ASPHALTopcs | Summer 2017 | VOL 30 | NO 2

SUMMER 2017 | VOL30 | NO2
RUNWAY 05-23 | 10
Fast track rehabilitation
OAPC SCHOLARSHIPS | 26
Recruiting skilled workers
EUROBITUME & APA | 30
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Cover photo: iStockphoto.com
© 2017 All Rights Reserved.
The official publication of the
Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council,
ASPHALTopics
is published three times a year.
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table of contents
Chairman’s Corner | 05
Letters from the ED | 07
Marcom Matters | 09
Fast track rehabilitation at Pearson | 10
Partners in Quality hits
the mark with municipalities | 18
BaP update | 21
OAPC service awards | 24
Update on Roads Scholars
and Scholarship Program | 26
Paving the way with APA and Eurobitume | 30
Unsung Heroes | 33
Technically Speaking | 34
Environmental Essentials | 37
Industry News | 38
The Last Word | 42
SUMMER 2017 3

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CHAIRMAN’S
CORNER
by Mike McLean
Chairman, OAPC
Challenges, change, opportunities
and growth
Welcome to the first official Chairman’s Corner, and
a special thanks to our previous OHMPA leaders who
have guided our association along its journey to the
new Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council of ORBA.
As we move forward from Donn Bernal’s successful
OHMPA presidency, our OAPC executive, directors,
great staff and ORBA leaders have been working diligently
on our group’s transition, while simultaneously working
on solutions to the challenges we are facing.
The cause and effect of our low bid system, road budget
constraints, the state of our aging infrastructure, design
and Superpave issues, specification challenges, insufficient
pavement preservation programs and the recent quality
concerns have resulted in an overwhelming proliferation
of specifications to emerge in our province, rendering it
the most prodigious and complicated of any province.
All these different specifications, originally designed to raise
the bar, are making it more difficult to have uniform quality
standards across the province and will likely contribute to
logistics and tankage issues, less use of recycled materials,
possible misinterpretation, and costly mistakes down the
road. On top of these concerns, the Auditor General’s
report and the MTO’s follow-up Action Plan have put an
increased spotlight on the quality of asphalt pavements
in Ontario.
On the heels of the hard work and direction from the
Quality of Asphalt Task Force, and our recent amalgamation
with ORBA, OAPC launched a new initiative this spring.
With the guiding support of Global Public Affairs, we held
two Quality of Asphalt forums on March 29 and April 4 to
help highlight the scope of threats and concerns identified
by our stakeholders and members, and to provide
us with recommendations to help guide our future.
Preliminary recommendations have been made to
promote increased collaboration with owners, to develop
more uniform specifications, encourage owner oversight,
promote a fair and competitive market through a level
and transparent playing field, to deliver value to all our
customers, to develop a roadmap and critical path for the
supply of quality asphalt pavements, and deliver long-term
value that we, as taxpayers, all deserve.
Above and beyond the aforementioned challenges, some
of the relationships we have with our industry stakeholders
have also come into question. There has been a lot of talk
lately about the foundation and materials of our pavements,
yet we all know that the true foundation to any worthwhile
relationship is trust.
We have an opportunity to develop a better and more
collaborative working relationship with our members and
partners, to be more responsible and accountable as an
industry, to communicate better than ever before, and to
work on building the trust that will keep us all focused on
mutually beneficial continuous improvements.
As ORBA continues to promote and support the growth
of Ontario’s infrastructure industry, OAPC continues to
advocate for excellence in asphalt pavements. Together,
we need to be the voice of asphalt authority in Ontario.
Together, through our positive working relationships, we
can build a stronger and more sustainable quality of asphalt
pavement system in Ontario, and help reset the ground rules
future generations can be guided by and will be proud of,
as Ontario rides on us.
SUMMER 2017 5

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LETTERS
FROM THE ED
by Vince Aurilio
Executive Director, OAPC
Opportunity knocks
As our industry works hard to address a number
of shared challenges, one thing is well-defined – the
need for continuous improvement. I know I’ve spoken
about this topic before, but we can still do better.
I strongly believe that one of the areas needing
improvement is the working relationships with MTO
and the municipalities. This should collectively be
one of our top priorities – we need to be in a position
to trust each other. I see this as a real opportunity to
recognize that there are issues and to make every effort
to fix these problems.
Continuous improvement also means talking to our
colleagues across the globe about common concerns
and taking proactive steps to learn from each other.
In this issue of ASPHALTopics, we are taking the
opportunity to reach out to our friends in the U.S.
and in Europe at the Asphalt Paving Alliance and
Eurobitume to share information and hear what is
going on in their world. It is envisioned that this is
just the start and I hope that we can continue with
this outreach in future issues of our great magazine.
Speaking of friends in the U.S., I’m sure everyone is
very familiar with our partnership with the Asphalt
Institute. This relationship has been in place since
1999 and is an excellent example of how technology
transfer has benefitted our industry. The plan is to
continue to work with the Asphalt Institute to find
ways to address some of the challenges with concerns
about the quality of asphalt in Ontario.
There are great examples of how this outreach has
helped asphalt practitioners across North America
learn about new technologies. Stone Mastic Asphalt
(SMA) and Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) are two significant
advancements in hot mix asphalt technology over the
last three decades that now play an important role
in our industry. The increased use of RAP in Japan is
another example of how we have learned about what
other asphalt communities around the world are doing.
The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA)
has done a tremendous job of working with their
international partners in these areas with several
scan tours.
We’re not alone. It’s good to know that we can work
together with our friends and partners in Ontario, the
U.S and across the world to address our challenges
and find ways to continually improve.
SUMMER 2017 7

MARCOM
MATTERS
by Abigail Wright Pereira
Marketing and Communications Director, OAPC
Knowledge is power
Since its inception, the Ontario Asphalt Pavement
Council (formerly the Ontario Hot Mix Producers
Association) has been dedicated to excellence in
asphalt pavements and providing the industry with
the education needed to achieve quality. In light of the
quality issues facing the industry, it became apparent
to the Board that in order to raise the bar in quality,
the association needed to do its part in stepping up
its educational endeavours.
During a strategic planning retreat in January 2016,
the Board resolved to expand OHMPA’s educational
offerings, mandating over the next three years to begin
a series of technical transfer workshops, and lunch and
learn webinars, and to update and add to the ABC
brochure series and fact sheets.
Just over half way into 2017 and the three-year strategic
plan, OAPC’s efforts are realizing results. On February 16,
2017, OAPC offered its first technical transfer workshop –
Enhanced Durability through In-Place Density – in
partnership with the Asphalt Institute (AI), the Ontario
Good Roads Association (OGRA), the Ontario Road
Builders Association (ORBA) and the Municipal Engineers
Association (MEA), bringing in 245 attendees. During the
planning of the event back in October 2016, we thought
we would do well to have 100 in attendance.
Then, on February 26 during the Sunday afternoon
session at the OGRA Conference held at the Fairmont
Royal York Hotel, we introduced the ABCs of PGACs –
Choosing the Right Performance Graded Asphalt
Cement in Ontario at the Asphalt Technology 101
seminar. The seminar was subsequently developed
into a free series of five webinars: Asphalt Paving 101,
Asphalt Plants 101, Asphalt Plant and Paving – Sampling
and Testing 101, Asphalt Plant and Paving Inspection 101,
and Asphalt Cement 101 presented from March 6 to
May 15. Recordings of the webinars remain available
on the OAPC website.
Once again, attendance exceeded expectations. The
first webinar, Asphalt Paving 101, presented on March 6,
drew in 158 registrants. This was a record number of
registrants for a single OAPC webinar – so many, that
we had to upgrade our webinar service account to
accommodate more than 100 attendees. In total, 594
people registered for the webinars, 449 attended and
out of those who attended, 59 per cent were members,
38 per cent were from municipalities and three per cent
were from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO).
Several attendees reported that multiple people viewed
the webinar off of one computer, making the reach of
the webinar series potentially even wider. Feedback
from participants was overwhelmingly positive and the
underlying message was “We need more of this!”
Industry and owners are hungry for the knowledge
that will empower them to better do their jobs. OAPC
is intent on feeding the masses to satiate that hunger.
This fall, in addition to the planning of a second technical
transfer workshop, OAPC will offer a webinar on best
practices in the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP).
Enclosed in this edition of ASPHALTopics is the recently
published ABCs of RAP, and the ABCs of Superpave will
be featured at the November 30 Fall Asphalt Seminar.
Just like a five-star restaurant, we intended to keep the
ingredients of our educational offerings fresh and readily
available. With a full menu of educational resources
and opportunities now available at ORBA/OAPC, now
is the time to fuel up, plug in and power up with the
collaborative knowledge that will help us to achieve
the quality roads we all desire.
SUMMER 2017 9

CANADA’S BU
RUNWAY UND
FAST TRACK
REHABILITATI
In just seven weeks, Canada’s busiest
runway at Toronto Pearson International
Airport was rehabilitated, despite 15 days
of rain and an ambitious schedule that
incorporated four phases of work into
one construction period.
Echelon paving of the runway surface course
took place in just 10 days. (Pave-Al)

