Rubber pavements workshop covers topic from all angles

By Russell W. Snyder

Back when Frank Sinatra was singing his hit song “High Hopes,” the concept of rubber and a seemingly impossible task were forever linked. The song became a cultural phenomenon when it was featured in a movie, won an Oscar (famously presented by Bob Hope and Doris Day), and became the theme song for John F. Kennedy’s successful presidential campaign in 1960.

The lyrics of an ant taking on a seemingly impossible task, moving a rubber tree plant, resonated in part because of the message of hope, optimism and hard work. After all, the ant prevails. All these years later another seemingly impossible task, getting discarded tires out of landfills by incorporating the rubber into asphalt pavements, was seemingly another impossible task given the many engineering challenges the concept faced. But lots of hope, optimism and hard work ultimately resulted in Rubberized Hot Mix Asphalt (RHMA) coming into widespread use in California.

The California Asphalt Pavement Association was there for the arrival of rubber on to the asphalt scene, helping understand its implications for the industry. The association also participated in various activities over the years to educate industry and agency personnel on the pros and cons of the pavement strategy, and also best practices and pitfalls to avoid. Perhaps more than any other type of pavement strategy, RHMA brought together politics, sustainability, regulations and engineering, plus colorful characters, in a way that had more twists and turns than Pacific Coast Highway.

It was fitting, then, that CalAPA would devote an entire technical workshop to RHMA. Titled “Where the Rubber Meets the Road,” the April 18 event in Sacramento and streaming on-line brought together a diverse group of experts representing government agencies, industry representatives and others to provide a 360-degree view of the maturing pavement strategy.

The workshop coincided with a visit to California from a delegation representing the Australian asphalt pavement industry, who also were interested to learn about the state of practice in California and share challenges of dealing with waste tires in Australia.

“It was wonderful. I really enjoyed it," said Anna D'Angelo, Executive Director Technology for the Australian Flexible Pavements Association. "And I think CalAPA has done a great job to combine the different views, different perspectives, to give us an overview of what you are doing here in California with rubber. It has been really, really great."

The program included speakers representing Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration, the University of California Pavement Research Center, suppliers, asphalt producers, paving contractors and others. Expert panel discussions focused on agency perspectives, tire rubber supplier perspectives, and asphalt producer and paving contractor perspectives. The latter panel, featuring Tim Denlay with Knife River, Tracy Zubek with DeSilva Gates, Frank Rancadore with Graniterock and Pete Lambert with McGuire & Hester, achieved the highest-ratings in evaluations submitted by workshop attendees.

“I think overall it went very well,” said Nate Gauff, waste management engineer for CalRecycle and one of the presenters. “It’s intertwined, UC Davis, Caltrans, CalRecycle. We’re all partners and have been partners for a long time.”

The event was sponsored by CRM, Polyco, D&H Equipment, Prism Worldwide and Sully-Miller Contracting Co. Based on the inperson attendance, as well as the number of people who participated virtually via the CalAPA live streaming option, there continues to be a hunger for knowledge about RHMA and CalAPA will continue to provide information with the goal of supporting successful paving projects.

“The variety of speakers providing many perspectives of using (rubber) made the day full of insights, enjoyable and interesting,” said one attendee following the workshop. Added another: “A lot of info. I actually thought it would be pretty dry, but it proved to be engaging.”

For more information on this topic, contact CalAPA Director of Technical Services, Brandon Milar, P.E., at (916) 791-5044. CA

Left: At CalAPA's "Where the Rubber Meets the Road" educational workshop, an expert panel provided the plant and field perspective on RHMA (from left): Tracy Zubek, DeSilva Gates, Pete Lambert with McGuire & Hester, Frank Rancadore with Graniterock and Tim Denlay with Knife River.

Russell W. Snyder, CAE, is executive director of the California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA).

REFERENCE:

Snyder, R. (2016) “Special Report: RHMA, Caltrans and where the rubber meets the road” California Asphalt Insider newsletter, official publication of the California Asphalt Pavement Association, April 4, 2016.