Free software Veta can be used to fuse data from e-ticketing, paver-mounted thermal profile and intelligent compaction technology.

What happens when some of the cores taken from a paving job don’t hit density specs? You might go home and spend the evening wondering why. Was it the roller operator’s performance? Were some of the trucks not tarped, creating issues with temperature segregation? Was there an issue at the plant? Were the paver settings off?

“How do we know which, if any, of those factors came into play?” asked George Chang, director of research at The Transtec Group, Inc., Austin, Texas, during his presentation at World of Asphalt 2024. “If we don’t measure [things], we won’t know.”

The goal of his presentation was to illustrate how a free intelligent construction data management (ICDM) tool called Veta can be used to combine and compare data collected by a variety of construction technologies, including e-ticketing, paver-mounted thermal profiling (PMTP) and intelligent compaction (IC). Veta, which was initially developed in 2013 with funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), is now on version 8.0 and is required in IC specifications for FHWA, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and more than 20 state departments of transportation.

With Veta, information from these technologies is available within one platform, making it possible to “track down what is the culprit for failing the density” in the above example, Chang said, “so we can fix it tomorrow.”

The ultimate goal is to make asphalt paving more consistent, Chang said, citing a study which found that a 1.5% gain in density could lead to a 10% improvement in pavement life. [George, do you have a source on this number that we could cite?] Not only would improvements in consistency lead to better performance, he added, but it would also result in improved construction efficiency, cost savings and create a record of relevant project data.

“The bottom line is if you measure [this data], you can trace [low density] back to what might have happened,” Chang said. “If you do not [measure it], then it’s just a guessing game.”

Combine Data with Veta

Imagine an intelligent paving project where the haul truck arrives with an e-ticket containing source information, truck ID, amount of asphalt, route information, how long it was waiting at the job site, and when/where it was dumped into the paver (and, therefore, where each load is in the final road).

The asphalt passes through the paver and is scanned for temperature with the PMTP system behind the screed. “That will give you an idea of whether or not you have a uniform thermal profile behind the screed,” Chang said.

Then, there’s the IC-enabled roller train communicating via WiFi to coordinate and track roller passes, compaction temperatures, and level of compaction. “Then, we have dielectric profiling systems (DPS),” Chang said. This three-sensor system measures the dielectric profile on the surface behind the finish roller and correlates those measurements to cores or pucks in the lab to establish project-wide mat density. “Then, you have a very full coverage of the density on the finished mat.”

Such a project results in a massive amount of data, Chang said. “Each technology is great, but when you fuse all these technologies together, there’s a wow factor,” he added. That’s where Veta comes in. “All this data can be accessed within one interface [with Veta].”

Compare Data with Veta

Once all the data is in Veta, users can compare and contrast data in easy-to-read formats, including graphs and maps. For example, one could look at a map of the thermal profile compared to paver speed, or the average number of roller passes compared to roller speed.

Veta can also see whether the roller speed has been consistent throughout the project, and impacts per foot. “This will show you whether the combination of speed and vibration frequency are in concert [with that goal],” Chang said.

Veta also has a feature called ‘threshold value,’ where the user can set upper and lower limits, for example, on the rolling operation’s compaction temperatures. On one project, Chang said, “we set the lower limit [for compaction] to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and the upper limit of 225.” If any rolling occurs when the mat is outside this temperature range, the paving crew will be notified.

Veta in the Real World

During his presentation, Chang shared several real-world examples where Veta was used to assess and correct compaction issues. For one project, Veta was used to compare thermal profile data against paver speed to illustrate that a failed core came from a location where the paver stopped. On another project, Veta was used to look at DPS data compared to IC data, which showed that density issues along the edge of the pavement were a result of those areas only seeing one pass by the rollers instead of the two or three passes the rest of the mat experienced.

On a 2017 project, Veta was used to compare thermal profile data against paver speed/stopping. “You could see every paver stop, the duration of the stop, and the lower temperatures in those areas,” Chang said. The project also had a smoothness spec, and it was found that IRI issues on the project mirrored locations where the paver had stopped.

“By comparing one factor against another, these combinations can be used to determine why you may have passed or failed on your density,” Chang said. “If a core fails, [with Veta], you can trace where that failure comes from. Was it a result of roller passes, was it a delivery issue? All that data is at your fingertips.”

