ACPA-JUNE EVENTS … IN ORDER OF MOST RECENT:
JUNE 23:
Announcing NEW ACPA President & CEO, Laura O’Neill-Kaumo and PRESS RELEASE
Laura O’Neill-Kaumo joins ACPA as their 5th President/CEO
Photo: Business Wire
Click to see entire PRESS RELEASE
The Selection Committee has selected Laura O’Neill-Kaumo to succeed Gerald F. Voigt, P.E., and serve as the next and 5th President in the Association’s 58-year history! Ms. O’Neill-Kaumo was introduced as the incoming ACPA President & CEO on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, to more than 120 attendees at the Mid-Year Meeting event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a well-known Washington D.C. insider and trade association management professional with a career spanning nearly 15 years advising the engineering, construction, contracting, and independent trucking industries. She has a proven track record of sound association financial management and growth—expanding association memberships and programs. All who are a part of ACPA congratulate her on becoming the 5th President in the Association’s 58-year history, and learn more about her ideas for ACPA. Her first official day will be Monday, July 12th.
Jerry Voigt, Outgoing CEO and President, ACPA said, “Staff and Members had the opportunity to meet Laura in person at the mid-year meeting. ACPA, Staff, and Members thanked Kevin McMullen for his contributions as the Chapter-State Committee representative on the selection committee. I know that he and the other committee members contributed a significant amount of their time reaching this decision.”
During the introductory address, David Howard, 2021 Chairman of the Board-ACPA and Past President-Koss Construction outlined the goal to add new skills to the already solid and outstanding staff. He said, “We are pleased to welcome Laura to lead the ACPA forward. Laura’s experience in leadership roles, past association roles, her fresh perspectives, and her extremely articulate and upbeat style will only enhance the fresh perspectives she’ll bring to our team and help grow our association. Ms. O’Neill Kaumo will be working from Washington DC, where she will confer closely with Leif Wathne, ACPA Executive Vice President. Leif’s considerable experience, knowledge and reputation along with Laura’s fresh perspectives will make a formidable team. We are excited to add a new set of skills to our team at this time.”
Chairman Howard continued with, “Jerry Voigt has been an exceptional leader and has put together a solid foundation upon which we can grow, especially with the great prospects of new federal funding.” Jerry Voigt will be stepping down to a non-executive role to support a smooth transition of responsibilities.
O’Neill-Kaumo said, “It’s an honor to represent ACPA and I am humbled to have been selected as the next, and only its 5th, CEO. ACPA has a long and distinguished history advocating on behalf of its members and their exceptional products. I look forward to building on the good work Mr. Voigt has been engaged in for over three decades. He is truly leaving a solid foundation and a strong team – we won’t let him down.”
For the Full Press Release, please click on image above, or go to: www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210623005107/en/ACPA-Names-O’Neill-Kaumo-as-5th-President-CEO
Laura O’Neill Kaumo, President and CEO-ACPA LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/laura-o-neill-kaumo-364b7564/
JUNE 22-24
ACPA Mid-Year Meeting was in Full Swing
ACPA enjoyed their first post-pandemic in-person event at the Saint Kate-The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! There was excellent attendance, with 120 people registered. Meeting included:
• Committee meetings
• Workshops
• Luncheon with Craig Thompson, Secretary-Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT)
• Fabulous Reception at the Harley-Davidson Museum
As he introduced Craig Thompson to attendees during the Mid-Year Meeting on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, Kevin McMullen, President-Wisconsin Concrete Pavement Association said, “Craig brings a positive outlook to the paving industry and always looks at the best way to serve our constituents.”
Craig Thompson outlined ongoing and upcoming major projects across the breadth of WisDOT’s program. During his remarks, the secretary stressed the importance and value of involving the concrete pavement industry in the state’s program; reviewed significant projects over the past five years—including the Zoo Interchange, Interstate 41 corridor development; and the major reconstruction of I-94 in the Southeastern region of the state. Secretary Thompson outlined a bright future for the concrete pavement industry in Wisconsin, indicating the state’s major project program would be an important continued focus of the agency.
Jerry Voigt said, “We are grateful that Secretary Thompson took the time to meet with us and excited that he outlined Wisconsin’s approach, which includes many of the best practices for a healthy road network we like to see from state agencies. Wisconsin proactively applies appropriate solutions (“a mix of fixes”), balances the long and short-term needs of their entire network, optimizes their total ownership costs, and proactively ensures its policies drive healthy competition from contractors and material industries.”
