Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/712836
P avement preservation techniques, such as diamond grooving and grinding, have taken on larger roadbuilding roles, in part because state and local govern- ments needed to make the most of their existing roadways. But even with a five-year federal highway bill now in place, the need for this type of work is still strong, says Scott Elkin, owner of Quality Saw & Seal. His company provides concrete diamond grinding and grooving ser- vices from its headquarters in Bridgeview, Illinois. "I believe the pavement preservation techniques we provide with grinding and grooving will become increasingly used in the future," he says. "Business has steadily increased every year for the past six to eight years," he says. And the market in his home turf of Illinois is good, primarily because the Illinois Tollway System is being rebuilt in concrete. Corrective work In addition to new highway work, for grinders and groovers, there's also corrective work – in the grinding of newly paved concrete pave- ments – to meet ride specifications. Travis Brandt, vice president of Pinnacle Grinding & Grooving in Reno, Nevada, says preservation work is strong and in a "steady to increasing" pattern, and he is seeing increased contracts for corrective work. Brandt attributes this growth to changes in ride quality/smooth- ness specifications, from the Profilograph Index (PrI) to the International Roughness Index (IRI). "The specifications are tightening in moving from the old California-style PrI to the laser-mounted IRI, which is much more stringent," he says. "So that is having a huge impact in regards to the DOTs, which seem to be heading toward tighter specifications." All of this has increased his compa- ny's corrective work. For example, his hometown of Reno just enforced a new smoothness spec, "so I'm immediately starting to see more work as a result," he says. And the DOT officials he works with praise the value that grinding and grooving adds par- ticularly to large projects, according to Brandt. August 2016 | EquipmentWorld.com 66 highway contractor | by Chris Hill | ChrisHill@randallreilly.com This work gets a boost from changing ride specs and increased pavement preservation needs. Husqvarna Construction Products Americas DIAMOND GRINDING AND GROOVING A close up of blades in Husqvarna's Optimal Texture for City Streets (OTCS) concrete grinding system. The OTCS system is designed for lower-speed ap- plications for traffic traveling up to 45 mph.