Pave It Black: The Official Podcast of NAPA

Brett and Richard talk with Andy Decraene of AJAX Paving of Florida about resilience. When Hurricane Ian hit Florida in 2022, AJAX was called on to rebuild the Sanibel Causeway within weeks after the disaster. Richard and Brett explore what resilience is with Andy and learn that it goes far beyond just infrastructure and begins with building resilient companies who take care of their people. Hoste...

While asphalt pavements serve many uses ranging from nature paths to interstate highways, some of the heaviest loads asphalt pavements carry occur at airfield runways and taxiways. In this episode of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett talk with Navneet Garg of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about the research work he does at the William J Hughes Technical Center, the National Airport Pave...

Ahead of National Work Zone Awareness Week, the hosts of Pave it Black dive into the Watch for Us campaign, and how member companies work to protect their staff as they maintain and construct our countries infrastructure. Richard and Brett talk with Emily Bay of Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Inc. about the role that communication plays in safety and how they share information with employees as wel...

In this episode of Pave it Black, we discuss the Sheldon G. Hayes Award with representatives from the latest company to be honored with the award. Richard and Brett talk with Scott Roe, Michael Terry, Derik Huber, and Ryan Booth of Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. about what it takes to win the highest award as well as what the award means to the company and its staff. The team shares how communica...

In this episode of Pave it Black, we talk workforce and how some companies in the asphalt industry and other technical fields are addressing the staffing challenges they face. Richard and Brett talk with Jason Duininck of Duininck Inc, Jim Sieben of Nova-Tech Engineering, and Mike Kroeker of Willmar High School about the Manufacturing and Production (MAPs)program and how their organizations partne...

In this episode of Pave It Black, the hosts explore the Ray Brown Award and learn more about NAPA's annual recognition of the nation's highest scoring airport asphalt pavement project. Richard and Brett talk with Chris Croom, with S.T. Wooten Corp., about recently winning the 2022 Ray Brown award as well as previous awards the company’s work has been recognized with. Listen to learn how recipients...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss government relations and the fast-changing world of policy, funding, and implementation. Richard and Brett talk with John Hay, with CRH Americas Materials, about engaging with elected officials and how those interactions can impact how our industry does and the way we operate. Listen to learn the importance of developing relationships and how that proce...

In the Season Six premiere episode of Pave It Black, NAPA's Richard Willis and Brett Williams return to discuss the standards the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has developed for Environmentally Preferable Asphalt. Richard and Brett talk with Pat Weaver, former president of Solterra Materials, LLC, about how his company learned about the new GSA requirements and how they ended up being...

In the season finale of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett talk with NAPA President and CEO Audrey Copeland and NAPA Chairman Jim Mitchell about The Road Forward and the asphalt pavement industry’s early efforts toward achieving net zero emissions asphalt pavements. The discussion covers a range of topics from the initial embrace of the program and industry’s goals, all the way to the continued impo...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss sustainability as it specifically relates to the vertical construction industry. Richard and Brett talk with Kelly Roberts of Walter P. Moore about the industry’s focus on sustainability and how great strides have been made in this area over the last decade. Listen to learn more about how performance-focused requirements and finding solutions on the loc...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss the transition to cleaner energy and the logistics and policies that are making it possible. Richard and Brett talk with Peter C. Balash with the U.S. Department of Energy about the agency's role in meeting the national goal for cleaner energy as well as addressing the changing demand for different and cleaner energy sources. Listen to learn more about...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss The Road Forward and the industry partnerships the program is forming. Richard and Brett talk with Will Hadeka and Bob Yaremko of Peckham Industries and Dan Staebell of Cargill about their company’s investment and dedication to The Road Forward program and the initiatives the industry has set out to achieve. Listen to learn about how the inaugural partn...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss what carbon negative products are and some innovative technologies that are being utilized in the production of asphalt mixtures. Richard and Brett talk with Peter Mazzarella and Julian Smith of Harsco Environmental about the company’s approach to innovating with asphalt pavement materials and their focus on achieving carbon emission reductions. Listen...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss recycling and the important role that reusing asphalt pavements has when producing asphalt mixtures. Richard and Brett talk with Shane Buchanan of CRH Americas Materials about the company’s approach to recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and its efforts to maximize mixture quality while optimizing the use of recycled materials. The conversation covers topic...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and how environmental reporting can help asphalt producers identify opportunities to improve their operations. Richard and Brett talk with Heather Dylla and C.J. Hoy of Construction Partners Inc. and Wiregrass Construction about their perspective on EPDs and their experience working with the Emerald Eco-Label to...

In this episode, Richard and Brett talk with Ashley Batson and Dean Fraley of Ingevity about the benefits of producing warm mix asphalt, ranging from reduced emissions and energy savings to mixture performance and extending a pavement's expected service life. During the discussion, learn why asphalt producers have used the technology over the last 20 years and ideas about increasing its use in the...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we discuss pavement smoothness and the benefits of smooth asphalt pavements. Richard and Brett talk with Kevin McGhee of Virginia Department of Transportation Research Council and Tanveer Chowdhury of the Virginia Department of Transportation about how VDOT specifies smoothness for newly constructed asphalt pavements as well as how the department uses smoothness m...

Richard and Brett talk trucking and the opportunities to improve the efficiency of hauling materials for asphalt paving and production operations. Brad Regner of Eurovia Altantic Coast/d.b.a. Northeast Paving talks about technologies that provide big dividends when looking to reduce emissions and ensure efficient trucking. Brad shares how Northeast Paving was able to use logistics technology to st...

In the Season 5 premiere of Pave It Black, Richard and Brett discuss the asphalt industry’s vision for a net zero carbon emissions future by tracing the path the Climate Stewardship Task Force took to create The Road Forward. Raven Adams of Granite Construction talks about her experience serving as one of the members of the Climate Stewardship Task Force and the areas where Granite Construction ha...

In this episode of Pave It Black, the season of opportunity wraps up with a discussion about government affairs and the various aspects of an asphalt business that engage with the government. Richard and Brett talk with Summer Strand of the Walbec Group about her career path into the transportation infrastructure industry and how she works within the company’s operations on topics ranging from inf...

In this episode of Pave it Black, hosts Richard Willis and Brett Williams talk with Martha Pauley of Superior Paving Corp. about human resources and the important role the department plays in securing and retaining the talented staff needed by the company. Martha shares how Superior values the face to face interaction with their team members and how they use those conversations to gauge successes...

In this episode of Pave it Black, learn how accounting integrates into the many aspects of an asphalt business. Hosts Richard Willis and Brett Williams talk with Brandy Vaughn from Pike Industries about her experience and how her tasks reach into all of Pike's operations. Brandy shares how understanding different aspects of your company can make you more effective at your job and allow you to be a...

In this episode of Pave it Black, we learn how technology can be put to work to help companies operate at peak performance and how these tools can help attract the next generation of employees. Hosts Richard Willis and Brett Williams talk with Bo Walters of Dunn Construction about his work experience and path into his current role of Vice President of Operations. Bo shares how Dunn Construction is...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we learn how project managers earn wins for the communities and agencies they are serving by delivering infrastructure projects that are on-time and on-budget. Hosts Richard Willis and Brett Williams talk with Lance Driskell of Wiregrass Construction Company about his work experience and path into the role of being a project manager. Lance shares his perspective o...

In this episode of Pave It Black, we jump into the laboratory and learn how engineers work to design asphalt mixtures that will perform long into the future. Hosts Richard Willis and Brett Williams talk with Samantha Dixon of Reeves Construction about her experience researching and designing high-quality asphalt pavements for the Colas companies. Samantha shares how she works to ensure quality and...