SIEST
ERGOES
ON by
Lisa Fattori
Runway 05-23, along with five taxiways,
required round-the-clock construction to
minimize disruptions to airport operations
and involved 400 workers at the peak of construction.
The $30 million project began April 28 and wrapped
up May 16, on time and well ahead of the airport’s
busy summer travel season.
Runway 05-23 is one of the airport’s oldest runways,
and was last rehabilitated in 2005. Originally a composite
structure, the runway required removal of the surface
pavement and subsurface course, as well as repairs to
select areas of the concrete. The project took one year
to plan, with consultations between engineering staff
at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) and
airline partners, as well as the airport’s air navigation
provider, NAV CANADA.
The partial closure of the runway, from March 28 to
April 23, and full closure from April 24 to May 16, meant
that aircraft movements would be more restrained from
an airside capacity perspective. This required detailed
scheduling of both ground operations and construction
timelines. Moreover, phases three and four, initially ››
SUMMER 2017 11

One of the four MTVs and two of the six pavers
working on the surface course on the south side
of the centreline of Runway 05-23. (Pave-Al)
scheduled for October 2017 and later
in 2018, were included in the spring
phases, which further complicated
logistics planning.
“The approach to the project
schedule initially was very
conservative, as we were uncertain
about the weather,” says Chris
Stewart, Manager, Airside and
Infrastructure Engineering, GTAA.
“We had never started a major
pavement restoration project so
early in the year; typically we don’t
start projects until mid-April. When
combined with a milder than average
spring, the concerted efforts of all
parties paid off to allow us to advance
the schedule for phase three and four
and complete the work on May 16.
This project was very important to
make sure that the busiest runway
in Canada could safely and reliably
operate into the future. Although it
resulted in some unfortunate delays
to our customers and noise impact
to our community, it was good to
12 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS
see that we were able to significantly
mitigate the timespan of those delays
and relieve the noise impact through
our efforts to complete the project
more quickly than originally planned.”
That’s the beauty
of asphalt; you can
pave today and be
open tomorrow.
– Carinci
Efficient workmanship by experienced
heavy civil contractors was also key
in ensuring that the project was
completed on time. The 05-23 runway
and related taxiways were constructed
by Pave-Al Limited and Gazzola Paving
Ltd., who have partnered in the past
with other Toronto Pearson runway
projects. The companies’ combined
manpower, equipment and paving
materials, as well as the expertise
and work ethic of subtrades, provided
the robust workforce that was needed
to tackle such a large and time-sensitive
project.
“Both Pave-Al and Gazzola Paving
each have a plant close to the airport,
with a daily capacity of 4,000 tonnes
of asphalt for each company,” says
Albert Carinci, Contract Manager for
Pave-Al Limited. “Combined, we can
reduce the down time significantly
and can do in two days what would
normally take a week.”
While the rehabilitation project was
designed in-house, the GTAA hired
engineering firm, Englobe, for on-site
quality control of the project and
to test the integrity of the existing
runway. Heavy Weight Deflectometer
(HWD) testing assessed the efficiency
of load transfer in the concrete joints,
and through Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR), lower density material or
voids were located. After establishing
the location of voids and weak load

transfer areas in the composite
pavement structure, the solution
to the voids was to drill 11,000 holes
to inject grout under pressure below
the concrete. In addition, 6,600 steel
dowel bars were installed to help
transfer the load between the
concrete slabs.
“The slots for the dowel bars
required specialized machinery,
so we contracted Randy Cole of
Cole Concrete Cutting in Wyoming,”
Carinci says. “This company has one
of three machines in the U.S. that can
do this work. It was critical that Cole’s
equipment be used from April 1 to
the 17. Equipment in Canada can
only make 300 slots per day, whereas
Cole’s machine made 900 and had
a capacity of 1,200 slots per day.”
Runway 05-23 runs east-west and
is 3,300 metres long by 61 metres
wide. Once the concrete repair work
was complete, 20,000 tonnes of
PGAC 64-28 lower course asphalt
was laid. The surface course asphalt
required 50,000 tonnes of PGAC
70-28 polymer-modified asphalt
cement. Work was staggered for
the rehabilitation of two interacting
runways (15L-33R and 15R-33L), with
three days devoted to each of those
portions of the runway to minimize
disruptions to the runways.
Prior to the application of the surface
course, some areas were padded to
meet the specified longitudinal profile
of the runway. The built-up crown
of the runway has approximately
200 mm of asphalt on top of the
original concrete base, and the
intersecting runways gradually
slope to meet the crown of the
primary 05-23 runway.
“Most of the loads are on the centre
23 metres of the runway, so we didn’t
do a lot of work on the concrete
outside of this area,” says Kevin
Chee, Senior Civil Engineer for GTAA.
“There is 200 mm of asphalt at the
centre of the runway at 1,000 metres
in length on the west end, because
testing showed the greatest number
of voids in this location. There is
hardly any load at the edges of the
runway, so these sections only had
a 65 mm asphalt overlay.”
Excavation work ran day and night,
while concrete pours and asphalt
paving work occurred during the
day. Echelon paving of the runway
surface course took place in just 10
days, with one steady 60 mm thickness
for the surface pavement. Each of six
pavers paved five metre swaths for the
centre 30 metres of the runway. The
base asphalt was carried out by four
paving crews, while the surface asphalt
required six paving crews, four shuttle
buggies, 40 trucks and two asphalt
plants producing a total of 8,000
tonnes of asphalt per day.
“It was important not to have any cold
joints at the wheel path of aircraft, so
the job required echelon paving with
six pavers for the centre 30 metres ››
SUMMER 2017 13

To keep Hotel Taxiway’s granular base dry during 15 days of rain, 20,000 m 2 of
tarps were laid and rain water was pumped out as it accumulated. (Pave-Al)
of the runway,” says Terrance Ramkissoon, Project
Manager for GTAA. “With no cold joints, you reduce
future maintenance costs and the job goes much
faster using that many pavers.”
The project’s scope of work included the removal and
refurbishing of 1,200 runway lights by Tristar Electric Inc.
Once the lights were removed, workers cored a 300 mm
hole to within an eighth of an inch to the mud plate of
50
stability machines.
Call, write, fax or email your testing equipment requirements.
We can calibrate and repair everything we sell!
14 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS
each light. After milling and replacing the pavement,
the centre of each light was marked, and the lights were
replaced and adjusted to be flush with the new pavement.
Previously, there were only two-inch concrete walls around
each light, but they now have four inch concrete walls for
added strength and durability.
“We also replaced the fiber optic mandatory hold signs
with LED lighting,” says Balraj Parmar, Senior Electrical
Engineer for the GTAA. “These are the areas where the
pilots stop before entering the runway. We replaced 40
signs for the one runway for more efficient and modern
signage.”
Of the five taxiways that were rehabilitated, Hotel Taxiway
is the longest. Running approximately 200 metres south
of the 05-23 runway, the concrete structure is parallel to
the runway and measures 1,300 metres long by 23 metres
wide, the centre 16 metres of which was rehabilitated. The
project called for the complete replacement of the centre
portion of the taxiway, with Coreydale Contracting Co.
working day and night, using five backhoes, to clear the
855 mm deep old concrete and concrete stabilized base
so that the structure could be re-built. Approximately
75 per cent of Hotel Taxiway was made available on
March 28, and on April 24 the balance of the taxiway
became available. The project required a granular base
of 12,000 tonnes of limestone gravel, an application of
cement stabilized base and 18,000 m 3 of concrete.
The biggest challenge to Hotel Taxiway was the 15 days
of rain that fell half way through the project. The granular
base had already been laid and needed to be kept dry to
avoid re-excavating and starting from scratch. The lowtech,
but effective solution, was to lay tarps over the work
area and to pump out rain water as it accumulated. The
tarp solution enabled construction to continue, so that
the taxiway could meet the completion date of May 23.
Although the structure was finished a week prior, the

Milling of the runway prior to overlay. Milling in the keel
area was carried down to the concrete. On the shoulder
areas only 65 mm of milling (as needed for grade and
crossfall) was required. (Pave-Al)
The rehabilitation of the runway and
taxiways is the largest pavement
infrastructure project at Toronto
Pearson in the last 10 years.
extra time was needed to enable the concrete to
cure and gain strength.
“It’s typical, in April, to have wet conditions and we
can lose a lot of workable days,” Carinci says. “We
were aware of the situation and were prepared for bad
weather. After the excavation of the taxiway, we were
essentially left with a bathtub that was 1,300 metres
long, 16 metres wide and 750 mm deep. To prevent the
rain from reaching and saturating the granular material,
we laid 20,000 square metres of tarps. For 20 days,
we used 10 pumps, including vacuum excavating
trucks, to pump water from the top of the tarps.
The sub-grade was protected, which minimized
delays and enabled us to manage through the
rain to maintain the construction schedule.”
It’s been 12 years since runway 05-23 was rehabilitated,
which is what is expected for the life of an asphalt
overlay on such a busy runway. “The original concrete
below, however, is beyond its expected life, ranging in
age from 30 to 50 years old,” Stewart says. “Asphalt on
a new runway is good for approximately 12 years, but
in this case, the old concrete below will lessen the life
of this rehabilitation to an estimated five to six years.
Eventually, we’ll have to remove the concrete, and
construct a completely new runway that will last longer.”
While there were over 1,000 flight cancellations and
delays over the course of seven weeks of construction,
some of the down time can be attributed to the
underutilization of the eastern half of 05-23, with
6000 ft available. This remained open for smaller ››
SUMMER 2017 15

REHABILITATION
OF RUNWAY 05-23 AND
ADJACENT TAXIWAYS
COST OF PROJECT
$30 MILLION
CONSTRUCTION PERIOD
April 28, 2017 to May 16, 2017
DESIGN
Designed in-house by engineering staff at
Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA).
SIZE OF PROJECT
310,000 m 2 (3,300 m x 61 m for runway 05-23
and 108,700 m 2 for 5 taxiways).
CONSTRUCTION TEAM
Pave-Al Limited and Gazzola Paving Ltd.
SUB-CONTRACTORS
Cole Concrete Cutting, Belmont Concrete
Finishing Co. Ltd., Tristar Electric Inc., Coreydale
Contracting Co., Roadmaster Road Construction
& Sealing Ltd., Airlines Pavement Marking Inc.,
Vector Corrosion Technologies.
RUNWAY 05-23
CONCRETE REPAIR
· 11,000 holes injected with grout to fill voids.
· 6,600 dowel bars installed to help transfer
the load between concrete slabs.
LOWER COURSE ASPHALT
20,000 tonnes of PGAC 64-28.
SURFACE COURSE ASPHALT
50,000 tonnes of PGAC 70-28 polymer
modified asphalt cement.
HOTEL TAXIWAY
AREA
29,000 m 2 (1,800 m x 16 m)
GRANULAR BASE
12,000 tonnes
CONCRETE STABILIZED BASE
CONCRETE
18,000 m 3
16 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS
aircraft for the first four weeks of the
project. Unfortunately, many aircraft
that were projected and able to take
the shortened 05-23 did not, as the
pilots in command made decisions
to use longer runways to minimize
aircraft risk. With the shortened
05-23 being underutilized, air traffic
control found that operating on the
north-south runways 15L-33R and
15R-33L, in lieu of using 06R-24L,
06L-24R and the shortened 05-23,
provided a higher capacity. This was
a preferred configuration, but it had
the unfortunate effect of increasing
noise impact to the north and south
of the airport.
Despite these inconveniences
to airport passengers and noise
impacts to those communities,
construction work was carefully
timed to fall between the busy
periods of March break and
summer to mitigate impact. Also,
the consolidation of two additional
phases into the earlier phases meant
that there would be no further
closures and delays for travelers.
Runway 05-23 has the capacity for
200,000 take-offs and landings per
year, and accommodates more than
one third of the hourly flights at the
airport’s three busiest runways. The
rehabilitation of the runway and
taxiways is the largest pavement
infrastructure project at Toronto
Pearson in the last 10 years, and the
upgrades are all the more impressive
given the strict seven week timeline.
“The airport is always busy, so I have
to commend the staff of the airport
for all of the research and planning
it took to look at the logistics and
arrange schedules to minimize
disruptions,” Carinci says. “A project
goes very smoothly when you have
a good team and that includes all of
the subtrades who did a tremendous
job. The runway was completed
May 16, with the first flight landing
at 6:00 pm that evening. That’s the
beauty of asphalt; you can pave
today and be open tomorrow.”
Lisa Fattori is a freelance writer,
specializing in the construction
industry.

The first plane lands on new Runway 05-23. (Tom Podolec)
SUMMER 2017 17

Partners in Quality
symposium hits the mark for
municipalities
by Lara Henry
It’s no secret that a significant factor in building quality roads
is building a solid relationship between road owners and industry.
OHMPA (now OAPC) knew that twenty years ago when it launched
its first Partners in Quality symposium.
18 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS

The idea behind the
symposium was to create
a forum where members
could meet owners and
specifiers, get the latest
information, and address any issues.
It soon became clear that one
location couldn’t fill the need for
this kind of dialogue, and the
provincial road tour was born.
In 2010, OGRA joined OHMPA
(now OAPC) and MTO in the Partners
in Quality (PIQ) symposium. Today
the program presents a unique
opportunity for industry members,
MTO, municipal and consulting
engineers to meet face-to-face,
bringing some of the best minds
in the industry together to learn
from each other.
From the outset, a key stakeholder
group for PIQ has been municipalities.
In fact, in 2009, initial work was
started on the establishment of
the OHMPA/OGRA Municipal
Liaison Committee as direct a
result of feedback from members
and municipal owners during PIQ.
This came out of a request by all
stakeholders for a more robust
and productive relationship to
improve specifications and provide
consistently high quality products.
“Talking to municipalities and making
sure they are involved is an essential
element of the Partners in Quality
symposium,” says Vince Aurilio,
Executive Director, OAPC. “We try
to bring information to PIQ that is
relevant and important to both our
members and to municipalities.
This year, for example, I presented
on asphalt quality and the results
of the latest ORBA member
survey. The presentation on asset
management and how it relates to
road improvement was also extremely
useful to show our members how
municipalities select roads for work.”
David Shelsted, Director of Roads
and Transportation Services, City
of Greater Sudbury, is a long time
PIQ attendee and attended this
year along with a number of his city
colleagues. “The benefit to attending
PIQ for a municipality is to find out
what is current in the industry, the
changes that are happening, and
hearing about the issues as they
are occurring. The presentations
are really good for getting updates
on information that are relevant to
municipalities,” he says.
Another consistent component of PIQ
directly relevant to municipalities is
the regional forecasts from MTO and
other government updates. “At the
most recent PIQ, it was very beneficial
to municipal staff to hear MTO talk
about the audit. Their presentation
provided insight into where we can
look at our own municipalities and
see where possible improvements
can be done,” says Robert Burlie,
Manager of Road Operations,
Etobicoke/York District, City of
Toronto and 2016 president of OGRA.
“It was also helpful to hear from MTO
on the new specifications. We look to
MTO for their insight into emerging
issues and so it’s helpful to see where
they are heading,” he adds.
Adds Shelsted, Greater Sudbury:
“There is a strong MTO presence,
and they present their current work
programs and specification changes,
so if you attend you get first hand
information and updates from them.”
Hearing directly from MTO can
also help municipalities with their
planning. “Municipalities can find
out from MTO what they are doing
in the regions and how it may directly
impact local municipalities,” says
Chris Bradley, Director of Public
Works, Peterborough County. “For
example, in my region there are only
three paving companies. With a small
number of suppliers, a big MTO job
can directly impact the timelines of
any municipal jobs and how we might
schedule them.”
Bradley made two presentations at
the PIQ stop in Ottawa, one on the
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SUMMER 2017 19

The 2017 OAPC Partners in Quality Road Tour Seminars took place
April 18 to April 27 in Sudbury, Ottawa, Kitchener and Vaughan.
The following presentations were made and are available on
OAPC’s website under Publications & Education:
· About OAPC (Mike McLean)
· MTO AG Team (Garfield Dales & Paul LeCoarer)
· MTO 2017 Bituminous Report (Anne Holt)
· MTO 2017 Regional Forecast - Northeastern Region
· MTO 2017 Regional Forecast - Eastern Region
· MTO 2017 Regional Forecast - Western Region and Capital
Program
· MTO 2017 Regional Forecast - Central Region
· CCIL News (Nabil Kamel)
· Sudbury & Northern Municipal Forecast (Alan Korell)
· Ottawa & Eastern Municipal Forecast (Chris Bradley)
· Kitchener & Western Municipal Forecast (Mark Eby)
· GTA & Central Municipal Forecast (David Atkins)
· OAPC Marketing & Communications Initiatives (Abigail Wright
Pereira)
· Stakeholders Quality Forum (Vince Aurilio)
· Using Asset Management Programming to Make Roadway
Improvements (Alan Korell, Chris Bradley & James Smith)
· Warm Mix Asphalt (Melinda Furse)
· All You Need to Know About Tack Coating (Mike McLean)
forecast and the second on asset management.
As a member of the OAPC/OGRA Municipal Hot Mix
Liaison Committee, he believes it’s important to work
with industry partners. “PIQ is a good opportunity to
get the word out that industry is working both with
municipalities and on making the relationship with
key stakeholders a positive one,” says Bradley.
Another important aspect of PIQ is the technical
presentations, which this year included warm mix
asphalt and tack coating. “The technical presentations
are enormously useful. I found the presentation on warm
mix asphalt particularly interesting as this is something
we are interested in learning more about,” says Burlie,
City of Toronto.
Bradley, Peterborough County, agrees. “It’s incredibly
important for municipalities to come out and hear the
high quality technical presentations on issues that are
related to what they do in their business every day.
Municipalities are exposed to emerging technologies
as well as technologies that will directly impact the
quality of a job. For example, this year’s presentation
on tack coating and last year’s on longitudinal joints
illustrate relatively simple things that can be done
that are so important to the quality of the job.”
While PIQ provides an opportunity for everyone to find
out first hand what’s going on in the industry, what the
current issues are and how they relate to municipalities,
it’s also an important opportunity for industry to hear from
the municipalities. Chris Bradley, Alan Korell and James
Smith’s presentation on asset management programming
to make road improvements explained how municipalities
prioritize what work they need to do. This is an important
forum where everyone can learn from each other.
The seminar also provides a valuable opportunity to
network with industry, MTO and other municipalities.
Shelsted, Greater Sudbury, believes this is one of the
key reasons to attend. “The interaction with attendees
is one of the main benefits of PIQ. We encourage other
municipalities to attend to further expand this networking
opportunity and information sharing.”
Especially with today’s challenges, it’s more important
than ever to have more dialogue with each other and
work closer together. The seminars are a valuable forum
to get all the partners together, to learn together and
understand what’s important to each other. “The value
of the PIQ symposium is that together we can discuss
problems and opportunities with all the partners in our
industry. If all the stakeholders can get together and
have discussions about concerns before they become
problems, then we can all do our jobs more effectively
and smoothly,” says Aurilio.
20 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS
Lara Henry is a communication specialist and editor
of ASPHALTopics.

