There’s more to road paving than you and your automobile know

Tired of driving on potholed roads? Who isn’t? We may not (yet) have tolls, but the terrible condition of our highways takes its toll on our vehicles with bent rims, alignments and other repairs.

There are more than 10,000 lane-miles of state highways in Connecticut, of which only 300 are repaved each year. But that work involves more than just slapping a new layer of asphalt on those roads.

Repaving costs anywhere from $305,000 per mile and is funded with 20-year bonds.

PLANNING: Years of planning go into repaving projects, making sure that all necessary utility work, drainage projects and water mains are finished before the CDOT comes in. Catch basins must be realigned, curbs replaced and sometimes even the guard rails raised before any work can be done. Nothing pains the state more than to see a newly repaved road get dug up, creating cracks that can lead to potholes.

CDOT issues contracts for all repaving projects rather than using their own crews and those contractors must be sensitive to abutting neighbors, including businesses, which don’t want to be interfered with during construction.

As a result, most work is done at night with contractual obligations to return the road to use by the morning rush hour. CDOT inspectors monitor every step of the project.

MILLING: The repaving work begins by “milling” the old asphalt off the roadway, removing anywhere from the top inch to as much as six inches. Some highways have up to 15 inches of old asphalt!

The old asphalt is recycled and about 10 percent of it is re-used after necessary refining.

Ideally, milling is quickly followed by the repaving, often in a day or so. But as with the recent Route 1 repaving in project in Darien and Stamford, the contractor’s other obligations can leave the highway milled but unpaved for days or weeks.

REPAVING: Laying down the new layer of asphalt can progress quickly if the road isn’t heavily traveled at night. The fresh layer of new (and recycle asphalt) is usually two to three inches thick.

STRIPING: CDOT always works with the local communities on how to designate the new traffic lanes with striping, coordinating with each town or city’s Local Traffic Authority.

Some towns want narrower lanes and wider shoulders, either for bicyclists or pedestrians. But because these are state highways, CDOT always has the final say.

A subsidiary of CDOT, the Office of the State Traffic Administration sets the speed limits, sometimes higher than the local authorities might like. CDOT says it’s looking for consistency in state roads going through towns, so a two-lane highway with a speed of 40 mph doesn’t go to a one-lane highway at 25 mph and back to two lanes as it crosses the town line.

The latest technology used in striping is a recessed epoxy compound, where the new pavement is carved out to about the depth of a penny before painting. This increases the striping’s lifespan after tough winters of plowing and sanding.
After the work is done, inspected and approved, the new paving can last anywhere from eight to 15 years, depending on traffic. So, happy motoring!

Reprinted with permission of Hearst CT Media.  Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien Representative Town Meeting.