For most of the project, FNF ran 23 belly dump trucks, most of them doubles, to haul asphalt out to the project. By using the same trucks to back-haul reclaimed-asphalt pavement (RAP) from the mill to the stockpile, FNF significantly boosted trucking efficiency. If milling and paving had been done with separate trucks, the project would have required a total of about 35 trucks.

The contractor won $250,000 in smoothness bonuses on the $10.3 million project.

FNF figured the more efficient operation into its bid. “It worked out real well, and cut down tremendously on the number of trucks we needed and, therefore, the trucking hours,” says Amator. Most of the truck tractors were made by Kenworth or Navistar (International).

And by using double trucks, FNF could haul up to 26 tons of payload per hauling unit. By contrast, a street belly dump can only haul 24 tons. FNF used a few single-trailer belly dumps for locations, such as bridges, that required the trucks to back up. Double trucks don’t back up very well.

As is common in the Western United States, the trucks laid down a windrow of asphalt, in this case in front of a Cedarapids pickup machine. For paving, FNF used a Caterpillar AP 1055 paver. Compaction was accomplished by three Caterpillar Model 634 rollers, all steel-wheeled machines.

The breakdown roller ran close behind the paver and made six passes. Behind that came the intermediate roller, which typically made four passes in vibratory mode. “And once the asphalt cooled down to about 180 degrees, we put a finish roller on it and ran that one in static mode,” Amator says. “We would make two static passes to finish off the compaction effort.” With the placement of a 1⁄2-inch open graded wearing course, the paving was complete.

Bonuses Galore

ADOT allows up to a $4.00 per ton bonus for mix quality. Half of that comes from meeting asphalt content and gradations, and the other $2.00 can result from achieving compaction. “We averaged about $2.30 of the $4.00 per ton possible bonus on that,” Amator says.

For ride quality, ADOT awards bonuses for an International Roughness Index of anything below a 39. FNF averaged a 28 on the IRI – and won smoothness bonuses of $250,000.

How was that smoothness achieved? “We ran leveling skis on the milling machine itself,” says Amator. “And we had leveling skis on the paver also. We try to maintain a constant speed with our paver, and had good communications between the hot plant and the paving crew. If the hot plant had to slow down for any reason, the paver would do the same, to match the plant’s production rate. That way we seldom have to stop the paver.

“Plus we had a very experienced paving crew out there. Rick Allen was our paving superintendent, and he has more than 35 years of experience at this. The project went very well. We were very pleased. And again, that success doesn’t come from FNF alone – ADOT was a very good partner for us.”

WARM

County Road F gets an ‘A’

It can get warm in Wisconsin in June.

This past June, Calumet County became ready to lay the surface course of asphalt on a 4.7-mile stretch of County Road F in Wisconsin. The county hired Northeast Asphalt of Greenville, Wis.

Says Craig Van Beek, project manager for Northeast Asphalt: “We would pave part of the project with warm mix and the remainder with hot mix,” says Van Beek. “The county was excited about the idea, so we proceeded. The total overall tonnage on the project was 9,320 tons, and of that, we used a warm-mix additive for 2,320 tons. It worked out well.”