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www.acpa.org
Quarter 4, 2016
15
What do you do
with a 35-year-old pavement that has
broken and shifted panels, joint separation, transverse
joint faulting, and cracking? If you’re the forward thinking
officials of Highlands Ranch, Colo., you look for the best,
most cost-effective solution available.
When the 22,000-acre, master-planned community of High-
lands Ranch, Colo., was founded in 1981, roads throughout
the community were paved with concrete. As the problems
with the roads began to occur in this community of 96,000
people, Douglas County officials opted for a pavement
restoration and preservation strategy, along with some
repair and replacement. Jamie Johnson, P.E., pavement
engineer for the Colorado/Wyoming Chapter-ACPA, had
worked with other counties on grinding and other types of
pavement restoration, so he was able to share six to eight
years of data with county representatives.
“There are a number of benefits provided by grinding over
other options,” he said. “Not only do we expect the grinding
to extend the life of the pavement from 10 to 20 years, but
you don’t lose curbs and gutters as you do with overlays.”
After an assessment of the roads, county engineers deter-
mined several factors contributed to the movement that
was causing the panels to break, separate, and crack. “The
7.5-inch thick pavement was originally built 35 years ago
when the volume of traffic and speeds were lower,” said
Darrell E. Roberts, PLS, manager of engineering permits,
inspections and utilities for Douglas County Department
of Public Works Engineering. He noted the panels were
not constructed using dowel bars for load transfer as they
would be if built today.
Douglas County engineers consulted with ACPA and the
International Grooving &Grinding Association to develop
the contractual criteria used throughout the four-year
project, says Brian Schultz, CPII, an engineering inspector
with the county.
Restoration Extends Life of Concrete Pavements
How Officials Added 10 to 20 Years to 35-Year-Old Pavements
By Sheryl S. Jackson
Pavement before (top)
and after grinding.
continues »