OCTOBERFEST VAA’s Three-Day Fall Event Tigre J. Fortune, Member Relations Specialist, Virginia Asphalt Association The Virginia Asphalt Association hosted its annual Octoberfest event over October 4 to 6 at the renowned Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia. The resort welcomed the association with open arms and helped to make the multi-day event a success, and the turnout was the largest yet for the bustling three days of meetings, functions, and beautiful weather. Octoberfest kicked off on Wednesday, October 4, with first in-person convenings of the VAA’s newly formed committees: Education, Environmental Safety & Health, and Emerging Leaders. Each committee saw significant participation, and the VAA is excited to see what these committees will achieve as they start to pursue goals and objectives for the betterment of the association and the industry. Following the committee meetings was a cocktail reception in Moody’s Tavern bar, where drinks, appetizers, and conversation flowed. Attendees were encouraged to take their colleagues and customers to dinner in Williamsburg after the reception and get some rest for the day to follow. Early Thursday morning, attendees enjoyed a light breakfast while Trenton Clark, VAA President, hosted a members- only meeting. All were welcome to then attend the “Discussion with the Department” meeting, opened by David White, President of Superior Paving and VAA’s 2023–2024 Chairman. After his warm welcome, Dr. Richard Willis, NAPA Vice President, delivered a presentation about the asphalt industry’s push toward environmental stewardship. Dr. Willis spoke on the Buy Clean Initiative and Task Force, Low Carbon Material Standards, and the vision for Net Zero Carbon Emissions for the Asphalt Pavement Industry. He mentioned that the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) has a set of long-term goals and tactics for achieving net zero emissions by 2050, developed by a 21-member task force that met during 2021. Next, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Virginia’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Division Administrator, spoke about Federal Highway Initiatives, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Update, EPDs, and the FHWA’s approach to achieving greenhouse gas reduction. After both presentations, attendees were sure to take away an overall focus on environmental sustainability and stewardship for the asphalt pavement industry. In short, the industry needs to lead, or we will be left behind. After a brief break, the meeting continued with an open dialogue facilitated by Chairman David White, making good on the “Discussion” in “Discussion with the Department.” It was essential to the VAA to give attendees a chance to ask questions of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and discuss current and future directions in terms of funding, planning, and metrics. As VDOT is the single largest customer of the asphalt industry, with more than four million tons of mix per year provided for use on VDOT projects or to the VDOT directly, this open dialogue concept allowed for the exchange of information between industry and VDOT leaders to aid in strengthening this partnership. Stephen Brich, VDOT Commissioner; Cathy McGhee, VDOT Deputy Chief Commissioner; and other department heads were present to answer questions. Next, VDOT State Materials Engineer Andy Babish and VAA Director Mike Dudley announced the 2022 winners of the VDOT Paving awards and Virginia’s Best Paving awards. The VDOT Paving award winners are the 2022 VDOT Maintenance Award I-95, Chesterfield County, Richmond District (Allan Myers); and 2022 VDOT Construction Award, 0081-080903, C501, City of Roanoke, Salem District (Adams Construction). The 2022 Virginia’s Best Paving Award winners are 2022 VAA Airport Award Winner, Richmond Airport, Taxiway U Rehab (Allan Myers); 2022 VAA Commercial Award Winner, Amazon, Fishersville (B & S Contracting, Inc.); 2022 VAA Green Award Winner, I-64 Capacity Improvements, Segment III (Allan Myers); 2022 VAA Municipal Award Winner, Broad Street, Richmond City (Lee Hy Construction, LLC.); and 2022 VAA Roadway Award Winner, Lakeview Parkway (Chemung Contracting Corp.). The Golden Lute Winner for the best project of 2022 and other 28 FALL/WINTER 2023
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