Prior to his appointment to this position, Kvach served as NAPA’s Vice President for Product Deployment for two years. His primary role at NAPA was to lead the delivery and deployment of the asphalt industry’s marketing activities. This involved close cooperation with the State Asphalt Pavement Associations and the Asphalt Institute.

From 2000 to 2008, Kvach was the Executive Vice President of the Asphalt Paving Association of Iowa. In that role, he was the top marketer of asphalt pavements in the state, as well as being active on various national industry committees. Prior to joining APAI, he was the National Sales Manager for the Hot Mix Asphalt Paver Group at Cedarapids Inc., located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was responsible for strategic planning and implementation for increasing paver sales in the U.S. and Canada. During his 12-year tenure at Cedarapids Inc., Kvach held responsibilities in various sales and marketing positions including distribution development and quality paving training. From 2008 to 2009, Kvach was Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Peterson, an Astec Industries Company based in Eugene, Oregon. Peterson is a manufacturer of heavy forestry and recycling equipment.

“The first order of business is to build off the momentum the APA has created over its 12 years of successful advocacy for the industry. Then we will be looking for ways to take our messages deeper into the marketplace. I’m also looking forward to strengthening the partnerships between all sectors of the asphalt paving industry,” said Kvach.

Kvach will report to the recently formed APA Board of Directors, which will eventually assume all of the functional duties and more, previously held by the APA Steering Committee. For more information on the Asphalt Pavement Alliance, please visit www.asphaltroads.org.

The Asphalt Pavement Alliance is a coalition of the Asphalt Institute, the National Asphalt Pavement Association, and the State Asphalt Pavement Associations. The Asphalt Pavement Alliance’s mission is to further the use and quality of asphalt pavements. The Alliance will accomplish this through research, technology transfer, engineering, education, and innovation.

This blog was taken directly from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance.  You can find it here.

1.     Keep your pavement clean. 
In business, first impressions are everything.  So what exactly is that pavement saying about your business?  Are customers walking through slush and snow to get inside?  Can drivers find the entrances and exits?  Are they able to see pavement signs and parking lines?  The last thing you want customers worrying about is how to get inside your door and if their vehicle is safe outside in your parking lot.  Ice, snow, salt, and sand can pile up leading to decreased visibility, mobility, and safety for your customers.  Hire a contractor and keep your pavement clean!

2.     Maintain your pavement. 
The saying, don’t fix what’s not broken does not apply here.  Instead think, don’t ruin a good thing!  Whether your pavement is brand new or just in good condition, it will need regular maintenance in the winter to keep it that way.  Typical winter maintenance includes parking lot cleaning and sweeping to prevent debris buildup and snow removal to prevent ice from forming. Hiring a contractor to perform regular maintenance will help expand the life of your pavement and will save you money in the future.  In the case that you haven’t been maintaining your pavement, here are two basic repairs you absolutely must do: fill those potholes and seal those cracks!  Patching potholes and sealing cracks prevent water, salt, and sand from seeping their way beneath your pavement. Once under your pavement, water will freeze and thaw with the varying temperatures pushing the pavement further apart.  This means that cracks will grow and potholes will expand allowing even more room for debris and water to enter.  

3.    Talk to your snow removal contractor.
It’s important to remember that during the winter months, snow removal equipment can damage your pavement. The blades can rip off line striping, directional signage, and may uplift and remove surface-mount raised reflectors.  Unfortunately, if this happens, you the owner will likely be responsible for all repairs unless otherwise noted in your contract.  Re-read your contract, find out who is liable for pavement/property damages, and discuss your concerns.  Haven’t hired someone yet?  Ask nearby businesses for referrals, when interviewing contractors point out (and note in the contract) special areas that will require the use of different equipment or attention like speed bumps, raised reflectors, etc. Talking to your snow removal contractor today can save you headaches and money tomorrow. 

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What was the wrong choice? Not doing their due diligence in the way of research.  They turned down the lowest bidder simply because the contractor had proposed an asphalt parking lot.  Instead, the school board approved a bid that was $110,000 more expensive!  The winning bid, proposed by RDG Planning & Design, was a concrete parking lot and the board thought it was a superior pavement. Clearly, they were wrong.

The school board’s unwillingness to research the pros and con of each pavement type resulted in a concrete parking lot with water drainage problems and “concrete cracks with water seeping out of them” (The Gazette).  What an embarrassment.  Perhaps they should have gone with the asphalt contractor (the lowest bidder) or a porous asphalt pavement.  Porous asphalt allows water to drain through the pavement surface and infiltrate into the soil below.  It’s cost-effective and provides a storm-water management system that promotes infiltration, improves water quality, and many times eliminates the need for a detention basin.  Here’s a picture that shows the difference when it rains between a conventional pavement (left) and a porous asphalt pavement (right).  I’m guessing the stadium parking lot looks something like left side of this picture.

