CONCRETE PAVEMENT PROGRESS 8 WWW.ACPA.ORG ACPA Announces Expanded Role Supporting Sustainability and Resilience in Infrastructure At World of Concrete in January, ACPA outlined its expanding role in helping DOTs, owners and other decision makers meet challenges such as rising inflation and new federal funding structures. In 2024, the association will build on its 2023 white paper, “Concrete Pavement’s Role in a Sustainable, Resilient Future,” with the addition of tools and resources that help decision makers meet global challenges while making dollars go further in a high-inflation market. ACPA’s focus in 2024 will be strategies that help owners and agencies meet funding criteria while achieving truly sustainable, resilient and long-lasting infrastructure. One aspect of the association’s support is assistance in understanding how pavement materials decisions affect funding opportunities. Another pillar is helping agencies move beyond first cost considerations to achieve long-lasting, sustainable pavements, again keeping in mind the objectives of federal funding. To kick off the year of enhanced consulting and education, the ACPA announced the following at World of Concrete. ACPA in 2024 A Look at Competition “How Agencies Can Reduce Costs by Improving the Competitiveness of Their Bid Environments,” a report detailing industry research, including research performed by the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub) that examines how the split of DOT paving expenditures between industries impacts paving unit costs. Findings include the fact that as inter-industry competition increases, unit costs of both concrete and asphalt paving materials fall significantly—particularly those of concrete. For example, if a state with a low concrete market share (e.g., 1%) were to increase its concrete market share to 25%, it would lower concrete and asphalt paving material unit costs by around 29% and 8%, respectively. The ACPA report also includes recommendations on how to start a competitive paving program. Carbon Reduction Guidance ACPA is participating in the Reduced-Carbon Concrete Consortium (RC3). The RC3 disseminates funding information, facilitates application submission, provides technical assistance and enhances contractor preparedness with critical next steps such as Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). Expanded Pavement Resources ACPA offers a growing library of long-life pavement case studies. Read the ACPA case studies at www.acpa.org. News From ACPA Partners The press conference at World of Concrete also covered the International Grooving & Grinding Association’s white paper titled “Diamond Grinding: A Safe, Sustainable, Quiet and CostEffective Solution to Better Roadways.” The paper is an important contribution to the industry’s knowledge base because it highlights the gains to be made, both in terms of sustainability and cost savings, using proper pavement preservation and maintenance. It assembles research results, case studies and more demonstrating how agencies and engineers can achieve longlasting, efficient, comfortable and safe travel on highways—while also meeting the challenges of sustainability, noise levels, urban heat island effect and budget—through the use of pavement diamond grinding. The IGGA is affiliated with the ACPA in a partnership known as the IGGA/ ACPA Concrete Pavement Preservation Partnership (IGGA/ACPA CP3). “Diamond grinding is the only highway surface treatment that is, in many situations, cost and carbon negative,” said Nick Davis, the Director of Technical Services at the International Grooving & Grinding Association. ANNOUNCEMENTS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=