Arkema-Road Science’s Jeff Weitzel, Account Manager, and Mike Longshaw, Lead Field Engineer for RCI and High Strain Tolerant Mixes, were recently interviewed by AsphaltPro for their article on an innovative strain-tolerant mix project in Colorado. Working with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Arkema-Road Science, Coulson Excavating Company placed a reflective crack interlayer (RCI) on the southbound lanes and a new, innovative BR-ST (bituminous rich, ST 3/8 minus gradation) mix on the northbound lanes of the 4-mile section of State Highway 85 from Platteville to County Road 22. This project provides CDOT with a side-by-side comparison of RCI mix and BR-ST, a surface mix which has the same binder technology used in RCI mixes.
Arkema-Road Science worked closely with CDOT on the new BR-ST mix concept for this pilot project with the goal of evaluating whether BR-ST could achieve the same or better performance as RCI. CDOT has used RCI on previous projects, but this was the state’s first time using BR-ST. U.S. 85, which has experienced an 80 percent increase in truck traffic, was ideal for a side-by-side comparison to test out BR-ST’s crack mitigating properties. This project provides a unique opportunity to see how these mix designs perform comparatively, and specifically whether BR-ST could achieve the same flexibility of RCI mixes in a surface course to eliminate or delay cracking and extend pavement life.
Read about the project in Asphalt Pro.
