Testing screed types side-by-side in the badlands of North Dakota proves industry can increase density, improve ride with patterned screed, innovation, best practices.

By paving in echelon up and down the hills of Highway 85 in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP), the award-winning team of Central Specialties Inc., headquartered in Alexandria, Minnesota, tested densities and smoothness achieved behind the SDX screed plate design from Caterpillar alongside the traditional SE60 screed plate design. The crew performed this 10.214-lane-mile build in spring of 2024, achieving an average density improvement on the SDX lanes of 1.7% directly behind the screed and 1.2% after the finish rollers. The overall smoothness results paint a sustainable picture for the asphalt industry.

Two Weiler windrow elevator pickup machines and two Cat AP1055F pavers with SE60 V-XW screeds worked in echelon to place two lifts. One screed was equipped with a traditional screed plate while the other was equipped with the SDX patterned screed plate.

“We increased the density by 1 to 1.5% and ride by 10% behind the paver equipped with the SDX screed compared to the traditional one,” Bryce Wuori said. He’s the proprietor of Pavewise, headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota, and was hired by Caterpillar to serve as a consultant on the project. “We saw a 25% decrease in standard deviation. The 10,000-foot view on this project was innovation and technologies that are pushing the industry forward can be proved with this data.”

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park is divided into three parts in western North Dakota, which include a South Unit and Elkhorn Ranch Unit. CSI paved in the North Unit in the spring of 2024.

The crew built longitudinal joints during echelon paving with the notch wedge joint system from Willow Designs LLC, East Berlin, Pennsylvania.

Innovation Everywhere

Not only was the team using the innovative SDX screed plates on one of the pavers, but they also employed thermal mapping, intelligent compaction (IC) and multiple data-collection technologies to assess quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) along the way.

One of the newer tools on hand was the GroundTruth system from Pavewise, which helped monitor environmental conditions in real time. This solar-powered, mini weather station was situated at the project site to communicate with the Pavewise software when inclement weather was rolling in. It also documented conditions for the team. For example, during southbound paving on May 29, the average ambient temperature was 64°F with an average wind speed of 9 miles per hour (MPH). That night, the area experienced 1.2 inches of rain. During northbound paving on May 30, the average ambient temperature was 57°F with an average wind speed of 11 MPH.

The crew set up Pavewise’s GroundTruth system, which helped monitor environmental conditions in real time. Here you see the solar-powered mini weather station, which communicated with the Pavewise software to alert the crew when inclement weather was rolling in and documented weather conditions.

The CSI team executed paving both lifts of more than 12,000 total tons along the 10+ lane miles in two days.

The TRNP project in McKenzie County required paving 10+ total miles from the park entrance to County Road 30 (23rd Street NW). The crew was responsible for grading, aggregate base, hot-mix asphalt (HMA), culverts, box culvert, a pedestrian walking trail, the retaining wall, signage, pavement markings and incidentals. The mix design used on the project was North Dakota’s FAA45, which uses a PG64-34H binder. The CSI team produced the mix at its parallel-flow drum plant from CWMF, Waite Park, Minnesota, which was located outside Watford City. Typical production was 610 tons per hour with a propane-fueled Hauck Eco Star 200 burner. The average mix temperature out of the trucks was 306°F.

How to Use DPS for QC in Paving

Belly-dump, live-bottom and tandem trailers delivered material ahead of two Weiler windrow elevator pickup machines, which in turn fed the two Cat AP1055F pavers with SE60 V-XW screeds vibrating at 1,200-1,400 VPM, and working in echelon.

“The paving widths were 18 feet behind the traditional screed AP1055 and 20 feet with 4-foot slough behind the 1055 with the SDX screed,” Wuori shared. See Figure 1 for more detail.

The base course was 2 inches compacted; the wearing course 1.5 inches compacted. Longitudinal joints were created with the notch wedge joint system from Willow Designs LLC, East Berlin, Pennsylvania. Jerod Willow, proprietor of Willow Designs, spoke to the efficacy of using a joint-making system with a vibrating screed.

“Screed vibration has no effect on the notch wedge device or produces no damage to the joint itself,” he said. “Willow Designs actually has options for electric vibrators on the notch wedge devices themselves because I believe using screed vibration is a good thing to a certain extent.”

Thanks to the GroundTruth system from Pavewise, the team collected environmental conditions data during the project. On May 29, while paving southbound, the average ambient temperature was 64°F with an average wind speed of 9 miles per hour (MPH). That night, the area experienced 1.2 inches of rain. The seasoned professionals at CSI have excellent stockpile management practices and know how to handle a heavy rain event. Paving northbound on May 30 saw an average ambient temperature of 57°F with an average wind speed of 11 MPH and consistently good data points in the northbound lanes.

Willow expanded on his theory and offered a tip for vibe settings. “Having screed vibration set at a moderate and manageable speed is key to help manipulate, turn and lock the aggregate in the asphalt mix together as it is protruded under the screed. A way to find manageable screed vibration per minute (VPM): stand a shovel on the catwalk of the paver screed. If it vibrates off and falls down, the VPM is too high.

