OAPC to host virtual fall asphalt seminar 

asphalt seminar

For the first time in its history, the Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council’s annual Fall Asphalt Seminar will be hosted virtually.

For 29 years the seminar has been a hub of asphalt education as Canada’s largest single-day asphalt seminar.

The 2020 program, Innovation & Collaboration – Paving the Way for Excellence will feature leading industry experts who will present on cutting-edge practices and new technical advancements in the asphalt industry.

The virtual seminar will take place on November 26.

“This year many our plans changed, but we were set to deliver a robust Fall Asphalt Seminar, and are very pleased that we can do so virtually,” said ORBA OAPC technical director Doubra Ambaiowei. “Our presenters will aid our knowledge and understanding of many key issues including in regards to innovations in pavement and hot mix asphalt technologies, and application of statistical specifications and balancing risks.”

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Highlights of the upcoming program include keynote speaker Matthew Sweezie, paving engineer, construction branch for New Brunswick’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Sweezie will outline New Brunswick’s experience with the implementation of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA).

The New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (NBDTI) was one of the early adopters of WMA technology in Canada. At the time, warm mix was developed to help reduce energy consumption and stack emissions during production.

WMA allows for longer haul distances, lower placement temperatures and improved workability.

The NBDTI initiated its first WMA pilot in 2007. Since then, WMA volume has been steadily increased. Over the last three construction seasons, NBDTI utilized WMA on about half of its paving projects.

Ontario looks to improve its WMA implementation, with key lessons learned from New Brunswick’s experiences.

The program’s second keynote speaker, Gerry Huber, associate director of research at Heritage Research Group, will provide insight into the Superpave5 concept. Superpave5 uses a design air void content of 5 per cent instead of the current Superpave requirement of 4 per cent.

The promise of Superpave5 is resulting asphalt mixes that have at least the same amount of asphalt binder content, that are compactable to 5 percent in-place air voids and have at least the same amount of rut resistance. But, can they be built? Are there opportunities for increasing the AC content, and, will the mix age more slowly? Gerry will answer those questions and more in his presentation.

Registration for the 2020 Virtual Fall Asphalt Seminar is complimentary for ORBA members and $99 for non-members.

Asphalt producers, contractors, road owners, consulting engineers, researchers and academics are encouraged to attend. To register, click here.