Image courtesy of NAPA

 So, why pay more? If research had been done, then the lowest bidder would have won the contract and the stadium wouldn’t have turned into such an expensive embarrassment.  If the parking lot was an asphalt pavement then I wouldn’t have to ask, why pay more? And tax payers wouldn’t be shelling out an additional $55,000 more in repairs.  Lesson to be learned: Do your research. That parking lot should have been done in porous asphalt.

**I’ve added a video from Bryne & Jones of St. Louis testing the effectiveness of porous asphalt. 

Need more proof that porous asphalt should have been the pavement of choice for the Linn-Mar Stadium? Go online and search “porous asphalt videos”.  You’ll find a vast selection of good videos to watch.

The asphalt industry, which produces America’s most recycled product, asphalt (recycled more than glass, aluminum, plastic, and paper!) is getting even greener! Warm-mix asphalt is an innovative, environmentally friendly product that’s relatively new to the asphalt industry. Unlike traditional hot mix asphalt, WMA is produced and compacted at lower temperatures, typically 30 degrees cooler. This reduction in temperature equates to less fuel consumption and energy needed to produce and pave WMA. Other benefits of using WMA include a cleaner, safer environment for workers and the general public (due to less fumes and fuel consumption).

The Iowa City project, named FY 2012 Asphalt Resurfacing, will be the first WMA application in the United States to use a new additive called LEADCAP (Low Energy and Low Carbon-Dioxide Asphalt Pavement). The additive, developed by the Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) and produced by Kumho Petrochemical in Korea, is organic and adds to the already long list of environmentally friendly WMA attributes.

Headed by The University of Iowa, research and testing will be performed by Dr. Hosin (David) Lee, from the College of Engineering. The city of Iowa City is funding the project and LEADCAP is generously donating their additive for the mix. The LL Pelling Company, of North Liberty, has been contracted to pave the road.

Work will start Tuesday, August 16, as LL Pelling, led by Jim Ozzello and crew, begin paving Capital Street from Court to Prentiss with the LEADCAP warm-mix asphalt. An estimated 350 tons of WMA will be used to cover the nearly 700 linear feet of pavement. Although this will be the first time that the LEADCAP additive will be used in the U.S., it will mark the second time warm-mix asphalt has been applied in a commercial pavement in The Eastern Iowa Corridor. Last year, LL Pelling was hired to pave Cedar Valley Urban Fishery in Cedar Rapids using WMA.

As the popularity of eco-friendly alternatives grow and more communities embrace greener lifestyles, so, too, will the demand for warm-mix asphalt. It’s no surprise then that in a town of forward thinkers and environmental advocates, Iowa City, together with LL Pelling and The University of Iowa, will be the first in the nation to pave the way with LEADCAP warm-mix asphalt.
Watch Bill Rosener (Executive VP, Asphalt Association of Iowa) discuss WMA on KGAN Channel 2 News.   

We get many inquiries requesting assistance or advice on repairing parking lots, access roads and other commercial (and residential) pavements. The typical inquiry goes something like, “I have this parking lot (or I represent a property owners’ association), and our pavement needs some work. I need some help.”
…It is a fact of ownership that pavements eventually will need some remedial work. And there is a process for getting the work done. I’ll try to go through a summary of the process here. It is not a particularly difficult deal; it just involves a series of steps which must be followed. Continue reading

“There will never be sufficient funding to meet all the needs of the nation’s roadways. Therefore, it is important to optimize every dollar. This APA publication will help contractors and agencies alike as they develop their understanding of alternate bidding procedures,” said Jill Thomas of the Minnesota Asphalt Pavement Association, co-chair of the team that produced the document.

“When agencies look at alternate pavement materials, the needs of highway users are an important part of the equation. The advantages of asphalt – faster construction time and less disruption for the traveling public during rehabilitation – need to be considered,” she concluded. “Smooth, durable, safe, quiet asphalt pavements provide the best value for the traveling public, now and for years to come.”

The Asphalt Pavement Alliance is a coalition of the National Asphalt Pavement Association, the Asphalt Institute, and the State Asphalt Pavement Associations. The Alliance’s mission is to further the use and quality of asphalt pavements. The Alliance will accomplish this through research, technology transfer, engineering, education, and innovation.