“I believe too high screed VPM just causes excessive wear and tear on equipment with minimal results in increased mat density,” Willow continued. “Think about it like this: we are trying to keep the screed of the paver planted to the ground to assure a good ride quality of the pavement we are placing, but now using vibration at a high VPM is like having the screed of the paver do all these ‘micro jumps.’ Think about how vibration impacts work on roller drums. High VPM on the screed seems counterintuitive. From a highly technical standpoint, paver screeds should oscillate to be effective and produce minimal deviations of mat quality as far as smoothness and rideability.”

Shilling Construction’s Proven Screed

To assess mat temperature behind the screeds, the crew employed paver-mounted thermal profiling (PMTP). The SDX-equipped paver employed the Caterpillar thermal camera system, and it collected data showing the average lot temperature behind that screed was 267°F. It also showed a low to moderate incidence of thermal segregation. The traditional paver employed the MOBA thermal camera system, and it collected data showing the average lot temperature behind the traditional screed was 259°F. It also showed a moderate to high incidence of thermal segregation. Wuori indicated: “Thermal consistency behind the SDX produced a lower thermal segregation index than the traditional screed.”

He explained: “The 3D textured surface of the SDX screed kneads the aggregate together, forcing it to move into position. This action develops more density and thermal consistency behind the screed with this manipulation.”

Here you can see the pattern on the underneath of the SDX screed plate. The straight edge shows the “wave” or side view of the patterned plate.

Here you can see the pattern on the underneath of the SDX screed plate. The straight edge shows the “wave” or side view of the patterned plate.

Multiple steel drum Cat rollers equipped with intelligent compaction (IC) and Versa-Vibe worked in breakdown, intermediate and finish positions to achieve compaction. The IC used included a CB-460 display with Trimble Systems, VRS positioning data and WorksOS. Each of these provided the operator with a means to track passes, temperatures and impacts-per-foot to ensure the highest quality of rolling was being achieved on the project.

For the SDX-equipped paver, the rollers were a Cat CB15 in breakdown position and another Cat CB15 in the intermediate position. For the traditional-screed paver, the rollers were a Cat CB66 in breakdown position and another Cat CB66 in the intermediate position. Both paving lanes shared a Cat CB15 in static mode in the finish position.

Paving team Bradley and Jill O’Brien are a married couple who handled compaction behind the SDX screed plate. Jill operates the breakdown roller while Brad operates the intermediate and finish.

Mississippi NCHRP 10-106 Testing Shows Repeatability of Zero-Speed Inertial Profiling

They shared that the mat behind the SDX, “takes fewer passes to get density compared to the conventional screed; less water consumption. When following a rubber-tire roller, the turn around spots are smoother and all-around marks less visible. The SDX screed also prevents less mat tear marks from the steel rollers.”

Using IC was a benefit for the O’Briens as well. They explained the system allowed them to see how many passes they’d completed and where they’d already rolled. “Just like flying an airplane at night—you know where the runway is.”

The team gathered thousands of data points during and after paving to prove the award-winning team of Central Specialties Inc. executed a stellar roadway project for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park with both traditional and patterned screed plates. The data also showed overall smoothness results that paint a sustainable picture for the asphalt industry, proving the innovative use of the SDX patterned screed offers a quality option for contractors.

Smooth Results

With compactors working on the rolling pattern, the team could start gathering density data. They used a NoNuke density gauge from Instrotek Inc., Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to collect 360 points—97 of those behind the screed—before rolling. They used the PaveScan 2.0 RDM from Geophysical Survey Systems Inc., Nashua, New Hampshire, to gather 19,609 DPS data points—9,932 of those behind the SDX screed. An operator from Robison Grinding & Profiling LLC, Gillette, Wyoming, drove the SSI Zero-Speed Inertial Profiler along the project’s base and surface/wear courses.

The results showed a high-quality job. Starting with the non-nuclear density gauge results, Wuori reported the average density directly behind the SDX screed was 91.5%; the average behind the traditional screed was 89.8%. Notice that’s not a bad number. The CSI paving crew was handling mix delivery and paving with best practices. But they were seeing a 1.7% density increase immediately behind the screed with the patterned plate.

AXENOX’s OXCLAW Screed System Creates Buzz in Asphalt Industry

John Fales, CSI paving superintendent on the project, said, “This paving crew is like a well-oiled machine. They take pride in the work they do every day and pave some of the best asphalt roads in the Midwest.”

The non-nuclear density gauge numbers behind the finish roller told a similar story. The CSI paving and rolling train was knocking it out of the park, achieving 93.6% average density in the traditional-screed-plate lane. They hit an average density of 94.8% in the SDX lane, which is a density increase of 1.2%.

Moving to the DPS data on the SDX section, both northbound and southbound driving lanes offered a dielectric value of 4.50 with a standard deviation of only 0.11. This converts to a density of 94-94.5%.

This is the gorgeous mat behind the screed equipped with the SDX patterned screed plate.

This is the gorgeous mat behind the screed equipped with the traditional screed plate.

Here you see the two mats side by side with the hot joint created down the center.