The Future of Veta

“In the next year or two, a lot of new technology is going to roll out to help you identify why your density failed,” Chang said, adding that Veta is already working on incorporating these new technologies.

“Last November, a new AASHTO standard was published related to Material Delivery Management Systems (MDMS),” Chang said. Mid-2024, he anticipates Veta’s MDMS features will be available to users. In the latter half of this year, the cloud-based version of Veta will become available.

“The last version of Veta was released in 2022,” Chang said. “We’ve spent the past two years migrating Veta to the cloud from the desktop version to make it more accessible with different technologies.”

Next year, Veta plans to incorporate ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data. “We’re currently beta-testing a pilot study with a 3D GPR company to provide us data to develop this feature,” Chang said.

“Eventually Veta will fuse e-ticketing, PMTP, IC, DPS and GPR,” Chang said. As if that weren’t enough acronyms for one sentence, Veta’s next frontier will be environmental product declarations (EPDs).

How to enhance paving operations, customer satisfaction and pavement life with your best quality control practices.

One of the most critical factors influencing the quality of an asphalt pavement is its density. To improve the quality, durability and life expectancy of asphalt pavement, you can reassess your current quality control (QC) procedures and introduce a plan that includes the monitoring and measurement of the in-place density of asphalt as it’s being laid. When you improve this basic best practice, potential bonus payments can be increased while claims and/or penalties that result from compaction issues can be reduced.

How We Gained Extra Air Voids

Let’s start with some facts our industry acknowledges:

• The normal minimum target in-place density on a “dense” hot-mix asphalt pavement is 92-93% of maximum theoretical specific gravity (Gmm) or 7- 8% air voids, but the preferred in-place compacted mat density value should be between 93 and 94% or 6-7% air voids.
• A potential 35% reduction in pavement service life can be seen from final in-place density values of between 90-92% compared to an in-place density of 93-95%.
• Monitoring the in-place density of the asphalt as it is being laid is one of the most direct and effective measures of compaction.
• A 1% reduction in air voids can potentially increase pavement life by up to 10%.

Let’s look at how that final point affects life cycle costs (LLC) of your project. All things being equal, if you’ve increased the density of the pavement by 1%, you could conservatively see a 10% increase in service life. On a $1 million project, that equates to an 8.8% LLC saving of $88,000. That’s significant for an agency or department of public works (DPW) wishing to extend its pavement maintenance schedule.

One way to improve density is to double-check your numbers. This crew sets the PQI 380 non-nuclear density gauge on the mat directly behind the screed to assess how much compaction they’re starting with before the breakdown roller even touches it. Photo courtesy of TransTech Systems

You might be among the paving contractors who operate in the commercial marketplace where there’s little opportunity to check the compaction and density of your work. You might rely on past projects and performance as a guide for your choice of mix and compaction process for the upcoming job. In most cases, the responsibility falls to the paving contractor to provide a fit-for-purpose finished product that meets the client’s specification on performance and durability, and there are few specification documents in place to give guidance on best practices for commercial paving.

Consider the large number of commercial paving companies serving your local market. You could be in an area with a high level of competition where you need to differentiate your paving crews from your competitors’.

You compete based on your price, timeliness and quality. You can’t really control the weather, base conditions, which mix you get from the FOB plant, the public or the client, but you can control scheduling (such as when materials arrive), communication with the client and public, safety of the crew and public, your equipment, and most importantly your paving process. Your good reputation will lead to repeat business if you manage well the things you can control.

Good Density Equals Smoothness Bonus

One of the critical elements you can control is achieving optimum density numbers through best rolling practices and monitoring the quality. Even if you receive a bad mix to work with, you can overcome that problem because the compaction aspect is so fundamental to the success of the pavement. A bad mix with good density will outperform a good mix with poor density. So, let’s ensure you get good density.

Set your rolling pattern but be flexible enough to change it if you need to. Then test the density behind the rollers.

If you’re working on a state department of transportation (DOT) project, you will likely be required to take cores for compliance testing, but this time-consuming and invasive method of checking density is rarely performed on any commercial projects. If you have rollers with intelligent compaction (IC) systems installed, your operator may be trained in the system’s use to monitor passes and assess pavement stiffness, but typical IC systems do not give a density value of the pavement. A ground penetrating radar (GPR) system also produces a high volume of data which may be better suited to a large project due to both the amount of data and the equipment’s complexity of operation. Another method of density testing is the use of a nuclear density gauge but this comes with a long list of costly licensing and restrictive procedures that any user must adhere to.

