Taking a new direction for asphalt maintenance
Overview
The Street Division’s Asphalt Crew is taking a new direction for asphalt maintenance and repair. By utilizing new equipment and techniques, Streets can adopt more permanent and smoother solutions that can be used on roads in various conditions.
Asphalt preservation
Streets has implemented new pavement preservation methods, including GSB-88, an emulsion-based sealer that penetrates the pavement surface to slow oxidation and preserve the asphalt base. This and other emulsions restore and strengthen aging pavement, extending the life of the roadway.
Asphalt infrared reclaimer
Filling potholes or patch treatments can be helpful, but to better repair the road, Streets must remove or reclaim entire fractured sections. We are able to reuse old asphalt in place with our new infrared reclaimer.
The infrared asphalt reclaimer machine uses infrared technology to heat up asphalt up to 350 degrees. This allows crews to shovel and rake up an one to one and a half inches of asphalt on the surface and reclaim it by heating it, and then mixing in new asphalt and oil. Then crews put it back on the road, spreading and rolling as if it were new asphalt. This recycled asphalt helps maintain a more durable road base.
This machine allows the Asphalt Crew to perform more permanent and smoother fixes to deteriorated roads than ‘level patches’, as seen below, or pothole filling. The infrared reclaimer will be especially useful in the winter months when asphalt is not manufactured and sold.
See photos of the infrared reclaimer being used during a project on 919 North 1400 West:
Saw cut and mill
When roads are damaged more extensively, the Asphalt Crew can utilize their patch truck to fill larger patches on the road.
- The damaged area is outlined, cut through with a rotating saw blade, and torn up by a backhoe.
- Once the asphalt is removed, crews measure the thickness of the road base.
- If the area exceeds three inches, they add reclaimed milling material to elevate the surface.
- This reclaimed milling saves materials and money.
- The patch truck then begins to prep the area by spraying oil on the level base, followed by filling it with new asphalt.
- Crews follow behind the truck, building up a raised bed of asphalt that will then be rolled over and smoothed.
The patch truck is another tool used to extend the life of the City’s roadways and ensure a smoother and safer ride for all.
See photos of the patch truck being used to fill in a more extensive repair on 919 North 1400 West:
Contact us
Contact the Streets Division by:
Phone: 801-535-2345
Report a pothole by selecting the below button: