Title
Staff Report for a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Submit Applications for CalRecycle Rubberized Pavement Grant Program
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to submit applications for the CalRecycle Rubberized Pavement Grant Program.
The Rubberized Pavement Grant funds would be used in the five-year period following the date of the resolution and could partially fund future Annual Street Sealing Projects for the use of rubberized chip seals and also future Annual Overlay/Rehabilitation projects for the use of rubberized asphalt concrete.
BACKGROUND
Asphalt rubber materials for hot-mix asphalt concrete paving and street sealing treatments has been in use since the 1960’s, and is now quite common in southern California, Arizona, Florida, and Texas. In 2010, asphalt rubber chip seal was used for the first time in San Leandro as part of the Annual Street Sealing 2009-10 Project and has been used on subsequent projects with satisfactory results.
CalRecycle, California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, issues a call-for-projects for its Rubberized Pavement Grant Program approximately once every year. This program is essential to CalRecycle’s efforts to recycle and reuse solid waste that would otherwise end up in California landfills. One hundred percent of the waste tires used to create the rubberized asphalt materials used by this Program are generated in California. Each ton of asphalt binder material contains at least 300 pounds of tire-derived crumb rubber, or 15% by weight.
The Rubberized Pavement Grant Program consists of two parts. The first component is for rubberized asphalt concrete, which reimburses local agencies for the cost difference between conventional and rubberized asphalt concrete. The second component is for utilization of rubberized chip sealing, which has a reimbursement rate that is a set dollar amount per square yard of rubberized chip sealing installed.
No matching funds are required. The City will be reimbursed post-construction for a portion of the cost to install materials containing asphalt rubber.
The City of San Leandro performs both paving projects (Annual Overlay/Rehabilitation) and street sealing (Annual Street Sealing) projects on an annual basis. Although the City has not used rubberized asphalt concrete pavement before on a project, the material has been available for four decades and performs well when installed properly. Rubberized asphalt concrete does a better job of resisting crack formation, so the asphalt concrete section can be thinner, which reduces construction costs. Rubberized asphalt concrete projects must be a minimum size in order to be cost effective. Approximately 3,655 tons of rubberized asphalt concrete will be included as a bid alternative on the Annual Overlay/Rehabilitation 2016-17 Project scheduled for construction in 2017.
The City currently has CalRecycle grant funding for the use of rubberized chip seals. The existing grant term ends in April 2018, and grant funds will be applied towards the street sealing projects scheduled for the 2016 and 2017 construction seasons.
If the City receives funding as part of the seventh cycle of the Rubberized Pavement Grant Program, it will be used for rubberized asphalt concrete paving in 2017 and asphalt rubber chip sealing work scheduled for 2018.
Analysis
The Rubberized Pavement Grant Program, if awarded to the City, would help pay for some materials used for paving should the City decide to incorporate asphalt rubber in its annual street paving project. The grant would also pay for some materials used in rubberized cape seal. Although rubberized materials cost more than their conventional counterparts, they are more durable and do a better job of resisting reflective cracking. The grant program allows rubberized materials to be cost competitive with traditional asphalt materials. Free technical support is included as part of the Rubberized Pavement Grant Program, to provide assistance during the design and construction phases to help ensure the proper installation and successful projects.
Previous Actions
• On March 7, 2011, the City Council by Resolution No. 2011-055 authorized the City Manager to file an application for the CalRecycle Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Grant Program for five years commencing on the resolution adoption date.
Applicable General Plan Policies
This action is consistent with Streets and Highway Goal No. 16 of the General Plan and Action Item 16.03-A: Funding for Maintenance.
Summary of Public Outreach Efforts
• The bid advertisement of future road projects will be advertised in multiple languages in various newspapers.
• Residents and businesses directly impacted by the future roadwork will be notified in writing by the contractor of the work to be done, schedule, and the contact information of key project staff.
Fiscal Impacts
If awarded a grant under the seventh cycle of the Rubberized Pavement Grant Program, CalRecycle will reimburse the City at a rate of $1.00 per square yard of rubberized chip sealing installed. For asphalt concrete paving, the reimbursement rate will be the cost difference between the use of conventional and rubberized asphalt concrete, which is estimated at $55 per ton.
This cost differential was estimated based on the cost of conventional asphalt concrete for a City paving project in 2015 ($90/ton) and the bid results for a project in San Jose from 2016 that utilized approximately 3,000 tons of rubberized asphalt concrete ($145/ton).
The total grant amount requested is $303,550.00, which includes:
• $201,025.00 for the use of 3,655 tons of rubberized asphalt concrete in the Annual Overlay/Rehabilitation 2016-17 Project
• $102,525.00 for use of asphalt rubber chip sealing in the Annual Street Sealing 2017-18 Project
Budget Authority
As the Rubberized Pavement Grant Program does not require matching funds, no additional funds are needed if the City receives this grant funding.
PREPARED BY: Kyle K. Lei, Associate Engineer, Engineering and Transportation Department