The method I propose is using a PQI 380 non-nuclear (electrical impedance) density gauge—as sold by TransTech Systems of Latham, New York—to measure the density of the pavement. The benefits to using this type of gauge include but are not limited to:

• You receive immediate information on the level of compaction as the material is being laid, letting you make adjustments to the rolling train, if necessary.
• Anyone can use the non-nuclear density gauge; it has no restrictions on storage, use or transportation.
• It offers no risk of radiation leak if the gauge is damaged on site and offers less risk of back injury than other, heavier types of non-invasive testing equipment.
• Having on-the-spot density readings will ensure that the specified percent relative compaction can be achieved, reducing the potential for claims or penalties.

The simplest and quickest method to achieve on-site assessment of the asphalt mat’s compaction is as follows:

• Pick a location and measure the density with the non-nuclear density gauge.
• Start the rolling pattern over that location on the mat.
• Roll with one or two passes and take another reading with the device.
• Continue with another two or three passes and take another reading; note the increase in density.
• Continue the rolling and testing process until the density readings do not increase.
• If you see a slight decrease, you’re in danger of over compacting the mix. This is called the break point and is the maximum density you will achieve on this mix with this compaction equipment.

To correlate a core to this location:

• Once the peaked location on the mat cools, mark a spot to cut the core.
• One the same spot, take a set of five readings with the gauge in a clover leaf pattern.
• Take the core from the mat and determine the density by an appropriate ASTM lab test method.
• Compare the core result to the gauge measurements at that location and calculate the difference.
• This difference is called the offset. (The offset may be negative or positive.)
• Input the offset value in the “Edit Mix” menu on the gauge. The device is ow correlated to that specific mix and it should not need to be changed for any future projects involving that mix.

TransTech Systems Model 380 PQI Builds on 25 Years of Non-Nuclear Tech

By using a quality control/quality assurance device like the PQI 380 non-nuclear density gauge, you can monitor and measure the density of the asphalt pavement as you work. You can adjust your rolling pattern if necessary to achieve the optimum density for a long-lasting pavement that meets your customers’ expectations.

This supports your good reputation and puts you on the short list for future bidding opportunities. In other words, your good reputation keeping quality as a priority not only offers long-lasting pavements for our industry, but it also helps you stand out from your competition.

John Lamond is the Sales Manager at TransTech Systems, Latham, New York. He presented this topic at the National Pavement Expo (NPE) 2024 in Tampa. For more information, contact him at jlamond@transtechsys.com.

From sales leads to project management, software platforms offer assistance in paving contractors’ operations

Construction software providers wish to offer both a simplified experience for contractors and smart systems that result in more business for the user. More tons is the mantra for the asphalt professional.

During his work zone stage presentation at the National Pavement Expo (NPE) 2024 in Tampa, Jared Hislop of Bitumio, Garden City, Utah, shared facts and ideas for streamlining sales and operations in a construction company with software and automated responses. He shared with the audience on the tradeshow floor how to implement efficiencies in the back office through software and he started with how to close more sales.

Andersen Asphalt Optimizes Efficiency with App Bitumio

Respond and Propose

Whether you’re a hot-mix producer servicing FOB customers or a striping contractor seeking schools and businesses with parking lots to stripe, you want to capture and respond to every lead that comes into your shop. Hislop shared some statistics that should make us all feel the pressure to hustle more.

In terms of conversion rates, he explained, when a lead comes in, you want to capture and respond to that lead within the first five minutes of its arrival. You’ll have an eight-time higher conversion rate if you respond within the first five minutes.

You can respond via an email, a phone call or a text message, but confirming with that lead to say, “Hey I saw you, and here’s the next step that you can expect,” is critical to closing the sale.

“Additionally, following up on the lead after 30 minutes is 21 times less effective than within that first 30 minutes,” Hislop said.

Hislop’s first key takeaway of the presentation was to set up a CRM or some process that not only captures and stores leads, but that can follow up with your leads and can notify the internal staff when a new lead has come in.

The next step after responding is to get a proposal to the potential customer. Hislop shared a statistic from a company that has collected data from sending tens of thousands of proposals: “We can see that after 12 hours of that proposal request coming in, your customers start to lose interest.”

