The Asphalt Pavement Association of West Virginia (APAWV) concluded its Annual Fall Meeting on Sunday, October 13^th after a weekend at the Resort at Glade Springs in Danials WV.  Nearly 200 total attendees joined the fall retreat which included over 70 industry members, along with their spouses and children.  Attendees were treated to gorgeous blue skies and moderately warm temperatures for the weekend retreat that featured business sessions, family-oriented activities, and themed evenings.  A summary of the meeting follows, however available on asphaltwv.com are deep dives into the event activities, business sessions, and other topics discussed at the meeting.

The event kicked off with APAWV’s typical Thursday evening industry round table.  During the roundtable discussions ensued about the following days business session, as well as other issues which have arisen within the industry over the year.  Friday’s business session featured remarks from WVDOT Secretary, Jimmy Wriston, on the construction session and remarks from Vernon Criss, Finance Chair for the WV House of Delegates, on the importance of funding West Virginia’s highways and infrastructure.  Secretary Wriston was also joined by WVDOT Deputy Secretary, Alanna Keller, WVDOH Chief Highway Engineers: Gehan Elsayed, Joe Pack, and Todd Rumbaugh, and WVDOT Business Manager, Carla Rotsch, for a question and answer session as well as a construction program update.  This session was well attended and very informative.

As part of the Friday session, APAWV Executive Director, John Crane, presented WVDOH staffers with three Perpetual Pavement Awards from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance, which the WVDOH earned for the design and construction of sections of US-250, US-35 and I-64.  Through either the pavement’s design or the existing pavement’s longevity, these three pavement sections were deemed Perpetual, meaning that they only need thin corrective action to restore surface defects and should not need any future structural enhancements.

Friday afternoon saw the return of APA’s annual golf tournament as well as an afternoon tour of the nearby Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine.  The evening also granted attendees the opportunity to network with one another during the evening’s reception and banquet.  During the banquet, the newly coined APAWV Country Road Award for the best asphalt surface constructed in West Virginia for a given year was presented to West Virginia Paving for their resurfacing work on US-219 north of Thomas, WV.  In addition, thanks to our sponsors, each of the roughly 65 children in attendance Friday evening received a door prize.  Rounding out the evening Ken Groves, a comedian ventriloquist, was a big hit.  His performance gave the attendees an enjoyable evening with some huge laughs, some at times at the expense of APAWV members.

Kicking off the Saturday business session with an update from the Contract Administration Division, Materials Division and the Asphalt section was Larry Shea, Mike Mance, and Shawn Jack respectively.  Mr. Jack also went on to elaborate on the construction of WVDOH’s test section at the National Center for Asphalt Technology’s (NCAT) test track.  The test section is intended to investigate an asphalt based thin-lay alternative for High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST).  HFST is a treatment to increase the skid resistance of a roadway, using a Bauxite aggregate glued to the roadway with an epoxy resin. In addition, Shane McComas discussed the Civil Right and Compliance Divisions implementation of the Civil Rights and Labor module to AASHTO Ware Project (AWP).

Following the updates from the WVDOH, members were treated to an overview and history of asphalt mix design and how it has slowly evolved toward balanced mixture design from our Asphalt Institute’s Regional Engineer, Jason Wielinski.  Dr James Bryce, WVU’s Pat Parsons Asphalt Faculty Fellow, then gave a report on ongoing asphalt research and an overview of future programs for members to look forward to.  One such program was the Low Carbon Transportation Materials Grant through the Federal Highway Administration, which has since been approved for a sum of $30.5 million and will aid members establish Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for their production processes.  Finally, the Subcommittee for Asphalt Materials industry co-chair and WV Paving Inc.’s Quality Control Manager, Dave Withrow closed the meeting with discussions summarizing activities within the Subcommittee, active changes to WVDOH specification and items regarding ongoing issues with the WVDOH’s AWP systems for Materials data entry, Civil Rights and Labor Module, and Change orders.

Following Saturday’s Business Session, attendees were encouraged to attend the annual children’s program “Kid’s Road to Fun.”  This year, APAWV members and their families were treated to a lighted tour of the haunted house of Fright Night WV, West Virginia's #1 Haunted Attraction.  Attendees were also able to get their face painted, have fun playing put-put and other activities onsite.  Continuing the Halloween themed day, members gathered at the Glade Springs Leisure Center for a Halloween themed costume party.  Nearly all attendees showed up in costume, making the evening ever more enjoyable.  Prizes were awarded during the evening for a variety of best costumes, from best child to best group.

The fall meeting concluded with the Sunday prayer breakfast with a heart moving talk from Donna Sheaves, Southern Director for Burlington United Methodist Family Services.  Mrs. Sheaves discussed how her programs aid children across the mountain state.  Thank you to those members who donated to the organization.  APAWV, also donated the remaining children’s door prizes from Friday’s event to help the Burlington programs with birthday and holiday gifts for the children.

Thank you to all the meeting sponsors and participants for making this year’s meeting a wonderful success.  Please visit APAWV’s website, asphaltwv.com, for greater details on the business sessions, WVU’s asphalt research programs, the Perpetual Pavement and Country Road awards, and the NCAT test track friction research section.