by George Goggin
| “Superpave is the answer” for virtually solving the problem of intersection rutting, according to Wayne Menchey, Century Engineering. Wayne’s assessment is based on the results of two recent intersection improvements constructed in Anne Arundel County. The first, done in the Summer of 2001, was at the stop light intersection of Riva Road and Route 450 on the road approaching the entry ramp to US 50. This heavily traveled route averaging some 63,000 vehicles per day, had been paved in 1993 and had developed ruts averaging three to four inches, with some deeper. Based on an earlier meeting with Anne Arundel County DPW officials, Brian Dolan, MAA President, had suggested the use of a Superpave mixture to solve the problem. Reliable Contracting Co., Inc. of Millersville, was selected as the contractor. “We did the job at night to minimize traffic disruptions and also closed only one lane at a time of the two-lane intersection,” said Rob Scrivener, Reliable General Manager. “We went in and milled off two inches of the existing pavement about 250-300 feet back, then came back and milled off another three inches in the heavily rutted areas. We then placed a Superpave mixture utilizing 12.5mm aggregate and a polymer modified PG76-22 binder two inches overall and an additional three inches in the heavily rutted areas. All materials were compacted with a vibratory roller to a 94% density.” |
 Veterans Highway approaching Benfield Boulevard |
| Based on the success of the Riva Road/450 project, in September of 2004, the same solution was applied to the intersection of Benfield Road and Veteran’s Highway, another heavy traffic area (some 40,000 vehicles per day including a large proportion of trucks from nearby commercial areas) leading to an entrance ramp to I-97. With two travel lanes and one turning lane, this intersection had been paved about 10-15 years ago and was exhibiting rutting of four to five inches in some of the more heavily-impacted areas. Reliable Contracting again did the project at night, with a lane kept open to traffic throughout. In some cases, the existing pavement was milled back as much as 250-300 feet from the intersection, with two inches milled (three additional in the more heavily rutted areas) and the same Superpave mixture and depths applied as in the Riva Road/450 project. “We haven’t taken any profilograph readings as of yet on either intersection,” Wayne Menchey says, “but I travel both of them virtually every day and they both are looking very good.” |
 Riva Road @ MD 450 |
 Riva Road approaching Rt 450 East |
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Both these projects have their genesis in a highly successful State project carried out in 1993 at the intersection of routes US 40 and MD RT 213 in Cecil County. This intersection was experiencing significant pavement deformation (in excess of one inch per year): milling of the roadway high spots was being required once or twice each year, with resurfacing occurring every year, and the Maryland State Highway Administration was spending approximately $30,000 every year just for maintenance.
The contractor for that project was T.C. Simons (now American Infrastructure). Simons milled off eight inches of existing pavement and replaced it with eight inches of Superpave (two inches of 19mm and two three inch lifts of 25mm). Another heavy traffic area (29,200 ADT - 12% trucks on US 40 and 13,900 ADT on RT 213), this project was also done at night (Sunday through Thursday) with traffic maintained at all times, including access to nearby business establishments. Carlos Rosenberger, District Engineer for The Asphalt Institute, visited the Rt. 40/213 intersection in the Fall of 2004 (11 years after the project was constructed) and reported: “No maintenance had been performed (since the project’s completion), not an overlay, no crack sealing and no patching related to the initial construction. The distresses that are present are: reflective cracks from the joints in the underlying nine inch Portland Cement pavement and some minor raveling in the shoulder areas. Did the Superpave solve the rutting? The SHA’s 2003 pavement management survey data showed an average rut depth of 0.25 inches in the left wheel path and 0.08 inches in the right wheel path.” Wayne Menchey may be right: Superpave is the answer.
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