Collaboration Leads to 'Intelligent Compaction' Demo in California

Intelligent compaction demonstration and open house on the Long-Life Asphalt Pavement Project now under construction on I-80 in Solano County

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CalAPA is partnering with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Caltrans and Teichert Construction to host an "Intelligent Compaction" Demonstration and Open House on the Long-Life Asphalt Pavement Project now under construction on I-80 in Solano County.

The dates of the event are Sept. 4-5, 2103, with the Open House scheduled for Friday Sept. 6, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Click HERE for additional details and to sign up.

Intelligent Compaction (IC) refers to the compaction of road materials, such as soils, aggregate bases, or asphalt pavement materials, using modern vibratory rollers equipped with an integrated measurement system, an onboard computer reporting system, Global Positioning System (GPS)-based mapping, and optional feedback control. IC rollers facilitate real-time compaction monitoring and timely adjustments to the compaction process by integrating measurement, documentation and control systems.

IC rollers also maintain a continuous record of color-coded plots, allowing the user to view plots of the precise location of the roller, the number of roller passes, and material stiffness measurements. Proper placement and compaction of asphalt has been long associated with a quality job and durable pavements.

IC requires specially equipped rollers. IC rollers are vibratory rollers equipped with instrumentation fed to a documentation and feedback control system that processes compaction data in real time for the roller operator. The precise location of the roller, its speed and number of passes over a given location are mapped using the GPS or a similar system.

To determine the effectiveness of the compaction process, compaction meters, or accelerometers, are mounted in or about the drum to monitor applied compaction effort, frequency and response from the material being compacted. Project test strips are often calibrated to allow a correlation between the compaction index and conventional measurements such density. Additional temperature instrumentation for asphalt IC rollers allows the user to monitor the surface temperature of the asphalt pavement material. A critical feature of IC rollers is a system to collect, process and analyze the measurements in real time.

The FHWA has included IC in its "Every Day Counts" initiative to push innovative practices that can stretch scarce tax dollars and result in better projects. The benefits of IC are said to include: improved density, increased productivity, reduction of highway repair costs, creating a continuous record of material stiffness values, identification of non-compactible areas, and improved depth of compaction.

To learn more about Intelligent Compaction, click HERE.

 

 

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