What data showed, and logic confirms, is customers reach out to more than one source for work and they start to lose track of who they reached out to. The companies they’ve reached out to blend in their minds and they can easily confuse your brand or offered services with another.

“After two to three days, they’re about half as interested,” Hislop shared. This means it’s vital to have your process in place where you can quickly send out new proposals during that first 12-hour window, when the customer’s interest is the highest.

He shared the next step is to make the proposal easy to access and “close,” stating almost half of the Bitumio proposals can be opened on mobile. “We saw that within 10 seconds of sending that proposal, the customer had opened it, viewed it and signed it.”

The key is making the process easy and painless for the customer, but don’t forget you’re incorporating processes that make it easier for your staff, as well. Hislop pointed out the need to follow up with leads who don’t respond right away or who might have questions. Building the follow-up reminders into the system is smart thinking for a company. “Almost half of salesmen give up after one contact, after one outreach.” How we improve our system is with one that follows up with the customer automatically to close more leads.

The goal for the software system you look to is to have a process that helps you quickly put together proposals, within that first 12-hour window—or at least the first two days. You want to make it extremely easy for your customers to access and open the proposal, and then you want to follow up with that prospect, at least five times after sending the proposal, “and I promise you, your close rates will thank you,” Hislop finished.

Work and Request

Once the proposal is signed and that new lead is closed, it’s time to get to work. Integrating software into your process can help on the operational side, as well. Hislop told the audience, 54% of customers have higher customer service expectations than they did a year ago. And 7% of them are willing to pay more to get it.

This comes into play not only when estimating and bidding, but also when you see repeat customers. You want to be the HMA plant all the FOB customers flock to. You want to be the sealcoating contractor all the residential property managers recommend to their BODs. You want to be the pavement maintenance contractor the DPW short-lists for the year’s PMS contract.

Hislop outlined how to be the contractor who gives the higher customer service experience—starting with communication both internally and externally. By having software that entrains all the aspects of the upcoming job, you don’t have your community operation team calling up the customer to ask basic questions about the contract or the parameters of the job. By having software that includes pre-job reminders, you can instead reach out to the customer to let them know exactly what to expect and when.

“Once the job is scheduled, or rescheduled, we’re going to be communicating that to the customer. Let them know we’re coming on this day to start the job and share more details as we’re getting closer.”

He recommended to the audience multiple pre-planning “touches” to confirm the customer’s obligations to minimize problems on the day of the project.

Expand into Production: Plant Ticketing Software Basics

“Seven days, four days, one day before the job starts, you’re sending out communications to the customer and saying, ‘Hey, we’re coming on this day,’ just so they can help you.” You want to say, “Please make sure your sprinklers are turned off. Make sure your garbage isn’t running. Make sure the cars are out of the parking lot.”

This is so your arriving crews can get to work on the customer’s project and execute a good job. The last thing you want is to have the foreman call the boss at 5 a.m. saying, “Hey, we’re at the job but there are cars that need to be towed.”

This means you must call the customer, and suddenly the experience is no longer great. By using proactive communications to set expectations, Hislop shared, you eliminate some of those situations.

One of the aspects of the job Hislop reminded the audience to do better is the final step of asking for a review. After the job is done and closed, it’s time to ask the customer, “How did we do?” You can ask for recommendations to be posted on whatever platform you’ve selected, but using software for that task can automate the ask and free your staff for the next job.

Overcome Software Integration Challenges

Lower Your Stress

Hislop explained to the audience, when building Bitumio, they wanted a user-friendly, smart system. He said they wished to place the daily repetitive tasks for contractors—such as calculating trucking, materials and travel times, and scheduling route planning—in one platform, freeing contractors to close more business on one side of the coin and streamline operations on the other. While his goal on the NPE stage was to talk about business processes and operations no matter what software platform a contractor uses, he shared a specific example from a Bitumio user that can illustrate the backup or double-checking of an app for readers.

When preparing a proposal, the staff have a detailed list of line items. When software is integrated, there are ways to work efficiency into cluster scheduling, traffic control, shared equipment, materials and so on. All team members can access the app to see what assets are available to what job and at what time. No longer should the paving foreman get 30 or 50 text messages the night before a project starts confirming start time, location and so on. All the crew members can see the details in the app.

Finally, management can double-check the margins and the parameters. The foreman can look at the app and recognize when something catastrophic is missing.