Bap Update
by donn bernal
Update on the
BaP report module
As an owner of an asphalt plant, you are already well aware that OAPC has been working
diligently with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) to develop a
Technical Standard as it relates to benzo(α)pyrene (BaP) emissions.
Through this process, the MOECC has learned a lot
about our industry and the asphalt plant production
process. We, in turn, have a better understanding of the
direction that MOECC is taking as it relates to climate
change. Ontario wants to be a world leader in controlling
emissions, and BaP from asphalt plants is considered the
surrogate for all polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Although our plants produce hot mix asphalt using one
of two main methods, drum or batch, each plant is unique
in design and configuration, which it makes it difficult to
have a “one size fits all” Technical Standard. We are very
close to finalizing standards with the MOECC that are
considered fair for all stakeholders.
A final piece to this standard is a requirement to track
temperatures at certain intervals and report, as necessary,
these temperatures to the local MOECC district offices.
It was thought that this tracking might be quite
cumbersome especially to the asphalt plant operator.
Therefore, the BaP Subcommittee decided to provide a
module to automate this reporting process and remove
that responsibility from the asphalt plant operator.
In conjunction with a local asphalt plant software
developer and OAPC member, Aggressor Automation,
the subcommittee developed a standardized reporting
module that can be bolted onto any asphalt plant
and record temperatures and production tonnages at
specified intervals. These temperatures include those
at the bottom of the drag conveyor and those at the
asphalt cement tanks. The module then averages out
the temperatures for the day as well as having a rolling
average for the whole year. With this information, the
asphalt plant operator simply has to print a report in
the event of a visit from a district officer or at the request
from the local MOECC District Office.
We are currently at the trial stage, fine-tuning the
reporting module on a couple of plants that are under
the Technical Standards with more plants scheduled
to participate.
The intent is to make this module available to all OAPC
asphalt plant producers whether they are under the
Technical Standard or not. It is an excellent way to monitor
your facility for various production efficiencies, including
natural gas consumption. The cost of installing the
reporting module will vary depending on the asphalt
plant and its current configuration. In the future, your
asphalt plant manufacturer could also have this reporting
module available.
Providing transparency to the MOECC will help strengthen
our relationship with them. This reporting module will go
a long way to achieving that goal as well as simplifying the
process for all stakeholders.
Donn Bernal is General Manager at Yellowline Asphalt
Products Ltd.
SUMMER 2017 21

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y Steve Pecar
The Ontario Asphalt Pavement
Council (OAPC) recognized
outstanding service to the
association and industry at its
43 rd annual general meeting and
awards luncheon at the Fairmont
Royal York Hotel in Toronto on
March 30.
“The association, its members and
the industry have greatly benefited
from the contributions of these
individuals,” says OAPC Executive
Director Vince Aurilio. “OAPC’s
awards program recognizes and
celebrates individuals who make
a positive difference in the asphalt
industry, one road at a time.”
Joe Bunting
MENTORSHIP AWARD
Mike McLean and Bert Hendriks
Bruce Armstrong and Marianne O’Shaughnessy
Bert Hendriks has gathered a lot of knowledge
during his 42 years in this industry, knowledge
that will not be lost to those who follow in his
footsteps.
Hendriks believes it’s incumbent on those with
experience to share and teach newcomers, and
his dedication to this task has earned him the
2016 Joe Bunting Mentorship Award. The award
was established to recognize the importance of
mentorship to our community and honour those
people in our industry who take the time to
teach, inspire and encourage tomorrow’s leaders.
The Executive Vice President of the Municipal
Division at R.W. Tomlinson Limited, Hendriks
King
Beamish
EXCELLENCE AWARD
Marianne O’Shaughnessy has done a lot of
things in her 31 year career with IKO Industries
Ltd. in Hamilton.
Starting off as an asphalt tester, her duties
expanded to include marketing stone to hot
Steve Pecar is a Mississauga-based
writer, editor and designer.
Donn Bernal and Steve Manolis
Earl Kee
VOLUNTEER
OF THE YEAR
AWARD
The Earl Kee Volunteer of the Year Award appears
to have been tailor made for Steve Manolis.
The award recognizes an OHMPA (now OAPC)
member who has made an exemplary voluntary
24 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS

was selected because of his ongoing passion, dedication and commitment
to the advancement of the hot mix asphalt industry and the positive effect
of his mentorship.
Mike McLean of McAsphalt Industries Limited met Hendriks in 2002: “Coming
from a small family-owned paving company, I was inspired by the time Bert took
to teach me the ways of big paving business. He encouraged and mentored me
both personally, and professionally, and I credit him for playing an instrumental
and tremendously positive role in my career.”
Hendriks cares about this industry, and his passion becomes clear when he
talks about his career. “I believe in excellence, I believe in integrity, I believe
in innovation and I believe in commitment,” he says. “That’s what I wanted
to bring to the job.”
These traits are what he encourages younger workers to embrace. He also
understands the value of knowledge gained through experience, and sharing
that knowledge can help build on the ideas that newcomers bring to the industry.
“There are a lot of bright young people out there, but they don’t have the
experience,” Hendriks says. “The other day I was talking to a colleague who
said how important mentorship is because otherwise, ‘everything is just locked
into your own head and when you leave, all the things you know will be lost.’”
Hendriks also marvels at all of the changes that have happened during his
career, but believes it is the natural evolutionary course of things.
“Is this the only industry that’s changing?” he asks rhetorically. “Everything is
changing. It wasn’t that long ago when there were no cell phones or computers.
All industries are evolving and adapting.”
As he contemplates retirement, Hendriks says it won’t curb his desire to pass
along his knowledge and believes that will be his legacy, as one of teacher and
mentor. He says he will continue be “a doer”, and hopes to share that mentality.
“You can retire and not train and mentor, but consistency matters,” he says.
“Yes, the industry is evolving and changing, but it only works if you build on
experience and what went before.”
mix producers, and purchasing paper and cardboard for the company’s felt
mill before she was put in charge of purchasing and managing IKO’s fleet
of vehicles. Today she is the Asphalt Terminal Manager for the company
that supplies manufactured sand to the paving industry.
While she is dedicated to her job, she has always felt the need to contribute
beyond her regular duties. “We’ve been members of OHMPA since 1992,” she
says. “While I don’t contribute much on the technical side anymore, I thought
I could help the association by doing other things.”
Those “other things” have been the hours of volunteer time she has contributed
over the years at industry events and through OHMPA’s Marketing Committee.
Because of her efforts, O’Shaughnessy is the recipient of the 2016 King
Beamish Excellence Award in recognition of her exemplary voluntary
contribution to the works of the association over a long period of time. The
winner also demonstrates qualities that exemplify leadership, motivation and
inspiration related to participation in the association.
In presenting her the award, Bruce Armstrong of Canadian Asphalt Industries
says O’Shaugnessy is always ready to help. “Marianne is always quick to
volunteer at the Marketing Committee,” he said. “She has consistently
helped out at many trade shows and the golf tournament. She has even
gone the extra mile by recruiting a friend to come help out at the tournament
when we needed people.”
O’Shaughnessy says she feels great to be honoured within her industry and
didn’t expect to receive the award. “I’ve been in the industry a number of years
and seen a lot of changes,” she says. “But I have always felt accepted and have
been impressed with the way everyone helps out. I just wanted to do my part.”
contribution to the works of the association in the past year and has
made a significant contribution to the development or progress of the
association’s objectives.
The General Manager of Coco Asphalt Engineering received the award for
his work as chair of the Environment Committee and his role in establishing
a Benzo(a)Pyrene technical standard with the Ontario Ministry of Environment
and Climate Change. His contributions also played a key part in the 2015
publishing of the fifth edition of the OAPC’s Environmental Practices Guide,
and the publishing of several Quality of Asphalt Pavement Task Force bulletins,
including a white paper on Asphalt Cement Quality and Specifications.
“Early on in my career I was taught that it was important to get involved, to
know the industry,” Manolis says. “People told me I would get more than what
I put in. Now, as I am in the midst of my career, I can confirm that it is true.”
Donn Bernal of Yellowline Asphalt Products Ltd. says the passion Manolis has for
asphalt and the asphalt cement industry in general is something to look up to.
“Steve Manolis joined the Board in 2016, and much of the thought of bringing
him onto the Board were the contributions he had made to various committees
and subcommittees prior to that,” says Bernal who presented the award. “He
was the go-to person as we went through OPSS revisions for Performance
Graded Asphalt Cement (PGAC) and he was our representative on the OPSS
committees to finalize the revisions.
Manolis says he was surprised, yet honoured, to receive the award, and looks
forward to continuing the important work with the environmental and technical
committees that he sits on with OAPC.
SUMMER 2017 25

Roads Scholars and
Scholarship Program
shifts into third gear
in the race to recruit
skilled workers by Abigail Wright Pereira
According to BuildForce Canada, the average
age of a Canadian construction worker is 41;
over the next decade nearly 90,000 of Ontario’s
construction workers are expected to retire. Within that
time, Ontario will need to attract over 110,000 new skilled
construction workers to replace the retiring workforce and
to contend with the increased labour demand.
In 2012, then Ontario Hot Mix Producers Association
(OHMPA) president Murray Ritchie appealed to the
Board of Directors and the Plant and Paving Committee
to work together to develop a program to help bridge
the impending skilled labour gap.
“I recognized that we needed more boots on the ground
to get the job done and those people needed to be
highly skilled. The combination of an aging work force
and growing demand for specialized skills has some
serious implications for the road building industry in
Ontario,” says Mr. Ritchie, Manager of Estimating, Sales
and Marketing for the Miller Group, Georgian Bay Region.
“Over the past five years the problem has become wider
26 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS

