Arcosa Lightweight’s Streetman Product Has Highest Polish Value in Texas
Arcosa Lightweight’s Streetman Product Has Highest Polish Value in Texas
It’s estimated that over 300,000 cubic yards of lightweight aggregate is used each year in Texas for seal coat and surface treatment applications. Arcosa Lightweight’s Streetman product boasts the highest polish value of any material used in Texas, based on TxDOT’s Bituminous Rated Source Quality Catalog (BRSQC).
A polish value measures the ability of an aggregate to withstand the polishing effects of traffic wear. It is determined through readings on a test specimen of aggregate after nine hours of polishing in an accelerated polishing machine. Simply put, Arcosa’s material maintains its “roughness” and wet weather skid characteristics, ensuring safety even after years of heavy traffic wear.
Maintaining Roadways
With the fiscal condition of most public agencies, maintaining pavements that are in “acceptable or above acceptable” condition is crucial, as the cost of rehabilitation or reconstruction can be significant. On average, it costs approximately 20 cents on the dollar to maintain these conditions using conventional chip seals, making proactive road maintenance an economical choice.
Oscar H. Rodriguez, P.E., Construction Materials Engineer and industry expert, began his career in TxDOT’s Materials and Tests Division and the Austin District Laboratory. He is well-versed in HMAC designs for high-profile locations, including the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and test tracks statewide for Goodyear, Cooper Tire, and General Tire. He describes the advantages of lightweight aggregate by likening it to a sponge:
Rodriguez Engineering Laboratories, LLC is a leader in construction materials engineering, provides extensive testing and evaluation services for Hot Mix Asphalt Concrete (HMAC), asphalt binders, emulsions, cutbacks, Portland Cement Concrete (PCC), soils, aggregates, and performs full geotechnical investigations. With decades of experience and a team of skilled engineers, Rodriguez Engineering Laboratories is committed to providing clients with precise and reliable results.
District-Wide Use
TxDOT Districts initiate district-wide chip seal contracts in the Fall/Winter for construction in the following Summer. This allows aggregate suppliers ample time to produce and deliver the aggregate, and it provides TxDOT with the necessary time to prepare roadways for chip sealing.
In Texas, both lightweight aggregate (TxDOT Item 302-Type L or PL) and crushed stone (TxDOT Item 302-Type B or PB) are held to identical quality standards, tested on an equal scale.
Additional Case Studies
Lightweight Aggregate Used as Ice Chat Improves Safety From Winter Weather
Wintry weather in North Texas can sometimes turn surprisingly extreme, leaving icy roads in its wake. That’s why the Texas Department of Transportation often blends lightweight expanded shale into a product they call “ice chat”.
Read More
Chipseal Delivers Economy, Longer Lasting Roads in Nebraska Project
State Highway 61, just south of Ogallala, Nebraska, often utilizes expanded shale lightweight aggregate from Arcosa Lightweight. “In this day and age, it’s all about preserving the life of the pavement,” says Matt Radke, former Maintenance Superviso…
Read More
