The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has filled the department's top pavement job, which was vacated when Tom Pyle retired at the end of June. After an extensive search, Tigi M. Thomas, an experienced department engineer and manager, was selected for the position and started work Aug. 5.

She will be responsible for providing statewide leadership and managing, planning, organizing and directing all functions of the Pavement Program Subdivision, which falls within the Headquarters Division of Maintenance.

“I am very excited to have Tigi Thomas as our new Caltrans State Pavement Engineer," Mauricio Serrano told Asphalt Insider. He has been serving as acting Division Chief of Maintenance and helped lead the recruitment effort, which attracted a number of highly qualified applicants.

Although new to the Division of Pavements, Thomas is very experienced within the department and has earned a reputation of taking on difficult and complex assignments, leading to positive results. She is also known for being an excellent communicator and inspiring leader of staff. Although Caltrans has had many women hold prominent leadership positions within the department over the years, including director, district director, chief of construction and chief engineer, she is the first woman to hold the title of State Pavement Engineer in the department's history.

“I am very excited to take on the role of State Pavement Engineer at Caltrans and look forward to furthering the partnership with CalAPA and working toward common goals involving asphalt pavement," Thomas told Asphalt Insider.

Thomas holds a Bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from the National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC) in India, and a Master's degree in Civil (Structural) Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She began her Caltrans career in 1992 as a Transportation Engineer-Civil with the Division of Engineering Services (DES), where she worked in several areas, including Structures Design, Structures Construction and Structures Office Engineer. She was promoted to Senior Bridge Engineer in 1999 in the Project/Program Management Branch.

Thomas joined the Headquarters Division of Maintenance, Office of Stormwater and Environmental Compliance, in 2018 as a Senior Transportation Engineer (Supervisory) for the Drainage Asset Management Branch, and later served as the Drainage Program Advisor. Caltrans owns and maintains vast pavement assets, all of which must have an effective infrastructure in place to safely handle stormwater. Discharges from any source, including the state highway system or construction projects, are highly regulated by state agencies and closely monitored by environmentalists.

In 2021 Thomas accepted an acting position as SB1 Program Manager, which oversees delivery of projects related to the landmark $50 billion legislation also known as the Road Repair & Accountability Act of 2017. She later held a position as Supervising Transportation Engineer as the Office Chief for the Office of Specialized Field Services. In that role, she managed programs such as the Statewide Litter Abatement Program, Level of Service, Adopt-A-Highway, Maintenance Facilities, Maintenance Agreements and started the first Maintenance Complete Streets program. The high-profile "Clean CA" program, which she oversaw, has been championed by, among others, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin, and has received substantial publicity.

The official title of the position is Deputy Division Chief for the Division of Maintenance overseeing the pavement program. The position also comes with the title "State Pavement Engineer." The civil service classification is Principal Transportation Engineer. As part of her duties, Thomas will lead the Caltrans-industry Pavement & Materials Partnering Committee (PMPC) that oversees specification and test method updates, pilot projects and other pavement-related initiatives.

A previous Asphalt Insider article about Pyle's retirement announcement is HERE. Previous Asphalt Insider coverage of the department's recruitment process for this position is HERE.

The annual CalAPA charity golf tournament is back and better than ever! Registration is open for the much-anticipated event, which will take place on Thursday, Sept. 26 at the fabulous Journey golf course in Temecula. The event registration page with all the details is HERE.

The event includes all the extras that keep people coming back year after year: a championship-caliber course nestled in a scenic venue, complementary food and beverages, fabulous tee-prizes, raffles and all the creative contests on the course that keep the action fun and lively. And, of course, the networking opportunities are second to none!

Sponsoring the event is a great way to build brand identity in the industry. Proceeds from the event will benefit the California Asphalt Research & Education (CARE) Foundation, an IRS-recognized charity to benefit workforce recruitment and development, as well as the Women of Asphalt California Branch. This annual event would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors. The 2023 Golf Tournament sponsors were: Albina Asphalt, American Asphalt, Astec, Butler-Justice, Constellation Energy, Construction Marketing Services, DeSilva-Gates, Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Ingevity, Labelle Marvin, Pavement Recycling Systems, Quinn-CAT, R.J. Noble Co., RMA Companies, Sully-Miller/Blue Diamond Materials and Valero. To be listed among this year's sponsors, select one of the many sponsorship opportunities on the registration page.

At the CalAPA charity golf tournament, it is always easy to "stay and play." The association has once again negotiated a special discounted hotel room rate of $199 per night at the adjacent Pechanga Resort & Casino Hotel is available for Wednesday, Sept. 25 and Thursday, Sept 26. Rooms are limited, so early reservations are recommended. The cutoff date to secure this special rate is Aug. 26. You can make reservations by calling the resort directly at 888-732-4264 and identifying yourself with the California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA) Golf Event group and providing the booking code: 6252008 or click HERE to make reservations online.

For questions about sponsorships, contact Sophie You at (916) 791-5044.

