President's message to members

by Mark Belshe, P.E.

Forging new frontiers

"Forging new frontiers" is a response that was once given to an inquiry about what FNF stands for. For those who don't know this is the name of the company I have proudly associated with since 1988. In reality FNF stands for the first letters of some of the early owners of the company.

But forging new frontiers is a great slogan that aptly describes the RPA, which I have had the honor of leading for two years.

Today, the Rubber Pavements Association is a totally different organization than our predecessor, the Asphalt Rubber Producers Group. In the early 1990's the ARPG leaders decided to pursue a national agenda from Washington, DC,which proved to be very ill conceived. The legacy of those legislative efforts remains today, hampering widespread acceptance of Asphalt-Rubber.

Five years and a name change later, the association, now headed by an entirely different group of companies, decided DC was not the place to be and returned to the industry's birthplace, Arizona. The decision was based on the fact that the association had lost contact with its customers - the state, county, and city departments of public works during its stay on the banks of the Potomac.

The period that the association was based in Washington, DC was a time of major change for the industry and the product that created it. When the patents expired it was no longer necessary to become a franchisee of the patent holder and a whole new array of contractors joined the association.

They joined because they believed in the product and wanted to bring this amazing material into the mainstream of paving products. Instinctively, as successful contractors and tire recycling companies, they knew they had to develop a strong relationship with their customers and provide reliable services at reasonable prices.

To do this quickly, the association realized the need for an aggressive, goal oriented plan of action. To develop the plan, the board of directors surrounded themselves with experts on crumb rubber modified asphalt pavements.

At first, two groups existed. The Technical Advisory Committee, consisting of public and private engineers, and an Advisory Committee of academicians and researchers.

The two groups gravitated together until the RPA board merged them into a Technical Advisory Board in January. The RPA then embarked on a series of strategic planning sessions which has resulted in a road map of where and what RPA should be in the future.

With clear goals, the results have been gratifying. RPA has initiated contact with its customers and has worked hard to reestablish the credibility that was severely damaged by the ill advised ISTEA mandate of 1991.

During the strategic planning process, RPA had to define what crumb rubber modified products it would recommend to agencies. Thus, strict criteria was developed.

RPA will only recommend crumb rubber modified products that have had extensive laboratory research, construction evaluated research (similar to the FHWA standards of 1988) and successful field performance in all climates. Further, the product has to be routinely used by two or more states.

Today, Asphalt-Rubber, as defined by ASTM D8-88, is the only product meeting the criteria. While this action may limit the association membership, it is the only prudent thing to do. The association must remain above the competitive fray of companies seeking to promote their own self-interests.

There are many crumb rubber modified asphalt products, most promoted by the major oil/asphalt companies. Nearly all are proprietary or patented and we learned the hard way that such products will not build an industry.

While RPA members are united around a public process available to anyone interested, we fear many of the companies with proprietary or patented processes would only be united by profit. In our view, the association must deliver a public service to all, not become a mouthpiece for a few.

Asphalt-Rubber delivers that public service. It has proven its benefits to agencies and its worth to environmentally sensitive taxpayers throughout the world. Anyone can use it and know what they are getting. It's a products with a long history of research and agency experience that can be built into an even greater product.

That is the recommendation of our Technical Advisory Board, whose names appear on the About Us page of this publication, following its strategic planning session in Reno last July. Under the leadership of Dr. Jon Epps, professor emeritus of the University of Nevada Reno, the panel devised a research program that addresses where RPA and Asphalt-Rubber should be in the future.

It is comprehensive and expensive! Compared to many other pavement-oriented national associations, RPA can be described as a gnat on an elephant's derriere. But size has not limited RPA from taking on research in the past.

Our association's budget reveals the progressive nature of its members. Over 58% is devoted to research and technology transfer. In 1998 RPA members dug deep and raised the money needed to kick-off an aggresive research program.

The first research project completed was the Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Asphalt-Rubber paving materials. This was followed by a Quality Control for Asphalt-Rubber binders.

Currently, as a result of a partnering session between the California Integrated Waste Management Board, Caltrans, and RPA, guidelines are being developed for Asphalt-Rubber design and construction. The project is being funded by the CIWMB through the Northern California RAC Technology Center with RPA contributing a portion of the costs.

The now research program, designed to bring Asphalt-Rubber into the mainstream of paving technology, goes far beyond the association's capacity to fund it alone. To accomplish this program we will be seeking partners to forge new frontiers for a public product that has proven its worth during the last 35 years.

As RPA president, I stand in awe of the contribution of the men and women of our Technical Advisory Board who volunteer their time and talents to move the association forward. I also have the highest regard for our members who are able to put their personal agendas and competitive nature aside and work toward a common goal of respectability, reliability, and responsibility to our customers and their constituencies - the taxpayers.