On Wednesday, April 16th, the Southwest Concrete Pavement Association hosted the Inaugural California Concrete Pavement Conference at the University of California, Davis Activities & Recreation Center Ballroom. SWCPA Executive Director Charles Stuart, pictured above, welcomes everyone to the event.

Elissa Konove of the FHWA delivers the opening remarks at the Inaugural CCPC on April 16th.

Photos by Lauren Lindley

Two hundred attendees from the Concrete Pavement Industry – contractors, team members from Caltrans and county and municipal agencies, educators, materials and equipment suppliers, labor union representatives, and key cement company executives – participated in the groundbreaking event.

Tigi Thomas, Deputy Division Chief, State Pavement Engineer, Caltrans, provided an overview of California’s concrete pavement program.

The Inaugural California Concrete Pavement Conference featured presentations by leaders from the FHWA, Caltrans, contracting firms, industry consultants, the MIT CS Hub, the CP Tech Center, and the UC Pavement Research Center.

Tom Pyle (at the podium), Tom Pyle Pavement Consulting and former Caltrans State Pavement Engineer, talked about Caltran’s Pavement Management System, PaveM, used to identify future projects. Joining him in the presentation is Robert Hogan, P.E., (standing, top center), Chief, Office of Pavement Management, Caltrans.

 

Jeremy Peterson-Self, Deputy Division Chief, Division of Construction, Caltrans, brought together a knowledgeable panel to talk about Innovative Project Delivery. The panel featured Belinda Hon, Chief, Office of Innovative Design and Delivery, Caltrans; Eric Riddiough, Construction Engineer, Caltrans, overseeing the Highway 46 Corridor; Jason Kline, Construction Engineer, Caltrans, working on the Highway 101 Corridor Project; and Bill McGowan, Vice President, CA Group, Granite Construction.

 

Belinda Hon illustrates the five Caltrans Alternative Delivery Methods.

 

Jason Kline, center, answers a question from the audience, while Eric Riddiough, left, and Bill McGowan, right, look on.

Interactive panels engaged the audience and created a lively back-and-forth discussion on the topics of Innovative Project Delivery Methods, Sustainable Concrete Materials, and Innovations in Constructability

Tom Van Dam presents a unique condition to the Innovative Project Delivery Methods panel.

 

Tom Van Dam, Ph.D., P.E., FACI, LEED AP, Principal, WSJ, at the podium, moderated an expert panel on Sustainable Concrete Materials, featuring, left to right, Leif Wathne (with microphone), Associate Director, CP Tech Center; Somayeh Nassiri, Ph.D., UC Pavement Research Center; Jacquelyn Wong, Chief, Office of Central Laboratories, Materials Engineering & Testing Services (METS), Caltrans; Corey Zollinger, P.E., Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Solutions, Cemex; and Nathan Forrest, Technical Director, California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA).

 

Jacquelyn Wong, Caltrans, fields a question from the audience.

 

Corey Zollinger (center), Cemex, talks about the measures underway to reduce the carbon content of cement, while Jacquelyn Wong (left), Caltrans, and Nathan Forrest (right), CNCA, listen in.

 

Introducing the University of California Pavement Research Center and their dynamic Lab2Slab Initiative are, from left, Somayeh Nassiri, Ph.D., John Harvey, Ph.D., P.E., and Angel Mateos, Ph.D.

 

The CP Tech Center’s Leif Wathne engages Randolph Kirchain, Ph.D., Director, MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub and fellow speaker, during John Harvey’s presentation on “Freight-Truck-Pavement Interaction.”

 

Matt Fonte, Principal, Fonte & Co., addresses the essential elements of “Building Higher Quality Concrete Pavements.” Matt was joined in the presentation by Sarah Dalton, Senior Director of Engineering & Construction at the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA).

The men and women who build the concrete pavement roadways of California were well represented through a strong showing of more than a dozen contracting firms.

 

SWCPA Executive Director Charles Stuart, at the podium, moderates the Innovations in Constructability Panel. Pictured from left are: Divyesh Vora, Corridor Manager, District 8, Caltrans; Armando Garcia, Construction Manager, Coffman Specialties, Inc.; Josh Alves (with microphone), Project Manager, Fisher Industries; and Dave Rath, Southwest Concrete Paving Co.

 

The audience showed a lot of interest in the I-10 project in Caltrans District 8.

 

Caltrans’ Belinda Hon, left, and Somayeh Mafi, right, continue the conversation with Dulce Rufino Feldman, Ph.D., P.E., Senior Concrete Pavement Design Engineer and the Caltrans Subject Matter Expert on concrete pavement specifications and designs.

 

CalPortland sponsored The Speakers Lounge, a gathering of all of the CCPC speakers who stepped outside to the ARC Terrace and spent time one-on-one and in small groups with the attendees to talk more about everything concrete pavement.

 

Lively conversation continues in The Speakers Lounge, with, from left, Vince Perez, Euclid Chemical, and another conference attendee, engaging CP Tech Center’s Leif Wathne (back to camera), ACPA’s Sarah Dalton, SWCPA’s Charles Stuart, and Caltrans’ Robert Hogan.

 

Big Thanks and a Tip of the Hard Hat go out to the 24 Exhibitors and Sponsors who actively participated in the Inaugural California Concrete Pavement Conference and were instrumental in its success!