Paving the Way

The Asphalt Pavement Alliance announced May 28, 2020 that the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) won a 2019 Perpetual Pavement Award (PPA). The award was the eighth PPA for SCDOT and recognizes the work done on Interstate 26 in Calhoun and Lexington counties. 

SCAPA's Executive Director had the honor of interviewing Christy Hall, SCDOT’s Secretary of Transportation, for the Women of Asphalt’s Where We Belong podcast. The podcast aired on Wednesday, June 17, 2020.

SCDOT made a temporary revision to Section 401.4.30 of the Standard Specifications due to COVID-19. This revision institutes a "Contactless" Weigh Ticket Protocol for asphalt paving in order to eliminate the transfer of paper tickets for asphalt between personnel on SCDOT construction projects and the contractors. The protocol was created in conjunction with each SCDOT district and SCAPA and went into effect on April 8, 2020. It will remain in effect until further notice. 

This important resource was created in an effort to address and stop the impact of COVID-19 within the transportation industry. SCAPA worked with the SCDOT, ACEC-SC, FHWA, and Carolinas AGC to create the plan. The Joint Workforce Safety Plan for COVID-19 was adopted on March 23 and is currently being used on all SCDOT projects. 

This research report details how the benefits of using asphalt overlays for rehabilitation of Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements are grounded in economics and long-term performance. The Federal Highway Administration reports that the U.S. has 108,603 lane miles of composite pavements (PCC overlaid with asphalt), which is nearly double the lane miles of PCC-surfaced pavements (FHWA 2015). That means that nearly two-thirds of the concrete pavements in the U.S. have been overlaid with asphalt.

Date: July 9, 2020, 1:00-2:30 PM. EDT
Speakers: J. George White, CEO, HeadLight; Dr. Dave Timm, Brasfield and Gorrie Professor of Civil Engineering, Auburn University; and Dr. Richard Willis, Vice President for Engineering, Research & Technology, National Asphalt Pavement Association

This webinar will walk through a real-life mechanistic-empirical pavement design scenario using the new PerRoad module within PaveXpress.

Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2:00–3:30 PM EDT
Speaker: Daniel D’Angelo, P.E., PMI-RMP, Principal Civil Engineer, Applied Research Associates, Inc.

This webinar will provide participants with an understanding of how risks are allocated among the different parties (owner, designer, contractor, subcontractor) in different contracting methods.

Whether you are new to the asphalt industry or just want to brush up on your skills, SCAPA Academy is a great learning resource.