ForConstructionPros.com

Dear Editor,

The reaction of the asphalt industry of Colorado to your June/July issue touting the benefits of our friends at the City and County of Denver self-performing its asphalt production and paving services was one of utter disbelief. A committee comprised of CAPA members and Denver worked throughout 2005 to assess the costs and efficiency of the Denver operation. Our detailed analysis showed how flawed their accounting was.

The "cost savings" and "efficiency" of city/county operations included in your articles are unsubstantiated in an equitable comparison against published bids and grossly misleading. We are very interested in learning from Denver how it can be 20 percent more efficient and cost effective than private industry when they have a work force of 190 people that produces and places 200,000 tons of HMA a year. For a contractor, 200,000 tons is typically two months of production and two crews — not a year and a battalion. Amazing!! Why couldn't they prove that to the committee over many months of work on that specific subject? Denver is innovative all right — innovate in its cost accounting.

Simply put, the City and County of Denver claims a 20 percent ($4.50 per ton) savings over private industry in the supply of asphalt. However, they have no advantage over private industry in materials — they purchase aggregate and liquid asphalt from outside suppliers; they have no advantage from an operations standpoint — they place fewer tons per crew and with more people than private industry; and they have no advantage from a production standpoint — the operational costs of the plant are similar to a contractor's cost.

It is unthinkable to suggest a 20-percent savings over private industry knowing that there are 22 stationary HMA plants in the seven county metro Denver area that are all breathing down on the market with a combined capacity in excess of over 5 million tons of asphalt production per year. It is the toughest and most competitive asphalt market in Colorado. The only advantage Denver has is in their COST ACCOUNTING and how they present the cost data. Surely the savings is not in operations or quality control. Note the "what not to do" photo on page 14 — no mix in the hopper, no truck, only one roller trailing way behind the paver, and broadcasted mix in the new mat. Not the most stellar example of quality, efficiency or innovation!

We have had an on-going dialogue with Denver for some time on the issue of a cost comparison of contractor versus in-house asphalt services. We have yet to come up with an "apples to apples" comparison. It becomes difficult when they can easily adjust any and all input values (e.g. number of personnel, overhead, production levels, etc.) to improve the look of the numbers and appear more competitive.