Unfortunately, the mayor’s response to my question is not a unique one.  There are so many communities, elected officials, and property managers who have started off their projects using Portland cement concrete (PCC) only to see the same results; cracking after they’ve been resurfaced.  Here’s how the problem starts: a rigid pavement, PCC, is put down.  The PCC starts deteriorating and then, in an effort to rehabilitate it, is overlayed with a flexible pavement of hot mix asphalt (HMA).  Within the first year, cracks start to appear.  Why?  It’s simple; as temperatures fluctuate the ground expands and contracts putting pressure on the pavement above it.  In the mayor’s case, the pavement was rigid Portland cement concrete.  The concrete, having properties that do not allow it to flex or expand moves as the ground fluctuates, causing shears or tears in the flexible pavement.  On top of that, water then infiltrates the cracks getting between the PCC and the ACC pavement creating another problem, a pothole.  Most people, unaware that there is rigid PCC below the asphalt overlay, incorrectly blame the cracks on HMA. 

Those same people may then ask, “What’s the solution without totally removing the existing pavement then?”  The first solution I would recommend is to crack and seat the existing PCC pavement before overlaying it.  The principal is that by cracking the existing pavement you are making 25 foot slabs of pavement into three foot slabs.  The small slabs will move more independently and will have less effect on the overlay when the freeze and thaw cycles of Iowa move the PCC pavement.  After initially cracking the pavement, you would then use a 50 ton rubber tired roller to seat it into position and interlock the fractured pavement.  The key, I believe, is in the cracking pattern.  You need to crack the existing pavement enough to create the smaller pavements but not too much or you will lose the strength of the interlocking pieces.  At LL Pelling, we have used this rehabilitation method on county roads, city streets, and commercial parking lots.  The following link will show you a proper cracking pattern for a city street.

http://www.antigoconstruction.com/crack-city.html

Crack and seat is not initially the cheapest method but I feel it’s the best alternative when trying to rehabilitate a rigid pavement that has been overlayed with a flexible one.  Another way to prevent the problem of cracking and shearing would be to use a full depth HMA pavement as the initial design for your street or pavement surface.  When designed to the proper thicknesses a full depth asphalt pavement is a perpetual pavement, meaning it will never need to be removed and replaced.  Your full depth asphalt pavement will move and flex with the base.  A simple milling of the surface and overlay will rejuvenate your pavement for another 30 years.

The questions posted:

What states have approved the use of ground shingles in asphalt? Are their standards for usage? Are state landfill operators deterring local recyclers from griding?

Our reply:

Yes, there are standards for RAS usage. Iowa, Missouri (up to 7% RAS), North & South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Minnesota, and Washington are just a few of the states that allow recycled shingles in asphalt. Iowa, in the last year has created new RAS specifications (DS-09038): allowing between 2% & 5% RAS by weight of total aggregate. There is research being done at the national level (TPF5-213), as well. More detailed information on Iowa’s DOT RAS specification can be found here.

At LL Pelling, we have used RAS in some of our asphalt applications, including the trails at the Cedar Valley Urban Fishery, and the front sidewalk at our headquarters in North Liberty, IA.  You can check out pictures of the Cedar Valley trail by clicking here.

At LL Pelling, we have been working with porous pavements since the early 80’s in horse barn stalls and at airports as an underlying base for Portland pavements. Recently, we paved a sidewalk in front of our North Liberty office and what we found was that the thermal heat from the ground thawed this section quicker than the adjacent dense graded pavements.

Regardless of the type of porous application, the principal is the same: get the water to a tiled stone basin and let it filter away slowly. Naturally, the big obstacle is keeping the porous clean in this environment. Recommended cleaning methods using vacuum trucks in the spring for picking up the winter’s debris and to not use sand as an anti-icing agent.

Here’s some advice: When designing a parking lot, I would recommend using dense graded material for its durability in as much area as possible but to put the porous asphalt where needed to catch the runoff. The detention basin could still be under the complete area or surrounding area such as the one in the article.

Check out the environmental section of our website, under the Asphalt Advantage tab, for a quick video on porous asphalt in action.

LL Pelling is committed to excellence and that’s why we’ve expanded our site to include the Asphalt Advantage, services we provide, detailed information on our divisions and a photo library of jobs we’ve completed. Our new site now features a search tool and staff contact page, making it easy to find exactly what you need. We’ve also created a blog to keep you up-to-date with the latest asphalt news and provide you with information on industry specific technology, current events and jobs we’re working on.
Our goal is to provide you with facts and educational tools about asphalt.

Reflecting our long-standing commitment to excellence, safety, and community involvement, we welcome your feedback as we continue to improve this site.

Sincerely,
Chuck Finnegan, President
LL Pelling