2021 road paving schedule announced
>> In the efforts to improve infrastructure, the Montgomery County Roads and Bridges Department announced a schedule to advance the 2021 road program.
Improvements are expected to focus on base repairs, storm water inlet repairs, milling, paving and pavement markings in the coming months. The program also includes other improvements to make ramps compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Ridge Pike from Belvoir Road to Conicelli Auto Credit and Sumneytown Pike, from Troxel Road to Route 363 have been completed.
County officials provided a timetable for work on the following thoroughfares:
• May: ADA-compliant ramps for sections of Easton Road and Germantown Pike
• May: Germantown Pike from Swede Road to Old Arch Road
• June: Easton Road, from Route 611 to Old Welsh Road
• September: Swamp Pike, from Route 663 to Forest Glen Drive
The entire paving operation is completed over a period of three-to-five weeks from the time work begins. The anticipated time to complete work on each street segment varies and is dependent on the length and width of the roadway and the degree of safety required.
“A 10-to-15-year life span on repaving work is expected,” said Thomas J. O’Brien, administrator of Montgomery County Roads and Bridges Department. “Allen Meyers was the successful bidder and is under contract to complete the asphalt road construction and paving services.” “Montgomery County Roads and Bridges in concert with McCormick Taylor will be providing full time construction oversight and quality control,” O’Brien continued.
The “paving train” is made up of numerous personnel, safety procedures, and equipment, which allows for a smooth paving process:
• following the milling of the road, asphalt is transported to the project location by dump trucks that start the paving train in motion by releasing asphalt into a paving hopper;
• asphalt material flows from the paving hopper to augers and eventually to the screen at the rear of the paver. A continuous, nonstop paving process ensures a quality product;
• paving crew members working at the rear of the paver screen monitor the mixture for temperature and thickness. Many crew members are needed to perform the work safely;
• two or three rollers make up the rear of the train on a project. The rollers do primary compaction, balance density to the mixture and the last roller smooths the asphalt surface to protect the underlying road structure and improve the quality of the ride, and
• behind the rolling operation, quality control technicians perform density testing or obtain core samples from the roadway. Asphalt pavements are typically ready for traffic once the mixture has cooled below 150 degrees — usually in a few short hours.
Once the road is repaved, a specialty line painting subcontractor uses epoxy paint to stripe and place pavement marking.
For more information, visit the department’s website at www.montcopa. org/377/Roads-Bridges.