Page 19 - May-June24 Vol42 No1

TCAPWA EVENTS AND HIGHLIGHTS
Upper East Branch Lunch & Learn By Shane Snoderly

On February 21, the Upper East
Branch of TCAPWA hosted a lunch
and learn. The topic was pavement
interlayers and its range of products
applied during the paving process
to increase the life and strength of
pavement, while reducing the amount
of asphalt required.
A presentation on the product
lineup was given by Nicholas Reck,
Solmax Engineering Business Manager.
He discussed product development,
applications, and engineering
standards. Tripp Bishop of American
Paving Fabrics, Inc. followed with a talk
about his company’s application of the
product on various projects, citing solid
results.
Bishop said with new construction
currently taking a back seat to roadway
rehabilitation, “our vast innovative
product lines can assist state, city, and
local government with the extension of
service life regarding asphalt and PCC
pavements.”
“Departments of Transportation
around the country currently are
using these innovative products and
are experiencing phenomenal results
regarding the mitigation of premature
reflective cracking,” he added.
He said in some cases, “they are
experiencing two to three times
the increased service life using
these products. As a side note, the
Federal Highway Administration
now is recognizing the placement
of a traditional 4-ounce non-woven
fabric in an asphalt cross section to
be equivalent to an additional 1.2" of
asphalt in performance.”
“What does this mean? It means
that a 2" asphalt overlay with a fabric
saturated in PG Binder is recognized as
an equivalent to 3.2" of asphalt without
fabric,” he concluded.
Rounding out the meeting, Craig
Brown with Stringfellow was present
with Joe Moss, a representative from
Pac-Mac, answering questions about
equipment and vehicles.
Door prizes were provided
by Stringfellow and Mattern &
Craig. Lunch was provided by the
presenters.
Nicholas Reck, Solmax Engineering Business Manager Trip Bishop, American Paving Fabrics, Inc.

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