Paving history was made recently at New Jersey’s Newark Airport.
On Friday morning at 7 a.m., June 15, with temperatures inching toward the high 80s already, Mt. Hope Rock Products, a division of Tilcon, was charged with the duty of paving a 4,800 ft. long, 75-ft. wide section of taxiway “Y.” In all, this would take 14 passes. But for the Wharton, NJ-based contractor, the steaming tarmac would not be the only heat that Mt. Hope’s John Biscardi Jr. would feel.
For this job, Biscardi, project manager, Mt. Hope Rock Products made two bold (some might even say risky) decisions. One, he promised the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that he’d pave the taxiway in just two days. Secondly, he said he’d do it by using a piece of equipment that is typically not used in the United States — an Ingersoll-Rand/ABG Titan 511 paver, outfitted with a VDT-120 mechanical screed that paves at a record-breaking 37.5 ft. (11.4 m) and is capable of a total width up to 42.7 ft. (13 m).
Pat Ahern, president of Edward Ehrbar Inc., an Ingersoll-Rand dealer based in Pelham Manor, NY, explained the incredible width this way, “Conventional highway class pavers over here in the states will pave anywhere from 18 to 24 ft. only… So what they [Mt. Hope] are trying to accomplish out here today is to pave 75 ft. of this taxiway in just two passes.”
If Mt. Hope were to be able to do this project within the promised two days, it would need to put down 8,000 tons of asphalt. What’s more, one of the biggest challenges would be to do this by working only daylight hours and with one crew. However, not only would the machine with the 37.5 screed need to come through, there also would need to be a virtual train of trucks filled with asphalt, waiting to fill the Blaw-Knox MC330 conveyor unit that fed the ABG Titan 511’s hopper.
“Today [Friday], it will probably be about 3,000 tons that we’ll put down. Tomorrow, we’ll do about 5,000 tons. Each truck is carrying between 22 and 25 tons … probably an average of 25. We have 30 trucks on the run today. We’ll have 60 trucks on the run tomorrow,” said Biscardi, pointing to the paver and the cavalcade of trucks that followed it.
Just three hours into the $1.5-million job, as the first mat was being laid, time seemed to crank up the day’s heat. There was a question looming over the entire project: Was the Titan 511, and — particularly — the record-breaking screed doing its job and saving time? So far, Biscardi was pleased with how everything was going.
“It’s great to have this machine — the Titan 511 — to be able to pave at this width,” said Biscardi. “But we also need the asphalt to put in it, through the conveyor. Otherwise, we’re not going to be moving anywhere, so I think it’s a combination of the facilities at Mt. Hope, being able to supply the number of trucks that we need to keep everything moving, but for sure, this paver feeds the material a lot quicker than any other one I’ve seen. There’s no doubt about that.”
Two hours later, as yet another truck filled the conveyor and rolled away, back to Mt. Hope to load up again, Biscardi spoke about the depth they were getting from the machine and its screed. “We’re doing up to 8 in. in some spots,” he said. “Six is an average, basically. And, from what I understand, we’ve had it up to 10 in. at once. They tell me it goes to 14.
“See, with a normal paver, we wouldn’t be putting down 6 in. at once,” Biscardi continued. “That would either be three, 2-in. lifts or two, 3-in. lifts. So we’d have to transverse the same area twice. Now, when you do that, certain things can happen. If you get a weather problem, or if the first layer that you put down gets dirty, then you have a possible non-bonding situation even if you tack coat it. So, one homogeneous lift like this at 6 in. is probably the best way to lay asphalt that I know of, anyway. You don’t have to worry about anything separating them. Two, threes or three, twos … depending on the thickness of the stone, the size of the stone in the material that you’re using.”
An hour later and a few degrees hotter, the two Ingersoll-Rand DD130 vibratory rollers continued their passes back and forth behind the Titan 511.
Officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey stepped up next to the newly laid mat (as they had done all morning into the afternoon) and gave the asphalt a careful, long look, then spoke among themselves. What were their requirements?
“The Port Authority is one of the strictest agencies with their aeronautical pavements,” Biscardi began. “They want the mat density to be at 98 percent of the bulk of the max or 100 percent of the bulk. They record where every load goes. They take cores back to their lab, they test them for air voids, density. They do extraction tests on the AC.”
The penalties can be severe if everything is not done according to the Port Authority’s standards. “They’ll take money right out of your pocket,” Biscardi admitted. “The challenges are tremendous because the Port Authority both either rewards you for compaction and smoothness or penalizes you. So for sure, you don’t want to lose money by not being able to compact the asphalt. You don’t want to lose money by not having it be smooth and on grade.
“But there’s a 6-percent bonus clause in the manufacturer of the asphalt and the density of the asphalt. If everything’s up to standards, then you get 100 percent of it.” Biscardi continued, “You get nothing for finishing early. You just get judged on the quality. The only ones we help by finishing earlier is the public because that doesn’t cause the airlines to have delays.”
Was Mt. Hope getting the required compaction so far? “Definitely,” said Biscardi. “The operators don’t have to use the vibration as much. When we were first getting started today, the roller operator, who happens to be my son, didn’t vibrate the first 40 or 50 ft. And the few passes that he made, we had the 98-percent compaction that we needed immediately.” The Titan 511 and its 37.5 screed was performing well, and Mt. Hope and Biscardi should know.
The company has vast paving experience at Newark Airport and is currently working on other taxiways at the airport.
“We’ve been here about seven years now. We’ve probably laid almost a million tons of asphalt at this airport,” Biscardi said.
