Professor Pavement: Better roller means better roads...

[Stephen06GT]

An interesting read. I hope it works as well as they think it will.

https://www.sootoday.com/around-ontario/this-is-prof-pavement-he-might-have-found-a-way-to-make-roads-nearly-pothole-free-898696?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[ZR]

Imagine that, wanted to buy the technology n sit on it. Kudo's on him staying the course and seeing in through.

[RedSN]

"It's like glass —
Just like glass they use rollers.

https://image.slidesharecdn.com/7-130912061718-phpapp02/95/7-glass-making-11-638.jpg?cb=1378966674

Hope his idea works, but this engineer is skeptical. While cracks in the pavement do cause damage through freeze/thaw, it's the subgrade freeze/thaw cycle that creates the potholes.

[5.4MarkVIII]

Interesting but I think your right. What’s under the road had more of an effect that how it’s rolled.

So often any more all they do is a quick shave and pave. And never address the base of the road.

[83 5.0]

Maybe if the suppliers delivered a quality product https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/contractors-face-new-rules-after-ag-report-finds-shoddy-asphalt-used-1.3300690

Given there are only a small handful of large scale pavers, I think the government is ripe for being short changed.

[Scrape]

Roads are crap in general. When I was on the 401 going westbound coming back from DaSilva's the collector lanes were just atrocious! F#@$$ me! I hope this thing works.

[ZR]

Stephen and I were having the same conversation coming back. The 401 is brutal in that area.

[RedSN]

I didn’t realize how bad the 401 was because I avoid it like the plague, but we were out yesterday on the 401 (Markham to Leslie) and wow it’s bad!

[OldSchool]

The 401 gets a bloody pounding. It is hammered on daily without end. Without any spring load restrictions, fully loaded trucks are just squeezing the life out of it, Then steel bladed plows just help finish it off. ( all necessary part of it, i am shocked ar how many trucks are on the thing now compared to several years ago)

That being said. I agreed Asphalt mixes have come crap. It is not cheap, cheap garbage. With this war on fosil fuels they have changed the mixes so much. There is so much sand it in now with no real asphalt binder. they use the excuse it is “ self healing” now.... BS it falls aparts and cracks so easy allowing big business to repair more often and make money double. Driveways/laneways from the 80s, are hard as heck and come up in full sheets. These newer ones, in the last 10 years, just crumble, sink and fall apart so easy. Some of the reason Concrete is being used, even at such a higher cost.

[90GT]

Asphalt producers very rarely use "virgin" asphalt for new roads. Simply because of cost. Its either too expensive and the contract owner doesn't want to pay. Or the producer cant make a profit with virgin asphalt and mixes up to 50% RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement) to lower the cost. A lot of the time this is done at the plant without anyones knowledge. When RAP is used, the mix must be heated at a higher temperature to re-liquify the bitumen in the RAP aggregate. The heat makes the reclaimed aggregate in the mix more brittle. The stone is not as dense. Lowering the quality and durability of the final mix.

The second biggest factor is the actual procedure of paving. ITS SLOW. Paving contractors are more about production than quality. If it realistically takes 1 week to pave a road, they want to do it in 3 days. The faster they can get the job done and move out, the better. For example, when paving a highway, for a smooth finish and to properly compact the asphalt to 98% or better, the paver should not be moving faster than 13-15 feet per minute. AND SHOULD NEVER STOP!! The range of temperature for compaction is between 90-140 degrees. Anything lower and the asphalt is too stiff to compact, anything higher and the actual bitumen is burned away by the heat. There is lots of room for error when you factor in things like GTA traffic, weather ect. All of which effect the quality of the road.

So sure, a new roller might help, but will a contractor use it properly? Is it slower than current rollers? Also, most of the machine operators are union. If 1 roller replaces 3 rollers, the union loses 2 workers....that aint gonna fly!

Just my two cents.... coming from a quality control coordinator with 17 years experience paving EVERYTHING in the GTA...lol...currently making life difficult for people in the Six Points area! Haha...

[ZR]

^ Thank you.