Miscellaneous: Vehicle Barrier

I was at dinner (outside because of Covid). The restaurant had a unique barrier to protect the dining tent. It is a portable vehicle barrier from Pitagone and distributed by ARX Perimeters. It is a product from Belgium and appears to be bad ass.There is no anchoring involved. An intruding vehicle hits the barrier, […]

Pavement Rating: The Heart of It All

The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is the most important element of determining pavement conditions.  It is at the heart of the Zimmer approach to managing pavements. The PCI was developed at the Corps of Engineer’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois by my friends, Mo Shahin, PhD. and […]

Around n’ Round We Go: Asphalt Concrete Recycling/Paving Process

Below is a really good figure of the equipment used in the surface milling/recycling/paving process. It was produced by The Wirtgen Group. They manufacture milling machines, crushers, hot mix asphalt plants, pavers, and compactors, like a vertically integrated conglomerate. Interestingly, Wirtgen is a corporate subsidiary of the John Deere Company. […]

Pavement Patching: Throw and Go

A common approach to repairing a pavement pothole is to fill the void with asphalt concrete.  If there are only a few potholes, a few bags of cold patch material from the local builder’s supply store can be use to fill the holes.  Here are some tips that will make […]

Tearing Up the Highway Like a Big Old Dinosaur

If you know me, you know I’ll take any opportunity to work a Bruce lyric into a post. But, unlike the song, a Cadillac isn’t tearing up the highway. The machine used is called a rotomill. In the photograph, it is working overnight to remove a portion of a parking lot asphalt concrete […]

The First Smart Road?

Roads have been constructed for centuries, but have intelligent roads been around for as long? A good case can be made by examining the above photograph. The roadway is found in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.  The Romans were on to something here and you will see similar approaches used in […]

The 2,000-Year-Old Road

It has been noted that ancient Roman roads are still intact after 2,000 years but nowadays, it seems our roads are in constant need of repair. Why is that? There are many reasons for short performance lives, but for now, we will focus on the Roman road cross section.  After comparing […]