Texas Contractor Re-Elected RPA President

Sidney Cox, of Cox Paving Company, Blanco, Texas was re-elected as President of RPA. Cox is a longtime member of the Association, serving on its Board of Directors since the mid-eighties. Cox Paving has been in business since 1967 and is the pioneer Asphalt- Rubber contractor in the state of Texas. Sidney is an active member of the Texas Hot Mix Association, the Associated General Contractors and is a member of the AGC Seal Coat Committee and the San Antonio Chapter, Committee on Public Affairs.
     Also re-elected for second terms are Cliff Ashcroft, VP of FNF, Inc. California, 1st Vice President; Dr. Jorge Sousa, Asfaltomeros, Spain, 2nd Vice President; Mark Chalfa, Granite Construction, Southern California, Secretary and Murray Quance, President, BAS Recycling, San Bernardino, California, Treasurer. (Quance resigned from BAS in March and his office is currently vacant).
     The above named officers form the Executive Committee joined by three at-large members Dr. Barry Takallou, President, CRM, AZ & CA; Jim Anderson, President, Canadian Operations, Recovery Technologies Group and Marc Bertsch of Western States Surfacing and International Surfacing Inc.

President's Letter

Sidney Cox, Cox Paving Company Blanco, Texas

     Despite the economic downturn in highway construction due to budget deficits in many states, the Asphalt-Rubber industry is anticipating a major growth cycle in the next ten years. There are many factors contributing to the increased interest in the
non-proprietary process. First, agencies are beginning to realize from the virtually maintenance free field per formance of the material, in projects ten years or older, that the long term cost effectiveness of Asphalt-Rubber clearly offsets higher initial costs.
     Secondly, agencies are beginning to discover other benefits such as increased safety and noise reduction. This newsletter contains an account of the success of TXDOT in dealing with a safety issue on the IH35 in San Antonio where they realized both benefits. The elimination of the water issues, such as spray which contributed to a high number of accidents in the project area, was one of the major benefits of this AR PFC overlay projects. (See Texas Talk) The word spreads when an agency gets performance exceeding their expectations and it generally leads to increased use in that state and generates interest in other states with similar problem pavements.
     The noise reduction benefit seems to be the one that captures the attention of the motorists. A good example is the public response in Arizona. Once the old concrete on US 60 was resurfaced with Asphalt-Rubber, everyone started requesting that all the freeways in the metropolitan area get the same treatment. Due to the high number of winter visitors in Arizona, the word about the smooth, quiet rubber roads is spreading all across the nation.
     Even though times might be tough in the construction industry, we need to stay focused as an industry to meet the demands for more rubber roads. As a means of helping contractors and rubber producers in new market areas, RPA has created a new membership category to allow participation in the association while the market is being developed. The New Market membership allows full voting rights and Board of Director participation for payment of the annual dues of $2,000 for a period of threeyears or until sales or consumption of crumb rubber exceeds 500,000 pounds annually. Assessments will be waived until the above mentioned requirements have been met. This new structure applies to contractors or producers within the U.S. and in other countries. We encourage contractors in "New Market" states and areas to join with RPA in preparing for the demands of the future.