FEATURE Review
by Steve Meyer and Stephen Stumpf
Solving Multiple Problems With One Project Des Peres, Missouri
The Fairoyal Drive project was completed under budget and ahead of schedule.
In the summer of 2021, the city of Des Peres undertook its largest street replacement project in decades. Fairoyal Drive is a mile-long residential neighborhood street serving more than 300 homes. Previous residential street projects replaced small segments to minimize impact on residents. However, small projects delayed needed replacements, disturbed the neighborhood repeatedly and increased costs. The public works department resolved to start replacing longer
segments of street. In 2018, the City replaced a 1,000-foot-long section of Fairoyal Drive and proved that larger projects could be completed more economically and with minimized impact on residents. Following the successful project, the City budgeted to replace the remaining 2,100-foot-long section of the street in 2020. Besides replacing the pavement, this project would address two more problems: speeding and persistent wet sidewalks and gutters.
Pavement In order to build a road that would last, the depth of the pavement was increased from 5 inches on clay to 8 inches on a 4 inch crushed stone base. Steel dowels and tie bars were used at joints to transfer load and hold slabs together. This multigenerational asset is more environmentally friendly and sustainable simply because it will last so long. Mix designs included Type C Flyash, that reduced the amount of cement www.mocities.com
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