Getting proper compaction on any lift should be a contractor’s goal, no matter the importance or profile of the project. From someone’s driveway to the Formula 1 racetrack in Miami, people notice the finished product and will talk about it. As members of the asphalt industry, we want their conversations to be positive and glowing for years to come.
We want the public to tout the benefits of the long-lasting asphalt road in front of their houses, in the church parking lot and on the highway they take for the daily commute.
It stuns me how many people try to tell me paving contractors build roads with flaws on purpose. These are people not in our industry, obviously. They tell me, usually with indignation, that our tax dollars are wasted because contractors will merely build something that crumbles a year or two from now so the contractor can be hired to go back and fix the road. When the person learns I’m a construction magazine editor, he or she usually pauses to listen to my explanation of why that assumption is incorrect.
I don’t think I’ve heard tell of a contractor who has the time or workforce to go back and redo a project on purpose. Your local department of public works (DPW) is probably begging contractors to bid its system maintenance contract for the season because even the city or county doesn’t have the time or staff to fix random problems in the network.
It would be ludicrous to purposely work “failures” into a pavement system in an effort to create more work for our backlog down the road. Or, to be fair, to create work for our competition.
Yes, that’s right. When a pavement system experiences a failure, the agency’s latest materials manager or engineer is likely to reassess and decide, “We better use a different method on this road.”
What this means is not only do we, as members of the asphalt industry, have a public relations message to get right in the public eye concerning our best practices, we also must get our best practices right to ensure pavements remain asphalt. This month’s issue includes the annual Corporate Profiles supplement where various original equipment manufacturers and service providers share how they’ve helped clients enhance the bottom line, and it includes information on getting good density. Best paving and compaction practices are included in every issue of AsphaltPro and that’s for your edification. The more we review and incorporate best compaction practices, the better results we get on every project and the better we’re poised to win the public relations battle.
Stay Safe,
Sandy Lender