For the second year in a row, Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. conducted paving seminars in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla., on Feb. 22 and 24, respectively. Together, the events drew nearly 230 participants.
“We truly believe in giving back to those industries that have helped us grow and prosper for the last 28 years and we are committed to continuing our efforts to ensure you do too,” Ed Kirby, president of Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. said, in a letter to seminar attendees explaining the company’s sponsorship.
The welcoming letter is the first page in the seminar workbook presented to all participants.
According to Kirby, the company has invested more than $1,000,000 in the past year to enhance the training of the Kirby-Smith employees in order to back all its products and assist in the training of customers with events like the seminar.
“We are committed to being the ’paving authority’ for all your paving projects and equipment needs,” said Kirby.
The Tulsa seminar opened with a welcoming talk and introduction of Kirby-Smith employees and the presenters by Kelly Littlefield, sales manager of the Tulsa area.
“As the ’paving authority,’ we have taken this opportunity to present programs conducted by experts in their own field, therefore promoting better practices and safety procedures to make a more lasting and efficient paving project,” said Littlefield.
The presenters were paving industry experts from dedicated paving manufacturers and included:
Jeff Wiley, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Wirtgen America, who has more than 30 years of experience in the industry discussed milling and stabilization. During the Best Milling Practices presentation subjects such as when to use fine milling for smoothness and revitalization of skid-resistant surfaces were discussed along with cutting patterns, cutter drums, tooth rotation and milling speeds. Soil stabilization and cold recycling portion of the class drew a lot of attention.
L. “Nars” Narsingh, product and product support manager of Vögele, who has more than 21 years in the paving industry conducted paving classes on topics ranging from good paving practices to free floating screeds, non-contact continuous paving and longitudinal joint construction.
Mark Odom, regional product support manager of LeeBoy, presented the “Chip N Seal”/Distributor Units program. With 33 years experience in the industry, Odom is one of the foremost experts in the field. The presentation included not only techniques and maintenance but also factual information about liquid asphalt.
Tim Kowalski, applications support manager of Wirtgen America, who has more than 20 years experience with the quality control side of asphalt, aggregates and concrete projects, hosted “Compaction 101” and advanced compaction presentations centered around the reasons for compaction using different methods which included Dynamic compaction (vibration/oscillation) static, impact and kneading. Kowalski described the different soil types for the base, obstacles and how to resolve these obstacles and the different types of equipment used to accomplish the best compaction projects.
“The seminars were so successful last year that we had multiple requests to do an encore performance you might say,” said George Denny, director of sales and marketing. “Last year we had a continuous program where everyone was exposed to all aspects of paving. We learned that not everyone had an interest in all the programs, so this year we arranged to have ’break-out’ sessions.
“These sessions allowed the attendees to participate in only those subjects that had a direct effect on their jobs. We had a complete set of ’break-out’ sessions in the morning and a duplicate set in the afternoon so each person could attend the ones he/she wanted if they had a conflict in the morning.”
The day-long seminar included ample time for participants and presenters to interact with each other and and equipment with “walk-a-rounds” to view the Wirtgen, Hamm, Vögele, Rosco and LeeBoy products on display.
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