“Right over there is what we call Yankee Ballpark,” said Biscardi. “It’s called that partly because you’re on Taxiway Yankee [Y] and it looks like a big ballpark with lights. That is where Air Force One parks and the Pope. Somewhere over there is a plaque where Pope John Paul II got off the plane and kissed the asphalt. We did that paving prior to him coming. And at night, Continental, a major hub carrier here, parks a lot of its planes over there. So, the reason for us trying to get this done quickly is so they won’t lose space to park the planes that they use for their flights in the morning.”
For the past several months, Mt. Hope had been using an ABG Titan 423 on another taxiway. The 423 is a smaller version than the 511. “The 423 will put down dense-graded aggregate base, roller compacted concrete, asphalt, and ballast,” Biscardi said. “And on the other job that we’re doing, we had to put stone down first, so we used it to put 8 and 10 in. of stone down at one time on grade. At one point, we actually laid the stone in the morning, got the compaction that we needed, and laid the asphalt in the afternoon. So we didn’t have to wait for dozers, graders, fine grading, rollering, compaction. We were able to lay the stone, get the compaction almost immediately, switch over to asphalt and put it down in the afternoon.”
At the time, Biscardi said that Mt. Hope had been renting the 423 from Ehrbar. (As of press time, the deal for purchasing the machine was being finalized.)
The price tag for all of Mt. Hope’s paving work at Newark is approximately $5 million. In all, the company will put down nearly 50,000 tons of asphalt. Taxiway “Y” accounts for roughly 20 percent of the total project.
Then Biscardi began talking about when he’d first heard about the possibility of paving at 37.5 ft. He said it all started with a conversation he’d had several months ago with Matt Ahern, who is vice president of product support with Edward Ehrbar Inc.
“We started talking about getting one of his wedgelock screed boards to open up 26 ft. for our Blaw-Knox pavers. We have a whole fleet of those. He [Matt Ahern] mentioned to me that this particular paver for heavy depths and wide widths was available now in the United States. I asked him for some literature, he sent some, I looked it over, and I said this would be very, very applicable to what we’re doing out here.”
Ehrbar went to work. The company had the 37.5 ft. screed sent from Europe to Pelham Manor, where they subsequently reassembled it for Mt. Hope to use.
Early afternoon came and the heat index was in the low 100s, and a critical moment in the project had arrived — the beginning of the second pass.
Crews lined up the Titan 511 and the second pass began. Port Authority officials scrutinized the paving joint. It was level. No problems.
As the second pass proceeded, Biscardi talked about what it typically would take to do this job without the Titan 511 and the 37.5-ft. screed.
“I’d need three or four paving crews with equipment and an army of people. On this job, the man size of the crew is reduced by at least four people,” he began. “Let me put it this way … that runway over there is runway 11-29. On a Saturday, in 1999, we put four Blaw-Knox pavers open 19.5 ft. wide and paved the keel section of the runway, which is 80 ft. wide. That’s 40 ft. each side of the center line. We put four Blaw-Knox pavers over there, with 127 trucks at a 2-in. lift, and paved 11,000 tons in 12 hours. But it took four crews to do it. This is one crew with one paver and two rollers. Over there, I had 14 rollers. And four asphalt spreaders.
“Over there, we were only laying the asphalt 2 in. Here, we’re putting in six to eight. We got one crew and for sure today, 3,000 tons won’t be a problem. And I don’t see the 5,000 tons tomorrow being a problem either. I don’t think it will take more than 10 to 12 hours.”
It wasn’t a problem. The next day, though — Saturday — it rained and crews were unable to work. But when Monday morning came, at 7 a.m., the Titan 511, Biscardi and his crew were out on taxiway “Y” again. By 4 p.m., all 14 passes were complete. The work was done in two days.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ran its tests and determined that there was 98 percent compaction. Mt. Hope received its 100 percent of the 6-percent bonus clause.
“They [the Port Authority] were impressed with the width, the thickness, and we met all density requirements,” Biscardi said. But would the Port Authority recommend that future paving jobs at Newark employ the Titan 511? Biscardi speculated.
“If they see a product out here that will give them a better job, quicker, the way this machine did here, I don’t see why they won’t write this machine right into their specs as one of the types of machines that should be used. I’m sure they’re not going to get rid of conventional paving methods completely, but they would like to see everything done this way.”
And what’s next for Mt. Hope? Would it want a Titan 511 in its fleet?
“Yes,” Biscardi said. “But I’d really like to have the 525. That’s the newest one of its kind.”
This story also appears on Aggregate Equipment Guide.
Craig Mongeau
Craig Mongeau has been Construction Equipment Guide’s editor in chief for the past 21-plus years. He directly manages CEG’s Northeast and Southeast editions (which includes New England, Georgia and Alabama state supplements); Superintendent’s Profile; Crane Guide; Northeast and Southeast-based anniversary magazines; and special event publications. He also oversees CEG’s Midwest and Western Editions as well as all CEG website content.
A Hofstra University graduate, Craig began his publishing career as a staff writer for local Southeast Pennsylvania newspapers. He then became an associate editor and book editor of Springhouse Corporation, a Pennsylvania-based medical publishing house and then worked as a managing editor of Rockhill Communications, based in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., where he created and managed content for a national Voluntary Hospital Association website.
Originally from Pittsfield, Mass., Craig has lived in North Wales, Pa., for the past 27 years. He has been married to his wife, Hillary, whom he met in college, since 1998 and together, they have two daughters, Jolie and Aubrie.
Read more from Craig Mongeau here.
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