2017 Roads Scholars attend the April 6
Spring Operations Seminar held at the
International Centre in Mississauga.
in scope than anticipated. It really comes down to a
skills shortage and that is where industry partnership
with the colleges becomes a crucial component to
resolving this issue.”
The Board and Plant and Paving Committee recognized
that the balance between Ontario’s skilled labour supply
and demand within the construction industry was off-kilter
and the labour shortage could potentially leave Ontario’s
road building industry stuck in a ditch. OHMPA (now
OAPC) initially partnered with Centennial, Conestoga,
Georgian and Fleming Colleges to better engage and
educate young people about the industry as they were
making career choices.
Thus began the Roads Scholars Program which in 2013,
its inaugural year, brought six students to the annual Spring
Operations Seminar to learn about the latest innovations
in asphalt paving and to network with industry leaders and
potential employers.
“Our initial efforts in partnering with the colleges were
quite successful,” says Plant and Paving Committee Chair
and Vice President of FLO Components Mike Deckert. “In
2012, we held our Spring Operations Seminar at Georgian
College and had more paving equipment there than at
the National Heavy Equipment Show. Building off of this
momentum, we developed the program.”
As a part of a long-term strategy to expand its investment
in attracting skilled workers to the industry, OHMPA
introduced the Roads Scholarship Program in 2014.
From its bursary, OHMPA offered each partner college
two yearly $1,000 scholarships to be awarded to two
students within respective heavy equipment operator/
technician and civil engineering programs.
Selection of the scholarship recipients is based on
academic achievement, leadership, and technical skills.
Special consideration is given to students who express
a keen interest in the road building and asphalt industry.
This year the program expanded to Canadore College’s
millwright program and Algonquin College’s welding and
fabrication techniques program to reach those trades that
are in demand within the operations of an asphalt plant.
Now entering its fifth year, the Roads Scholars and Scholarship
Program has brought 32 students to OAPC’s annual
Spring Operations Seminar and has awarded 26 students
$1,000 scholarships, totaling $26,000. Based on an estimate
from a LinkedIn search and reaching out to OAPC members,
approximately 30 per cent of the Roads Scholars students
are employed by an ORBA/OAPC member company.
This is a good start. Nevertheless, according to Mr. Ritchie,
it is a pinhole of light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.
“These days the average age of a crew is in their late 40s to
early 50s, and crews are smaller which impacts productivity.
A lot of people considering coming into the industry don’t ››
SUMMER 2017 27

In 2015, Conestoga College purchased
an asphalt paver to incorporate into
its HEO program.
want to work the long hours and they look somewhere else.
Marketing the industry and training people is an investment
and maintaining them is critical. As an industry, we need to
focus on mentorship and fostering loyalty, and that is done
through providing a safe work environment, competitive
wages and benefits and job security.”
Jeremy Andrews, 2014 Roads Scholarship recipient
and Contestoga College graduate, agrees that industry
mentorship will go a long way in recruiting and maintaining
a skilled and loyal workforce. Upon graduating from
Conestoga’s Heavy Equipment Operator Program,
Mr. Andrews joined Capital Paving in Guelph and is
a heavy equipment operator.
“Young people who are considering joining the industry
are facing a challenging situation,” says Mr. Andrews.
“They can either join an apprenticeship program, which
is quite expensive, or just show up on a job site and do
manual labour for the next five years until they are actually
put on a piece of equipment. So, if you don’t have the
money to do the apprenticeship program, you can get
discouraged pretty fast.
“Even if you have gone through a program, it can still be
challenging to get to do the work that you went to school
for. More mentorship programs would be helpful for those
who come on as manual labour on a crew and for those who
come through a program so that they can gain hands-on
experience and know that they will be able to do the work
they want to do.”
In addition to industry investing in mentorship programs, Reg
Legere, Conestoga Professor of Trades and Apprenticeship
for the Heavy Equipment Operator Program, says that it is
important to educate students on what they can expect in
the real world once they get into the job market. “Those
students who are just coming into the industry have to
understand that starting out, they are going to have to pay
their dues and may have to start out on the rake; really this
helps to foster respect and an understanding of the entire
paving process. At the same time, on-the-job mentors will
greatly help to get “green” workers polished and ready to
take on more responsibility,” explains Mr. Legere.
Conestoga College is one of the few colleges that has
a paver on site at its Guelph campus facility, and has
incorporated asphalt paving into its curriculum, thanks in
part to its partnership with the OAPC. “With the Roads
Scholars and Scholarship Program and having OAPC come
out to present to students and have that one-on-one contact,
the school sees that the industry is an invested partner, and
that is how we were able to bring in the paver in 2015 and
include asphalt paving into the program,” says Mr. Legere.
The symbiotic partnership between the colleges and
industry not only helps to recruit skilled workers into the
industry, but also benefits industry from a quality standpoint,
according to OAPC Executive Director, Vince Aurilio.
We need to focus on mentorship and
fostering loyalty through providing a
safe work environment, competitive
wages and benefits and job security.
- Ritchie
“Teaching best practices in asphalt paving in the schools is
a grass roots effort that benefits everyone,” says Mr. Aurilio.
“As we pass this knowledge on to the upcoming workforce,
they will be better equipped to help raise the bar in building
quality asphalt pavements.”
Better marketing of the industry, investment in mentoring
programs and industry/academic collaboration is a partial
key to resolving the skilled labour shortage. However, that
shortage is also due to Canada’s population demographics.
According to Statistics Canada, the nation’s population
growth by birth rate began to decline in the late 1960s
and by 1976, the fertility rate had fallen to fewer than
1.8 children per woman and remains consistent today.
Since 1999, population growth has consistently been
driven by immigration. Approximately two-thirds of current
population growth is the result of migratory increase, while
natural increase accounts for the remaining one-third.
“Because of our demographics, there are simply fewer
people graduating from high school,” says Stephen Speers,
Conestoga Chair of School of Trades and Apprenticeship.
28 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS

“We need to look to immigration and offer training
programs to immigrants to attract the right people to help
offset the skilled worker shortage all trades are facing.”
Over the past 20 years, Mr. Speers has not only observed
a shift in demographics, but he says with exponential
changes within technology, academia and industry need
to collaborate to develop specializations within the trades.
This will prepare students for the technology that exists
today and will help them to anticipate what they will face
five and 10 years down the road.
“The partnership we currently have needs to extend to a
knowledge transfer on the latest and upcoming technologies
to train students in specializations to support industry and
to also offer life-long learning,” says Mr. Speers. “There is
also a significant need for government-funded support of
education programs, because the scope of the skilled labour
need is becoming much broader.”
Innate to the road building industry is the ability to navigate
through seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In the late
18th and early 19th century, road builders forged through
rugged terrain and dense forests to build Ontario’s first
roads with inadequate labour. To recruit the manpower
required to build and maintain these roads, a “statutory
labour” system was established, requiring settlers to work
up to 12 days each year on road building and maintenance
adjacent to their property. 1
Thankfully, we are long past the days of instating
conscription to accommodate the current infrastructure
surge. As a result of the foresight of the OHMPA Board
and Plant and Paving Committee, the Roads Scholars and
Scholarship Program that was developed five years ago
is making a difference, one student at a time, and is
continuing to expand its reach throughout Ontario.
“The Roads Scholars Program and the paving instruction
at Conestoga introduced me to asphalt paving,” says
Mr. Andrews. Mr. Andrews grew up on a farm and initially
planned to go into residential construction. “Now I have a
career in which I can get up every day and actually change
the landscape of Ontario’s infrastructure. At the end of
the day, I can see the results of my work and can say that
I helped to build that road or bridge. That is something
I take great pride in.”
The fruits of OAPC’s Road Scholars and Scholarship Program
are just beginning to ripen. Through the work of the program
and continued dedication of OAPC, industry and its partners,
in due time we can hope to reap the harvest of a bountiful
crop of highly skilled workers who are dedicated to the
asphalt industry.
1. Gilchrist, C.W. (2015, April 3) Historica Canada. Roads and Highways. Retrieved from: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/roads-and-highways/
SUMMER 2017 29

