FIELD REPORTS

Doddridge County 2009

Field Report Morgan’s Run Road/Israel Fork
Doddridge County WV Division of Highways
Mechanical Concrete® Roadway Installation

General Description of Installation and Use
The installation was visited early spring. Photos were taken. The 140 feet, onelane installation is now over 2.5 years old. The Mechanical Concrete® base consists of 350 Mechanical Cement® cylinders nominally 28”φ x 8” wide. These were placed adjacent to each other directly on the subgrade without separation fabric or being connected together. The were filled with AASHTO #57 limestone and covered with a wearing topping of 6 inches of ¾ inch crusher run limestone. See general design, PDF page 5.

According to local residents this portion of road has experienced 3 or 4 floods per year which covered the installation with 12 to 24 inches of flood waters from the adjacent stream. See photos page 4. In addition the road is subject to regular traffic from oil and as drilling equipment and service vehicles and occasional heavy construction vehicles ervicing gas well sites.

Floods
Damage from floods has consisted of a general loss of the wearing topping. The mechanical Concrete® base has had minor damage and 4 Mechanical Cement® cylinders have been lifted out by the flood waters. They remain beside the road, since they are heavy and do not float. They are in good condition and could be reused. After floods in a few hours county WVDOH forces replace the topping returning the road to full service. After the winter and spring rains the topping is thin in some places and about four the Mechanical Cement® cylinders are partially exposed. See Photos, PDF page 2 and 3.

Wear and Use
It is apparent from the condition of the installation compared with the approaching roadway on either side that the Mechanical Concrete® base has basically eliminated significant rutting wear. No pot holes or ditch damage erosion has occurred along the installation. One pot hole is in the approach from the west. See Photos, PDF page 2.

General Conclusions
Based on the level of use and weather conditions experienced by this installation during the last 2.5 years it can be concluded that Mechanical Concrete® effectively and economically functions in the following applications:

  1. To construct low volume unpaved roadways subject to heavy industrial vehicle traffic.
  2. For unpaved shoulder repair along paved roadways where frequent erosion and wash outs due to storm water run off are a concern.
  3. To stabilize building sites with relatively soft subgrades for construction operations. And it can be concluded that:
  4. Mechanical Concrete® effectively resists water damage from moderate flooding.