ARTICLES

The first project Terpin did was for the Point State Park at the tip of Pitttsburgh’s Golden Triangle. This is a unique location because it is where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio River. The area is rich in history, having been a strategic military and commercial location during the French and Indian War (1754 – 1763). Though the site had become just another commercial slum in the 1950s, the city reclaimed the area, turning it into a 36-acre park, making it one of this country’s best historical parks and tourist attractions. Point State Park is also a  National Historic Landmark. A majestic fountain marks the confluence of the three rivers and is surrounded by pathways that lead to 23 monuments, plaques, and markers throughout the park.
    Terpin and his company was asked to pave and stamp150,000 square feet of pathways. “It was one of the largest commercial jobs I first did,” Tepin recalls. He did the majority of those pathways in an off-set brick pattern through the StreetPrint process, which was the first asphalt stamping technique ever developed by Integrated Paving Concepts, Inc. located in British Columbia and Blaine, Washington. They later developed DuraTherm, LogoTherm, and Ride-A-Way (colored bike lanes).
    “Originally when I  started with StreetPrint, I had to actually pave and stamp behind the paver with the hot asphalt,” Terpin says. “It took a lot of expertise to do the detail work. When you stamp behind a paver, you had to be a paver and you had to be a stamper. You had the timing of the asphalt to heat and the following of the paver.” Plus, there was the placement of the templates and other steps to consider. Terpin and his company soon were recognized as one of the top ten master installers of StreetPrint in the country.
    In fact, Terpin even tried his own version of imprinting a logo. “I have actually augured logos out with an augur and painted them. I had one project and painted it gold, and it was imprinted. But I had been working at it before anybody came out with the idea.,” he says. “When I first started with StreetPrint, there were not any logos. It was just strictly offset brick patterns. I had talked about logos, but they never went to that next step.”

Evolving Process
    Like most technologies, it did not take much time for the industry to catch up with Terpin’s needs. “About five years down the road, they came out with the infrared heaters, which you can actually just heat the existing asphalt. It was a big learning curve,” he says.
    Gerry Oliver with Pattern Paving Products did develop a process to create logos and imprint them. “Gerry has been pretty innovative. He keeps up with the progress in the industry. He has been more innovative as far as newer processes and artwork,” Terpin says.
     Pattern Paving Products offers four different decorative treatments: stamped asphalt  that requires three to four layers of coating and special faux finishing techniques, Stencilcoat that uses a spray color and a template for concrete or asphalt, Frictionpave that binds finely ground stone in epoxy, and Thermoprint that uses thermoplastic that is heated by an infrared device and bonds with the asphalt.  Thermoprint is Terpin’s product and process of choice. “A lot of companies now sell a logo that sits on the surface. But Pattern Paving Products logos are actually imprinted, melted into the surface. It  is a much more durable and has a more realistic look when it is set in than if it is just on the top surface,” Terpin says.
Last year, Stamped Asphalt did a large project at Mansfield University. They placed a logo for the university that designed by Pattern Paving Products and installed at the North Hall Library. The logo was very well received and has caused quite a stir among area colleges, keeping Terpin’s company phone ringing.
    In addition, Terpin also does some work with the Chameleon Ways process that uses a signature honey-colored, semi-clear binder and a number of stone aggregates. One process, AddaMark, uses a white quartzite and a white binder that makes it idea for adding crosswalk lines or special wording such as STOP. “I have found a marketplace for the Chameleon Ways process. It is probably the answer to an extreme high traffic crosswalk area compared to a stamped pavement process.”

Stamped Asphalt Now

    Today, Stamped Asphalt’s six employees, including Terpin himself, are able to tackle just about any logo and stamped pattern project that comes up. “I have two of just about everything,” he says. That includes his ARS infrared heaters and Dynapac LG 500 large plate compactors. He also has a brand new 28-foot enclosed trailer that holds everything he needs for a job. “I get a lot of calls for colleges for these logos. If you want to be competitive in the market place, you  have to be able to get on the highway and go. Now, we have this enclosed trailer, and I have pretty much everything I need on my trailer,” he says. This allows Stamped Asphalt to take on work well out of his area and even going south where he can extend his project season by several months. “I can go 500 miles and go do a job. It is all pretty much self contained. I have no limits to where I can go right now.”
    In addition to allowing Terpin to do two jobs at a time or to do a project at a much farther distance, his new 28-foot enclosed trailer has become a great advertising tool. On each side of the trailer, Terpin has placed five large photos that are 45 inches wide and about 5 feet long. “I bought a yellow trailer. Nobody has a yellow trailer,” he explains, “and it stands out great with the black lettering and with the pictures. It really makes a nice display.” He also intends to create a postcard from a photo of that trailer and send it out to architects as he has done with mailings in the past.
    Stamped Asphalt also relies on its website. “It is one of my biggest assets,” Terpins boasts, “because I get calls all over the United States.” He has worked hard to move his website to the top of most search engines. He also asserts that his website makes his company unique because customers can readily see the work he has done. His portfolio of projects contains high resolution photos that really show off his skills. “I am probably am the only asphalt contractor with a website with a lot of pictures of my own work,” he says. “I take all of those pictures myself.” And he makes sure that those photos do not have shadows in them or safety cones around the work. “I get up on ladders and take pictures and do what ever I have to do.”
    Terpin also considers his company’s approach to stamping as very different. “I have probably taken the stamping to another level as far as being competitive. I have progressed with Pattern Paving Products. I have pretty much been innovative with the tooling that I have that a lot of people do not use and my production is much faster.  Experience wise, I do a lot of different things than most guys do with normal street applicators in general.” He also uses larger plate compactors than his competitors do for compaction and productivity, and he seems to always be busy.
    With his new capability of doing projects farther away, Terpin hopes to continue to be an innovator with logos by contracting to imprint more college and commercial logos. But the university connection seems to promise to be a gold mine. “It seems to be a big marketplace,” Terpin says.

    It is clear that Chuck Terpin and Stamped Asphalt have found a very exclusive niche. It is one that will allow universities and commercial customers to create team spirit with their logos, but it will keep Terpin content in a very fulfilling and creative process.