Paving the way with frien
The Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA)
with Amy Miller, National Director
Can you give us a brief history on the
origin of your organization?
The Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA) was
started in 2000 by the National Asphalt
Pavement Association (NAPA), the Asphalt
Institute (AI) and the State Asphalt Pavement
Associations (SAPA). Initially, the Alliance
was a volunteer organization, but as it grew
it was staffed with full-time employees. The
goal of the Alliance was to have an organized
means to combine resources and focus on
initiatives that are common to the three
major asphalt associations.
Can you report on changes to your
organization and how they are working?
A primary focus of the APA is to deploy
research material developed by the Pavement
Economics Committee (PEC), which is
supported by NAPA and SAPA, as well as
marketing material developed by the Go To
Market committee, which is solely supported
by NAPA. Technical reports are transferred
to the Go To Market, and the committee
finesses the material so that it can be
used by industry. The deployment work of
APA is very important to ensure that this
information gets out to the audience to
which it was intended. The APA deploys
this material both nationally and regionally.
The regional approach is the newest
change to the APA. We hired a regional
director, Dan Stabell, who is responsible
for the northcentral region. In July 2016, he
conducted the first major regional meeting in
the Northcentral region. The APA deployment
team has also held meetings in the Northeast
and Southeast regions. These meetings have
been instrumental in discussing efforts
related to regional issues and developing
initiatives that allow focused deployment of
strategic information. Eventually, we plan to
have regional directors for all five regions –
Northeast, Southeast, Northcentral, Rocky
Mountains and Western.
Each region has a council that is made up
of state asphalt executives, NAPA staff and
membership, and Asphalt Institute staff
and membership. The goal of this council
is to establish needed directives that will
incorporate current PEC deliverables as well
as establish regional directives handled by
the council. An annual review of our work
in these regions will ensure that we are
deploying the needed information, that
we’re staying on target and that our
initiatives are being completed.
What are you currently working on?
We have an overseeing committee that
puts a stamp of approval on the initiatives
of the deployment of the APA. Right now,
we are focused on deploying materials
that are related to Life Cycle Cost Analysis
(LCCA). Also, we are reminding operators
not to overlook the opportunities that exist
with the commercial market. This would
include anything that is not a Department
of Transportation project, such as parking
lots. Traditionally, the asphalt industry has
not focused on the commercial market. The
competition, however, is making inroads here,
so as an industry we are stepping up efforts.
We’re also pushing for the implementation of
PaveExpress, which is a free online software
to design rigid and flexible pavements (www.
pavexpressdesign.com). This is a deliverable
of the PEC that has been very successful.
This web-based software tool continues to
draw attention from designers and engineers
around the world. Enhancements continue to
be added to the software, which improves the
efficiency and accuracy of pavement design
for more robust pavements.
The APA is also responsible for the National
Perpetual Pavement Award. The Alliance first
defined perpetual pavements in 2000 and
established the Perpetual Pavement Award
in 2001. Since then, 118 pavements in 30
U.S. states and one Canadian province have
been honoured with the award. Recipients
are state transportation departments and
local agency road owners who have wellperforming
asphalt pavements that are
at least 35 years old. Winners of the 2016
Perpetual Pavement Award included 10
departments of transportation.
APA continues to represent the asphalt
industry at various trade shows, including
events put on by the International Council of
Shopping Centres (ICSC) and large national
trade shows. Participation in these forums
increases awareness about APA and the
issues that are current and relevant to the
asphalt industry.

ds across borders
by Lisa Fattori
With various asphalt-related organizations around the world, a wealth of information is
at hand that can benefit individual contractors and companies in the industry. Sharing
new best practices, innovations in technology, better safety standards and new practices
and procedures raises the bar at both the local and national level. By learning from one
another, the asphalt industry can continue to be a leader in providing stakeholders with
value and quality, and to be the preferred choice for construction projects.
Asphaltopics reached out to two professionals who are spearheading exciting initiatives
within their organizations – Siobhan McKelvey, President of Eurobitume and Amy Miller,
National Director of the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA), who offer insight into the
progressive work and goals of their respective associations.
What’s a hot topic for your
organization?
Right now, LCCA is a very hot topic.
The competition is driving the use
of LCCA at local, state and federal
levels, and the asphalt industry
needs to be more active in informing
agencies about all of the factors that
go into the calculation of an accurate
analysis. We are not opposed to LCCA
usage in pavement type selection,
because there is long-term value with
the use of asphalt that can be shown
with proper life cycle cost analysis.
However, we have seen cases where
decision makers were required to use
LCCA, and were uninformed. We feel
it is important to relay the facts and
accurate data to decision makers.
Inputs, such as the initial cost of
a pavement, time to repair, user
delay costs and others must all
be considered. This can be a lot of
information for someone to absorb.
The proper inputs have to go into the
LCCA to make a pavement decision,
and we feel that part of our job should
be to present factual information.
At the end of life of a perpetual
pavement, for example, there is
structural integrity left; there is
some inherent value there which is
not typically identified in the LCCA
process. International Roughness
Index values also don’t come into play
with this decision, but it is important
to the end user. We want to make
sure that people have the necessary
information to make good sound
decisions on behalf of taxpayers.
Eurobitume
with Siobhan McKelvey, President
Can you provide us with a brief history
on the origin of your organization?
The European Bitumen Association, or
Eurobitume (EB) for short, was established in
1969, with five national bitumen associations –
ARBIT (Germany), CIB/ICB (Belgium), ESPAS
(Spain), GPB (France) and RBA (UK) – making
up the founding members. Several European
Petroleum Companies became members during
the next years. Benelux (made up of Belgium,
the Netherlands and Luxembourg) was added in
2007 as a Local Initiative and replaced Benelux
Bitume (Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg).
Switzerland joined in 2010 as a Local Initiative.
Can you report on the amalgamation across
Europe and how it’s working?
In June, 2015, members implemented a project
that integrated the three national associations
in Germany (ARBIT), France (GPB) and the UK
(RBA), within the overall operating umbrella
of Eurobitume. As a result, we now have
Eurobitume UK since January 2015; Eurobitume
France since September 2015; and Eurobitume
Deutschland since January 2016. These
add to the existing Eurobitume Benelux and
Eurobitume Switzerland. There were a number
of key drivers behind this change, including
the need to streamline our activities, develop
one voice and increase the profile/brand of
EB, develop and benefit from synergies, and
increase accessibility across Europe to experts
in our industry. We needed the organization to
be able to adapt and respond to changes and
challenges within the bitumen industry, and
to expectations from important stakeholders.
By building a stronger organization, we could
increase our influence and be the single point
of contact for bitumen issues in Europe.
To support our goals and to act with a stronger
voice in Europe, our members decided in 2015
that we needed to expand the scope of our
membership. Traditionally, EB members were
only bitumen producers with refineries. The
new membership now allows for an additional
category of Associate Members, such as
haulers, equipment suppliers, testing services
organizations and academic institutions.
What are you currently working on?
The necessary first step of our strategy was
to build a stronger organization and a new
structure of our association. The next step is
to review our Vision and Mission and to assess
what type of structure the organization should
have to meet the needs of the future. We will
be identifying the building blocks required to
achieve this in the coming years. In the second
half of 2017, a task force within Eurobitume will
examine this process, and plans to have some
proposals drafted to share with members by the
end of the year.
In the meantime, we will continue to develop
the General Meetings that we hold in the ››

spring and fall, to make them valuable to
members and of interest to potential new
members. Our excellent relationship over
the years with the Asphalt Institute (AI) in
the U.S. has provided our organization with
great ideas and inspiration, so that we can
introduce changes that add value for our
members. We have experienced, first hand,
support from AI and an openness to share
with EB members, as was demonstrated by
an open invitation for our members to attend
an AI Annual Meeting in December, 2015.
As the need to work closely together on
high-level industry challenges continues
to grow, the relationship between our
two organizations will strengthen.
Collaboration on technical, communication
and HS&E issues is continually needed to
improve the future of our industry overall.
In May this year, EB representatives and
member representatives attended an
AI Foundation symposium which focused
on Strategic Asphalt (Bitumen) Research.
The purpose of the event was to identify
key areas of strategic industry research
that could benefit the industry globally.
Another initiative we are working on in 2017
is to continue the promotion of the Asphalt
Advantages Campaign. This European
initiative has been modeled after the
AsphaltFACTS campaign designed by AI
and NAPA in the U.S. Together with one of
our key European stakeholders, European
Asphalt Pavement Association (EAPA),
we launched the campaign and website in
October, 2014. This year, the first Asphalt
Advantage Advocate award was presented
at the EAPA Symposium on June 1 in Paris.
The award recognizes the support of an
organization in promoting the campaign
and being a strong advocate of the asphalt
industry.
Following the success of the Eurasphalt and
Eurobitume (E & E) congress in June 2016
in Prague, we have introduced a new event
called the E & E Event 2018, which will be
held in Berlin, June 14 and 15. Also, the usual
E & E congress 2020 has been confirmed and
will be held in May 2020 in Madrid.
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32 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS
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What is a hot topic for your organization?
We continue to focus on the issues of HS&E,
product specifications and future demand for
bitumen. Regarding health, there have been a
number of published reports and studies that
address the reduction of workers’ exposure
to harmful materials. Similarly, work is being
done to reduce the incidents of accidents,
to ensure regulatory compliance, and to
improve technical and safety harmonization
in the supply chain as a result of increased
international shipping of bitumen.
Environmental drivers include EU construction
standards, reduced energy and emissions for
a smaller environmental footprint, a push for
the recycling of materials, green procurement
and green screenings.
The need to communicate positive
questions and solutions to various target
audiences remains a challenge, but we’re
starting to see more activity in this area.
Internal communication with our members
is achieved through E-News, an annual
review and intranet connections. External
communications tools include newsletters,
a magazine, the Association’s website and
social media. Organized events are also a
great way to disseminate information and
to get to know others working in the industry.
We host a congress every four years and an
E & E event every four years (two years after
the congress). We have a spring and fall
meeting every year, as well as Bitumen Days
in different countries.