JUNE 21
ACPA Joined AHUA’s “Fight For Highways” Virtual Rally:
The American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA) hosted a livestream event featuring Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member Capito (R-WV)to discuss the highway reauthorization
Leif Wathne serves as co-chair of AHUA’s Policy and Government Affairs Committee
The event kicked off “Fight for Highways”, a digital advocacy campaign to bring awareness to the importance of robust highway and bridge infrastructure investment to tackle the $786.4 billion backlog of road and bridge investment needs that exist across the United States. With collective voices and participation, the road user community was heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill during the infrastructure debate.
JUNE 15-16
FHWA Virtual Peer Exchange
ACPA participated in a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Peer Exchange hosted by ACPA member, Applied Pavement Technology (APT) on the design, construction, and failure mechanisms of pavement foundations. The 2-day virtual peer exchange included 15 state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), the FHWA, representatives of the concrete and asphalt industries.
Tom Yu–FHWA, kicked off the Peer Exchange by discussing some of the challenges to achieving high quality, durable, and resilient pavement foundations that could last beyond the life of the pavement surface. One of the main issues discussed was that the benefits of pavement foundations are not well accounted for in modern pavement design programs.
Each of the 15 participating states gave an update on their current foundation practices and the challenges they face. Dan King–Iowa Concrete Paving Association and Eric Ferrebee, Director of Technical Services-ACPA, represented the concrete pavement industry. Mr. Ferrebee provided the concrete pavement industry’s perspectives and goals for the future of foundation design for concrete pavements.
JUNE 7-10
World of Concrete (WOC) in JUNE! ACPA Exhibits:
ACPA participated in World of Concrete 2021 (WOC) in Las Vegas, Nevada. WOC is the commercial construction industry’s largest annual international event for concrete professionals, and this year’s event was the first large-scale event to occupy the brand new West Hall Expansion Project. At the show, ACPA once again partnered with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and the International Grinding and Grooving Association (IGGA) to showcase programs and services.
Additionally, ACPA held a press conference where both Jerry Voigt and Leif Wathne shared updates.
Voigt provided a concrete pavement market update for 2021 where there is expected to be roughly 2.3% growth in paving volumes over 2020 levels. He also shared his intent, after having been with ACPA for 33 years (16.5 years of which were as Chief Staff Executive), to step down as President and CEO on July 12th.
Wathne followed with some insights into current infrastructure investment discussions in Washington—including discussions around surface transportation reauthorization as well as additional stimulative infrastructure spending. While all of the various proposals currently being debated in Washington involve a significant increase in spending on roads and bridges, they also include an increased focus on climate resilience and ‘doing things better’.
EX: President Biden’s Build Back Better infrastructure plan pledges to “modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main streets’, not only “fixing them first” but “fixing them RIGHT”. From the concrete pavement industry’s perspective, this means we have an opportunity to apply innovation and sound stewardship to challenge current norms!
Wathne said at the press conference, “Only by leveraging innovation in the engineering and construction sectors—designing for the long haul and with resilience in mind—will we be able to tackle the formidable challenges that lie ahead. Setting clear goals and long-term expectations for our roadway infrastructure and then leveraging competition between paving industries to push value, quality and innovation forward will allow us to meet the mobility and resource challenges of the 21st century. ACPA can assure you that our concrete pavement industry stands ready to deliver on the promise of both “building back better” and fixing our roadway infrastructure ‘right’”.
The ACPA partnered with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and the International Grinding and Grooving Association (IGGA) to have a shared exhibit space in the brand new West Hall. The theme of their event focused on the value of membership. ACPA offers a great number of resources for any professional associated with concrete pavement, including airports, streets, roads, highways, and industrial facilities.
Scott Mueller, VP of Marketing-ACPA, said, “While we [expected] the attendance to be down slightly compared to previous events, we [were] excited to be in the brand new West Hall. Having the show in June in a new space [allowed] us to have a better read on traffic flow and programming opportunities for the January 2022 event.” For 2022, the WOC will resume the normal January time frame—scheduled for January 17-20, 2022 in Las Vegas!
