Prepare Tomorrow’s Transverse Joint for a Fast Start in the Morning

At the end of the paving day, you can make tomorrow start more easily with some quick and easy planning. Make sure you have some heavy plastic on hand and follow these steps from industry consultant John Ball.

Step 1. Put mix from the hopper in the skid steer loader bucket so the operator can take the paver away for end-of-shift cleaning.

Step 2. Lay a two-foot-wide strip of 6-mil thickness black plastic sheeting down across the transverse joint.

Step 3. Shovel mix from the bucket on top of the plastic so you cover it almost completely, tamping it down with tamping shoes while you work.

Step 4. Go over the strip of mix with the plate compactor to get it set in place.

In the morning: Have one worker on each end of the transverse joint lift the plastic up. The laborers will “fold” the plastic and pavement into sections, and toss them into the waiting loader bucket. Have them shovel and sweep the area completely before tacking the vertical edge of the transverse joint, and then back the paver into position.

QUICK TIP: 

Don’t put the plastic with the mix into the same pile that goes back to the plant for the RAP pile.

When you purchase the Asphalt Paving 101 online course, you get immediate lifetime access to training like this on any device at any time, and you can use it to train any number of paving crew members any number of times necessary. To make the course yours, click the green “enroll” button at this link.

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