“To CSI’s credit, this was the lowest STD ever collected with the PaveScan DPS unit on an asphalt surface,” Wuori shared. “A decrease in standard deviation equals more consistent average densities. A lower standard deviation is better for percent-within-limit (PWL) projects and decreases the chances of lower/higher cores or dropping the average of a lot down to less of a pay factor.”

The DPS data on the traditional section, both northbound and southbound passing lanes, offered a dielectric value of 4.40 with a standard deviation of 0.15. This converts to a density of 93.5-94%.

The zero-speed inertial profile data is in Table 1 below. Wuori summarized the results, showing the driving lane average difference—with the SDX—was 25.77 with a decrease in roughness of 2.61. The passing lane average difference—with the traditional screed—was 23.26. “This shows us a 10% improvement with the SDX,” he shared.

Patterned Screed Plate, Smooth Mat

Despite its destructive nature, the team had to take some cores—11 random cores behind the SDX screed, 11 random cores behind the traditional screed and 10 randomly along the joint. The engineers Kadramas Lee & Jackson shared that none of the cores behind the SDX screed failed and only one of the cores behind the traditional screed failed to get above the required 92%. This testing showed a 0.44% density increase behind the SDX screed.

The CSI crew used paver-mounted thermal profiling (PMTP) to assess mat temperatures immediately behind the screeds. The SDX-equipped paver employed the Caterpillar thermal camera system, and it collected data showing the average lot temperature behind that screed was 267°F. It also showed a low to moderate incidence of thermal segregation. Consultant Bryce Wuori shared: “Thermal consistency behind the SDX produced a lower thermal segregation index than the traditional screed.”

What the pilot project on Hwy. 85 showed is the use of innovation and best practices brought a slew of data to the industry. This data proves the innovative use of the patterned screed plate, PMTP and IC can offer improved densities and a smoother ride for the taxpayer. When asphalt pavements have a solid and sound foundation, they last longer and offer not only a quality driving experience for the end user, but also a more sustainable option for agencies/owners. The use of such innovative technologies is a win all the way around.

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.

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.

Balancing GTR, RAP, WMA over failing concrete proves successful for Missouri taxpayers

Early June 2023, the team at NB West Contracting, headquartered in Pacific, Missouri, began work on a complex overlay. The main goal was to cover up a 15.3-lane-mile, potholed, concrete section of Route 63 in Maries County and make it a smooth, safe driving surface for the taxpayers. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), Ingevity, National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) and NB West partnered to exceed that goal.

Steve Jackson, the vice president of asphalt plant operations and sustainability for NB West spoke of combining ground tire rubber (GTR) and 20% recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) as one aspect of the warm-mix asphalt (WMA) project.

Jackson took infrared images of the project to double-check consistency of mat temperatures and confirmed that consistency coming from the plant to the jobsite.

“It was a balanced mix design, performance spec, SP095C (9.5-millimeter,) Superpave with ground tire rubber and RAP, warm mix, placed through a spray paver, and bonding to a concrete pavement,” he said. He listed off all those moving parts of the project like it was business-as-usual for the production and paving personnel. For a team that’s been on the scene since 1956, it almost is a walk in the park, yet they pulled out the quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) and safety best practices to make sure everything flowed smoothly for an award-worthy project. In the end, they garnered the Missouri Asphalt Pavement Association (MAPA) 2023 award for a primary route under 50,000 tons. Here’s how they accomplished it.

Familiar Parameters

In 2012, NB West had successfully performed a project bonding an asphalt layer to concrete with the company’s Roadtec spray paver, and saw an opportunity to apply that technology again. Jackson explained the DOT originally was letting the project with the 19.0 mm mix and a 12.5 mm mix for the surface layer, but his team wasn’t excited about that because both layers would have been placed at less than four times the nominal maximum aggregate size.

“The thickness of the layer didn’t allow for the 12.5 mm to work smoothly,” he said. “In 2012, we’d done something similar bonding concrete with the spray paver, so after we were awarded the [Maries County] job, we did a value engineering proposal to bond to the concrete. We suggested two lifts of 9.5 mm Superpave with an overall reduction of 1 inch in the overlay. We’ve been trying to get back to realistic lift thicknesses that can get good compaction and DOT agreed with that.

The Relationship Between EPDs, BMD, RAP & Plastic

“We also proposed using ground tire rubber to delay the cracking coming back through the mix. The other reason for the GTR is we were doing our performance tests, and when we’re using the GTR in those mixes, our IDEAL-CT numbers have just been off the charts. Our performance tests are the IDEAL-CT and the IDEAL-RT.”

Good Numbers: For the Maries County project, the team saw an average CT-Index of 168, an average RT-Index of 77 and Hamburg rutting result of 7.0 mm.

The unconfined joints were on the outer edge of a concrete roadway that had a rock shoulder. The NB West crew paved the mainline and used a non-Superpave asphalt layer over the rock to cover up the shoulder.

Making Mix

Jackson credits the elasticity of the GTR for aiding in pavement performance. “We’re putting the ingredients back in that gives it a little flexibility.”

