Pave It Black: The Official Podcast of NAPA

Richard and Brett discuss airfield construction and the importance of employee training. In this high-stakes environment, ensuring that employees are well-trained is vital for constructing quality pavements. They talk to Matthew Hoyle from the US Army Corps of Engineers and Travis Walbeck from the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) at Auburn University to learn more about the Airfield Asphalt Certification Program. Listen to discover why the program was developed, how to enroll, and its impact on the asphalt pavement industry. Visit https://airfieldasphaltcert.com/ to learn more.

In this week's episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett delve into the topic of electric vehicles (EVs) and how they affect the asphalt pavement industry. With more EVs on the road, new technologies are emerging to support these vehicles. To shed light on these developments, Reed Ryan from the Asphalt Pavement Alliance and Amir Golalipour from the Federal Highway Administration were invited to discuss inductive charging and its implications for the asphalt pavement industry. Tune in to learn what inductive charging is, which organizations are making progress in this area, and how this technology could be integrated into the lifespan of a pavement.

For this episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett discuss the topic of standards and their role in the asphalt pavement industry. With the help of Oak Metcalf from the Montana Department of Transportation and Kelly Cook from the Edward Levy Company, we learn how industry and agencies work on specifications to ensure that our products help build the best highway systems and roads. Deep dive into the world of AASHTO and ASTM, learn how you can get involved, and why it’s important to be involved in this process.

In the latest episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett catch up with NAPA's Government Affairs Team to get an update on their recent advocacy activities and upcoming plans. Nile Elam, the Vice President of Government Affairs, joins the conversation to discuss NAPA's advocacy goals, his World of Asphalt PPP session, and the upcoming efforts planned for Distracted Driving Month. Listen and find out how you can participate in the upcoming advocacy events, including the TCC Fly-In on May 14-15 and the Hill Days on September 25-26.

In this episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett explore the use of low carbon construction materials in the asphalt pavement industry. To guide our conversation, we spoke with Walter Tersch from the General Services Administration, as well as Scott Legg and Fred Marvel from Brannan Companies. Gain insight into the specific requirements the GSA asks of businesses, including the importance of providing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for asphalt products. To learn more about how the GSA interacts with the asphalt pavement industry, attend their upcoming Virtual Inflation Reduction Action Industry Exchange webinar on March 21 at 11 AM ET. Register here: https://sam.gov/opp/5417ad0239dc448880c9947ecb92ba87/view

In the latest episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett delve into the ENERGY STAR program and its potential benefits for companies in the asphalt pavement industry. To steer the conversation, they speak with Danny Macri of the Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR program, Bill Jerald, Chief Energy Engineer at CalPortland, and Matt Hinck, their Vice President of Government Affairs. Tune in to learn how ENERGY STAR can help companies achieve their sustainability goals, support program partners, and encourage employees to adopt energy-efficient practices.

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss how Balanced Mix Design (BMD) is implemented at an industry and agency level. To understand both perspectives, Richard and Brett talk to Derek Nener-Plante of the Federal Highway Administration’s Resource Center, and Steve Jackson of N.B. West Contracting. Listen to learn more about the agency and industry collaboration, how challenges are overcome, and NAPA’s role in supporting BMD implementation.

In the Season Seven premiere episode of Pave It Black, Richard Willis and Brett Williams return with a live recording at NAPA's 2024 Annual Meeting from Orlando, Florida. Learn how the podcast got off the ground, revisit previous seasons, and hear about some of Richard and Brett's favorite moments. For Pave It Black's Seventh Season, Conversations from the Capital, Richard and Brett will facilitate conversations between industry leaders and federal partners. Tune in every Tuesday to learn about industry developments, agency updates, and much more!

For the season 6 finale, we dig into how the Women of Asphalt organization continues to help bring awareness about the opportunities that abound in the asphalt industry. In this episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett talk with Sheila Barkevich, President of Women of Asphalt and Northeast Division Performance Manager at CRH Americas Materials about how she became involved with the Women of Asphalt and the numerous efforts that the organization is undertaking at both the national level and with their local branches. Tune in to learn more about Women of Asphalt and visit https://www.womenofasphalt.org/events to find their upcoming events.

Proving out technologies and innovations in asphalt mixtures and pavements can be difficult when industry already expects our pavements to perform 20 years or more into the future. In this episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett talk with Randy West, Director of the National Center for Asphalt Technology at Auburn University about the research conducted at the test track and how that enables the asphalt industry and agencies to quickly evaluate new products as well as find answers to challenges faced by pavement owners. Tune in to learn about the many ways that asphalt research is making a difference in the performance and efficiency of our infrastructure as well as seeding our industry with the next generation of asphalt materials and pavement experts.

