Texas workshops

The RPA has sponsored five workshops in Texas in partnership with TX DOT. Technical advisory board member, Maghsoud Tahmoressi PE, President of PaveTex Engineering and Testing, led the workshops.

Topics discussed were: A-R History, Applications, Construction Equipment and Procedures, Products TxDOT Specifications, Life Cycle Costs and Future Trends in Texas. Dale Rand, the Bituminous Engineer from TxDOT, presented the last topic and discussed porous friction courses (PFCs) at length.

Rand focused on ways to increase the quality of Texas highways so that the state could resume its leadership position in the nation. One specific method was to produce smoother roads. Based on success in other states with thin overlays, Asphalt-Rubber may play a big role in Texas' strategy to make premium pavements.

Some terminal blend chip seals where rubber is merely a component and not the primary modifier to the liquid asphalt have been experiencing bleeding problems according to some of the engineers that were in attendance. Word is getting out that not all rubberized asphalts are Asphalt-Rubber."

The engineers out there know the difference, some have learned the hard way. Importantly, engineers realize the ability to apply membranes at greater shot rates leads to longer lasting chip seals. In addition, with Asphalt-Rubber, more scrap tires are removed from the waste stream. They will be using about 6 million pounds of crumb rubber on a few jobs down there.

Texas has also taken a leadership position in "environmental sustainability ". This is the latest term to describe the use of cost effective recycled content materials in the highway environment. RPA representatives attended a three day meeting in Houston which took place on October 9-11.
The conference brought together DOTs, EPAs, and Recycling Industries to learn about the recent FHWA Scanning Tour in Europe and discuss ways to improve recycled content markets that will help DOTs save money, help EPAs eliminate waste, and help recycling industries to develop.

Some of the key factors discussed were how to develop standard specifications that do not automatically exclude recycled content materials (like requiring a certain number of growth rings in barrier rail posts which implies that only wood could be used), uniform testing requirements to eliminate the need to prove a product fifty two times (each state and territory DOT), and technology transfer (information sharing among states) to reduce redundancy in research and reports. The conference was attended by about 88 people from FHWA and EPA, various state DOTs and EPAs, Universities and Industries. Proceedings, or a report on the conference activities should be available soon.

Texas workshops - Above, Jeff Smith, Left, president of Modified Asphalt Technologies: Don Nielsen, Cox Paving Co.; and Maghsoud Tahmoressi, right, president of Pave Tex Engineering & Testing Laboratory in Austin and former TxDOT bituminous engineer, prepare to make their presentations at one of the Texas workshops. Below, some of the workshop audience and help recycling industries to develop.