It may seem a silly example, but the line item of trucking was overlooked on an estimate before a client added the Bitumio software to help them. Hislop showed an example of estimating for a project that included a 3-inch lift of asphalt pavement. “We underbid our material costs, we underbid our equipment and for some reason, we didn’t even count for trucking in our proposal, right?” By using software to double-check the bid, the customer could narrow down their estimates, see their true margins and have improved oversight.

With this software, the contractor is “not allowed” to send out a proposal with zero material unless he or she explicitly agrees to that parameter.

Soon, Bitumio is also adding a fleet management feature to the software and incorporating AI that helps use aerial imagery to enhance estimating. By using AI, the software will assist in calculating parking stalls to stripe, the length of a job to pave and so on.

Walbec Updates, Integrates, Innovates with Command Alkon’s Apex

At this time, software is a tool to assist contractors in performing tasks they might otherwise forget or might not get to in as timely a fashion as called for in today’s climate. With the knowledge that potential customers need a response before they forget who you are, you want to pounce on every lead you can.

“No matter what system you’re using, you can do any of these things,” Hilsop said. “You don’t need the software to say, ‘every time I send a proposal, I’m going to pick up the phone, and we’re going to call that prospect five times for five days.’ Follow up. You don’t need the software to get that. You need the process, right? Same thing with communicating with the customer before a job. You don’t need the software. But software can automate and remove a lot of these processes that you have to streamline and make sure that they’re actually getting done.”

Topcon Positioning Systems announced an addition to its HiPer family of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers.

The HiPer CR is a compact and lightweight GNSS receiver designed for centimeter-level, real-time kinematic (RTK) accuracy for professionals engaged in a wide range of applications in the surveying, construction, engineering, forestry and mining industries.

It joins a portfolio of fuller-featured high accuracy receivers, including the HiPer HR and VR.

Sunland Asphalt performs mill and fill on Miami Formula 1 track with echelon paving ahead of successful Grand Prix

In the Formula 1 world, millimeters matter in both racing and paving. Management at Sunland Asphalt & Construction, Littleton, Colorado, knew they would need their A team on hand to handle the 2023 resurfacing project at the Miami International Autodrome, home of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. They mobilized 75 internal employees, 15 technical specialists and 40 pieces of heavy equipment from around the country on 35 separate transport loads.

The project’s scope consisted of milling 2 inches of the existing track and repaving it with a highly specialized asphalt mix designed to Formula 1 standards. Crews were to repave the track at 2 inches thick for a total of 9,500 tons over an eight-day period.

Construction scheduling for the 3.36-mile anticlockwise circuit, which winds around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, had to be choreographed around the stadium’s other events, including the end of the National Football League season, a jazz music festival and the Miami Open tennis tournament. The International Automobile Federation also required Sunland to have the mix put down 60 days before its big event for the material to properly cure.

Needless to say, it took a lot of coordination for Sunland to make this happen and the Wirtgen Group was just one of the many partners in place to help.

Sunland crews used three pavers working in echelon to prevent cold joints along the 50-foot-wide track, paving at a very efficient pace of only 6 fpm.

Step 1. Mill. The crew from Sunland Asphalt & Construction, Littleton, Colorado, used three milling machines to precisely remove 2 inches from the existing track.

The Need for Speed—and Grip

In 2022, Miami held its first Grand Prix event on the track. When drivers expressed concerns with the grip on the pavement, track owners decided to lay fresh asphalt ahead of the 2023 race. The track management hired Tilke Engineers & Architects, headquartered in Aachen, Germany, to oversee track resurfacing, which they said would ultimately improve the “spectacle” of the 2023 race.

Sunland was hired to complete the mill-and-resurface of the track and began work to remove the existing surface in the early spring of 2023.

Sunland Asphalt trucked all their equipment in to ensure crews were familiar and comfortable with their equipment and processes. They used three pavers working in echelon to prevent cold joints along the 50-foot-wide track. The pavers were also moving at a very efficient pace of only 6 fpm to ensure paving smoothness.

The mix design for the track included 60% US-mined granite from Georgia with the remainder of the aggregates being locally sourced lime rock from Southern Florida. These aggregates ensured the grip needed on the course.

Step 2. Fill. Three pavers worked in echelon at a steady pace of 6 feet per minute to ensure no cold joints interrupted a smooth mat. Here you can see a Weiler material transfer vehicle feeding the hopper insert of one of two Vogele Super 2000-3i pavers to assist in smooth, constant material control.

