Sustainability was at the Forefront of the 2022 Annual Conference & Workshop

For the first time in nearly two years, 190 registered attendees including AMAP members, non-members, and agencies came together, February 1-3, for the 2022 AMAP Annual Conference & Workshop in Houston, Texas.

The Annual Workshop kicked off on Tuesday with two tracks for participants to attend. The Industry Basics track was perfect for first-time attendees or any that were newer to the industry. Everett Crews with Ingevity provided an introduction on modified asphalt with Bob Kluttz, Kraton Polymers, following up on the basics of chemistry and polymers. Kevin Grzybowski, PRI Asphalt Technologies, shared information on common modifiers. Farhad Rad of Anton Paar presented information on binder testing while Chris Lubbers, Kraton Polymer, provided information on both pavement preservation and modified emulsions. The afternoon of the Industry Basics track focused all on roofing. Alison Shultz, Owens Corning, provided an intro on modified roofing. Eileen Dutton followed with information on modified asphalt shingles. Julie Geyer, The Garland Company, presented on self-adhered underlayment and Alison Shultz completed this track with information on asphalt flux.

The second track of the Workshop focused on intermediate and advanced topics. Dave Johnson, PE of Asphalt Institute started this track off by discussing LCCA basics. Phil Blankenship, BATT, started the discussion of mix designs followed by Tanya Nash, ATS Engineering, discussing balance mix designs. Mike Worden, Associated Asphalt, discussed both handling and laydown and field performance. Trey Wurst, Ingevity, shared information on warm mix additives. The rest of this afternoon’s track went more in-depth on rheology, presented by Rad, Kluttz discussed polymers and Katrina Mangiaracina, Ingevity, discussed additives. Anton Paar’s Geoff Rowe concluded this track with a discussion on advanced rheological analysis.

Program Chair Andrew Ford worked hard to put together a two-day conference that focused on the conference theme: Sustainable Asphalt Performance that Lowers Environmental Impact.

On Wednesday, Keynote Speaker Buddy Williams, Texas Department of Transportation, welcomed AMAP to Houston and talked about connecting others to Texas safely. Next up, Jhony Habbouche, Virginia Department of Transportation, talked on Virginia’s approach to responsible incorporation of high RAP contents and recycling agents in surface asphalt mixtures. Attendees then heard from Pravat Karki, Texas Department of Transportation, on their QA Program. Crews shared information on asphalt technologies road to net zero while attendees then heard from AMAP’s industry partners. Jay Hansan with NAPA provided an update on both NAPA and legislative issues. Asphalt Institute’s Pete Grass provided an update on AI and binder trends.

Additional presentations on Wednesday included Wednesday also included presentations from Amy Epps-Martin, Texas A&M, on selection and the use of rejuvenators. Fan Yin with NCAT shared their research on the use of recycled plastics in asphalt. Habbouche joined attendees again, sharing how Virginia is moving towards sustainable paving by using efforts that focus on binder modification using hybrid rubber and recycled plastic waste. Lastly, Nash talked about the evaluation of recycling agents.

New to the schedule this year was an Awards Luncheon. During the luncheon, President Kevin McGlumphy presented plaques to AMAP’s newest members including Russell Standard, The Garland Company, Crafco Inc., Barret Industries, GAF-1, WISCO DBE LLC, GreenMantra Technologies, LyondellBasell Industries, Sripath Technologies LLC, Rubbintec, Gilson Company, The Rand Trading Company, and Hawaii Asphalt Paving Industry. At the luncheon, Al Meitl, ECF Incorporated was also inducted into the AMAP Hall of Fame. To learn more about Meitl’s achievements and industry involvement, please click here.

Thursday started with attendees learning about the Women of Asphalt from Janelle Barrientos, Flint Resources. Barrientos was then joined by Courtney Rice, Owen Corning, Nathali Parker, KLP Commercial Construction Supply and Leslie Myer, FHWA for a panel discussion on bridging the gap in the asphalt industry. Dr. Punyaslok Rath, University of Missouri, presented on rubber and waste plastic recycling in asphalt and implications to balanced mix design. Next, Dr. Ben Bowers, Auburn University, discussed cold mixes while Dr. Andrew Braham, University of Arkansas discussed environmental life cycle assessment of asphalt emulsion treatments.

Jean-Pascal Planche, Western Research Institute, started Thursday’s afternoon session by discussing how Western Research Institute launched “Waste Reengineering Initiative.” Lowell Parkison, Crafco Inc, discussed crack sealing and filling. Kluttz, presented on the harmonization of AASHTO/ASTM. The day ended with a presentation by Buzz Powell, NCAT, who provided an update on NCAT’s test track.

AMAP also held their Association Business Meeting on Thursday afternoon. During the meeting, the current state of the Association was discussed, along with reviewing the strategic plan and the direction the Association is heading in.

Additionally, voting for the 2022-2023 Board of Directors was held. The AMAP 2022-2023 Board of Directors consist of President Kevin McGlumphy, Associated Asphalt, Vice President Bernie Malonson, BASF, Treasurer Andrew Ford, Kraton Polymer, Secretary Tanya Nash, ATS Engineering, Past President Everett Crews, Ingevity, and Directors, Toni Newsome, Owens Corning; Aaron Roy, Nouyron; Kevin Hardin, Versenergy; Jon Pepyne, All States Materials Group; Mike Matheny, Kokosing Materials; Todd Hillard, Asphalt Materials Inc.; Kevin Kempton, Innophos; Trey Wurst, Ingevity; Terry Hegner, Cook Chemical; Mark Stewart, Hexpol Compounding; Farhad Rad, Anton Paar; Lisa Garrison, PRI Asphalt Technologies; and Jason Cox, D&H Equipment. Skip Paul will continue as the DOT Advisory Board Member and Mike O’Leary as the AMAP Ambassador.

Of course the Annual Conference & Workshop not be made possible without the generous sponsors. Five Platinum Sponsors included ATS Engineering, BASF, Georgia-Pacific, Ingevity, and Kraton Polymer. Gold Sponsors included Anton Paar, BW Supraton, D&H Equipment, Dalworth Machine Products, Innophos, and Netzsch. Three Silver Sponsors that included Astec Industries, PRI Asphalt Technologies, and Zydez. In addition to the generous sponsors, additional exhibitors included All States Materials Group, ECF Incorporated, IKA, Nouyron, and Shrieve. Thank you again to all the 2022 sponsors and exhibitors.

More information on the 2023 Annual Conference & Workshop will be available in the coming months. Make sure to keep a lookout in your inbox!