To add the GTR, NB West uses the dry process, adding Elastiko® engineered crumb rubber asphalt (ECR) manufactured by Envirotx and supplied by Asphalt Plus. N.B. West’s Joe Schroer, P.E., materials and support engineer, explained the dry process is considered mixture modification. Performance testing measures the interaction of GTR, aggregates and binder as a system, and allows a more innovative approach to designing asphalt mixtures, he shared. Additional enhancements to mixture performance can be made by adjusting the grade of the binder.

A groundman brings the 2,000-pound tote of Elastiko material to the feed bin of a modified Hi-Tech Fiber machine with a forklift. From the bin, the machine feeds the material to a 6-inch-diameter flexible hose and to the portable Astec Double Barrel.

Balance Your Mix Design for Asphalt

“We blow it right into the drum,” Jackson explained. “The control unit’s inside the control house and it’s tied into the tons per hour you’re producing.” In this manner, the plant controls the addition of the GTR product as it would cellulose fibers being fed in.

This project ended up with a variety of additives in the production process, but Jackson said it was business as usual for the team. “We had the normal challenges. This still had our normal Superpave testing in it; we were still running volumetric testing and adding in the performance testing. So, it was a lot of testing.”

Jackson shared a testing tip for working with GTR. “When you’re making pucks up, if you put a weight on your mold top (with the GTR in there), it keeps the GTR from rebounding while cooling. If you don’t do that, you get some kinda strange results.”

The unconfined joints were on the outer edge of a concrete roadway that had a rock shoulder. The NB West crew paved the mainline and used a non-Superpave asphalt layer over the rock to cover up the shoulder.

Smooth Quality

In the field, the crew worked with temperatures below 300 degrees F. Even with the Evotherm WMA additive in play, they elected to have temperatures closer to HMA to accommodate the Elastiko. “The manufacturer told us not to go below 280 with the GTR,” Jackson said. “We went down to 270 and didn’t have any problems.” A longer haul—approximately 40 minutes from the plant—for this project allowed a longer dwell time for interaction of the GTR with the binder at the reduced temperature, according to Schroer.

Jackson took infrared images of the project to double-check consistency of mat temperatures and confirmed that consistency coming from the plant to the jobsite. “I took my FLIR camera out there…the good thing is I think the ground tire rubber holds the heat in the mixes. It was about 40 minutes to the job, and we were on a two-lane road where we had to flag the traffic, so it was challenging getting the trucks in and out. But we didn’t lose a lot of heat in the mixes.”

One of the best practices Jackson recommended was staying on top of the rolling pattern. “We were keeping our rollers right up on the screed. Because we were already dropping our temps below 300.”

The mix design used all the moving parts. “We used 20% RAP in this mix and 10% by weight of AC was the asphalt plus Elastiko product. The idea was that we had our baseline AC, which was a 64-22 and 10% of the Elastiko was in there to bump it up to a 76-22. It was the same mix on both lifts.”

Is Your Lab Ready for Balanced Mix Design?

The Missouri DOT allows whatever percentage of RAP the contractor wishes to use and still meet performance specs. “Technically, there’s no limit,” Jackson said. “Our problem is availability. We can’t run maximum RAP in our mixes because we don’t have it. There was nothing to mill on this project, so we had to bring RAP from other locations to put in this mix.”

For the NB West team, that’s just one more solvable problem. Jackson spoke of the “can do” willingness to put a puzzle together when it comes to the crew, starting with Plant Operator Clay Pitts.

“Number One is just the general attitude of not saying ‘we can’t do that.’ Yeah, we’ll try that. That’s huge. Clay’s great about that. Always willing to try something new and make it work.

“Dustin Hollis was the foreman and Juan Marquez was the general superintendent; they manage several jobs at a time.”

Jackson also described the effort the quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) team had to put forth, given the changes to the contract after it was bid.

“Our quality control dept came up with these mixes and tried new things and really kind of pushed the envelope. The performance testing, the way we did this, that wasn’t set up in the contract, so we still had to do all the volumetrics testing and add the performance on top in a BMD situation. We’ve never run this mix so we were going live on the road with what looked in the lab like it would run well and do its performance testing. We had to go behind the spray paver and dig a sample behind the screed in a mat that has a polymer in it. It was a monumental challenge for our QC team.

“We have our plant people and our QC people coming up with this crazy stuff and then we go execute it and we still have to make money at it. I think we did a slight tweak to the mix after the first day or two to take advantage of the performance test because we could reduce our air voids using the performance test.”

The final result gave an average international roughness index (IRI) of 32.

“On concrete pavement that they didn’t have enough pavement repairs for, to come out like that, I think it was great,” Jackson said.

Not only did the project win a MAPA award, the traveling public noticed the good work. Jackson has received unsolicited comments about the work. “I’ve had somebody call and say, ‘that rides real good.’ People see that [kind of result] and they’re more likely to support the gas tax.”

Balancing Mix for Optimum Density

One of the reasons NB West uses a warm-mix additive in every mix they can is to get the compaction aid assistance.

“We run Evotherm in every mix that we have to get density on,” Jackson said. “We don’t run it on Novachip, but every other mix, we’re putting it in there.”

One of the factors that changes when developing a balanced mix design (BMD) and doing your performance testing is the number of gyrations.

