What's New with ISSA Technical Director Bob Jerman- May 2022

Spring is now over halfway over, according to the calendar.   Here in Charleston, we’ve already been in the low 90s several times.   The paving season is in full swing in many areas and all of you are busy in multiple capacities as the season begins.  Likewise, the activity level of the ISSA Technical group is high as we continue to complete multiple goals, make good progress on others, and continually reassess our priorities to meet industry and ISSA membership needs.

It was exciting to be able to host the first “ISSA Forum” call in April.   The opportunity to be able to both see and engage many of you in productive discussions about “all things ISSA”, as well as industry opportunities and activities was great.   If you weren’t able to attend, please consider attending and contributing to our next call in June.   Watch for the announcement regarding date and time in your inbox.  We certainly want the calls to be open to all interested partners across our industry. If you didn’t receive notice of the last call and want to be included in the distribution list for notifications about these calls, please let me know (bobjerman54@gmail.com).  These calls are only one hour in length.   The April call included everything from updates on project work, to updates from a couple of committees, to a conversation about ISSA membership benefits, to the latest news about our Leadership Development Team, to a great discussion about currently available funding for roads (up to $10M per local unit of government).   While the entire hour-long discussion across a variety of subjects was both interesting and beneficial, the last topic I mentioned about funding was one that clearly generated a lot of interest with the group.  It’s a topic that continues to need broadcasting across our membership and a great example of the potential benefit to these ISSA Forum calls.  Again, join us in June and help us spread the word about these calls to both ISSA members and non-members alike.

The team responsible for keeping the ISSA Technical Bulletins revised has been meeting regularly and has just completed the revisions of both TB No. 109, “Test Method for Measurement of Excess Asphalt in Slurry Surfacing Systems by Use of a Loaded Wheel Tester and Sand Adhesion” and TB No. 147, “Test Method for Measurement of Lateral and Vertical Displacement of Micro Surfacing Systems”.  That statement seems so simple.  The team members working on these revisions will certainly attest to the fact that it’s very time consuming and requires a passion to “get it right”.   Their commitment is appreciated.

As previously committed, the Recommended Performance Guideline for Polymer-Modified Emulsified Asphalt Slurry Seal, A115 is no longer a “provisional” Guideline and is now a “standard” ISSA Guideline.

OK, that’s it for now.  As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with ideas and/or questions. We look forward to seeing you in June on the next ISSA Forum call.

"Every day is a gift!  Never take a single one for granted!"

Sincerely,

Bob Jerman

ISSA Technical Director