ISSA awards three winners for the 2023 ISSA Excellence in Pavement Preservation Award

ISSA President Chuck Ingram awards Gustavo Garcia, City of Surprise, with the 2023 ISSA Excellence in Pavement Preservation Award.Photo by Tom Kuennen, courtesy of FP2.

Mike Smith with the City of Malvern receives the 2023 ISSA Excellence in Pavement Preservation Award from ISSA President Chuck Ingram.  Photo by Tom Kuennen, courtesy of FP2.

Chuck Ingram, ISSA President, presents the 2023 ISSA Excellence in Pavement Preservation Award to Armando Guzzo, City of Edmonton.  Photo by Tom Kuennen, courtesy of FP2.

GLEN ELLYN, IL, March 22, 2023 – During the 61st Annual Convention of the International Slurry Surfacing Association, February 27-March 2, 2023 in Litchfield Park, Arizona, the ISSA Excellence in Pavement Preservation Award was presented to three agencies for their pavement management systems.

Established in 2015 and first awarded in 2016, the ISSA Award for Excellence in Pavement Preservation recognizes and honors public officials, engineering firms or agencies that have made outstanding contributions to the Pavement Preservation industry.

 The award is presented to an Owner/Agency or Engineering firm that has been a champion in the promotion, use and success of pavement preservation applications represented by ISSA (slurry surfacing, micro surfacing, chip seal, cape seal and crack treatment). 

 The first recipient was the City of Surprise, Arizona. Nominated by Cactus Asphalt, a well implemented pavement management system allowed the City to realize the benefits of lower cost treatments, by targeting interventions before more costly replacement and reconstruction alternatives became necessary. In 2021, the city presented to the council and included information on reaffirming the goal of maintaining the network at a PQI less than 70, the historic budget date, and current network mileage and condition to name a few. After the presentation, the results showed the current fiscal year budget doubled. Funding is anticipated to remain at current level for the next five years and the annual citizen’s survey reaffirmed the importance of pavement preservation.

The second recipient was the City of Malvern, Arkansas which was nominated by Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions. Prior to 2019, the City of Malvern did not have sufficient data on its pavement. Rather than making cost-effective, data-based determinations, the City’s focus was on addressing the most pressing street issues individually. This worst-first or crisis management approach had the City’s network worsening and a tight pavement budget further strained. Fast-forward to 2022. At present, the City’s street maintenance program is powered by a state-of-the-art inventory assessment and pavement management system. In the short span of three years, Malvern has gone from having limited information on their pavement to a substantial collection of data that has optimized the City’s maintenance strategy and helped revitalize a substantial portion of its network through proactive pavement management practices.

The final recipient was the City of Edmonton, Canada for their 30- year successful pavement preservation program. The City started their Micro Surfacing Program in 1992, discontinued in the mid-90s due to budget issues, but returned in 1998. In 2017 and 2018, no micro surfacing took place due to the City contract preparation delay. Since 2019, this program continued in a 5-year contract and every year 700,000 to 900,000 m2 of neighborhood and collector roads have been resurfaced using micro surfacing. The City found that creating a multi-year micro surfacing program provided a more economical contract. They also communicate the benefits of its life cycle, relative to other surface treatment, to the public to address their concerns.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL SLURRY SURFACING ASSOCIATION (ISSA):

Founded in 1963, the International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA) is a nonprofit association dedicated to the interests, education and success of slurry and micro surfacing, chip sealing and crack treatment professionals and corporations around the world.

ISSA is a founding member of the Pavement Preservation & Recycling Alliance along with the Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association and the Asphalt Recycling & Reclaiming Association. PPRA is a partnership of leading industry associations (AEMA, ARRA, ISSA) to advance sustainable, eco efficient, and innovative pavement applications.

To learn more, visit www.slurry.org or call us at 630-942-6577.