Connecticut Begins to Use the Notched Wedge Joint
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Summer 2009 ................................. ................................. ................................. In this Issue Connecticut Begins to Use Connecticut Begins to Use the 1 the Notched Wedge Joint Notched Wedge Joint Work Zone Safety Training 2 for Law Enforcement Longitudinal joints in asphalt pavements are formed between individual From the T2 Center 2 passes of the paver. Ideally, this longitudinal joint is as durable as the rest of Resource Library the asphalt pavement mat and will have a life span comparable to the rest of the pavement. The most common longitudinal joint failure occurs from a crack forming in the longitudinal joint, this is FHWA Urges Road Agencies 4 sometimes referred to as the longitudinal joint to Consider “Top Nine” “opening up”. All longitudinal joints will Life-Saving Strategies eventually crack, but the severity and width of the cracking dictates whether or not stan- 2008 HMA Paving Awards 6 dard pavement maintenance activities such as crack sealing can be effective in preventing further pavement degradation. In some cases, Technology Transfer Center 2009 6 the crack in the longitudinal joint will become Fall Calendar so large that it becomes a safety hazard, as bicycle and motorcycle wheels can fit into and become wedged in the crack. Even if the crack does not become 2009 Technology Transfer Expo 7 large enough to present a safety hazard, the crack will allow water to infiltrate into the pavement structure and ultimately damage it. Technology Transfer Center One of the major causes of asphalt pavement cracking, along with longi- tudinal failure, is the thermal cycling that all pavements experience virtually Request Form 8 everyday. These thermal cycles will slightly increase the overall thickness of see Notched Wedge on page 3 ... ... ... ... ... ... .......................................... ... ... ... ... ... Work Zone Safety Training ... ... ... ... ... ... for Law Enforcement ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... This publication is published by the ... ... Connecticut Transportation Institute ... ... ... Technology Transfer Center ... ... Many local municipal agencies and ... ... ... Phone: (860) 486-5400 private contractors enlist the assis- ... ... Fax: (860) 486-2399 tance of local law enforcement to ... ... Web: www.t2center.uconn.edu manage traffic in and around their work class to be very ... ... ... zones and to protect the exposed work- helpful and the ... ... Supported through a cooperative effort ers. State troopers are also regularly used information to be ... ... ... of the Connecticut Department of by the Department of Transportation in useful for their jobs. ... ... Transportation and the Federal Highway work zones on our highways. This is a We will offer additional sessions of this ... ... Administration’s Local Technical huge responsibility for our law enforce- training in the future. ... ... ... Assistance Program (LTAP) to provide ment officers and it is very important For more information about this ... ... information on the latest transportation that they receive proper work zone safety training, visit our website at: ... ... www.t2center.uconn.edu or contact ... technology to Connecticut’s state and training. Recognizing proper work zone ... ... local government officials. practices will help keep our workers and Mary McCarthy at (860) 486-0377 ... ... officers safe. This year in Connecticut, several bills ... ... ... Donna Shea We at the Technology Transfer Center were proposed to our state legislature that ... ... PROGRAM DIRECTOR have long been committed to training address improving work zone safety and ... ... ... [email protected] our State and Local highway employees Public Act 09-187 (S.B. 1081) Section ... ... on the principles of work zone safety and 47 was passed and encourages the State ... ... Mary McCarthy have recently added a training specifically Police, the Post Officer Standards and ... ... ... TRAINING SPECIALIST addressing the role of law enforcement in Training Council, and each municipal ... ... [email protected] the work zone. police department to provide work zone ... ... ... We held our first two sessions of safety training for law enforcement in ... ... Shelly Desjardin Safe and Effective Use of Connecticut each basic and review police training ... ... PROGRAM ASSISTANT Law Enforcement in Work Zones in program. ... ... ... [email protected] early May and received very positive For more details about the new bill, ... ... feedback from our participants. Evalua- please visit: www.cga.ct.gov/2009/BA/ ... ... 2009SB-01081-R01-BA.htm ... Vivian Castelli tions show that participants found the ... ... PROGRAM AIDE ............................................................................. ... ... [email protected] ... ... ... ... ... From the T2 Center Resource Library ... ... ... ... State and local transportation and public Preventive Maintenance Project ... ... works agencies within Connecticut Selection: Right Road, Right Treatment, ... ... ... may request the following resources Right Time ... ... by calling 860-486-5400 or using the Federal Highway Administration and ... ... online information request form at Foundation for Pavement Preservation, ... ... ... www.t2center.uconn.edu/ 2000, VHS, 30 minutes ... ... resourcerequest.php. Provides state and local maintenance ... ... ... supervisors and highway managers with ... ... Protecting Our Pavements: information on selecting the right road ... ... PREVENTIVE Maintenance for the right treatment at the right time. ... ... ... Federal Highway Administration and Addresses various pavement groups, ... ... Foundation for Pavement Preservation, environmental effects on pavements, ... ... ... 1998, VHS, 15 minutes and pavement condition measurements, ... ... Presents highway agency decision- and presents examples of preventive ... ... makers with information about the need maintenance treatments. ... ... ... for, and benefits of, policies and funding ... ... strategies in support of preventive ... ... ... maintenance programs. ... ... ... ... 2 www.t2center.uconn.edu ... ... ... ... ... ... ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................ Notched Wedge continued the pavement; as the asphalt binder ex- achieving a high degree of compaction at They all work on the same basic principal— pands, it warms and pushes the aggregates the joint. Achieving a high degree of instead of creating two nearly vertical faces apart slightly. Then as it cools, it is unable to compaction provides adequate material so for the longitudinal joint as is done with the pull the aggregates back together as tightly that as the thermal cycling begins to slowly butt joint, during the placement of the first as they were when the material was placed. change the pavement’s dimensions, there paver pass, a taper is created that As there is only so much asphalt pavement is adequate material to minimize the extends eight to twelve inches in a road, in order to increase the thickness, amount that the longitudinal joint from the end of the paver the dimensions in the length and width “opens up”. pass. The CTDOT specifica- must decrease. A prime example of this is The most common method tion requires a small com- the gap that typically forms between the used to make these longitudinal pactor to follow the paver asphalt in a driveway and a garage floor. joints in Connecticut has been and compact the taper. More than likely, the asphalt, at the time the standard butt joint. A longitu- Many contractors have opted of construction, was flush with the garage dinal butt joint typically consists of to attach a plate compactor floor and over time, it has slowly pulled two faces that are essentially vertical that directly to the paver. Compacting back. Another place where this are placed along side of each other from two the taper helps to prevent traffic from phenomenon is quite separate paver passes. As indicated above, tearing the taper apart and it minimizes the evident is in large parking experience has shown that these joints amount of loose aggregate on the roadway. lots where there are may not last nearly as long as the rest The second paver pass then matches up wide cracks. In many of the pavement and may present with the first pass, covering the taper. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. .................. situations, if you were able to somehow safety concerns as well as potential damage Now instead of two vertical faces compris- push the two sides back together, they to the entire pavement structure. ing the longitudinal joint, the interface would fit back together like two pieces of For the 2009 construction season, the between the two paver passes involves a a jigsaw puzzle. In these cases, there is no Connecticut Department of Transportation considerable amount of material; making it material missing from either side of the (CTDOT) is allowing the use of a