Technology Meets Tight Tolerances

In addition to the three Wirtgen mills, Sunland used three HAMM HD+ 80i rollers and two VOGELE Super 2000-3i asphalt pavers. The Wirtgen Group technology on these machines is “plug and play,” which allowed the team at Sunland to get up and running with these machines easily.

“The plug and play feature on all these machines has been a huge advantage to us as a Topcon provider, making the installs quick and easy,” Tony Carden, intelligent paving product manager at RDO Equipment said. “We’re also able to provide serviceability for them both on the dealer side and from the manufacturer side. It’s a win-win.”

The project’s scope consisted of milling 2 inches of the existing track, then repaving 2 inches thick with a highly specialized asphalt mix designed to Formula 1 standards, for a total of 9,500 tons over an eight-day period.

Thermal Imaging

The pavers on the job were equipped with a temperature monitoring system. Thermal cameras were mounted to the pavers and used to find any temperature differences that could indicate potential segregation in the mat as it was being laid.

“The thermal profiling that we’re using on the pavers gives a rundown of where the pavers were, where they’re going, at what speed they are running and at what temperature,” Greg Hughes, project engineer at Sunland said. “If one isn’t getting to a high enough temperature, we can go back and look at it and see what happened and fix it and that’s a great tool for us.”

To address racecar drivers’ concerns about pavement grip, the Miami International Autodrome’s Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix track was milled and resurfaced ahead of the 2023 big event. All photos courtesy of C2C Visuals

Intelligent Compaction

“The intelligent compaction on all the rollers shows us our roller patterns throughout the day,” Hughes said. “It provides us real-time documentation of the areas we are hitting and if we’re hitting any areas more than we should. We’re also able to know if we should be vibrating more or less as well.”

With the HAMM Intelligent Compaction system, users can set a designated number of passes ahead of paving. The system shows the operator, on the in-cab display, how many passes have been completed.

Sunland management says they also use the intelligent compaction system as a training tool. “We sit with our roller operators, and we can show them where we might be able to improve on future jobs.”—Greg Hughes

Step 3. Compact. The compaction team set a rolling pattern behind the pavers to achieve optimum densities and a smooth driving surface incorporating three HAMM HD+ 80i rollers.

Sunland management says they also use the intelligent compaction system as a training tool.

“We use it in the office to see where we could be more effective,” Hughes said. “We sit with our roller operators, and we can show them where we might be able to improve on future jobs.”

The crews finished paving the 19 turns of the course on the Autodrome’s schedule, and the 2023 Miami Grand Prix was a success thanks to the hard work and dedication of the people behind the machines.

Teamwork was the recipe for success on S.T. Wooten’s paving project at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina. Tasked with repaving several runways and taxiways at the airfield, crews collaborated closely to execute in the short turnaround between departure and arrival time for the finished job.

Crews from S.T. Wooten’s asphalt and commercial divisions along with various subcontractors worked together to ensure a smooth landing for the project. Thanks to their hard work, the project was recognized with a national honor for excellence in airport paving—the National Asphalt Pavement Association’s (NAPA) 2022 Ray Brown Asphalt Pavement Award.

Wooten Recycles with Open Graded Friction Course

S.T. Wooten was hired as the turnkey contractor to manage and execute all construction activities for the Cherry Point job. While the project was given a tight timeline, the company’s previous experience on runway mill and overlay projects at the same airfield was beneficial on this project.

Building the Itinerary

The military hires construction companies through a Multiple Award Construction Contract (MACC) process which calls upon larger, pre-qualified general contractors to submit for and oversee projects. This system helps streamline the paperwork and increase efficiency. Historically, it could be a tedious process to ensure contractors align with all the federal requirements to work on a military base.

Daniels and Daniels Construction was selected as the prime contractor to oversee the Cherry Point project and S.T. Wooten was hired as the turnkey subcontractor to manage and execute all construction activities. While the project was given a tight 570-day timeline, S.T. Wooten’s experience having previously worked on resurfacing projects at the same airfield came in handy.

The Wirtgen machine-control technology used the 3D model to mill and cut to the proposed grade.

Readying for Takeoff

Crews understood that there was pressure to put the Cherry Point job on a fast track given the short timeframe to complete the project. Contracts were not finalized until mid-September 2021 and the base’s leaders wanted to get some paving done before the end of the year. Managers had to begin strategically developing schedules for not only milling and paving but also other subcontractors.

