Hawaii's First SMA Project

Achieving the proper temperature of the SMA at the plant and maintaining the mix temperature when it's trucked to the project is much easier to do when the plant is geared up to produce 300 to 400 tons per hour. Plant operators changed the proportions of aggregate sizes, and some adjustments were made on the asphalt cement to hold the desired temperatures during placement. The paving crew also added another Hypac C-784 to achieve a tandem rolling pattern for improved compaction.

After adjusting its rolling techniques and making a few changes at the plant, Grace Pacific was on its way into a new era of HMA in Hawaii. The company was fortunate to have pioneers from the HMA industry to oversee mix production at the plant, and also monitor compaction efforts out in the field. Chuck Deahl, national accounts manager for Bomag and Compaction America, and Dennis Niedziela of Bomag provided assistance in helping Grace Pacific gain an understanding of how to produce and compact SMA mixes.

Both felt confident the mix design looked as good as any other SMA mix they experienced on other projects and felt proper placement would produce similar results to other high-profile SMA projects, like I-75 in Atlanta or the three million tons of SMA that has been placed in Maryland.

Grace Pacific is fortunate that Hawaii's DOT is giving the company the opportunity to expand its offering of quality products with durability and smoothness for asphalt pavement. From what the contractor has laid down thus far, Grace Pacific is confident SMA will be a reliable mix and another option in meeting the demands from the public and government agencies.

Always improving

Constantly updating its equipment fleet, as well as improving mix designs and techniques allows Grace Pacific to continue to be the largest asphalt pavement company in Hawaii, with services to most of the Hawaiian Islands.

The company's managers are always traveling, visiting different states to learn more about new equipment and purchasing state-of-the-art equipment. Smoothness incentives are always compelling for the asphalt contractor to deliver quality work.

Grace Pacific is always interested in new products that will provide taxpayers with the best results for their investment. Training is key to maximizing the company's investment in equipment, products and techniques required to efficiently and effectively deliver what's required to complete a project.

All Grace Pacific associates working in the field receive ongoing training when new equipment and paving techniques are added, and equipment dealers are encouraged to provide training of new equipment on actual projects the company is building throughout the Hawaiian Islands.