ForConstructionPros.com

A good paving job will have a smooth, dense appearance that looks flat and tight, without any gaps between the aggregates at the surface. Yet, that appearance doesn’t just happen. There are a lot of factors that affect mat quality.

The paver operator, the paving mix, even the distance from the asphalt plant to the jobsite all play a role in achieving optimum mat density. But the last person to touch the pavement is the roller operator. He/she is the one who has the greatest influence on smoothness.

“Over the years, operator performance has become more and more critical to the bottom-line success of most any paving job,” says Todd Mansell, technical marketing manager, Sakai America. “With job profits based in part on bonuses and penalties in many jurisdictions, the operator must be able to adapt to different jobsite conditions by using all of the features offered on an asphalt roller.”

Train for optimal performance

Most roller manufacturers, in conjunction with their dealers, offer training for end users of their equipment. That training is available in a variety of forms, including group seminars, hands-on courses or one-on-one training on the jobsite or at the manufacturer’s training grounds.

Training gives operators the knowledge to overcome some of the hurdles that can crop up on a project, such as difficult weather conditions, clumpy mixes, extremely thick or thin lifts, joining of hot and cold lanes, etc. “The ability for an operator to successfully adapt his/her rolling pattern to successfully compact mixes such as SuperPave, FAA and the ever-increasing variety of mix designs is arguably the greatest training challenge that must be met in order to maintain quality and productivity,” says Mansell.