“You’re dropping your gyrations,” Jackson said. “You’re making a mix that’s got more AC in it. So, you can take advantage of some of those mixes then of making them more compactible in the lab so when you go to the field, it’s easier to get compaction.”

Take a typical interstate mix as an example.

“We started off at 125 gyrations on interstate mixes. When you’re trying to compact that, you’re breaking rock trying to get density. Then we backed off to 100 gyrations, then to 80. I think we’re at 60 with BMD.

“To keep your voids in mineral aggregate (VMA), you end up putting some more AC in it. So, you have a mix that will compact, and it’s got binder to hold it together. Now instead of breaking rock to get to 92%, you’re rolling this and getting 96%. That’s what FHWA wanted: higher density. We get higher density by going to balanced mix design.”

Learn More

Step 1: The forklift brings the tote of ground tire rubber product to the bin.

Step 2: The GTR product is fed through the 6-inch-diameter, flexible hose.

Step 3: The plant’s controls meter the product just as it would any cellulose fiber being fed to the Astec Double Barrel drum.

When P&S Paving Inc., Daytona Beach, Florida, was founded by Tim and Todd Phillips a little more than 30 years ago, the company had just one employee and one piece of equipment. The company’s three decades of operation have been marked by a number of milestones, from growing to employ more than 250 people and performing jobs valued at up to $75 million.

In 2023, P&S achieved another major milestone. The company was recognized with four Florida Pavement Excellence Awards from the Asphalt Contractors Association of Florida (ACAF). Not only was P&S awarded two special project awards and a third award for the best project in Florida’s District Five, but the company’s District Five project was also recognized with the A.P. Bolton Award for the Florida Road Builder of the Year.

The A.P. Bolton Award is ACAF’s highest award, named in honor of one of the association’s charter members with a reputation for high quality work. “A.P. Bolton was such an influential figure in our industry that it makes sense for him to be associated with the project that stood above all others in the state,” said P&S Quality Control Manager Tim Carter.

P&S Paving Warms Up Quality on I-95

The award-winning statewide project is selected from award-winning district projects, including new construction, reconstruction or major overlays on interstate or multi-lane primary highways requiring at least 30,000 tons of asphalt.

“This was the first time we’ve ever won a statewide award for any of our projects,” Carter said. “When they said our name at the ceremony, I almost couldn’t believe it. For a 250-employee company with just one asphalt plant to win that award out of all the fantastic paving companies in the state is amazing.”

The Florida Pavement Excellence Awards have been recognizing and honoring the best in pavement construction in the state of Florida since 1979.

All Eyes on I-4

One of the aspects of the I-4 project that stood out to P&S Paving was its proximity to the company’s asphalt plant just 10 miles from the project.

The A.P. Bolton Award-winning project stretched along 10.25 miles of Interstate 4 in Florida’s Volusia County, from west of County Road 4139 to State Road 44.

“I-4 is a highly traveled major artery that connects Tampa to Daytona,” Carter said, adding that it’s a common route not only for the transport of goods and services from one side of the state to the other but also for traffic to and from Florida’s theme park attractions. “Everybody in this area who goes anywhere and does anything, whether it’s work or weekend, travels on I-4.”

This, Carter added, includes many district and DOT employees. “It was a very high-profile project,” he said. It’s also along the route Carter travels to and from work each day. “Let me tell you, it was horrible. I couldn’t wait for it to be fixed. So, I was pretty excited when we won the contract to do it.”

According to Carter, the pavement had reached the end of its service life. “It had a rough texture, a lot of surface cracking, some rutting, loss of retroreflectivity of striping—those types of things,” he said.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) opted for full-depth repairs of a crack running the entire length of the project before milling and resurfacing the existing roadway, as well as pavement widening and improved traffic signalization.

This Too Shall Pass

“Mill and resurfacing was the most reasonable approach to rehabilitate this roadway,” Carter said. But before the road could be resurfaced, P&S had to repair that crack. “When the road was widened years ago, the joint between the existing pavement and the widened section turned into a huge crack running for miles in both directions. There had been some attempts to patch along some of the crack to try to mitigate further damage, but the patching was almost as bad as the crack itself.”

To repair the crack, P&S milled 2 feet on either side of the crack to a depth of 8 inches a full 10.25 miles and paved back two 3-inch lifts and one 2-inch lift of asphalt before milling and resurfacing the entire stretch of roadway.

“When we bid on the job, the first thing that caught my eye was its proximity to the plant—less than 10 miles,” Carter said. The second thing that caught his eye was the crack. Several years ago, P&S performed a very similar job on an adjacent section of I-4 in Volusia County.

“With the success of the previous project, I think that gave the department confidence to utilize that process again,” Carter said, adding that P&S’s past experience gave the company an edge over other bids. “We had already done something similar on I-4, so we knew we were capable of it, equipped for it, and had the knowledge and experience to perform that job.”

Time to Trench

The I-4 project required P&S to mill a 4-foot-wide trench along a crack running the length of the project. To introduce material into the trench, P&S devised and fabricated an attachment for the front of a skid steer that would feed material down into the trench. Prior to the I-4 project, P&S milled and filled a 4-foot trench at its main office to test and tweak the device.