Attention RV'ers: Last year Steve Marvin with LaBelle Marvin organized an impromptu RV "Tailgate Party" the night before the golf tournament at the Pechanga RV park that ended up turning into a pretty popular event. He and others plan to do the same this year, on Wednesday, Sept. 25 beginning at 6 p.m., at space H-2.

If you have an RV, camper, or just want to stop by to have some fun, please let us know and we'll provide additional details. Information about the Pechanga RV Resort Park, including registration process and fees, is HERE. A map of the RV park is HERE. There is no CalAPA charge for this event, but organizers ask that those who plan on attending RSVP so we get a head count, and BYOB. Donations will be cheerfully accepted to benefit the California Asphalt Research & Education (CARE) Foundation, CalAPA's charity that supports workforce recruitment and development activities, such as the Women of Asphalt California Branch. To learn more about the CARE Foundation, click HERE. To learn more about the Women of Asphalt California Branch, click HERE.

With the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris now concluded, all eyes now turn to the next Summer games set to take place in 2028 in Los Angeles. It will be the third time the region has hosted the Games, having done so in 1932 and again in 1984.

Previous issues of Asphalt Insider have noted how the asphalt pavement industry did heavy promotion about its product during the 1932 Games, touting the long-lasting durability and value of asphalt pavements to serve a growing California population and commerce increasingly moving about by car and truck. Once such promotional publication (pictured) featured copy and photos provided by the Asphalt Institute, a CalAPA partner. Then, as now, asphalt was the pavement of choice, and now surfaces 95% of the state's roadways, parking lots, bike lanes, airfields and other pavements.

Fast-forward several decades and longtime Angelenos will recall the years of dire predictions leading up to the 1984 Olympic Games, mostly centered on fears of traffic gridlock on all those miles of asphalt pavement. The massive traffic jams, of course, never materialized, largely due to a comprehensive traffic management plan that became world famous.

One of the architects of the 1984 L.A. Olympics traffic management plan was Dave Roper, who at the time was the Caltrans District 7 Deputy District Director for Traffic Operations. He retired in the 1990s, and passed away in 1995 in Santa Monica.

Part of the traffic management plan was elements that will sound familiar today, such as getting people to change their travel plans, use alternative modes of transportation, or to abandon travel completely (many locals left town on vacation during the 1984 Games). There were plenty of scare tactics involved.

These were top of mind when Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass held a press conference over the weekend to proclaim 2028 will be a "no-car Games." There were plenty of caveats, of course, but her point was she wanted Los Angeles to emphasize alternate forms of transportation, including heavy doses of transit, to get people around for the 17 days that the Games are in Southern California. Planners estimate the cost of all those mitigations could be $1 billion, including a massive bus leasing program.

Of course, all of those buses coming in from other states will still need to travel on pavements, which makes the proper maintenance of those pavement assets between now and 2028 even more critical. Some factors that are in the plus-column for 2028, compared to 1984, are there are more High Occupancy Vehicle lanes and toll roads to carry all those buses, as well as other travel alternatives that didn't exist then, such as Metro Rail, the regional Metrolink trains, and, of course, robust remote work technologies that got a stress test during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Prediction: There will be lots of dire forecasts over the next four years of the looming traffic "Carmageddon," but Caltrans and local traffic managers are more than up to the challenge, and our asphalt pavement assets will once again be the unsung heroes of the Games, facilitating a smooth, safe and reliable ride to anywhere visitors need to go.

Each week we highlight a word, acronym or other term commonly used in the asphalt pavement industry in California.

ASPHALT PAVEMENTS: Pavements consisting of a surface course of mineral aggregate coated and cemented together with asphalt cement on supporting courses such as asphalt bases; crushed stone, slag, or gravel.

Each week we highlight a key point or best practice of interest to asphalt paving crews, inspectors and others working in the field. We welcome suggestions. More tips can be found in our "Asphalt Parking Lot Construction Checklist" HERE. Information on the CalAPA "Quality Paving Certificate" program is HERE.

COMPACTION/DENSITY: The plans and specifications should specify how density is tested. The inspector needs to monitor the specified compaction density with a gauge to ensure that final target densities are achieved. Regular visual inspection of the mat during compaction is also required: look for segregation, indentations, properly sealed joints, and under-compacted areas. 

Each week we highlight a term that is specific to climate-change issues related to the asphalt pavement industry. This feature is intended to raise awareness of the asphalt industry's climate-change initiatives and the specialized terminology that goes with them. More information on "The Road Forward" asphalt industry climate initiative can be found HERE.

OUR COMMON FUTURE: The 1987 United Nations report that defined sustainable development.

"The journey is the reward."



– Tao saying

We hope you enjoy CalAPA's Asphalt Insider newsletter. We are committed to providing you with the most up-to-date information on technical issues, regulation, news, analysis, people, events and trends in California that is of interest to the asphalt pavement industry and our various agency partners. To subscribe to the newsletter, click HERE. For comments, questions or to suggest a story idea, click HERE.

Sincerely,

Russell W. Snyder, CAE

Executive Director

The California Asphalt Pavement Association (CalAPA)®