APWA AZ Newsletter 2015 April
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NEWSLETTER APRIL 2015 In this issue
Follow Us 2015 Newsletter Sponsors
UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR April 28, 2015 April 30, 2015 May 10, 2015 May 20, 2015 May 27, 2015
*Note: Event dates/times/locations should be verified with appropriate committee chair –See Committee Directory
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE This month there is a lot to talk about. The Arizona Chapter has quite a bit going on that is of interest to all of you. Here is a summary of what is happening: 1) We submitted an application for a top 10 candidate to be selected in Arizona. The person we chose was John Trujillo from the City of Phoenix. He was selected to receive this prestigious National award by the selection committee. Congratulations to John who has worked so hard to gain such recognition. (thanks to our team that assembled the application Rebecca, Melissa and others) 2) The preparation for Congress is proceeding at a fast pace. Many things have been decided by the steering team and here are a few highlights from the meeting April 10 at the City of Phoenix offices.
This Congress will be fun and informative. You should make arrangements to attend as soon as possible. 3) The 2014 Audit of Arizona Chapter finances has been completed and submitted to the APWA National offices. The audit team did a fine job in completing the Audit on time and has reconciled the finances for the Chapter with the two branches Northern and Southern. Thanks to the Audit team and their chairman Bill Mattingly (Past president). 4) Public works week is coming up. May 17th to 23rd this year. A request has been made to the Governor’s office for a Proclamation designating this week as Public Works week. This is in parallel with the other States across the nation. It is encouraged that local communities follow suit and issue their own proclamations. It is important to remember that, without Public Works, our way of life would not exist! We should pause to reflect that our water, power, waste water disposal, roads, bridges, public buildings, dams and many other amenities are provided by dedicated public works employees all across the State of Arizona and the nation! 5) The winners of the Arizona APWA State awards have been notified and will be forwarded to the National chapter for possible Nationwide awards as well. In fact, I heard that there are two awards that will be given to Arizona members. So, as I mentioned, there are a lot of activities happening concurrently. Each month, there will be more to relate to you. Thanks for your attention. See you next month!
Diamond Bar Road Project Wins National Asphalt Pavement Association Quality in Construction Award Article submitted by Loretta Flick, Cardno Innovative Techniques: The ABC was made on grade from the roadway excavation while safely maintaining traffic through the work area as mentioned previously. The rock for the riprap and gabions was made while manufacturing asphalt aggregates in a nearby pit. Partnering: While partnering was not required nor formally utilized for this project, it is Fann Contracting, Inc.’s practice to utilize partnering principles on all projects. The owner enjoyed the benefits of this approach when a number of design issues were brought up that could easily have stopped construction of the project completely. Fann Contracting, Inc. was able to work with the BIA and the Hualapai Tribe through partnering to keep the project moving forward while the changes were incorporated. Schedule Challenges: An archeological site was discovered in the shoulder of the road very early in the construction process. Work had to be modified to work around this site while the archeologists analyzed the site and determined the best course of action needed to protect the site. A substantial impact was realized when three cattle crossings were added under the roadway. This work was added late in the schedule and as a result had to be performed out of sequence had it been included in the original plans. In order to minimize the impact to the schedule and travelling public, the project was completely paved with the exception of these sites. The hot plant schedule was modified and the three cattle crossing locations were paved later. Community Response: The community response regarding this project has been overwhelmingly positive. Prior to this project, the road to the Skywalk consisted of a bone-jarring, dusty venture over rocks and along the bottom of washes. The car parts along the sides of the road were an ominous reminder of the hazards faced by travellers on this road. Each year, during the monsoons, the road would be closed for hours at a time due to flooding. Due to the condition of the original road, most travellers chose to fly to the skywalk, which limited the volume of visitors that could enjoy this beautiful landmark. Tourism is the primary business for the Hualapai Tribe. The completion of this roadway will not only ease the strain on the workers and businesses who drive on this road each day but provides an alternate to flying to visit the Skywalk. The increased business at the Skywalk will benefit the Hualapai Tribe who will be able to improve and enhance the quality of living for their entire community. Contractor: Fann Contracting, Inc., David Gregson, Senior Project Manager and Mike Shivers, Jr - Project Superintendent Major Contributing Subs: Cardno, Hunter Guardrail & Fence, Inc., Westco, Pavement Marking, Inc., Matrix Land Survey, Inc., Revegetation Services, JSC Contracting, Inc., Empire Fence, LLC, Natina Products, LLC, Sky High Crane & Rigging, Inc., Nove Engineering, and Penhall Company. Vendors: Contech Construction Products, Inc., PRODAV Ave, c/o John Purbaugh, Quality Redimix, Geobrugg North America, LLC, Western Refining, Jensen Precast, Lhoist North America.