To expedite the process, S.T. Wooten moved a portable plant onto the base so crews could deliver asphalt as quickly as possible to the runways. A total of 53,470 tons of hot-mix asphalt was placed for the project. The asphalt plant came from the company’s Garner, North Carolina, location and was returned to that same site at the completion of the project. The same plant has been used to support the I-40 road widening project that is in the works between nearby Raleigh and Clayton.

Making the Shift on S.T. Wooten’s I-40 Road Widening Project 

Gaining Altitude

Paving work is always done with precise measurements in mind, but being exact is even more important for runways and airplanes. For Cherry Point, the military required that the finished pavement had to be within 3/100s of an inch of the plan’s elevations.

To help achieve such an exact standard, S.T. Wooten utilized a Wirtgen milling machine with 3D machine control. This is the same approach used in GPS-controlled grading and earthmoving equipment; here, those same 3D models were used for machine-controlled milling to both the exact grade and slope needed.

S.T. Wooten started by surveying the existing elevation on each runway.

• The measurements were compared to the project plans, which proposed a new finished elevation. The crews couldn’t simply mill and replace the pavement in the exact same way; the entire runway needed to be reprofiled.
• Senior GPS Engineer Danny Wrench used the project plan to create a 3D model of those new elevations.
• The Wirtgen machine-control technology used the 3D model to mill and cut to the proposed grade. This helped ensure the milled surface matched both the new grade as well as milling down to the level required. In this case, that was two inches below the proposed finished elevation.

A second elevation survey was done to ensure the newly profiled and milled surface matched the project specs. This post-mill survey had to be submitted for approval by the government or architect/engineer before the next step.

Crews then paved the 2-inch surface course. A third and final survey confirmed that the final surface elevations were within the 3/100s of an inch of the plan’s specifications.

Crews paved the 2-inch surface course prior to a third and final survey confirming the final surface elevations were within the 3/100s of an inch of the plan’s specs.

Prepared for Turbulence

While 3D modeling helped crews ensure accuracy, the unexpected realities of a work zone can always throw a wrench into plans. One obstacle with the Cherry Point job emerged when it came time to change out the existing pavement profile, which consisted of an old layer of paving fabric that was installed between asphalt lifts. The fabric was not always in the exact location it was supposed to be, which caused milling and paving to take longer than expected.

The team took some troubleshooting measures to help clear the hurdle. Crews performed additional milling in locations of the runway where uncertainty existed to ensure any fabric they encountered was completely removed. Then they placed a new leveling layer of asphalt and re-milled the leveling course to the required pre-pave elevation per the 3D model.

Wooten Expands North Carolina’s I-95

Changes in Flight Path

In addition to some execution challenges, there were changes in the project plans that called for crews to pivot. For paving, a Michigan Wedge technique had traditionally been used for runway construction at the base—involving the creation of a 45-degree slope on the asphalt edge and joining lanes with a joint heater. The Cherry Point project had initially called for a similar strategy, but specs were updated to require a saw-cutting technique.

A subcontractor was hired to perform the saw cutting, which helps ensure a tight connection between lanes. However, the process—combining saw cutting and milling—was one that crews also had to monitor stringently as it can be somewhat messy. Crews were constantly cleaning up foreign object debris (FOD), which is airfield jargon for dust, bits of pavement and rocks. While these small bits might not seem like a big deal, they are especially important to manage on airfield projects where too much dust can cause costly problems for jet engines.

The Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point project garnered a 2022 Ray Brown Asphalt Pavement Award for S.T. Wooten.

A Successful Landing

Despite a rushed start and some changes to the project specs, roughly half of the work was completed before Christmas 2021. That gave crews a long runway to finish the paving when the weather was warmer in the spring and summer 2022. It also meant that crews mostly had to deal with reinstalling the lights and finishing the lane markings toward the end of the project.

Having runway experience helped the team successfully fast-track this project and ensure they safely and successfully met each milestone along the way. Collaboration and hard work also propelled the project to its scheduled completion date. The results will allow a smoother landing for aircraft in the years to come at Cherry Point airfield.

And thanks to the great work conducted by all the crews involved with the project, S.T. Wooten was proud to put some new hardware in the trophy room with its NAPA Ray Brown Award recognition.

Chris Croom is the division manager; materials and quality control, S.T. Wooten Corporation.