2023 Award Winners Announced

Litchfield Park, Arizona. Thursday, March 2, 2023

Each year, the Asphalt Recycling & Reclaiming Association (ARRA) honors public officials and consulting engineers who have made outstanding contributions to the Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming industry.

ARRA has many accomplishments of note, including the annual FHWA/ARRA In-Place Recycling Workshop, the publication of the Basic Asphalt Recycling Manual, the Federal Highway Administration’s adoption of an official policy on recycling, the National Highway Institute’s asphalt recycling and reclaiming training course, special features in the trade press, and several very successful joint annual meetings with the Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association (AEMA) and the International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA).

ARRA/ISSA/AEMA Annual Meeting Awards Presented

Coming together collectively for the 20th consecutive year the Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association (AEMA), the Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association (ARRA), and the International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA) hosted the 2023 annual meeting in Litchfield Park, Arizona from February 28 through March 3, 2023.

The future of our industry was at the forefront at this annual meeting. Attendees heard from industry experts on how best to lead the industry into the future. These innovative topics provided opportunities for members to improve their businesses, keep abreast of best practices, and connect with colleagues from across the industry. And there were opportunities to recognize individuals and teams for excellence in asphalt recycling & reclaiming.

Special Recognition Awards

Each year, since 1985, ARRA has presented special recognition awards to deserving public officials and consulting engineers for their overall professional contribution to and their recognition and their promotion of the asphalt recycling & reclaiming industry. Special Recognition awards are awarded in a variety of categories.

Award-Winning FDR Project

Congratulations are in store for the 2023 Special Recognition Award for Excellence in Full Depth Reclamation. A 2022 FDR project from Dundee, Michigan was an award recipient. Aric Bennett of The Mannik & Smith Group is joined by members of the AMI and HRG teams at the annual meeting in Arizona.

Dundee High School pavement project in Monroe County, Michigan. 

Located in Southeast Michigan, the newly constructed Dundee High School campus opened in the Fall of 2001. Since that time, the parking lots had been neglected with only minor maintenance over the past 20 years. Fast-forward to 2018, where we see Dundee Public Schools in search of an answer to their parking lot pavement problems. The result? A well-thought-out decision that led to savings of nearly 500 hundred thousand dollars. 

The initial scope of this pavement project was for the complete removal and replacement of poor areas, essentially reconstructing portions of the entire parking lot. Realizing there must be a better, more cost-effective solution, in the spring of 2018, a Dundee School Board member and project consultant contacted Asphalt Materials, Inc. to discuss possible cost-saving options for reconstructing the campus parking lots. 

Meetings were held where the AMI team presented alternative options. Scott Assenmacher, P.E. spearhead this project and utilized tools within roadresource.org to explain the different ways recycling methods were a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution.

During these conversations, success stories were shared which compared the different methods. Using real data, Scott was able to utilize Sustainability and Structural Calculator tools to show projected cost savings, structural benefits, and environmental benefits of choosing an optimized recycling solution. 

Project Owner:  

  • Dundee Public Schools 

Contractors:  

  • Wadel Stabilization, Inc.  
  • Cadillac Asphalt, LLC 

Consultants: 

  • The Mannik Smith Group, Inc.  
  • Christman Company 

Emulsion Supplier: 

  • Asphalt Materials, Inc.  

Lab Support: 

  • Heritage Research Group 

To learn more about this project, read a more detailed account here – https://asphalt-materials.com/pavement-method-that-saved-dundee-public-schools-nearly-half-a-million-dollars/

Award Winning CIR Project

Tony Hinkle formerly of Morgan County IN and Aaron Osman of Dunn Co. were joined by members of the AMI and HRG teams. These employees were awarded the 2023 Charles R. Valentine award for Excellence in Cold-In-Place Recycling for the 2022 Morgan County CIR project. 

In August of 2022, a project took place in Martinsville, IN with our Cold-In-Place Recycling (CIR) technology. CIR is a cost-effective and sustainable method of constructing a recycled asphalt-bound layer that reduces trucking and construction time and saves natural resources.  

CIR is part of our AMICYCLE™ product portfolio, which also includes FDR (Full Depth Reclamation) and CCPR (Cold Central Plant Recycling). 

Four and a half miles of Old State Road 37 was rehabilitated using Cold-in-Place Recycling, topped with 1.5 inches of HMA overlay. Sales and support teams from Asphalt Materials, Inc, experts from Heritage Research Group, and road crews from Milestone Contractors worked together to bring this sustainable project to life. This collaboration and technology brought residents of Morgan County a rehabilitated road with a short timeline, minimal traffic impacts, and cost savings to taxpayers.  

Several members of the Asphalt Materials, Heritage Construction & Materials, and Heritage Research Labs teams attended this year’s AEMA-ARRA-ISSA  Annual Meeting. Important members of the CIR project included:

  • Tony Hinkle, Former Morgan County Engineer 
  • Tim Zahrn, Specialty Products Area Manager | Asphalt Materials, Inc. 
  • Aaron Osman, Recycling Representative | Dunn Company 
  • Megan Yount, Pavement Materials Engineer Manager | Heritage Research Group 
  • Nate Jenkins, Central Indiana Sales Representative |Asphalt Materials, Inc. 

Cold-in-Place Recycling (CIR) is a cost-effective and sustainable method of constructing a recycled asphalt-bound layer that reduces trucking and construction time, while also saving natural resources. The process removes cracks and other pavement distresses. CIR is a rehabilitation technique where pavement is milled, crushed, and mixed in place (on-site) with a stabilizing emulsion or foamed asphalt and then placed with conventional paving equipment. 

To learn more about this project, read a more detailed account here: https://asphalt-materials.com/cir-to-be-featured-at-the-2023-aema-arra-issa-annual-meeting/

2023 SUBMISSION CRITERIA

As we get closer to the beginning of the 2023 construction season, it is a good time to take a look at the award criteria listed below.

Eligible Nominee:
A Nominee must be an ARRA Member. If a nominator is nominating an Agency, they are not required to be a member. However, ARRA offers free Government Membership to all agencies and encourages each agency to join.

Eligible Nominator:
The Nominator must be a member (contractor, supplier, consulting engineer, government agency) of ARRA. When submitting a job story, the contractor must be a member of ARRA.

Nominating Criteria:
The ARRA Special Recognition Awards are designed to honor deserving public officials for their overall professional contributions, particularly their recognition and promotion of the asphalt recycling & reclaiming industry. In addition, this award may be given to recognize a specific project that demonstrates the longevity of an ARRA discipline.

SPECIFIC BASIS FOR NOMINATION: A PowerPoint Presentation is the recommended format of submission. However, one PDF that includes all required information including pictures will be accepted. 

  • Nominee’s involvement with specific project(s)
    • Back story of the specific project
    • Problem & Solution
    • Cost Savings (if applicable)
    • Sustainable/Environmental Benefits
    • Time savings on construction (if available)
    • 5-10 Photos of the Project
  • History of nominee’s personal or departmental activities that promoted advancement or acceptance of recycling methods; and
  • Research, if any, conducted by nominee that has advanced the technological capabilities of the recycling method.

By submitting a nomination, nominee agrees to allow ARRA to use any submission, but not limited to, as a success story on arra.org or roadresource.org, webinar presentation, in newsletters, etc. To find and download the 2023 Special Recognition Award Nomination Form (fillable PDF), follow this link and then scroll to the bottom of the page.  https://www.arra.org/page/RecognitionAward