UNSUNG HEROES
Loyalty
a motivator for
unsung hero
by Steve Pecar
Peter Micieli
Loyalty is not just a word in the asphalt paving
industry. When an employer respects and rewards
a valued employee, and that person does the best
they can do to represent their company, then
you have the formula for success.
At the family-owned business of D. Crupi & Sons, Peter
Micieli appreciates the loyalty the company has shown
him and he makes sure he returns that loyalty each time
he laces up his work boots. “You see the company growing
and all of the work that has been put in by so many people.
I want to do my part, and whatever I do, I want to do a
good job,” says Micieli from Miami where he is taking
a short break to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary.
Even while enjoying the sights and sounds of South
Beach, Micieli knows it is summer and there is plenty of
work ahead when he gets back on the job, just like he has
been doing for D. Crupi & Sons for more than 30 summers.
Micieli started as a flag man for the company when
he was 15 or 16, doing the type of tasks that may not
have been too exciting, but necessary nevertheless. “It’s
where I wanted to be,” he says. “My father worked for the
company. It’s what he did and it’s what I wanted to do.”
From flag man to labourer, then learning more of the skills of
the trade, Micieli is now a main line paving foreman, looking
after a crew and making sure the tough jobs get done.
Dominic Crupi, vice president of the company, believes
Micieli epitomizes what the asphalt industry is all about –
dedication and hard work. “He’s been at it a long time
and is still a young man for this type of work,” says Crupi.
“He’s got a lot of experience for his age and he never
stops trying to do a great job.”
As a foreman, Micieli runs a 10-man crew and is in charge
of such things as tracking the job and planning progression
of the paving along with the general superintendent. “From
large parking lots to subdivisions and municipal roads and
highways, Peter is always there for us getting the job done,”
says Crupi.
Micieli appreciates the confidence the company has in
him and the fact that he gets to handle a lot of big jobs.
“I enjoy the big jobs – that is what I do best,” Micieli says.
“I appreciate the responsibility that comes with tackling
the big projects and look forward to dealing with all
aspects of the job.”
Some of the big projects he has tackled recently include the
paving of Warden Avenue between Steeles and Sheppard
Avenue in Toronto, and a section of 16th Avenue in York
Region.
For Crupi, a dedicated and experienced worker like
Micieli can be hard to come by in an industry that is
constantly evolving and which can, at times, see people
come and go. “It’s hard to find new people that have the
values and provide the effort that Peter does to fulfill our
obligations to our customers,” Crupi says. “He is part of
how we do that. He comes to work every day with the
intention of doing his best and doing the best for the
company. That is all you can really ask for.”
Micieli is proud to do so and appreciates the opportunity
to show his leadership skills and return the loyalty that has
been shown to him. For Micieli, the next big job and the
responsibility that comes with it are all the motivation he
needs to keep on doing what he does.
SUMMER 2017 33

TECHNICALLY
SPEAKING
by Vince Aurilio
Executive Director, OAPC
Intersections: Approach with caution
of a racetrack or a runway). In fact,
slow-moving heavy vehicles at an
intersection actually put more stress
on pavements than those moving
faster.
RR20 Lundy’s lane at Drummond Road, City of Niagara Falls,
rehabilitated in 2011/2012. (Niagara Region)
The same traffic conditions that add to the stress
of driving at intersections (about 30 per cent of
fatalities occur at intersections) 1 also add to the stress
on pavements. Whether you are a driver or pavement
engineer, you should approach intersections with care.
Urban traffic conditions have brought the challenge
of designing pavement for intersections to the top of
the agenda for municipal engineers. The heavy traffic,
braking, accelerating and turning that contribute to the
wear and tear on asphalt are becoming increasingly
severe. Traffic is getting more congested, tire pressures
are increasing, and trucks and buses are heavier.
It is not just the volume of traffic that should be of
concern. Intuitively, most people associate the speed
of the vehicle with the stress on the pavement (think
Engineers need to pay particular
attention to design and material
selection to ensure that the asphalt
pavement at intersections provides
the same outstanding performance
and life-cycle cost benefits as it
does elsewhere.
Rutting is probably the most common indication
of pavement failure at an intersection and can be
the result of inadequacy of the pavement structure,
poor consolidation (compaction), and/or plastic flow
(permanent deformation). The Asphalt Institute in
the U.S. has developed a basic strength approach
to designing pavements at intersections that
addresses all three failure mechanisms:
1. Ensure structural adequacy.
2. Select and control materials.
3. Follow proper construction practices.
As you would expect, aggregates play a very important
role in all three steps.
The most common failure mechanism at intersections
is plastic flow (rutting), and material selection is key in
34 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS

mitigating this problem. The asphalt
binder is specifically selected for the
mix design at intersections (PGAC
requirements are normally one-grade
higher for heavy traffic conditions or
for pavement where there are heavy
slow-moving vehicles, and even
two-grades higher for extremely
heavy truck or bus traffic). The PGAC
is commonly enhanced or polymermodified
to achieve these grades.
Aggregate properties need to
be considered just as carefully.
The aggregate structure must be
capable of carrying the load and
developing a high degree of stoneto-stone
interlock to resist shearing.
The need for consistent gradations
is well recognized, but there also
must be consistency in particle
shape, texture and absorption.
Both coarse and fine aggregate
must be angular to provide the
interlock required for rut resistance.
Plastic deformation is similar to
slope failure. Rounded aggregates,
with a low angle of repose, tend to
act like ball bearings and therefore
have much less shear resistance.
Crushed materials, which stay up
in a stockpile, have the necessary
internal friction to resist shear.
Fortunately, Ontario has excellent
aggregate sources that can meet
these quality requirements.
Recent developments in crushing
equipment and techniques have
also helped to improve aggregate
angularity and cubicity. In many
cases, washing, crushing and other
secondary processing can improve
marginal aggregates.
Air voids are particularly important
and should neither be too low
nor too high. Air voids are the air
spaces or pockets of air that occur
in the compacted mix; mixes are
typically designed at four per cent
and produced between three and
five per cent. Mixes with excessively
low air voids can lead to flushing and
potentially result in rutting.
On the other hand, mixes with
high air voids are more prone
to durability problems. If the air
void content is too high, the voids
become interconnected which
allows the passage of air and water
resulting in poor durability. Keep
in mind that density and air void
content are directly related – the
higher the density (or compaction)
the lower percentage of air voids.
Pavements are typically compacted
to eight per cent air voids in-place
(or 92 per cent maximum relative
density). A proper design will
provide sufficient air voids for
stability and sufficient asphalt
cement and volumetric properties
for good long-term performance.
Improper construction techniques
can also lead to rutting. Consolidation-type
rutting occurs when the
pavement has not been sufficiently
compacted. Under traffic loads, the
aggregate particles will reorient
themselves into a denser condition.
Therefore, it may require more effort
to get the necessary compaction
with some of the stiffer mixes (with
enhanced PGAC and aggregate
properties) used for intersection
improvements.
Aggregates are, of course, only
one component of a hot mix (even
if they do make up 95 per cent of
the pavement). It is not just the
characteristics of each component
of the mix, but also the interplay
of those components that provides
high-quality pavement.
Improved asphalt intersections
can be built with minimal delay
for motorists, and while the initial
cost may be higher than the more
conventional asphalt mixes, the
dramatically improved performance
will result in a lower life-cycle cost.
The final product will be a long
lasting, cost-effective, smooth
asphalt intersection and the
answer to one of our biggest
municipal pavement design
challenges.
1. Road Safety in Canada, Government of Canada -
www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety2011
SUMMER 2017 35

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ENVIRONMENTAL
ESSENTIALS
by Christina Wright
Don’t do it!
Whenever I am asked, this is my immediate response:
DON’T DO IT! It has a high potential for large individual
and corporate fines and is a serious offence under
multiple regulations and jurisdictions. In the vast majority
of cases, the individual or company has absolutely no
idea of the risk of this action, which applies in both rural
and urban areas.
What am I talking about? Simply filling in or altering onsite
natural or naturalized water bodies, such as creeks
and streams, ponds and ditches, even when water is not
there all the time. Alterations include, but are not limited
to, diversion, widening, dredging, and damming.
The key legislation that applies to this action is the
Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA), enforced by the
province, and the Fisheries Act, enforced by the federal
government. However, many other jurisdictions may
be involved such as Environment and Climate Change
Canada, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry,
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and
local conservation authorities.
The two factors that make this a very high risk action
are low burden of proof and high fines.
Unlike the Environmental Protection Act, which requires a
“likely” burden of proof for an adverse effect, the OWRA
and Fisheries Act only require that an action may cause
an impairment for a conviction. Altering a naturalized
ditch or a natural creek may constitute impairment if
the action interferes with any living organism that lives
in or comes into contact with the water or soil around the
water, changes the water colouring, causes suspended
sediment in the water, and so on. Filling in a naturalized
ditch or a natural creak would be permanent destruction
of the water body. It is important to note that, even if
these actions may not cause an on-site impairment, they
may cause impairment downstream, such as alteration to
an off-site fish habitat or your neighbour’s water supply.
Unlike the EPA, which only has a maximum penalty, the
Fisheries Act has both a minimum and maximum penalty.
For a first offence, fines under the Fisheries Act can
range from $15,000 to $1 million for individuals and
from $75,000 to $4 million for corporations.
If (even after reading this article) you still need to fill
in a natural water body and/or naturalized ditch, GET
PERMISSION FIRST! This can be a complicated, time
consuming and expensive process involving multiple
(municipal, provincial and federal) agencies. Hiring
professionals to assist you is a must!
Christina Wright is Environmental Compliance
Specialist at BCX Environmental Consulting, a Canadian
environmental engineering company specializing in
providing expert environmental consulting services.
SUMMER 2017 37

