john1066
Well-Known Member
Here is 40 and rising but it depends on the inspector.
yesis it just a matter of getting the mat compacted at the right temp as it cools?
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.