ACPA Quarter 3 2019

www.acpa.org Quarter 3, 2019 17 continues on page 19 » Florida Highway Represents New Oppor tunity for Concrete By Sheryl S. Jackson THE RECONSTRUCTION OF 5.5 MILES OF SR710 in Martin County, Fla., from a 2-lane to a 4-lane divided facility represents a great opportunity for concrete pavement. The project is straightforward, as there are no bridges along the section. The contractor was also able to pave long stretches at a time because of the traffic control plan. But there’s more to the story, and one reason this project is special is that the concrete pavement is being placed in a state that has typically paved less than 2% of highway lane miles in concrete. This stemmed from a bad experience with the performance of concrete pavement on I-10, which was built in the 1970s, explains Sam Joiner, General Manager of Concrete Operations for the Southeast Region of Ajax Paving Industries, an ACPA member. “The pavement suffered from a combination of poor design and poor con- struction, so when I moved to my current position, I was charged with working with Florida’s Department of Transportation representatives to educate them about the current state of concrete paving,” he says. More recently, a combination of ACPA-sponsored workshops on concrete pavement design, the work of the Florida Chapter-ACPA, and the support of Joiner and others in the industry has created interest in concrete, he says. “These first concrete pavement jobs were originally designed as asphalt and converted to concrete, which created some design challenges, but now we are seeing concrete designs from the start.” Joiner represents contractors on FDOT’s Rigid Pavement Committee, which helps develop specifications and evaluate projects that are appro- priate for concrete pavement. “When advocating for concrete pavements, S R 7 1 0 O P P O R T U N I T Y