ACPA Quarter 3 2019

I - 8 5 South Carolina Interstate Reconstruction By Sheryl S. Jackson THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT WHY AN 8-MILE SECTION of I-85 in Spartanburg County, S.C., developed significant maintenance issues, including included failing slabs, says Jesse (Jay) Thompson, P.E., State Pavement Design Engineer for South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). “The pavement was designed in 1991 and completed in 1995 using paving standards that were typical—a 12-in pavement with 20-ft joints over a permeable asphalt drainage layer and a cement-modified soil subbase,” explains Thompson. “We started noticing some cracking in the first 10 years of ser- vice and a major problem became obvious between years 15 and 20.” The cracks and faulting in the concrete slabs were allowing water to move into the permeable asphalt, but the drainage layer did not perform as designed. www.acpa.org Quarter 3, 2019 11 continues on page 12 »