World of Asphalt and AGG1 shows hit records

Next month’s World of Asphalt and AGG1 co-located trade shows have set exhibit space records. Leading manufacturers and service providers are already taking nearly 20 percent more combined space than at the shows’ last edition, says show management.

The 2012 World of Asphalt Show and Conference and AGG1 Aggregates Forum and Expo will be held March 13-15 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“We’re already at more than 104,000 net square feet on the show floor – and growing,” says show director Melissa Magestro. “Attendees can comparison shop and discuss product capabilities with industry experts, and we have a full range of education sessions to help them manage resources for business growth,”

World of Asphalt and AGG1 target the aggregates, asphalt, pavement maintenance and traffic safety industry sectors. More than 90 expert-led education sessions will offer state-of-the-art knowledge to improve job productivity and operating efficiencies. Some 93 percent of attendees at the last event said the shows were valuable to their businesses, says show management, and 97 percent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the shows.

More than 20 leading U.S. and worldwide industry organizations, including U.S. government agencies, are lending their support to this year’s World of Asphalt Show and Conference. The National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA), AGG1 show owner, is again holding its annual convention with the shows.

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) are assisting in development of the Asphalt Pavement Alliance’s (APA) conference at World of Asphalt. The show’s People, Plants and Paving Training Program, targeted to meet industry professionals’ needs, is sponsored by NAPA with the Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association (AEMA), Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association (ARRA), Association of Modified Asphalt Producers (AMAP), International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA) and Rubber Pavements Association.

MoDOT’s MoTOLL

Ever wonder what an interstate turned into a toll road would look like? As Missouri DOT considers it, an idea of how it might work emerged when MoDOT Director Kevin Keith addressed state legislators.

He said the actual tolls in dollars and cents were not determined, but would likely be in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 cents a mile for cars and two to three times that for trucks. Collection would be made electronically with drivers never having to slow down. In other words, no booths.

Missouri has a rare U.S. DOT waiver to toll I-70, and with states looking for funds from anywhere they can find them there’s little doubt a successful Missouri interstate toll model would increase pressure from other states to follow suit.

L.A. Mayor disses Congress, looks at Chinese funding

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is fed up with waiting for Congress to find funding for planned mass transit projects in his city. So he is looking into ways China might provide the funds.

During a trade mission to Asia in December he met in Beijing with executives of China Investment Corp., an outfit set up by the Chinese government in 2007, to explore alternative investment opportunities. Villaraigosa wants to fast track the city’s mass transit expansion, cramming 30 years’ worth of building into the just ten years. But he needs funds, a lot of them. And Congress is not helping he says. He graded the current Congress at mid-term with an “F” and said it has been “indifferent to cities.”