P&S bid the project in 2020, began construction Nov. 21, 2021, and completed the project Nov. 13, 2022. The first 42 days on the project were devoted exclusively to the trench repair along the crack.

“When you’re paving a trench, you have to take your time,” Carter said. You also need to have the right equipment, he added. This includes a 4-foot milling machine, a 4-foot roller and some kind of device to get material into the trench. “If you have the right equipment and you take your time to get it right, by the time you’re ready to pave, you’ll have a solid base on which to pave.”

To introduce material into the trench, P&S devised and fabricated an attachment for the front of a skid steer that would feed material down into the trench. “There was nothing on the market we could buy off the shelf, so we had to bring everyone together to brainstorm and make our own.”

P&S Paving Puts Down Dry Process Plastics Pilot

To test and tweak the device, P&S milled and filled a 4-foot trench at its main office. “Once we got the device right, we invited the DOT officials out to the plant to demonstrate how we planned to execute the project,” Carter said. “Not only did that illustrate the spirit of partnership we have with the DOT, but it also put everyone’s minds at ease before we got out to the project.”

According to Carter, this quick ability to problem solve is where P&S’s smaller size is an asset. “It’s easier to create a culture of communication and innovation in a smaller company,” he said. “There’s not a lot of red tape if you need to get something done. If we need to order something, we order it. If we need to make something, we make it.”

The I-4 project required P&S to mill a 4-foot-wide trench along a crack running the length of the project. To introduce material into the trench, P&S devised and fabricated an attachment for the front of a skid steer that would feed material down into the trench. Prior to the I-4 project, P&S milled and filled a 4-foot trench at its main office to test and tweak the device.

Once the trench was milled out and refilled, P&S milled the entire span of pavement (including the new trench) before resurfacing. “Some of the repair efforts of the trench were sacrificed to make a smooth ride all the way across the pavement so you’d never know there was a repair underneath,” Carter said.

“Other than the trench, this was a fairly standard mill and resurface project,” Carter said. “That said, there are some basic tenets that go along with any successful mill and resurface project.”

Among these best practices, Carter stresses the importance of taking time to mill properly. “A smooth ride doesn’t start at the top, it starts at the bottom,” he said. Consistency is key, from keeping a consistent milling speed to a consistent flow of trucks and a consistent paving speed.  “If you limit the amount of times the paver has to stop then you will limit the possibility of bumps and joint issues.”

This also requires consistency at the plant. “The best way to keep your paver moving is to control your trucking and keep your plant production rates consistent,” he said. “And the best way to make consistent mix is to consistently make it; don’t stop and start and stop and start.”

Paving Weather

In total, the I-4 project required 58,000 tons of asphalt: 48,000 tons of Superpave 12.5 mm Traffic Level D HMA for the trench and 1 ½-inch surface course (with PG76-22 polymer modified AC) and 10,000 tons of open graded friction course (OGFC) FC5 HMA with PG76-22 for the ¾-inch friction course.

In total, the I-4 project required 58,000 tons of asphalt: 48,000 tons of Superpave 12.5 mm Traffic Level D HMA for the trench and 1 ½-inch surface course (with PG76-22 polymer modified AC) and 10,000 tons of open graded friction course (OGFC) FC5 HMA with PG76-22 for the ¾-inch friction course.

“Whenever you’re making OGFC in the winter, it’s a challenge—even in central Florida,” Carter said. The I-4 project had to be paved at night and FC-5 HMA has a minimum laydown temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit in Florida. “We can often get down below that between midnight and 5 a.m.”

Carter’s decision to use a warm mix additive in all of its mixes, including hot mix, was particularly useful for this project. “We don’t necessarily make warm mix designs with them, but we use Ingevity’s Evotherm product in everything, typically as a compaction aid,” Carter said. This means that even when placing HMA, the asphalt is workable at lower temperatures than it would otherwise be.

P&S also uses Evotherm as its anti-strip additive. “Everyone here is required to use a liquid anti-strip in all mixes, so it doubles to fill that role,” Carter said. “Why wouldn’t I use a product that also allows me more compaction at lower temperature without having to do anything differently?”

FDOT allows FC-5 to be placed at 60 degrees Fahrenheit when approved by the engineer, based on the contractor’s demonstrated ability to achieve satisfactory surface texture and appearance. For mixes containing PG76-22, the minimum average temperature may be further reduced to 55 when using a warm mix technology, if agreed to by both the engineer and the contractor.

“We were able to use Evotherm to our advantage to meet our production goals and avoid the loss of production days due to weather,” Carter said. “And the results speak for themselves.”

Hat Trick

According to Carter, P&S scored very well on mix production for the I-4 project. “We did well in all three categories; it’s a great looking project, it rides great, and it paid well,” he said.

Even before P&S won the A.P. Bolton Award, the I-4 project was a success. “We had a lot of district folks call up to let us know we were doing a great job on I-4,” Carter said. “I can’t tell you how many people called to tell us how good it looked, how well it rides, that we did a great job. That speaks volumes to the quality.”

