ACPA Concrete Pavement Progress - Quarter 3, 2021

Concrete Pavement Progress www.acpa.org 10 A L A B A M A I N T E R S T A T E “Overall, RCC construction for roadways has come a long way in terms of quality and smooth- ness in the last decade,” says Will Gray, owner of A.G. Peltz Group. “It is especially effective in limited work spaces because equipment does not extend beyond a lane.” Gray notes that RCC is typically 10% to 15% less expensive than traditional concrete construc- tion because it does not require forming and finishing—a capability that proved especially important for the I-59 shoulder rehabilitation project. In this case, ALDOT required that the shoulder work for each segment had to be done in one operation to ensure that the interstate lanes could reopen for travel during high traffic periods. “RCCworkedwell for our requirements,” saysGary Smith, construction engineer for the Birmingham Area for ALDOT. “The planer cuts the shoulder down five inches with the RCC equipment follow- ing right behind filling up, so there’s no drop off when the construction is complete. They can do the entire 5-inch lift with one operation.” Inside the Mix Besides the use of concrete compaction meth- ods to rehab the I-59 shoulders, A.G. Peltz also adjusted the concrete mix. Instead of a conven- tional solution, the contractor chose a blended cement with a higher limestone content, called EcoCemPLC from Lehigh Hanson. I -59 TRUSSVI LLE , AL » continued from page 8 Photos by Lehigh Hanson/Audrey K. Noe