Atlos Rubber Exec Tells International Tire Dealers and Retreaders Assn. Asphalt Rubber Paving Industry Is Rebounding April 17, 1996 - Louisville, KY RPA Director and Executive committee member, Robert E. Winters, President and CEO of Atlos Rubber, Inc., Los Angeles, CA, speaking to the attendees at the International Tire and Retreaders Association annual meeting said the Asphalt-Rubber (A-R) paving industry is showing renewed life after a slowdown caused by the negative reaction to the unpopular federal mandate contained in the 1991 ISTEA legislation. Winters called the '91 mandate for all states to use recycled scrap tire rubber in at least 5% of the total tons of federally funded asphalt paving projects beginning in 1994 and increasing to 20% by 1997, "well intentioned but misguided legislation" that was unsolicited by the Rubber Pavements Association. He said the association had spent three years defending itself from unfounded charges leveled by those who viewed the legislation as a threat for a variety of reasons. Winters said that once the mandate was repealed, the industry discovered it had been so preoccupied in a "reactive" mode that it had lost contact with its potential customers; the agencies at the state and local level throughout the U.S. He said that was part of the association's decision to refocus its efforts on re-establishing direct agency contact to inform potential users of the progress that had been made by states that opposed the mandate but continued their research and use of the product. When the association returned to its founding state, Arizona, Winters said, only three states, Arizona, California and Florida, were considered routine users of the "wet" A-R process. He said the success of the product in Arizona and California was due to its declining costs, excellent performance and the marketing efforts of RPA member companies and in Florida, its use was a result of a state policy. Citing his home state's contributions to the industry's growth, Winters said the California Department of Transportation, Caltrans, a user of the "wet process" since 1978, had conducted extensive laboratory and field performance testing that proved the material to be a superior paving product. He said monitoring of one of the earlier experimental projects in which equal thicknesses of AsphaltRubber and conventional asphalt concrete pavements had been compared, led the state's engineers to compare reduced thicknesses of A-R to conventional AC. The thinner A-R pavements outperformed the thicker AC sections. After nine more years of lab and field research, Caltrans developed a Design Guide for using thinner sections of A-R to achieve structural equivalency with thicker sections of AC. Winters said this important research, which was approved by the FHWA, has been a major factor in the expanded use of the "wet process" in California. Winters also commended the aggressive market development work done by the California Integrated Waste Management Board as a factor in increased use by local agencies. He cited the recent million dollar interagency agreement with Los Angeles County to develop a technology transfer program to assist other agencies in the appropriate and proper use of modifying asphalt pavements with scrap tire rubber. Winters concluded his presentation by announcing New Mexico has started an A-R program, Texas has renewed its use, and Tennessee is exploring a program similar to Arizona's use of A-R OGFC for aging concrete interstates. "For every new state or local agency that starts an A-R paving program, we project two more agencies will follow. With the success of state and local generated programs that encourage the use of scrap tires in pavements, our industry will continue to grow." Contents | Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Appendix | About Us