Charles F. Potts, a 40-year transportation industry executive and one of the nation’s foremost experts on hot mix asphalt pavement and materials, has been elected 2008-09 chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The election was announced during the association’s national convention, held Oct. 21 to 24 in Chicago, Ill.
Potts, a registered professional engineer in three states is currently chief executive officer of Heritage Construction and Materials, a privately held company headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., with operations in multiple states and China. The firm is involved in heavy highway construction, the production of aggregates at a number of quarries, and sand and gravel operations. It also produces various grades of asphalt materials for use in highway construction in addition to providing environmental services and materials technology research.
At the core of his agenda as ARTBA chairman, Potts will lead the charge to “reform, restructure, refocus and refinance” the federal surface transportation programs in 2009 when Congress will debate the next multi-year highway/transit bill. ARTBA is calling for a significant boost in federal highway, bridge and transit investment to protect past infrastructure investments, particularly on the Interstate Highway System. The association also is advocating for the creation of a federally-led national goods movement program — Critical Commerce Corridors — to more safely and efficiently handle the expected doubling of truck traffic over the next 25 years.
Before joining Heritage, Potts spent 18 years with Ashland Inc. He became an executive officer of the corporation when he was elected president of APAC Inc. and senior vice president of Ashland. APAC was Ashland’s highway construction business contractor.
Potts spent 16 years with the Florida Department of Transportation, holding positions of increasing responsibility, including the state materials and research engineer and director of construction. He was responsible for all of the state’s research involving liquid asphalt materials, hot mix asphalt materials and mix design and flexible pavement design. He was the principal investigator in the research work leading to the national guide specification for hot mix recycled asphalt.
Over the years, Potts has given numerous presentations nationally as a part of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) implementation programs relating to quality control and quality assurance processes for hot mix asphalt production as well as aggregate production.
Potts has been involved as a volunteer in associations for years. He is a past chairman of the board of the National Asphalt Pavement Association. He is a former chairman and currently a member of the board of directors of the National Center for Asphalt Technology at Auburn University. He also is the past chairman of the board for the International Center for Aggregates Research at the University of Texas. Potts continues to serve his alma mater as a member of The Citadels’ Engineering and Civil Engineering Advisory councils.
Potts is a past recipient of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials “Alfred E. Johnson Award” for outstanding achievement in the field of engineering as a result of his research work related to recycled hot mix asphalt.
Additional 2008-2009 Officers
• Senior Vice Chairman: Larry Tate, product manager, Caterpillar Inc., Decatur, Ill.
• First Vice Chairman: Bill Cox, president, Corman Construction, Annapolis Junction, Md.
• Northeastern Region Vice Chairman: Nick Ivanoff, president & CEO, Ammann & Whitney, New York City
• Southern Region Vice Chairman: Steve Wright, vice president, Wright Brothers Construction, Charleston, Tenn.
• Central Region Vice Chairman: Ken Aldridge, CEO of Aldridge Electric, Libertyville, Ill.
• Western Region Vice Chairman: Jack Belvedere, vice president and director of highways and bridges, CH2M Hill, Oakland, Calif.
• Vice Chairman At-Large: Paul Yarossi, president of HNTB Holdings Ltd., New York. N.Y.
• Vice Chairman At-Large: Ron DeFeo, chairman and CEO, Terex Corporation, Westport, Conn.
• Vice Chairman At-Large: Robert Heitmann, director of business development, Zachry American Infrastructure, San Antonio, Texas
• Vice Chairman At-Large: Larry Lair, vice president of Traffic Safety Systems Division at 3M in St. Paul, Minn.
• Vice Chairman At-Large: Jim Connell, group president, Energy Absorption Systems Inc., Chicago, Ill.
• Vice Chairman At-Large: Doug Black, CEO, Oldcastle Materials, Atlanta, Ga.
• Treasurer: Tom Hill
Today's top stories
