The Situation
Shippen Township in Cameron County, PA knew it was time to improve Hercules Road. This low volume road located in PennDOT District 2. In recent years, the road condition deteriorated to the point that it could no longer be sustained with patches.
The township approached a local paving consultant who explained three options. The road could undergo total reconstruction in asphalt, the township could place an asphalt overlay including a geotextile fabric over the existing pavement, or the existing pavement could be repaired and then overlayed with roller compacted concrete (RCC).
“The job went very smoothly and we will look at other opportunities to use RCC.”
The Solution
After careful consideration, Shippen Township decided to move forward with RCC. This was due to several factors. First, the construction would be fast and therefore have little impact on residents. Second, RCC saved taxpayers as much as 65% more than the asphalt options.
As the project began, the existing asphalt surface was repaired and leveled in preparation for the RCC. Approximately 200 cubic yards of RCC were placed and rolled to a final depth of 4 inches.
The project was completed and open to traffic in just 24 hours. This drew the attention of neighboring municipalities whose representatives came to view the project and are now interested in using RCC for their own projects. “Our industry hopes that other local townships and municipalities take advantage of this technology and incorporate RCC into their paving programs,” said Ken Crank, Pennsylvania Aggregates and Concrete Association. “It is a great alternative and nice way to stretch their paving dollars.”
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