News

Update

The State Materials Office has been working on a “Segregation” spec to combat the end of load segregation issue. Initially I felt that the department was blowing a minor issue out of perspective and trying to tighten the screws even more on asphalt placement.

I have been spending a lot of time driving around our great state and since my “seat of the pants” ride checking equipment had been recently calibrated I decided to do a little investigating of my own. I drove several recently completed projects, by recent I mean within the last 2-3 years. This was in no means a comprehensive study but just what I noticed when I was traveling. My normal travels do not take me to south Florida or the Panhandle, so my visual observations were in the central Florida area.

Most of the jobs had no segregation issues that could see or feel. However, I did note a couple of jobs that had some end of load segregation. In the most severe instance I could tell you the spreadrate of each and every load placed on one particular job. Since all of these projects were complete any segregation found was in the friction course. The most noticeable segregation was in the dense graded friction.

Is there a substantial end of load segregation issue in the state of Florida? I would say no but there is enough of an issue that people are noticing.

This has been an issue in the past with our operations and continues to be something we have to be watchful of. I know that every time I am on the job I walk up and make sure the paver operator is not emptying the hopper when he finishes a load. This is such an easy fix in most cases it just requires someone paying attention. In the most extreme cases a MTV may be the answer. We have had success in all cases without the MTV. I do not believe the MTV to be the end all be all of asphalt placement but it does have its applications.

Bottom line here is if the QC folks and supervisors pay a little bit more attention to the front of the paver maybe we can keep the standard spec book from getting a little thicker.

Update

I wanted to address my observations over the past several months in regards to attitudes and just the project perspective as a whole. It appears that there has been a shift in the department. Too many people only seem to be trying to "catch" someone doing something wrong. Yes yes, I know there are people in district 2 who would say that that has been the way of life since the beginning but I have heard that it is actually getting worse. I have heard recently that the earthwork section is wanting to add the moisture and density counts back to the density logbook. I am told that this will help deter people from writing up tests.

Many people are spending alot of time trying to deter or prevent cheating. I am not the most active person in the industry but i have not heard of anyone cheating in a long time. The only cheating that i am aware of was some issues with asphalt and gradation manipulation in an attempt to increase the composite pay factors several years ago. There have been no recent issues that would warrant this much attention and change. We are loosing sight of the real goal, Quality construction - on time and near budget. The contractor and the department should be working together to achieve the same goal.

Update

I'm Back.... Sorry for the lack of updates but had alot of work and personal issues to get done. I decided to shorten up the front page and add a second page. Click here for all the previous updates.

Now with that said let's get down to business. An ACAF spec committee meeting was recently held in Orlando and, as always, we had some very informative discussions. Remember that if you are having issues and/or have suggestions that may need addressing, do not hesitate to send in your issues.