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Too cold to lay asphalt?

bvfdfire

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 19, 2010
Messages
165
Location
east TX
Occupation
project superintendent for highway heavy construct
We have paved with the temps down as low as freezing, it makes for some horrible joints, makes the customer and the crew unhappy and generally a miserable project. Add in the fact that if you are not paving a quality demanded mix design, the Reclaimed Asphalt Paving and Recycled Asphalt Shingles that the plant adds to the mix to lower their costs, flash tempers the mix at colder temps and reduces the amount of time that you have to compact it. Dependent on different specs here, most instances for paving here are usually around 50 to 60 degrees surface temp rising or quit paving with temps of 80 and falling! We have a project with a special mix pending that can't be finished right now because the spec demands 70 degrees surface temp. And it needs every degree of temp that we can get. It has so many polymer additives and high asphalt content that paves with the consistency of bubble gum!
 

ValleyFirewood

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2013
Messages
311
Location
Palmer, AK
I know this is a really old thread but figured I'd throw in my 0.02 anyhow.

Around these parts they normally shut down paving plants by mid October. I'm not sure of the temp area that it needs to be for paving though we normally have snow on the ground by the end of October.
 

Former Wrench

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2014
Messages
470
Location
Montesano, WA
Occupation
Retired
State of Alaska, DOT&PF says no lower than 40. Although there have been special occasions where the contractor got away with cooler temps by using special mixes and extra care keeping loads hot between the plant and the site.
 

msllc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
108
Location
MID-ATLANTIC = VA
I worked as a road mechanic for a paving company in the mid-atlantic area & I have seen some really STUPID $HIT. I have seen asphalt put down in the rain, snow & freezing cold, too. Just recently, I saw another paving company pave during 25 degree weather. The mat was great after they were done, but it tore / pulled away from itself in about 7 different areas. It was just this week that they came back out with the milling machine to tear it all back out. I'm not sure if the asphalt cooled too fast in the colder weather, or they did not use enough tack (liquid asphalt) to bond it to the under-laying base, but it looked like amateur hour out there. Another major issue is COLD JOINTS. In the summer laying one lane one day, then the other (on a two lane road) on another day, everything is typically just fine. BUT, in the winter OLD JOINTS are too hard to prevent because the mat laid down the day before also acts as a heat sink; just pulling the heat out the new mat be laid down. As far as COMPACTION goes, you need to achieve about 1/4" of compaction for every inch of asphalt being laid down. SO, if you want to lay down 4" of asphalt, then you actually put down a 5" mat, because that amount of compaction is needed to bind everything together. Without proper compaction, the material will just break apart very soon. If you OVER compact it, it will also break apart as well. All in all, laying down a nice mat is not overly hard, but it calls for a good crew to put it down effectively & also to put it down in the most cost saving way, too. I sometimes miss that job. I was the junior man & I learned a $hit ton very quickly. I learned enough to know that the paving company was in the wrong when they lay down a mat in that cold of weather. I ultimately laughed as I realized they had to bring out the milling machine AGAIN, then lay another mat down. I guess, they made too much money the first time, that they just wanted to do it AGAIN for FREE!! Damn, that was funny to see.
 

RZucker

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2013
Messages
4,077
Location
Wherever I end up
Occupation
Mechanic/welder
I worked as a road mechanic for a paving company in the mid-atlantic area & I have seen some really STUPID $HIT. I have seen asphalt put down in the rain, snow & freezing cold, too. Just recently, I saw another paving company pave during 25 degree weather. The mat was great after they were done, but it tore / pulled away from itself in about 7 different areas. It was just this week that they came back out with the milling machine to tear it all back out. I'm not sure if the asphalt cooled too fast in the colder weather, or they did not use enough tack (liquid asphalt) to bond it to the under-laying base, but it looked like amateur hour out there. Another major issue is COLD JOINTS. In the summer laying one lane one day, then the other (on a two lane road) on another day, everything is typically just fine. BUT, in the winter OLD JOINTS are too hard to prevent because the mat laid down the day before also acts as a heat sink; just pulling the heat out the new mat be laid down. As far as COMPACTION goes, you need to achieve about 1/4" of compaction for every inch of asphalt being laid down. SO, if you want to lay down 4" of asphalt, then you actually put down a 5" mat, because that amount of compaction is needed to bind everything together. Without proper compaction, the material will just break apart very soon. If you OVER compact it, it will also break apart as well. All in all, laying down a nice mat is not overly hard, but it calls for a good crew to put it down effectively & also to put it down in the most cost saving way, too. I sometimes miss that job. I was the junior man & I learned a $hit ton very quickly. I learned enough to know that the paving company was in the wrong when they lay down a mat in that cold of weather. I ultimately laughed as I realized they had to bring out the milling machine AGAIN, then lay another mat down. I guess, they made too much money the first time, that they just wanted to do it AGAIN for FREE!! Damn, that was funny to see.

Kinda explains the 13 miles of road our county did that ended up with 1.5" wide cracks every 20 feet. Beat you to death at 55 MPH.
 

Bls repair

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2017
Messages
1,612
Location
S E Pa
Occupation
Equipment operator,mechanic
Years ago it was 40and rising,not so much any more .I have paved many NJ state jobs where the water in the rollers would freeze while running.
 
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