VAA Virginia Asphalt Fall/Winter 2019

VAASPHALT.ORG 17 1st Place Photo: Tanner Wright When driving in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the chances are high that the roadway underneath your vehicle is asphalt. Interstate and primary roads in Virginia use asphalt as the number one paving prod- uct, by a wide margin. With the abundance of roads surfaced using asphalt, you could say asphalt is “King.” Or perhaps, “King of the Road.” In 2018, VAA sought to highlight asphalt as “King of the Road” through photos. Even bet- ter, the decision was made to open a photo contest to all Association members. The rules were simple: submit your best photo that exemplifies “Asphalt: King of the Road.” This years’ contest was opened in early summer to allow all interested in partici- pating to have the chance to do so during the bulk of the paving season when photo opportunities were everpresent. Numerous photos were submitted to be reviewed by an independent panel of judges familiar with photography, graphics, and, of course, asphalt. These photos ran the gamut from paving crews and equipment hard at work to leisure time while traveling over Virgin- ia’s roads, with shots taken from high above using a drone to ground level with a digital camera. The judges were tasked with a dif- ficult decision—pick first and second place winners for the contest. After much deliberation through round 1 of judging, a winner was chosen to be featured on the cover of this edition of Virginia Asphalt Magazine along with a first-place cash prize. Round 2 for the judges found another challenge, but a second-place winner was eventually selected. In the final review of submittals, and a count of the judges’ votes, our first-place winner was also our second-place winner—a clean sweep of this year’s contest! S.L. Williamson’s Tanner Wright captured the two winning photographs for this year. Tanner works in the IT department of S.L. Williamson, based in Charlottesville, VA. Kathryn Byrd, a colleague of Tanner’s, submitted the photos for the contest. The first place photo was taken over a freshly paved and striped road in Augusta County, VA utilizing a drone. Wright captured the second-place photo at an overlook on the famous Blue Ridge Parkway. With a back- drop of two of Virginia’s most scenic asphalt surfaces and the American muscle of a clas- sic Shelby Mustang GT350, Tanner’s photos rose to the top to be named this year’s “King of the Road.” VAA would like to thank all the participants in this years’ contest for their submittals. Additionally, we could not have this contest without our volunteer judges. Their time and effort to make this fun competition successful is much appreciated. Congratulations to Tanner for his great pho- tography work. His photos are outstanding examples of “Asphalt: King of the Road.” ASPHALT RULES

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