WEEK OF JUNE 1
Oklahoma Chapter-ACPA Hosted Successful Concrete Conference:
The Oklahoma/Arkansas Chapter-ACPA held the 2021 Oklahoma Concrete Pavement Conference. The successful hybrid event was attended by nearly 200 in-person professionals with over 60 more participating online. Brent Burwell and the entire ACPA – OK/AR team hosted professionals from across the industry, including Oklahoma DOT, the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, ACPA members, engineers, consultants, and representatives of the academic community. The program featured a broad and diverse agenda covering:
• Local updates
• Current research projects
• National perspectives
The various topics included:
• Concrete overlays
• Fiber reinforced concrete
• Early-age slab behavior
• Roundabout design and construction
• Connected and automated vehicle corridors
• Much more
Jerry Voigt gave a virtual presentation and gave a national update on ACPA activities, including a breakdown of What We Do: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE0B6qwdA4w
Eric Ferrebee gave an in-person presentation on the proper design and construction of concrete roundabouts. Ferrebee said of the event, “It’s great to get back out in-person and see that there’s such a desire and enthusiasm for knowledge on concrete pavements.”
May 25
FHWA “Concrete Pavement & Materials Technical Feedback Group“:
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) convened part 1 of a 2-part virtual meeting of the Concrete Pavement and Materials Technical Feedback Group. Part 2 of this virtual meeting is scheduled for June 30th, 2021
Gina Ahlstrom, FHWA, led the meeting
Attendance included 27 stakeholders in the concrete pavement community
Leif Wathne represents ACPA on this FHWA Technical Feedback Group.
Professor Norb Delatte, Oklahoma State University, gave an update on a research report on early opening to traffic: Currently undergoing review at the Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center), the draft report suggests among other things that:
• Concrete pavement can be opened to traffic at much lower strengths than previously thought without incurring damage to the concrete
• Discussion about various non-destructive testing (NDT) technologies that can be used to assess strength at early ages, including maturity and stress waves
Tommy Nantung, Indiana DOT, delivered a presentation about new piezo-sensors that can provide real-time monitoring of strength for optimal traffic opening time. The technology is still in development, but results are very promising, as output from these sensors correlate extremely well with both stiffness and strength. A wireless version of these small piezo sensors is also in development.
Dr. Jason Weiss, Oregon State University and Dr. Peter Taylor, CP Tech Center presented on innovative concrete mixture design concepts.
Dr. Tyler Ley, Oklahoma State University, presented subsequent discussions about the role of fly ash in future high durability mixtures and underscored that while conventional sources of fly ash may be dwindling, there is an abundance of high quality reclaimed fly ash in the U.S.—something like 130 years’ worth of fly ash in the ground right now.
ACPA Releases New Dowel Specifications:
ACPA announced the release of two specifications that can be used by agencies and manufacturers to guide the development, testing, and implementation of new and alternative dowel bar materials and configurations for concrete pavement projects. ACPA’s new specifications for Dowel Bars for Concrete Street and Highway Pavement were developed as alternatives and revised versions of the existing AASHTO specifications (M 254-06 (2019) and T 253-02 (2016)), which are limited to standard, epoxy-coated steel bars only. The need for these new updated specifications was identified by ACPA dowel manufacturer members, who are increasingly offering alternative dowel materials and protective coatings. ACPA’s Jointing Task Force took on the challenge in 2019 and after working out the approach, work began in earnest in 2020. ACPA partnered with the National Concrete Consortium (NC2) to perform the required full-scale laboratory testing which was completed at CTL Group in May 2020.
2 New:
Standard Specification (ACPA M254-21)
for Dowel Bars for Concrete Street and Highway Pavement:
www.acpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ACPA-Dowel-Spec-M254-04-08-2021-rev1.pdf
Standard Method of Test (ACPA T253-21)
Standard Method of Test for Dowel Bars for Concrete Street and Highway Pavement:
www.acpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ACPA-Dowel-Test-Spec-T253-04-08-2021.pdf
Dr. Mark Snyder led the task force, full-scale research effort, and the detailed specification writing process with counsel from a small group of ACPA members and several state DOT engineers. This ACPA Task Force came together over the past 18 months on this effort. The next step is for the Task Force to begin petitioning AASHTO to upgrade their current specifications with ACPA’s suggested revisions.
ACPA advocates for those businesses engaged in concrete pavement programs at the local, state and federal levels. ACPA is a leader in sustainability and resiliency education initiatives for pavement.