Pavement maintenance
You can see the face of the mountain in this picture. When the compaction team used the vibratory setting on the rollers, small rocks would dislodge and come rolling down the mountain onto the mat. A laborer followed the roller to brush the rocks away before the roller changed directions to prevent the rocks from being pressed into the mat. Photos courtesy of Road Builders Corporation
Meticulous Equipment Staging Leads to Pavement Preservation Success Story Road Builders of Hawaii executes a narrow mill and fill MATOC project with good planning, skilled teamwork
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Mt. Ka’ala Road on Oahu is approximately 8 miles long, starting from Farrington Highway and ending at the Mount Ka’ala Air Force Station. During summer 2020, Road Builders Corporation, based in Honolulu, took part in a project that included pavement repairs to a 5-mile stretch in the middle of the roadway. The repairs consisted of 2 3/8-inch-thick cold milling and paving State V AC mix. Six reconstruction locations required 14 inches of cold milling, hard plastic root barrier, 10-inch aggregate base course and 4-inch paving of
14 // September 2021
State V AC mix. In addition, the top 7 miles of the roadway received thermoplastic pavement striping. That might sound like a typical pavement preservation project, but the team faced the unique challenges of high-altitude weather interruptions and a narrow road width that prevented easy movement of equipment. Here’s how Road Builders put good planning and best practices in motion to get the job done for owner/agency U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and General Contractor Elite Pacific Construction Inc.
ALL THE MOVES In the typical open work area, backhoes, skid steers, work trucks, water trucks and service trucks can perform activities in front of and behind the milling operation and paving train. However, this road is only 10 to 13 feet wide with no shoulder area for most of the length of the road. That meant the movement of equipment throughout the day was restricted. Shoulder areas large enough for trucks to pull over or turn around were sparsely
