A crowd gathers for an open house tour of the Highlands Ranch concrete preservation project. (Photo: Courtesy of International Grooving and Grinding Association/Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering)[Correction: This article previously referred to the area near Highlands Ranch as “the Highlands Ranch metropolitan area.” It has been edited to reflect the area’s correct name, the Denver–Aurora Metropolitan Area.]
A county gave site tours on one of the largest concrete pavement preservation (CPP) projects to ever have been undertaken at an October 3 open house in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
The PCA Rocky Mountain Region, Colorado/Wyoming Chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association and the International Grinding & Grooving Association (IGGA) co-hosted the event.
Workers pour concrete on a roadway in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. (Photo: Courtesy of International Grooving and Grinding Association/Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering)The Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area – under the administration of the Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering in Colorado – had stretches of roadway with aging pavement ranging from 25 to 30 years old that were nearing the end of their design life.
The county knew what it needed to do about the aging pavement: conduct research prior to the project to include a review of options available to fix the problems.
A forensic study was conducted on five different sections of concrete roadways within Highlands Ranch. One of the sections didn’t show any problems. The remaining four showed issues including broken panels, joint separation, transverse faulting and cracking.
The project was carried out across various arterial and collector roadways throughout Highlands Ranch in Douglas County, but its urban location made the project challenging.
The Highlands Ranch, Colorado, project is one of the largest concrete pavement preservation projects to have ever been undertaken. (Photo: Courtesy of International Grooving and Grinding Association/Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering)Although the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and various state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have established processes for CPP, local governments may have limited experience with state-of-the-art CPP methods.
This makes it very important for municipalities and counties to begin and manage the process carefully when beginning preservation efforts.
Douglas County Department of Public Works Engineering in Colorado did just that by inviting industry members to get involved in the process early and establishing a firm plan before the work went underway.
