Road Re-Surfacing

That was a really cool video. I understand that the prep work took some time, but the speed at which they lay down the surface is pretty amazing. I have never seen anything like that here.

At ~3 miles around here that would have bene a 2 - 3 week job that took 4X the people and equipment to do and cost at lest 1 million per mile for a basic surfacing job like that.

There's $400K something dollars wouldn't have even paid for getting the environmental study paperwork done anywhere else.

How does that bituminous paving compare to hot asphalt paving for durability? Granted I don't think it goes through the extreme freeze / thaw cycles that some of us here see. I am not sure that would last long in my / tcmtech's climate.

The Shire of Moora in Western Australia has a very mild climate and quite dry (as you can see from the video). Mean max temp: 25.6 °C (78 °F), mean min temp: 12.0 °C (54 °F), annual rainfall: 459.2 mm (18.1 in).

Been to Detroit and you're right about the freeze/thaw concerns, though this surface is similar to what is on your rural roads that I saw around Marysville and further North near the lakes.

It's a cost benefit thing. Hot asphalt is used here for major roads, but this bitumen and gravel is quite adequate for our B-Doubles and I've seen road trains (Prime mover and three full length trailers) running on similar, provided some extra attention is paid at the bends.

I suspect that the key is the water table is well below the road surface, so there is little to no movement.

Central Queensland used to run "Moonie Monsters" on that sort of road. These were triple trailer tanker sets, each tanker around 40,000L (10,000Gal) of crude. They ran in convoy of five trucks. The locals knew when you saw one coming, just pull off and have a break.

AKA tar and chip. Common in the mid-western states and provinces but I have never had the opportunity to watch it for any duration to see just now many miles of Km the do every day, only the drive through the construction zone.

This surely this wasn't a union job paying prevailing wages That would Never happen in the Good O'l USA! Oh, wait ... we have a new leader, so .... there might be some hope yet

That's quite impressive. I especially like the bit where the trucks are unloading mineral at a constant rate at a constant speed while driving backwards. You don't find that assessed in many nations' driving tests.

Locally, NE Ohio, we call that method "chip & seal." You have to admire the skill of the dump truck drivers.

As a Civil Engineer who has worked on similar ''road jobs'', I am impressed with their work. The video only showed the second half of the work, but not the first half regrading and/or leveling portion, that sets up the (bituminizing)...

But I am surprised that the (joints) are not staggered, but all start and stop in the same place, thereby forming full-width seams. I hope the local weather conditions thereby do not accelerate deterioration of the seams too quickly...

Also, I do not understand why the first two courses are not both along the outside edges, and the third course is not down the middle, along the centerline of the roadway...

And, lastly, I would assume that those particular trucks were specially designed to be driven both forwards and backwards, in a similar manner to front-loading backhoes, and/or are guided by laser leveling techniques...

I do not know what the expected (service life) of the new surface is, and when it will be needed to be done again, but it has to very cost effective to be done as shown.

In any case, it is nice to see that something has been done so effectively, if only for it's rarity. Well done.

Impressive and I was in OZ for a month in 89 and they had about 2 years with a lot of heavy rain and these roads were coming apart in places. My friend who was Australian explained that they hold up quite well but he did live in Canada for 10 years and he did not think they would last in the frost since prolonged rain caused issues. We do have these roads in Canada and they seem to last quite a while and are cheaper than throwing more gravel on every few months with the required grading not to mention the cust and or dust control. This process definitely has its place.