GLADSTONE, MI The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) announces the winners of its 2014 Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award.

The Asphalt Operations Safety Innovation Award recognizes the development and implementation of ideas that lead to improved worker safety in a roadway work zone, plant site or quarry environment, and companies whose safety practices go above and beyond normal safety practices.

Payne & Dolan Inc. was recognized at the ceremony during the association's Midyear Meeting in Denver, Colorado.

Payne & Dolan Inc. of Gladstone, Michigan, won an award for its breakaway paver guide bar innovation. Typically, a guide bar is used by the paver/operator to hold a true line while paving. Paver manufacturers usually offer as standard equipment a steel rod that inserts into a steel pipe at the front of the paver and is adjustable up to about 6 feet. When workers need to approach the front of the paver, the bar presents a tripping hazard and serious injury can occur if the paver is in motion. Through a collaborative process, Payne & Dolan employees were able to manufacture a spring-loaded mechanism that allows the bar to break away if it strikes an object or person while still withstanding day-to-day use in paving operations.