Project Start: July 2024
Project Completion: October 2024
Key Project Team Members:

UDOT
Geneva Rock Products
Trapper Burdick, RE
Josh Jensen, Geneva Rock PM
Brent Hadfield, UDOT PM
Bob Manookin, Superintendent
Corben Bringhurst, Field Supervisor
Shane Revoir, General Foreman
Trent Jepperson, Foreman, Coughlin Milling
Company
ProTech Infrastructure
AAA Barricade

Project Cost: $9 million

What Makes the Project Unique

This project was unique to Region 4 since it was the first time they utilized Highly Modified Hot Mix Asphalt (HMHMA) mix placed on one of UDOT’s roads. There were 56,000 tons of HMHMA placed in a 4” mill and fill section of the outside lanes. It was then capped with a 2” overlay across the entire roadway. The project also did some bridge pothole patching, parapet sealing, new guardrail and extension of parapets. Then it was finished off with some signage, striping and guardrail adjustments.

This was the first time that Region 4 witnessed the placement of HMHMA with the CAT SDX screed plate system. This was an innovative way to achieve mat compaction quickly and with minimal effort. The project achieved mat compaction quickly with this screed plate/mix combination but struggled with joint density. Another unique quality of HMHMA is that UDOT allows this mix to be placed at a lift thickness of 6” per lift.

Safety Record

There were zero recordables, but a few near misses with high-speed traffic. U.S.-6 is one of the nation’s deadliest roads, according to a recent student travel guide. There are sections on this road that have steep drop-offs and sharp turns, and everybody seems to think the speed limit is just a suggestion. With the help of our traffic control engineer, we were able to reduce the speed through our work zone during construction. We also maximized the benefit of trucks not being able to accelerate up those steep hills which kept traffic speeds to a reasonable number. The credit goes to the boots on the ground. The project team was very involved in helping each other be safe and watch for oncoming traffic as it approached.

Challenges and Successes

One of the challenges faced was building a constant windrow for the shuttle buggy (MTV) to fill the hopper off the paver. On a typical mat thickness less than 4”, the volume that a paver holds in the hopper will continue to fill as you’re placing mix and will eventually overfill. This allows you to have gaps between windrows where the trucks are dumping. When you get thicker than 4”, which this project required, there isn’t enough volume between the windrow and what the paver can hold to place mix at widths of 16’. Therefore, you need a constant windrow or double stack the windrow (have two windrows) to be able to pave continuously. For this project, we employed a team member to nurse the trucks as they were dumping with a loader to ensure there were no gaps in the windrow. This was a bit of a surprise to us since, at bid time, we did not anticipate placing a 4.5” mat at 16’ wide. Through coordination and partnering with UDOT, we worked together to address this challenge and still deliver a smooth, long-lasting road.