On Thursday, 24 October, our road was repaved by the Granite
Construction Company. Mark Barton
negotiated an exceptionally good price of $13,602 which was less than half what
was expected to grade the existing road base, clean the existing pavement, add
a binder, lay at least 3” of asphalt, and roll / compact it. New resident, Marko Pala managed the project, worked out
the technical details, and supervised the paving effort. I leaned on shovel, watched the crew of 5
work, and took the pictures below.
The original plan was to lay 3” of asphalt, 10’ wide, from
about 90’ of the gate (to cover the gravel added last year) to the bottom of
the hill at Wheeler's, about 865’. The
plan was revised on paving day to merge the pavement with Guardsman Pass Road
and extend it to the end of Wheeler’s driveway to provide a flatter transition
to the hill, about 1000’. In places the
depth was increased on the south side of the road to ensure the grade tilted
into the hill instead of away from it. The two pullouts by Curtis’s were also paved
to the width of 16’, which was the maximum capability of the paving machine. A
water bar was added to the middle of the hill to direct water to the ditch
above the culvert. The additional
material may have increased cost by 10%.
The crew started at 7:30 AM and worked to about 4:30PM.
The pictures show: the road base was cut/filled and graded
to the level of the existing pavement, swept, and a binder was sprayed on the
asphalt; the paving machine literally pushed the trucks up the hill (11 trucks
were used); a roller compacted and smoothed the road surface; two guys controlled
the thickness and measured the depth with gauges (the thickness was mostly
greater the 3”); although not specified a technician used an instrument to
measure compaction as part of Granite’s internal quality control; there was a
lot of debate over the need for a water bar, it’s location, and shape. It was decided to put it in the middle of the
hill, and shape it like a triangle to make it easier to driver over (Granite’s
suggestion). The bottom 2 pictures show
the pull-outs and the transition to GPR.
Granite did a nice job with the transition, filling holes at GPR and tilting
the road away from the slope.
Remaining issues include, monitoring the ditches and water
bar to ensure drainage is adequate, and modifying the gate to ensure there is
adequate clearance for snow. When the
pavement was added, clearance at the gate bottom corner was decreased from
about 8” to 4”. We need to cut/re-weld
the gate. Perhaps Ross or Paul Nell
could accomplish this.
There are also concerns that snow/ice on the newly paved
hill could melt and freeze at night presenting very hazardous morning
conditions. Drivers need to be very
cautious on the hill this winter. It has also been suggested that a path be
maintained on the side of the hill for walkers.
Don Pickard
12325 E Skyline View Lane
