MYTH: Concrete pavement costs more to build than asphalt pavement.

TRUTH:  Concrete Pavement provides exceptional value over the life of the asset, and oftentimes that value can be realized at bidding time.  For example, in three of the last four CDOT alternate bid projects concrete pavement had the lowest initial cost prior to the life cycle cost adjustment factor being applied, and all four of those alternate bid projects were built with concrete pavement.  Notably, the SH 13 project north of Craig is a great example of a successful concrete pavement project that beat asphalt pavement in initial cost.  Five years after construction the 6” concrete overlay is performing well and remains extremely smooth.

MYTH: Building with concrete takes longer than with asphalt.

TRUTH:  Actual construction time for any given project is dependent on the scope.  On many projects, especially the larger ones, pavement is a small portion of the overall scope.  When a project includes structural aspects, such as bridges, these will be the longest duration items that drive the critical path.   One benefit of constructing concrete pavement is that curb and gutter can be placed at the same time as the pavement, eliminating the need for separate operations and saving time. Concrete also has the advantage of being placed up to forty feet wide in a single pass and is placed in a single lift.  The same schedule requirements can be applied to both pavement types when agencies allow competition between industries and take advantage of the alternate bid process.

MYTH:  Existing pavement can’t be overlaid with concrete.

TRUTH:  Concrete overlays are a cost-effective solution for extending the life of almost any pavement.  They can be placed over existing concrete or asphalt and work for a multitude of different applications – urban or rural – including interstates, highways, streets, and airports.  In Colorado, over 10 million square yards of concrete overlays have been constructed over the last 30 years with thicknesses ranging from less than 4” to over 12” on projects across the entire state.  Building on top of existing pavement allows for faster and more economical construction with less risk of weather delays.  Where raising grade is a concern, thinner concrete solutions are also available.

Contact ACPA to learn more about the value and constructability of concrete pavement, or to request our help in identifying where a concrete overlay solution would work well on your road network.

Angela Folkestad, P.E. – afolkestad@pavement.com

Sarah Sanders, P.E. – ssanders@pavement.com

TRIP’s America’s Interstate Highway System at 65 report provides the latest information on the Interstate system, including pavement conditions, bridge conditions, travel trends, traffic congestion levels, truck use, and traffic safety. It reviews the findings of the TRB Interstate report and concludes with recommended actions – based on the findings of the TRB report – to ensure that the system is able to meet the nation’s transportation needs.

Download the June 2021 TRIP Report. 

View the Interview with Interstate Report Author

The concrete pavement industry has been active in advocating for transportation funding, and there has been some positive movement both locally and nationally over the last few months.

The North American Concrete Alliance (NACA) held their annual cement and concrete fly-in as a virtual event in late April, and representatives of the concrete industry from Colorado had the opportunity to meet with members of our congressional delegation in Washington DC to discuss the critical need of infrastructure investment.  We also addressed the industry’s commitment to carbon neutrality across the concrete value chain by 2050 and the importance of workforce development programs to backfill the current levels of retirement and prepare the next generation of skilled workers.  ACPA is continuing to work with our construction industry partners nationally to advocate for a bipartisan solution to fund our transportation needs.

In Colorado, ACPA has joined the coalition of business and labor groups who support SB21-260 Sustainability of the Transportation System.  The long-term funding streams included in the bill and the inflation indexing of fees into the Highway Users Tax Fund (HUTF) are essential to ensuring CDOT and local agencies receive the funding necessary to implement their transportation plans – and that the construction industry is able to invest in their people and equipment to meet that demand.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR AWARD WINNERS!

Congratulations to this year’s Excellence in Concrete Pavement award winners!  We missed presenting the awards in front of a crowd at our workshop and invite you to learn more about the award-winning projects in the special section of this issue.  We look forward to a return to in-person awards and our Annual Concrete Pavement Workshop in March 2022.

It’s Past Time to Invest in Colorado’s Transportation System & Concrete Pavement is Essential to Solving our Challenges

Colorado’s roadways are in rough shape, and TRIP’s “Keeping Colorado Mobile” report released in early March in combination with the 2021 ASCE Infrastructure Report Card confirm what Colorado drivers experience every day.

A few highlights from the TRIP report:

• Nearly half of Colorado’s major locally and state-maintained roads are in poor or mediocre 
• condition.
• Congested roads, highways and bottlenecks choke commuting and commerce and cost Colorado drivers $3.5 billion each year in the form of lost time and wasted fuel.
• From 2000 to 2019, vehicle travel in Colorado increased by 31%, the 9^th highest rate in the country.
• Traffic congestion causes up to 62 annual hours of delay for motorists in some urban areas and costs drivers as much as $1,242 annually in lost time and wasted fuel.

ASCE presented several solutions to raise our national roadway grade from its current mark as a D.  They include:

• Increase funding from all levels of government and the private sector to address the condition and operations of the roadway system to maintain a state of good repair and ensure safety for all users.
• Fix the federal Highway Trust Fund…to ensure long-term, sustainable funding for the federal surface transportation program.
• Develop state and local level comprehensive transportation asset management plans that link asset management efforts to long-term transportation planning and incorporate the use of life-cycle cost analysis.

If we want to improve our roadway conditions from a dismal D rating and reduce the financial impact on individual Coloradans, we must be willing to commit to a long-term plan to invest in our transportation system.  That investment must include CONCRETE PAVEMENT SOLUTIONS to extend the life of our roadways and carry the increased freight traffic expected.