2015 CONGRESS
Sonoran Desert Sponsor: Dibble Engineering ~ Stantec White Mountain Sponsors: APWA Southern Arizona Branch ~HDR ~ H&E Equipment Services ~ Stanley Consultants
Painted Desert Sponsors: Achen-Gardner Construction ~ Cardno ~ Engineering and Environment Consultants, Inc., EPS Group ~ Infra-Tech ~ Wood Patel Please help the Arizona chapter reach its sponsorship goal of $500k. For information on Congress 2015 Sponsorships click here or contact Kent Dibble, kent.dibble@dibblecorp.com. VOLUNTEERS CONGRESS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Volunteer Sign-up for the APWA International Public Works Congress & Expo to be held at the Phoenix Convention Center from August 30 to September 2 will open up on National’s website in the spring! The 2015 Congress Volunteers sub-committee is preparing for the big push to fill over 500 volunteer slots needed to make Congress a big success. We have attended the past two Congresses in Chicago and Toronto specifically to observe and learn from those two volunteer committees, and we got some great information and ideas from them. We are currently keeping a list of those who express an interest in volunteering. Based on past Congress experience, we anticipate these slots will be filled by over 350 individual volunteers, most of whom will come from your organizations. These volunteers will be needed for such assignments as “Congress Concierge” at the event hotels, checking attendees in and out of educational sessions, way finding around the Convention Center, and assisting vendors and visitors on the exposition floor, among other similar assignments. At times there will be as many as 100 volunteers working. So, why would you volunteer, and how do you sign up? The main benefits of volunteering are easy: 1. You get a chance to give back to the profession and your peers by serving them at the premier public works event! 2. When you sign up for a half-day volunteer slot you will get free admission to Congress for the other half-day. If your agency can’t afford to register multiple employees, look at this as a way to get them all into the event free by volunteering to work for a half-day. 3. And best of all, think about the stylish volunteer shirt you get to wear on your day of service – and it’s yours to keep. WOW! How do you volunteer: 1. APWA National will post a website in the spring where all volunteers need to complete the volunteer registration form. In the meantime, you can send your name and contact information to either of the Volunteers Sub-committee Co-chairs and we will keep a list of people to notify when the volunteer sign-up site goes live. 2. If you plan to have multiple staff volunteer to get them a chance to experience the event, now would be a good time to start scheduling the timing so everyone isn’t trying to volunteer for the same day. The main days for Congress are Sunday August 30th through Wednesday September 2nd, but we will need some volunteers on Saturday August 29th and Thursday September 3rd as well If you are interested, contact either of the Volunteer Co-Chairs at APWACongress2015@gmail.com. Rebecca Timmer Jeff Kramer PUBLICITY
The 2015 Congress Publicity/Exhibit Committee has developed a strategy for promoting Congress at various regional conferences. Members of the committee and/or members of the local/regional associations will attend conferences and meetings to promote Congress by manning a booth, handing out fliers, and answering general questions. If you are planning to attend an upcoming conference or meeting and would like to help us promote Congress, please contact Amanda McGennis amcgennis@azagc.org or Scott Kirchhofer skirchhofer@achen.com The Committee has acquired some promotional materials for distribution. With the help of David Dancy, APWA Director of Marketing, we have a Save The Date postcard and an Exhibitor Brochure. These promos can be found at the links below and they are free for anyone to print and distribute. Actually printing and distributing these materials is highly encouraged since we are all on the same team and want to promote Congress as much as possible to maximize the number of exhibitors and attendees. The Committee has also gathered some great brochures that promote Phoenix, The Valley, and Arizona. These brochures have been supplied to us by Janis Thomas, Senior Director – Convention Services/Housing, with the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau. The brochures will give Congress attendees a lot of options for places to see during their visit. We are also reaching out to the Arizona Office of Tourism and Arizona Highways to have them assist in writing articles that promote Arizona. These articles will be featured in APWA email blasts and the APWA Reporter magazine in an effort to build interest in the 2015 Congress and promote registration.
CALL FOR 2015 SPONSORS
Your Arizona Chapter’s annual operations depend upon donations from our member organizations. Sponsorships pay for the resources required to provide Educational Workshops, the Public Works Leadership Institute, website support, weekly news briefs, monthly newsletters, and much more. Newsletters are published monthly, posted on the Chapter website and sent electronically to over 1000 recipients in the Public Works field. For more information visit the 2015 Annual Sponsorships web page. INDUSTRY NEWS Report Card for Arizona's Infrastructure The inaugural Report Card for Arizona’s Infrastructure is being finalized and will be released on National  Infrastructure Week (May 11-15) on May 13thin Phoenix. In addition to the Report Card, ASCE is developing
To prepare for the Report Card release and give stakeholders the information they need to participate, ASCE is asking you to join them for a call to review the release plans in April. They have created a poll here (http://doodle.com/p4knubifu9x8v3k3) for everyone to give their possible times for a call. infographics and other materials that we hope will be useful for reaching legislators and also audiences that are just getting introduced to the infrastructure challenges Arizona is facing. While ASCE’s team has taken the lead on developing the report, they want all of the infrastructure stakeholder groups to be represented at the release event and also be a part of the Report Card for outreach and legislative efforts after the release.
MEMBER NEWS New Member Spotlight
Name and Title: With APWA Since: Describe your job responsibilities: Where have your travels taken you?: Name one thing not many people know about you:
APWA NEW MEMBERS
Envision Training Envision training is offered by the Sustainability Committee for a full day on May 15th. This is an in-class one day training which will enable and prepare you for the online exam to be Envision certified. Please email Mara DeFilippis, Sustainability Chair with your interest and contact information. Seating is limited.
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on the Hualapai Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona. Besides being remotely located, all phases of the construction of this road from moving earthwork to paving asphalt had to be performed while maintaining two way traffic to the Skywalk. The work included 765,000 cy of roadway excavation, 55,400 tons of asphalt, 86,600 tons of ABC, 9 conspan bridge structures, 3 cattle crossings under the road, 5,600 foot of pipe culverts, 2 new wells, 48 headwalls, 22,000 cy of gabions, 20,000 lf of rock fall protection, 13,000 lf of guardrail, and 87,000 lf of fence. To keep it interesting, the bulk of this traffic consists of international tourists. In addition, in order to protect the environment, Joshua Trees, and archeological sites, the footprint for construction was restricted. Approximately half of the project is located in a narrow, steep, winding canyon. The work in this canyon included blasting and building cuts and fills many of which were thirty to forty feet deep. The final roadway width consists of one thirteen foot lane each way with a four foot shoulder. The project climbs over 1,000 feet in elevation from the beginning to the end.