Brett and Richard talk with Andy Decraene of AJAX Paving of Florida about resilience. When Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022, AJAX was called on to rebuild the Sanibel Causeway within weeks after the disaster. Richard and Brett explore what resilience is with Andy and learn that it goes far beyond just infrastructure and begins with building resilient companies who take care of their people.

While asphalt pavements serve many uses ranging from nature paths to interstate highways, some of the heaviest loads asphalt pavements carry occur at airfield runways and taxiways. In this episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett talk with Navneet Garg of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the research work he does at the William J Hughes Technical Center, the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF), and the National Airport Pavement & Materials Research Center (NAPMRC) to continue to advance asphalt pavement innovation, performance, and sustainability. Listen to learn more about the accelerated loading facilities that the FAA employs to conduct research on asphalt pavements, and hear about some of FAA’s research looking into RAP, WMA, and perpetual pavements.

Ahead of National Work Zone Awareness Week, the hosts of Pave it Black dive into the Watch for Us campaign, and how member companies work to protect their staff as they maintain and construct our countries infrastructure. Richard and Brett talk with Emily Bay of Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc. about the role that communication plays in safety and how they share information with employees as well as the public. Emily shares some of the measures that Rieth-Riley has taken to ensure that safety is engrained into their company’s culture and remains paramount on their jobsites and throughout their operations. Listen to learn how Rieth-Riley uses the Watch For Us campaign to share stories about their crews and help the traveling public understand the importance of not driving distracted, especially in work zones, and how work zone intrusions can result in terrible outcomes for drivers as well the hard-working crews that keep our roads and highways in good condition.

In this episode of Pave it Black, we discuss the Sheldon G. Hayes Award with representatives from the latest company to be honored with the award. Richard and Brett talk with Scott Roe, Michael Terry, Derik Huber, and Ryan Booth of Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. about what it takes to win the highest award as well as what the award means to the company and its staff. The team shares how communication plays a critical role in achieving top quality projects as well as other areas they focus on while constructing asphalt pavements. Listen to learn how Kiewit uses project specific goals to create incentives for staff that help achieve the owners’ requirements and bonuses on all of their projects while driving quality.

In this episode of Pave it Black, we talk workforce and how some companies in the asphalt industry and other technical fields are addressing the staffing challenges they face. Richard and Brett talk with Jason Duininck of Duininck Inc, Jim Sieben of Nova-Tech Engineering, and Mike Kroeker of Willmar High School about the Manufacturing and Production (MAPs)program and how their organizations partner to help students learn about different career opportunities. Listen to learn more about the partnerships that have formed as well as the benefits that the businesses have realized from participating in the program.

In this episode of Pave It Black, the hosts explore the Ray Brown Award and learn more about NAPA's annual recognition of the nation's highest scoring airport asphalt pavement project. Richard and Brett talk with Chris Croom, with S.T. Wooten Corp., about recently winning the 2022 Ray Brown award as well as previous awards the company’s work has been recognized with. Listen to learn how recipients earn the industry's highest honors through a focus on quality and paving projects designed to allow for increased consistency.

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss government relations and the fast-changing world of policy, funding, and implementation. Richard and Brett talk with John Hay, with CRH Americas Materials, about engaging with elected officials and how those interactions can impact how our industry does and the way we operate. Listen to learn the importance of developing relationships and how that process needs to be an on-going effort, as well as discussion on roles, communications, activities, and the importance these play in ensuring that industry voices are heard by our elected officials.

In the Season Six premiere episode of Pave It Black, NAPA's Richard Willis and Brett Williams return to discuss the standards the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has developed for Environmentally Preferable Asphalt. Richard and Brett talk with Pat Weaver, former president of Solterra Materials, LLC, about how his company learned about the new GSA requirements and how they ended up being one of the first companies to complete a paving project with these new project standards for asphalt materials. Listen to learn how published EPDs using the Emarald Eco Label tool allow companies to learn about new project opportunities as well as provide material selection options to customers.

In the season finale of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett talk with NAPA President and CEO Audrey Copeland and NAPA Chairman Jim Mitchell about The Road Forward and the asphalt pavement industry’s early efforts toward achieving net zero emissions asphalt pavements. The discussion covers a range of topics from the initial embrace of the program and industry’s goals, all the way to the continued importance for the onward push from all sectors of the industry. Listen to learn about the importance of engaging with the program and everyone’s role in forming the industry’s path to net zero.

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss sustainability as it specifically relates to the vertical construction industry. Richard and Brett talk with Kelly Roberts of Walter P. Moore about the industry’s focus on sustainability and how great strides have been made in this area over the last decade. Listen to learn more about how performance-focused requirements and finding solutions on the local level contributes to achieving more sustainable construction.