Protect Extra QC Tools
BY John Ball
The savvy paving crew has at least one smart level on the job for double-checking the screed plate, tunnels and extensions, grade and slope, and any number of quality control points while working toward a top quality pavement. You must take care of the smart level as you would any QC/QA tool.
This snorkel tube, with cap, is about 4 feet long to accommodate the smart levels. In this picture, you can see how far it reaches beyond the paver deck, which doesn’t allow it to trip or get in the way of the screed operators.
If you lean the smart level against the ladder to the operator deck, you can bet it will vibrate off the back, drop to the ground and null out. Leaving the smart level on top of the deck with the sun beating down on it will null it out, too.
Notice the black box with the number 14 in this picture. The crew has affixed an 18- by 24-inch box on the back of the paver to store pavement marking paint, headsets, release agent spray, and the like. The box can include a lock to protect the expensive items like headsets or sensors overnight.
Rather than storing smart levels, depth gauges, and the like in the foreman’s truck at some inconvenient part of the project, build a simple snorkel tube to affix to the paver deck in a way that won’t trip anyone up top, and store tools close at hand. In these pictures, the crew for Peter Baker & Sons has an 8-inch-diameter PVC pipe with a cap on the end to hold the levels. This simple solution keeps the QC tools near the crew and in calibration.
Notice the black box with the number 14 in this picture. The crew has affixed an 18- by 24-inch box on the back of the paver to store pavement marking paint, headsets, release agent spray, and the like. The box can include a lock to protect the expensive items like headsets or sensors overnight.
John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire. He provides personal, on-site paving consulting services around the United States and into Canada. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458 or tqpaving@yahoo.com.