OAPC PRESIDENT’S DINNER AND AGM
QUALITY FORUM
OAPC Chairman Mike McLean and Yellowline Asphalt Products
Ltd. Sales Manager Kourtney Adamson volunteer on stage as
magician Ray Chance wows the crowd at the OAPC President’s
Dinner, which was held at the Mill Street Brew Pub in Toronto’s
Distillery District on the evening of March 29. The Live Auction
for Asphalt Research and raffle draw were also a highlight of the
evening. The auction brought in $27,165 and $3,250 was raised
through the raffle for a total of $30,415, which was donated to
the Asphalt Research Fund. Thank you to all who attended who
contributed to the event’s success.
ORBA and OAPC hosted the Quality Forum on March 29 at the
Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. The forum, which was led
by John Allen and David Caplan of Global Public Affairs, brought
in 52 members to discuss practical solutions on achieving and
maintaining quality standards for Ontario’s asphalt industry.
OAPC SPRING OPERATIONS
OAPC’s annual Spring Operations Seminar, held in conjunction
with the National Heavy Equipment Show at Mississauga’s
International Centre on April 6, brought in an impressive
127 attendees. Highlights of the seminar included key note
speaker Bob Bekye’s presentation on how asphalt plants
can best address community concerns. Bekye is Manager of
Environmental Affairs for Milestone Contractors in Indianapolis.
All seminar presentations are available within the Members Only
section of the OAPC website and are available for download.
WELCOME!
Keynote speaker and memory expert Bob Gray entertains OAPC
AGM delegates while at the same time revealing the untapped
potential we all possess to improve our memory. The AGM was
held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto on March 30
and 131 delegates in total attended the 2017 OAPC AGM and
President’s Dinner on March 29 and 30. All presentations from
the AGM are available on the Members Only section of the
OAPC website.
OAPC welcomes new member AMMANN Group. AMMANN
Group is a world-wide supplier of mixing plants, machines
and services to the construction industry with core expertise
in road building and transportation infrastructure.
38 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS

NATIONAL HEAVY EQUIPMENT SHOW
ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO ROAD
SUPERVISORS TRADE SHOW
Plant and Paving Committee member Daulta O’Hanlon and
Membership Committee past chair Paul Holroyd discuss the
benefits of asphalt pavements with a National Heavy Equipment
Show delegate. The show, which was held at the International
Centre in Mississauga from April 5 to 7, brought in over 13,000
delegates, which made for plenty of foot traffic and good
conversations at the OAPC booth.
2017 OAPC PARTNERS IN
QUALITY ROAD TOUR SEMINARS
This year’s OAPC Partners in Quality Road Tour Seminars brought
a robust program to participants throughout the province.
Making stops in Sudbury, Ottawa, Kitchener and Vaughan from
April 18 to 27, the seminars brought together 257 attendees.
Presentations included the Ontario Ministry of Transportation
(MTO) Auditor General action plan update and Bituminous
Section updates; MTO regional reports and forecasts; municipal
forecasts; updates from CCIL; an update on the ORBA OAPC
Quality Forum; OAPC marketing & communications initiatives;
best practices in using asset management to improve roadways;
innovations in Warm Mix Asphalt technology; and tack coating.
All presentations are available on the OAPC website under
the Publications & Education tab. A special thanks goes
out to the sponsors who made the seminar series possible:
Aecon Materials Engineering, Canadian Asphalt Industries
Inc., Dufferin Construction Company, McAsphalt Industries
Limited, Multisolv, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Rankin
Construction Inc., Steed and Evans Limited, R.W. Tomlinson
Limited, and Yellowline Asphalt Products Ltd.
OAPC Executive Director Vince Aurilio and Marketing &
Communications Director Abigail Wright Pereira greet
delegates at the Assocation of Ontario Road Supervisors
Municipal Public Works Trade Show which was held at the East
Perth Recreation Centre in Milverton from June 7 to 8. The
annual show brought in 200 exhibitors and 1,800 delegates.
OAPC AWARDS ROADS SCHOLARSHIPS
Congratulations to eight Roads Scholarship recipients
who were awarded $1,000 each during award ceremonies
which took place March 27 at Centennial College, May 24
at Conestoga College, June 2 at Fleming College and June 6
at Georgian College. Award recipients were Pedro Moreira
and Brandon Wilk of Centennial College, Liam Scherbinsky
and Frank Sanchez of Conestoga College, Benjamin Ruah
and Nathan Woodrow of Fleming College and Josh Foran and
Lucas MacDonald of Georgian College.
OAPC Chairman Mike McLean addresses the crowd at the Ottawa
Partners in Quality Road Tour Seminar which was held at the
Centurion Conference & Event Center on April 20.
Daulta O’Hanlon, OAPC Plant & Paving Committee member and
District Sales Manager for Wirtgen Group, presents Mary Spencer,
Georgian College Professor of Engineering and Environmental
Technologies with the Roads Scholarship plaque during the
award ceremony on June 6.
SUMMER 2017 39

ENBRIDGE RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER
Congratulations to Team Aecon and Team CRH for completing the 10th annual Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer from
June 10 to 11. Past presidents Donn Bernal, Paul Lum and Mark Rivett participated in the 200-kilometer ride, spanning Toronto,
Hamilton and Niagara Falls. Collectively 5,042 participants raised $20,533 million for the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
In Memoriam
Harvey Teneycke passed away at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington on June 26, 2017,
at the age of 80. Harvey had a long career in the asphalt industry, starting at Flintcote
and going on to work at MSO (Pounder), Ashwarren (Lafarge) and Sifto. Deepest
condolences from the industry to his wife and family.
NEW MUNICIPAL PAVING
PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD
OAPC and OGRA have collaborated through their Municipal
Liaison Committee to create a Municipal Paving Project
of the Year Award. The purpose of the award is to promote
and recognize the successful collaboration between the
municipality and hot mix asphalt producers for excellence
and innovation in paving projects in Ontario. The finalists
from each OGRA Zone will be announced at the 2017 OAPC
Fall Seminar with the winner awarded at the 2018 OGRA
Conference in February. The project will not have any
minimum contract value and both capital and maintenance
projects are eligible. Applications will be available by the
end of July.
save the date!
AUG31 CLUBLINK
ORBA OAPC
ANNUAL MEMBERS’
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STATION CREEK – GORMLEY
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RITZ CARLTON – TORONTO
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40 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS

30 Years

THE LAST WORD
by Abigail Wright Pereira
Looking back and moving forward
I’d spent the day job searching and the sun was beginning
to set early on a frozen January afternoon back in 2012.
That was my cue to pick up my late mother-in-law from
the Alzheimer Society’s adult day care program. It had
only been a year and a half since getting married and
immigrating to Toronto from Chicago where I’d never
owned a car and rarely drove. Given so many major life
changes in a short amount of time, sometimes I felt as
if I had joined the Witness Protection Program. However,
with a newly issued permanent resident card in hand, I was
eager to hold onto new opportunities and grow roots in
a new country. Just before grabbing my coat to leave the
house, a job alert popped up that captured my attention:
Marketing and Communications Director for Asphalt
Industry Association.
“Hmm… the asphalt industry. I wonder what that is all
about,” I thought while driving down Millcreek Road. My
curiosity was piqued and that evening I applied for the job.
A few weeks later I interviewed with an exceptional group
of people that would later become my mentors: the 2012
Executive, Murray Ritchie, Bruce Armstrong, Fernando
Magisano, Bentley Ehgoetz and then OHMPA CEO Mike
O’Connor. Not knowing much about asphalt except for
the fact that it is made of asphalt cement and aggregate,
it’s black and it’s the surface upon which we drive, I knew
that I was a dark horse in the running.
However, not knowing much about something before trying
my hand at it because it interests me seems to be par for the
course. As a high school sophomore I tried out for the diving
team because I wanted to learn how to dive. Several belly
flops and cannon balls later, I didn’t make the team, but did
learn how to dive in head first. After graduate school, a friend
who worked at the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago suggested that
I apply for their communications manager position. Having
never taken a ballet lesson in my life, I felt a bit out of step
in applying. However, I got the job and have since developed
a life-long love and appreciation of the ballet.
You win some and lose some when taking a chance and
reaching out for the brass ring of opportunity. I am very
thankful to OHMPA for taking that chance and giving
me the opportunity to serve as the marketing and
communications director for the past five and a half years.
As an industry outsider, the learning curve was steep. I would
not have been able to do my job without the investment
and mentorship of numerous members. A few months after
joining OHMPA, Donn Bernal took me on a plant tour and
paving job to show me the complexity of what goes into
paving a road from start to finish. While at the job site, it
dawned on me that paving is a lot like a ballet: it’s physically
intense and the timing of the entire process must be perfectly
choreographed to produce what is in essence a work of art –
a smooth ribbon of asphalt road.
In 2014, we decided to produce a 40th anniversary video
featuring OHMPA founders and past presidents which
included John Edward DeToro, Don Budd, Joe Boccia,
Cosimo Crupi, Don Wilson and John Loughnan. Through
listening to their stories I learned a great deal about the
history of the association and, moreover, about the great
people that make up this industry.
It has been an honour and privilege to have had this
opportunity to help tell the story of Ontario’s asphalt
industry. While I am moving on from my position at the
Road House, my appreciation of the industry is not unlike
my appreciation for the ballet. It will be an enduring affinity.
Thank you for giving me that gift.
42 OAPC | ASPHALTOPICS