The judges for the Florida Pavement Excellence Awards—including both FDOT district employees and ACAF staff—must have agreed. Projects are judged based on a number of factors, including technical scores for mix production, rideability score from a profiler test, and a visual score.

“The judges ride each lane of the road to check joint construction, edge of pavement, texture and surface anomalies, etc.,” Carter said. “The joints on our I-4 project are practically indiscernible, the texture of the OGFC was super consistent, the lane lines are symmetrical. It looks like we laid out that asphalt mat like a black carpet.”

But appearance wasn’t the only area in which the I-4 project scored well. It also achieved an International Roughness Index (IRI) of 31—the best IRI score P&S has ever received. “Most highways like this score anywhere in the 40-50 range,” Carter said. “That 31 isn’t the lowest score in the state, but it’s among the lowest. I think that’s what pushed us over the edge to win the statewide award over some of the bigger contractors in the state who had really constructed some outstanding projects that same year.”

P&S also received bonus composite pay factors for the surface level and friction course. “We scored very well on mix production here at the plant and on our densities, and we got incentives for those as well,” Carter said. “We did well in all three categories; it’s a great looking project, it rides great, and it paid well.”

Carter attributes the smoothness to the expertise of the crew to use the automatics on its Roadtec RP190 paver. “The pavement equipment is naturally a big part of that, but having the expertise and the skill to use the automated electronics is key,” Carter said. “It’s one thing to have them, but it’s another thing to know how to use them and use them well. If you can use automatics well, this is what you get.”

P&S has established a training process to ensure its crew knows how to best utilize the automatics on its equipment. The company regularly sends its mechanics and paving crews to Roadtec’s training program in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“Success comes down to discipline,” Carter said. “Do you keep your folks well trained, your equipment in good working order, and your morale high?” Keeping morale high, he adds, includes ensuring every employee feels as though their opinions matter, their good work is appreciated, and they are full participants in their employers’ victories.

“When we won these awards, we really shared that victory with everybody,” Carter said. “When we received the incentives from the ride bonus, the owner chose not to pocket that money but instead shared it with all the people involved in that project because they did such a great job. I’ve never worked anywhere where someone did that.”

Carter said everyone at P&S was at peak performance on the I-4 project, but that the company’s success isn’t a matter of performing on one single job. “Our guys perform every single day,” he said. “Not once or twice a week, but all five days of the workweek, week after week. That’s the real trick. Anybody can do something well once, but can you repeat that over and over again?”

Smoother AND Safer

The I-4 project also included widening of the shoulders. “If you drive around Florida, you’ll see that many of our shoulders are up to 10 feet wide,” Carter said, adding that FDOT has been adding that to many contracts in the past few years. “The DOT makes extensive use of the Road Ranger program, and they want to make sure these contracts are designed to maximize safety for those guys out there helping motorists.”

An intelligent transportation system (ITS) was installed at the intersection of State Route 44, another major corridor that runs north-south through Volusia County. “The Volusia County Fairgrounds are about 1/4 mile from that intersection, and there’s a lot of activity at the fairgrounds throughout the year, so they upgraded the traffic signals to make traffic there more efficient and safer,” Carter said.

“Ultimately, this project enabled FDOT to repair that crack while giving this piece of roadway some new life with the resurfacing part of the project while also improving safety by widening the shoulders and adding some signalization to improve traffic flow.”

Three Projects, Four Awards

Caption: Space Coast Regional Airport is the nearest airport to Kennedy Space Center, one of the 10 field centers belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

In addition to the two awards P&S received for its I-4 project, the company also received two Florida Pavement Excellence Awards in the special projects category. One of the awards was for the milling and resurfacing of runway nine at Space Coast Regional Airport.

“It’s a really old regional airport, so the project wasn’t without its challenges,” Carter said. P&S used machine control guidance through the milling phase to get the proper cross sections, then placed the P401 wearing course.

The second project for which P&S received a special projects award was the reconstruction of the running track at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona, a world-renowned aviation school.

“They have a pretty robust sports program there at the university and host international track and field events,” Carter said. P&S was chosen to full-depth mill the oval running track and pave back 1 ¼ inches before the specialty contractor could come out to apply a rubberized surface course.

“The paving of the underlying asphalt is key for the specialty contractor who will be placing the rubberized materials on top,” Carter said, given the tight specs they must meet to ensure no competitors are given an unfair advantage. “When the paving is done, these guys typically have to grind out some areas and fill in other areas. The more of that they have to do, the worse the paving job was.”

After the track was completed, P&S received a letter from the specialty contractor’s field superintendent that said, in his opinion, “the work by P&S couldn’t have gone better. In fact, it was probably the best paving job I’ve seen in 10 years.”

The superintendent told Carter they sometimes use 25 to 35 barrels of filler material to even out the pavement, but this job required only two and very minor grinding. “That goes back to the discipline that our guys use when they’re paving these high spec projects,” Carter said.

You can’t complete handwork on the paving job without a plate compactor and a willing worker to run it. This person is sometimes easy to overlook when you’re rounding out your paving crew, but he—or she—is essential to completing a top quality residential or commercial project.

