April 17, 2014, Cambridge, Ont. – With the 2014 road
construction season just getting underway after a long winter across Canada,
officials from OHMPA used their annual Spring Operations Seminar to discuss a
series of important issues facing road crews across Canada.
April 17, 2014, Cambridge, Ont. – With the 2014 road
construction season just getting underway after a long winter across Canada,
officials from OHMPA used their annual Spring Operations Seminar to discuss a
series of important issues facing road crews across Canada.
The full-day of seminars and tours discussed important
changes to health and safety regulations for road construction crews in the
province with the introduction of changes to current standards. Mandatory worker
training comes into effect on July 1st, and Jim Lafontaine of Holcim
was adamant in reminding the over 100 in attendance that now is the time to
complete mandatory training before an IHSA official shows up on the jobsite and
starts writing tickets. Lafontaine, the OHS manager at Dufferin Construction,
represents the road construction industry on government committees that address
changes and implementation of regulations affecting the industry. Lafontaine’s
discussion was a compliment to the presentation made by Michael Chappell of the
Ministry of Labour, who addressed the crowd about the Ministry’s ‘hit list’ for
the 2014 construction season.
On the technical side, Sandy Brown spoke on the issue of
fractionating RAP in asphalt mixes for Ontario roads. The use of RAP has been a
strong focus of OHMPA for several years, working closely with CPATT and NCAT to
provide studies to understand best practices for using RAP.
A recent study by the National Centre for Asphalt Technology
in Auburn, Ala. concluded that fractionation does indeed provide more options
for RAP use in HMA, but does not necessarily improve variability. Fractionation
changes the asphalt cement content of RAP, as finer fractions have proportionately
more of the asphalt cement, but fractionation also allows for greater control
of the final gradation.
Brown also noted an interesting study from Imperial Oil as
part of his presentation. Researcher Pavel Kriz has discovered that RAP and
virgin binder in HMA will blend by diffusion before compaction is complete. But
in order for this to happen, film thickness must be 0.5mm and AC locked in
voids will never blend (not the case for WMA).
In addition to the morning seminars, attendees were given
the opportunity to tour Steed and Evans’ Cambridge asphalt plant. The plant
tour included a Safety Rescue Demonstration from the Cambridge Fire Department.
For more information about the OHMPA Spring Operations
Seminar, visit ohmpa.org.
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