo.com www.tqpaving Willow Designs.......................... 60 Contact: Jerod Willow Tel: 717-919-9828 Eoawillow@aol.com www.willowdesignsllc.com Wirtgen America...................... .53 Tel: 615-501-0600 Info@wirtgenamerica.com www.wirtgenamerica.com

AsphaltPro’s Resource Directory is designed for you to have quick access to the manufacturers that can get you the information you need to run your business efficiently. Please support the advertisers that support this magazine and tell them you saw them in AsphaltPro magazine.

www.theasphaltpro.com | ASPHALT PRO 65

the last cut

Oil Prices Spring Around From Energy Information Administration

A

nyone who has been following crude prices closely saw a high spot price so far this year for Brent crude oil of $119 per barrel in the middle of February. The spot price has been cascading downward. As of press time late April, the spot price for Brent crude oil was $100/bbl. Following all the same resources shows Louisiana Light Sweet (LLS) crude prices experienced a slight decline in the spring as well.

According to the Energy Information Administration’s April 24 release of This Week in Petroleum, the typical unrest can be “blamed” for the reprieve. Specifically, the report listed “Concerns over global macroeconomic growth, a seasonal decline in European and Asian refinery runs, and an increase in North Sea production have been cited as fundamentals driving…prices lower.”

In other words, the price difference between Brent and LLS is leveling back out.

Here’s where it gets interesting. EIA reports that the price of LLS declined less than the price of Brent declined because “U.S. refiners on the Gulf Coast completed refinery maintenance and increased crude runs and…supplies of LLS were disrupted by pipeline problems. As a result, the differential between LLS and Brent topped $7/bbl, its widest level in recent years. More recently, as LLS supply disruptions eased, the LLS-Brent differential is returning to its recent parity.”

In other words, the price difference between Brent and LLS is leveling back out. Refineries have increased their crude runs since March and it looks as if an operating problem with the Eugene Island pipeline system, which is located offshore Louisiana, has been resolved. EIA had forwardlooking statements: “Looking further ahead, LLS may begin to sell at a persistent structural discount against Brent, as well as other comparable global seaborne crudes. The timing of this shift is dependent on the speed of the continuing ramp-up in domestic crude production and reduction of waterborne imports to the U.S. Gulf Coast. If Gulf Coast refiners reach the point where the availability of domestic light sweet crudes meets, or exceeds, their feedstock requirements, and light sweet grades are no longer imported by Gulf Coast refiners, the relative price for LLS and similar domestic crudes on the Gulf may be discounted relative to their global seaborne counterparts on a sustained basis.”

66 June/July 2013

Liquid Asphalt Cement Prices—average per ton Company, State

Jan.’13

Feb.’13

Mar.’13

Apr.’13

ConocoPhillips, Tenn.

$565.00

$550.00

$550.00

$550.00

NuStar Energy, Ga.

550.00

545.00

550.00

550.00

NuStar Energy, N.C.

550.00

545.00

550.00

550.00

NuStar Energy, Va.

545.00

545.00

555.00

555.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, N.C.

550.00

547.50

560.00

560.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, S.C.

565.00

565.00

565.00

565.00

Assoc’d Asphalt Inman, Va.

560.00

540.00

550.00

540.00

Marathon Petroleum, Tenn.

550.00

550.00

550.00

550.00

Marathon Petroleum, N.C.

545.00

545.00

545.00

520.00

Valero Petroleum, N.C.

545.00

545.00

560.00

560.00

California Average

598.40

613.50

577.10

607.90

Delaware Average

550.00

538.33

535.00

546.67

Kentucky Average

558.13

546.25

546.25

546.25

Massachusetts Average

620.00

620.00

620.00

620.00

Missouri Average

528.75

528.75

528.75

528.75

Data for Southeast region, Source: ncdot.org; Data for Massachusetts, Source: mass.gov; Data for California, Source: dot.ca.gov; Data for Missouri, Source: modot.mo.gov; Data for Colorado, Source: CDOT and Cenovus

