CalAPA was pleased to be the host state for this year's National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) Young Leaders conference in San Francisco. The line-up of executives and experts focused on leadership development, change management, values-based leadership, overcoming project challenges and trends in the asphalt pavement industry.
The Oct. 20-23 event included a jobsite tour of the $1 billion Presidio Parkway project along the waterfront in San Francisco, which connects the city to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The public-private partnership project included bridge replacements, "cut-and-cover" tunnels and spotlighted asphalt's speed-of-construction attributes for the 22,000 tons of HMA that was produced by CalAPA member Syar Industries for an epic demolition-and-detour phase of the project that took place over a 57-hour weekend closure last year that made the "Carmageddon" closure in Southern California look like a walk in the park.
CalAPA's senior technical consultant, Dr. Rita Leahy, presented to the group on "Engineering Trends in California: Golden State of Opportunities," which included many of the technical issues that are topical in California, including technology, research and specification changes and trends.
David Shelstad with the MOBA Corp. presented about density and temperature, and Corey Wall with Wirtgen America briefed the group on the latest in intelligent compaction. Michelle Stanley, NAPA's director of governmental relations, discussed legislative activity, politics and the importance of member engagement on road-funding issues.
Prior to the construction site tour, Dave Pang, P.E., Caltrans Construction Manager, and project spokeswoman Molly Graham, gave an overview of the unique engineering, political, environmental and logistical challenges presented by the Presidio Parkway project. The public-private partnership funding mechanism was one of the first of its kind in California.
Developing the project in San Francisco, which has a notorious reputation for halting transportation projects, presented its own unique challenges, Pang said. The bridges in particular, which were built in 1936 in anticipation of the 1937 opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, were deemed structurally deficient in the 1950s, and it required a 10-year environmental impact review before the project could proceed.
"If you don't get consensus opinion, you don't get funding," Pang said.
Day 2 of the conference featured talks on leadership by Granite Construction CEO James H. Roberts, and William C. Ensor III, president of Maryland Paving Inc. and the 2014 NAPA chairman. Both leaders touched on the importance of ethics and change-management as it applies to their companies and the industry. Mark Fernandes, chief leadership officer of the Luck Companies, gave a compelling talk on values-based leadership for sustained long-term success. He also highlighted the many opportunities and pitfalls facing construction companies today, including effectively managing work.
"Most contractors go broke not because they didn't get enough work, but because they got too much work," he said.
