Friday, May 30, 2014

Overlay and Subgrade Improvement, Laguna Niguel, CA




 

The residential roadway project is using FORTA-FI® to reduce the asphalt pavement section from 5" asphalt to 4" Fiber Reinforced Asphalt, saving $2 per square yard and providing an extension of pavement life (estimated $140,000 total savings in asphalt material alone). The 4" Fiber Reinforced Asphalt is being placed in two lifts on 9" of aggregate base.

Project Details:
Location: Laguna Niguel, CA
Owner: City of Laguna Niguel, CA
Paver: Hardy and Harper, Inc.
Producer: Vulcan Material Company, Santa Ana, CA
Tonnage: 19,700
Fiber: FORTA-FI® HMA

For more information, please visit: www.forta-fi.com





Friday, May 23, 2014

State Route 4014, Clearfield County, PA




PennDOT District 2-0 chose a one mile stretch of SR 4014 as a test section for FORTA-FI®.  Grannas Brothers produced a PG64-22 WMA using FORTA-FI® warm mix fibers and the 9.5mm wearing course was placed as a 1 1/2" overlay in Clearfield County on a 0.3 to <3 million ESAL road.  A control section on the same stretch of roadway was placed using non-FORTAfied asphalt as a comparison. 

Project Details:
Location: PennDOT District 2-0 Clearfield County
Owner: PennDOT District 2-0
Engineer: PennDOT District 2-0
Producer: Grannas Brothers
Contractor: Grannas Brothers
Tonnage: 1,000
Fiber: FORTA-FI® WMA

For more information, please visit: www.forta-fi.com

Friday, May 16, 2014

State Route 85, Riverdale, GA





The highway is classified as a major urbane arterial roadway. The highway varies from 3 to 2 lanes in each direction and part is a divided with grass median. Many shops and malls are located along this stretch of road and has very heavy traffic for most of the day and night. Night time paving was required due to the heavy traffic. The purpose of this project was to determine if fibers could replace the high cost polymer modified mixes.

Project Details:
Location:  Riverdale, GA
Owner: Georgia DOT
Engineer: Georgia DOT
Producer: E.R. Snell
Contractor: E.R. Snell
Tonnage: 36,000
Fiber: FORTA-FI® HMA


For more information, please visit: www.forta-fi.com

Friday, May 9, 2014

Jerome Street Bridge




The Jerome Street Bridge is an arch bridge across the Youghiogheny River connecting the east and west banks of the Pittsburgh industrial suburb of McKeesport, PA. It's 762 feet long and opened in 1937. In 2012 three inches of the existing wearing course were milled off and replaced with 1" of an FJ base course followed by a 1 1/2" Warm Mix wearing course designed with
PG76-22 and FORTA-FI® 3/4" high tensile strength synthetic fibers. Lane Construction Corporation made the material and it was placed by Donegal Construction Company on a multi-night paving project. The FORTA-FI® fibers were used to prevent reflective cracking as well as aid in compaction of the material since a vibratory roller couldn't be used because this was a bridge deck.

Project Details:

Location: Penn DOT District 11-0 Allegheny County
Owner: PennDOT District 11-0
Engineer: PennDOT District 11-0
Producer: Lane Construction Corporation
Contractor: Donegal Construction Company
Tonnage: 600
Fiber: FORTA-FI® WMA

For more information, please visit: www.forta-fi.com

Friday, May 2, 2014

Potholes


Winter is gone, Spring has sprung and Pothole fishing is in season. Potholes continue to haunt us even after winter is a thing of the past.  Potholes are an example of asphalt failure. The problematic pothole is caused when water penetrates the the underlying soil structure.  As traffic continues to pass over the road way it weakens the soil and the asphalt starts to crack. These surface cracks allow more water and elements such as salt and chemicals to continue to break down the asphalt and create a hole in the pavement.

Potholes not only cause a bumpy ride to and from our destinations, but potholes cause damage to our cars. The damage to our cars can be costly.  Costs that arise from potholes are not only felt directly from our wallet for car repairs, but also can be attribute to our tax dollars going to repair these nuisance holes.  With municipality, state and government budgets shrinking and more roadways being neglected, it is certain the pothole headaches will not be going away soon.

Typically potholes are repaired in defense to the already existing hole.  Road workers are often out patching and repairing our roadways in early Spring after the harsh elements of Winter. Typically, workers will apply a cold patch to a small pothole to fix the issue.  For larger, car swallowing, potholes road crews need to be called in to apply hot asphalt to fix the larger problem.

One solution to battle potholes is to be on the offensive and create a better asphalt mixture when the roadway is being paved. FORTA-FI® high tensile strength fiber for asphalt in roadways perform better and last longer than traditional asphalt placements.  FORTA-FI® fibers distributed throughout the asphalt paving material increases the strength and durability of the roadway while helping to resist premature cracking and rutting.  Going Longer... Going Stronger with FORTA-FI®.


For more information, please visit: www.forta-fi.com