Colorado Springs using technology in hopes of improving street repaving
Scott Harrison
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A different brand of asphalt, along with additives of fiberglass and Kevlar, are being used or tested by the city’s public works in an effort to improve paving efficiency and effectiveness.
Currently, workers are in the final stages of repaving a stretch of busy Woodmen Road, between the Academy Boulevard interchange and Rockrimmon Boulevard, by using stone matrix asphalt (SMA).
Corey Farkas, public works manager of operations and maintenance, described SMA as a material that is specifically designed for highways and other high-traffic roadways.
“It’s thicker and harder to work with, and it’s more expensive,” he explained. “But we went to Denver to look at it, and it seems to hold up well. We decided to try it on Woodmen.”
Farkas said that if the city is satisfied with how SMA performs, the material may be used for certain projects, but could become more widespread if improved durability leads to reduced maintenance costs.
Meanwhile, the city has spent the past ten years studying test patches of asphalt containing fiberglass and Kevlar — the latter being the same material used in bulletproof vests.
Officials want to determine if Kevlar can bond with asphalt to help paving last longer; the test strip is located on Broadmoor Bluffs Drive.
“The Kevlar fibers are designed to really kind of interlock within the asphalt to try to limit the amount of reflective cracking we get,” Farkas said. “Seems to be working pretty well.”
He said that the fiberglass additive is designed to keep asphalt from developing cracks several inches wide — a persistent problem in some older subdivisions, such as Soaring Eagles near the airport.
The test patch for that material is near the intersection of Harrier Ridge Drive and Tail Spin Drive.
Farkas said that he wants to see how both test areas endure several years of weather extremes produced by summer heat and winter freeze-thaw cycles.
Crews recently resurfaced streets in Soaring Eagles to seal smaller cracks in the pavement.
Finally, the city is using recycled asphalt in street paving for the second year; it’s presently being applied on the south end of Oro Blanco Drive.