Tom Johndro, Vice President of Fahrner Asphalt Sealers, LLC was elected President of the Association for 2011-12. Peter Scodeller, President of Scodeller Construction Company was elected as the new Secretary/Treasurer. Stewart Schwikert, Vice President of Pavement Maintenance Systems, LLC and Jeff Harless, Operations Manager of Strawser Construction Company were elected Directors-at-large. The Board of Directors renewed the management contract with Construction Association Services, Inc (CASI) and re-appointed Jim Murner of CASI Executive Vice President for 2011.

During the April MDOT University Region workshop, the Board of Directors presented Jeff Harless a plaque to recognize his dedicated service and outstanding leadership during his two terms (2006-2010) as President. Jeff Harless' accomplishments included improvements in and expansion of the Association's education programs, continued development of the partnering with MDOT on specifications and technical maters, and promotion of new products and processes.

Jeff Harless (left) received his plaque from the new President Johndro

MDOT and MRPA jointly developed and presented four training workshops for the MDOT Regions' and TSC's staffs and the MRPA contractors in the fall of 2010 and winter of 2011. The total attendance at the workshops in the Grand, North, Metro and University Regions were 129 MDOT delivery and development staff and 22 management staff from the MRPA contractor members. A workshop for the Bay Region is scheduled for January of 2012.

This new workshop program represented major changes from the joint training seminars that MDOT and MRPA had done over the last 12 years. The new format used a brief review of the treatments by the contractors and the CPM staff of MDOT followed by discussion panels of MDOT and contractor representatives. The program was tailored to the needs of each region in the major topics areas of scoping, constructability, performance and a specific list of their issues and/or concerns.

The April 7th workshop attendance included 52 city-county staff and consulting engineers plus 6 project management staff from MRPA contractor members.

New this year was a presentation by Jerry Byrne of Kent County and Karl Hanson of Wexford County on the innovative use of the MRPA contractors' treatments. Preventive maintenance applications (i.e. Paser ratings of 5-8) such as cape seals, hot applied chips seals and longitudinal joint repair were discussed. Jerry and Karl also showed examples of how they were using pavement seal treatments on streets and roads whose pavement condition is less that the minimum Paser rating of 5 for preventive maintenance. The MRPA contractors did presentations that reviewed the selection, design and construction of crack treatments, chip seals, micro surfacing and chip/micro combinations.

The program concluded with an industry panel of city/county representatives and contractors reviewing and making recommendations for the best preventive maintenance treatments on case studies of actual Michigan roads and streets submitted by the attendees. This was followed by the participants working in break-out groups to discuss a case study and develop treatment recommendations.

On October 12th MDOT and MRPA partnered on an overband crack seal test deck on US127 starting from the south county line for Roscommon County and going north for three miles on both sides of the highway. Association contractor members Scodeller Construction Company and Fahrner Asphalt Sealers donated the labor, and the overband manufacturers and suppliers donated the materials. Andy Bennett of the MDOT CPM Program coordinated the construction and the testing that will done over the three year study.

The CQP Program has made significant progress. The initial curriculum for training the employees of MDOT, counties, contractors and consulting engineers has been completed. This summer the CQP on-line database catalog of courses and the uploading of the organizations and their employees will be completed. In the fall and winter the full array of courses in the initial curriculum will be offered. Another major accomplishment of the CQP Program is that a comprehensive MICQP Implementation Plan that includes the program, curriculum, individual certification and corporate certification has been developed

The purpose of CQP is to improve the quality of training and certifying of all individuals, agencies and companies who are involved in the design and construction of the transportation system in Michigan.

The Construction Quality Partnership (CQP) was initiated by industry, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, County Road Association of Michigan and Michigan Municipal League in 2006. Association CQP partners are the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, Michigan Concrete Paving Association, Asphalt Paving Association of Michigan, Michigan Road Preservation Association and American Council of Engineering Companies-Michigan Chapter.