Crude Oil Activity (U.S. Crude) futures spot data

stocks

Feb 1

$97.77

371.7 m bbl

Feb 8

$95.72

372.2 m bbl

Feb 22

$93.13

377.5 m bbl

Mar 1

$90.68

381.4 m bbl

Mar 8

$91.95

384.0 m bbl

Mar 15

$93.45

Mar 22 Mar 29

Diesel Fuel Retail Price (dollars per gallon) Feb 4

4.022

Feb 11

4.104

Feb 25

4.159

Mar 4

4.130

Mar 11

4.088

382.7 m bbl

Mar 18

4.047

$93.71

385.9 m bbl

Mar 25

4.006

$97.23

388.6 m bbl

Apr 1

3.993

Sources: Energy Information Administration

RAP13879 – 1994 400 TPH Astec Double Barrel Plant 8’ Astec Double Barrel Nominal 70,000 CFM Baghouse w/ Horizontal Cyclone 5 Bin Cold Feed System Virgin Screen and Scale Conveyor Rap Bin Rap Screen and Scale Conveyor Control House w/ Plant Controls

RAP-13633 – ASTEC 350 TPH DOUBLE BARREL

• 8’ x 40’ Dbl. Barrel Drum • Astec Baghouse (Nom. 58k CFM) w/ Hor. Cyclone • (3) 300 Ton Storage Silos, 400 TPH Drag • 6-9’x14’ Cold Fd Bin w/ 5’x12’ Screen/Scale

Conveyor • AC Storage System w/ 20k Gal Hor. Tank, Hot Oil Heater, Cal. Tank • Nom. 500 BBL Dust Silo • Split Level Structure w/ Controls, Office, Bthrm

RAP-13779 GENCOR STATIONARY BAGHOUSE

PLANTS RAP-13633 RAP-13637 RAP-13687 RAP-13424 RAP-13885 RAP-13444 RAP-13341 RAP-13610 RAP-13658 RAP-12969

Astec 350 TPH Double Barrel Astec 200 TPH Double Barrel Almix 150 TPH Duo Drum CMI Portable PTD-300 Gencor 400 TPH Gencor Portable UDP 400 Astec Portable Six Pack Turbo 375 TPH Cedarapids 250 TPH PF Almix 120 TPH 6626 Cedarapids Portable 8835 PF

SILO SYSTEMS RAP-13704 (3) Bituma 100 ton RAP-13697 (3) 200 ton Standard Havens RAP-13689 200 Ton Bituma w/elevator RAP-13680 (2) 200 ton Stansteel RAP-13679 (2) 200 ton Cedarapids RAP-13536 (3) 200 ton Gencor RAP-13616 (2) 200 ton Astec w/ Weigh Batchers RAP-13335 (3) 300 ton Bituma w/elevator

• 1995 Model • Nominal 70,000 CFM • Size 132

✓ Qualified listings ✓ Complete retrofit capability ✓ All types of component reconditioning

BAGHOUSES RAP-13706 RAP-12674 RAP-12864 RAP-13548 RAP-13692 RAP-13779

Dillman 64k CFM Standard Havens Magnum 50k CFM Standard Havens 60k CFM Astec 51k CFM CR Portable 57 k Gencor 70k CFM

COLD FEED/RAP RAP-12444 (6) 10 X 14 Cold Feed RAP-12496 (4) 9 X 12 Cold Feed RAP-12531 (4) 10 X 14 Cedarapids RAP-13011 9 X 14 Barber Greene RAP Bin RAP-13224 10 X 15 Gencor RAP Bin DRYERS/DRUMS RAP-13055 Cedarapids E500 CF Drum RAP-13203 Cedarapids Portable 8835 PF RAP-13250 Cedarapids 400 TPH CF RAP-13404 Gencor Ultradrum 300 RAP-12703 H & B 8830 Dryer RAP-13472 Barber Greene 9 X 30 DC70

RAP-13055 CEDARAPIDS E500 COUNTERFLOW DRUM MIXER

• 114” x 52’ • Slinger Inlet • Recycle Collar

• Trunnion Drive w/ 60hp Motors • 126 mbtu Burner (M/N CR20N)

RAP-13430 PORTABLE 8.5X13 SHINGLE BIN

• Nominal 8.5x13 Opening • Single Axle Design • Air Cannon

✓ Custom engineering ✓ Experience with all types of plants ✓ Complete plants and stand alone components VIST US ON THE WEB OR CALL TOLL FREE

Inc.

PO Box 519, Shelbyville KY 40066 • Fax 502.647.1786

www.ReliableAsphalt.com 866.647.1782