Business View Magazine
3
Construction
Octob r – Business View
31
sort of one? Large company? Small company:
What do you deal with most often?
DAVENPORT:
No. Actually, I wouldn’t categorize
it that way. Because we cover only concrete pavements
– we don’t cover any other cementitious products or
any other paving materials, we cover only the concrete
paving materials – we represent a very broad swath
of companies and organizations that includes cement
companies, contractors, equipment/material suppliers,
researchers and academia. So the way we characterize
it is anybody that has involvement, interest and passion
for concrete pavement is a member of the association.
BV: Are there any other nationwide
organizations that are trying to appeal to
the same members that you are? Maybe
competition isn’t the right word, but that are
maybe competitive in a sense with yours?
DAVENPORT:
No, not for the concrete pavement
industry. However, there are some allies – the Portland
Cement Association remains a very strong ally. Cement
is only one part of the material that goes into concrete.
These days, concrete has add mixtures, aggregate
chemicals and rock – very basic terminology. So the
Portland Cement Association is one organization, the
National Ready-Mix Concrete Association is another
one. That association represents the companies that
mix and transport concrete and what they call agitators,
or transit mixers. You’ll recognize those as the big trucks
with the big barrels that spin on the back. Those two
organizations are national organizations that are on the
same footing as we are, but they represent different
aspects of the cementitious or concrete materials that
go into our product.
In addition to that, we have some affiliations. We have
technical partnerships with two organizations. One is
called the National Concrete Pavement Technology
Center, which is in Ames, Iowa and is basically a
third-party research entity for the cement concrete
industries. And then another organization that we
have a very close technical working relationship with is
the International Grooving and Grinding Association. I
know it sounds like a ’60s dance step, but they represent
companies that do more than just pavement grooving
and grinding. They do what is known as restoration.
When a concrete pavement is placed, typically
they’re designed to last 20 years, but typically they
last 30, 40, 50 or even longer. What happens a lot of
times, as the ground underneath shifts and changes and
climatic changes, and wear and tear on the pavement,
normal wear and tear, they will have to come in and
basically take all of those slabs and level them. They
have big machines that will come along with diamond
grinding, and they will actually grind down the rough
spots, making that pavement just as smooth and new
looking as the day it was placed. And that’s a much
less expensive alternative to repairing or replacing it.
That organization also represents companies that do
joint sealing and other types of restorative processes
for existing pavement.
BV: Are there state or regional associations
affiliated with yours that cover all 50 states?
Do you have one in each state? Or are some of
them grouped together?
DAVENPORT:
No, we don’t. The primary reason
for that is that some states do very little concrete
paving. For whatever reason, culturally, they may be
more oriented toward asphalt. Collectively, nationally
and locally, we represent about 70 percent of mainline
paving that’s done in the United States. By mainline
paving, what we mean by that is highways, airports,
urban arterials, major roadways and streets across the
country. Sowhile we’re not in every state, we represent
the majority of what’s being paved and rehabilitated
out there.
BV: Are there certain issues or priorities,
or concerns that the members are talking
about that get relayed through the main desk,
through your office, that they want answers
about or that they’re concerned with?
DAVENPORT:
Unequivocally, I would say that the
No. 1 issue that is on most peoples’ minds these days
is funding. The funding formula is a bit complicated,
because it involves both federal funding and then a
state match – and it’s not a 50/50 match, it’s usually
about 20 percent. But what has happened is that the