The roller operator has already rolled the speed bump, but Barrett is manipulating the material into the structure they’ve built for final compaction and to remove lines.

It’s not only the starter pad that needs to be compacted with this tool, but any part of the mat where the mix has been agitated by the crew. Any area that’s been dumped into place by the wheelbarrow, skid steer bucket or shovels is an area the plate compactor needs to address. Any spot that’s been touched with the rake or shovel has been irritated and the material needs to be soothed back into place with the plate compactor’s vibration. The savvy laborer is always on the lookout for those blemishes to fix them and seal them. He’s looking to tighten up the mat and make it beautiful. He’s taking out the cut marks or imperfections.

Perfect Example

For the crew at Superior Surfacing Systems Ltd., Middletown, New York, Justin Barrett is the crewmember who is assigned to run the plate compactor. That’s been his job for the past three to four years. Over the past few years, he has not only learned his craft, but he’s also come to exemplify the type of dedicated laborer you want for the position.

The wheels on the compactor are typically in the locked position. You can release them, tilt it back and push to another portion of the job quickly. The u-shaped handle on top of the compactor is strong enough to support the weight of the tool when loaded onto a truck or lowboy with a lift.

Keith Reardon, the president of Superior Surfacing, spoke of Barrett’s talent and dedication to his craft. “He’s responsible for plate compaction and hand tamping of all applicable and critical areas of the job. It’s a somewhat tedious job that requires constant movement and attention to all the little details. It’s often the final touches that make a difference between some other contractors and our high expectations of a truly quality job. Justin has been with us for approximately three to four years, is reliable and enjoys his work and interaction with the crew. I wish I could clone him and spread him around. He truly enjoys what he does and takes pride in the finished product at the end of the day.”

Put Wheels on the Plate Compactor

I don’t know of any other crews that have one person dedicated to running the plate compactor. Barrett is the silent member of the paving squad, but, in this example, he’s the guy who’s making the job noteworthy. This position is so exciting that if you’re doing it right, you’re taking it seriously and you’re sweating bullets out there. You’re hopping from one end of the project to the other to keep up with all the different sections of the mat and all that those sections need.

The roller operator has already rolled the speed bump, but Barrett is manipulating the material into the structure they’ve built for final compaction and to remove lines.

Because he’s moving around the project so often and so quickly, Barrett strategically places 5-gallon buckets of water around the project site for refilling the compactor. The specific plate compactor that he uses is the Husqvarna LF 100 LAT, which has a tube bolted down at the front of the plate. The holes in the tube let water out and the vibrations let the water spatter and splatter to lubricate the plate.

How to Pave a Complex Lot

If a crew has the luxury of paving a straight line for the day’s project, a plate compactor can often follow the rolling train, which means a water truck can be following along or a water tank can be situated on a roller deck. For a parking lot project like we see in the pictures here, having water buckets scattered strategically around the job site is a smart idea.

All good roller operators know to put boards down to protect the joint when “climbing” onto a mat. Here, the Superior Surfacing Systems crew demonstrates using the boards to protect the speed bump’s integrity as it is built. Barrett fine-tunes the bump and removes lines with the plate compactor after it’s been rolled. Notice how smooth and clean the finished mat is on the left side of the photo. The crew leaves no lines; you see no joints in the pavement.

When the rolling train is compacting, the pattern depends on time and temperature. The same is true for the lone plate compactor operator. He has to think about time and temperature but also how well the crew raked out the material he’s about to manipulate. He has to jump on it quickly and seal it quickly because the minute someone interrupts the mix with raking, they have changed the characteristics of the mat. He has to be alert and get on the sections in a timely manner.

If the crew is paving at 25 feet per minute, and he needs three or four minutes to seal the starter pad at one end of the pull, the paver is 75 to 100 feet down the lane by the time he’s ready to move to the next area. He’s looking for the extra places that need his attention all the time and he’s answering to multiple members of the crew.

How to Repair a Utility Trench

The people who call for this laborer’s help throughout the paving day are the roller operator, the raker/lute artist, and the screed operator who’s matching the joint. The fellow running the plate compactor is at their beck and call throughout the shift and he’ll keep an eye on all three of them for when they need him.

In the case of Superior Surfacing Systems’ Barrett, the young man is a natural. As you can see by the pictures here, he puts his whole body into the job. He uses his strength to move, turn and steer the compactor. The Husqvarna LF 100 LAT weighs 236 pounds. It has a 4.8-horsepower Honda engine and is rated with 17 Newtons of centrifugal force. The plate width is 19.69 inches, and its edges curve up like the ski of an endgate to prevent cutting and digging the mat as you work.

It has a corrosion-resistant, removable water tank, and I want to point out the large cap that makes it easier to refill than other models I’ve operated. Also notice the uniqueness of the knob to control the water system being located on top of the water tank as well. It makes it easy to access a visible, sizable knob to adjust the water flow. You can see Barrett adjusting the knob on the fly—and the water spatter action—in the video uploaded with this article at TheAsphaltPro.com website.

John Ball is the proprietor of Top Quality Paving & Training, Manchester, New Hampshire. For more information, contact him at (603) 493-1458.