u.s.Department of Transportation

Federal Highway Administration

ROADBUSINESS

Address:Technology Transfer CenterUniversity of New HampshireDepartment of Civil EngineeringTransportation Research andComputation GroupDurham, New Hampshire 03824-3591

, Phone:603 -862-4348(out of state)

or 1-800-423-0060(in New Hampshire)

- Editorial Staff -

John A. Anderson Project Director

Yvonne E. Allen Admin. Assistant

Charles H. Goodspeed University Liaison

Vol. 2 No.3 Summer End 1987

Above: From left to right are BobGreer and Lester Cressy standingin front of Hopkinton's towngarage.

onrne Road InNew Hampshire

Hopkinton is now hopping with anew paving approach

Recently, I heard that the town ofHopkinton has been changing their basicapproach to paving. Another reliablesource told me that after adopting theHopkinton approach in their own town theywere able to save a lot of time and money.

Saving time and money is always agood thing to know about; so I went toHopkinton to talk with Lester Cressy,Superintendent of Public Works; and BobGreer, one of the town Selectmen. Lester

told me in dollars and cents what they'vebeen doing: "In '86 we did 1.75 miles for atotal paving cost of $30.80/ton and this yearwe did 3 + miles for a total paving cost of$29.42/ton. That's a pretty good buy whenmaterial costs alone run $28.00/ton, and Ididn't have to do any of the preparationwork such as sweeping."

.What Lester was talking about wasgoing out to bid. It can be cost effective. Inthe case of Hopkinton, an average projectwould include a 1/2 inch to 1 inch bindercourse plus a 3/8 inch finish, "We estimatethat by going out to bid this last year wewere able to save about 300 man hours. Ontop of this , we saved by not having to rentequipment and not adding extra wear to orextra maintenance on our own equipment.Another cost savings will be realized over aperiod of years," added Bob. "We can paveevery 10 to 15 years with this method versusputting on a new seal every three years."

Hopkinton began this programwhen after noticing that the town's pavingjobs were getting worse and worse. "It'shard for us to find good aggregate andwithout a good aggregate it's hard to make agood mix," said Lester.

With the new paving program,Hopkinton has been getting a good qualityproduct that seems to work for a variety ofroad types. Lester explained: "We've triedthis process on small subdivisions with anaverage daily traffic of 20 cars and we'vetried it on a road that has an average dailytraffic of 500 cars and 50 trucks (this roadhad a good base to start with) . So far , I'vegotten nothing but compliments."

continued on p. 2

Check Your Mailbox

Posting your bridges can help youavoid liability claims

There are some importantmailings that you should know about. Yourtown office has received a letter and tworeports from the Bureau of MunicipalHighways. This information explains therevised law - RSA 266:18 r: relative toincreased truck weights and bridge restric­tions. Also, your town office has receivedtwo pamphlets from the TechnologyTransfer Center containing information ontort liability and posting weight limits onyour bridges. Tort liability may not seemlike something you need to learn about, but

continued on p. 4

- ALSO IN THIS ISSUE --

• Soft Does Not Mean Easy 3(How to buy software)

• Did You Know? 4(your zip code can save you money;Graffiti removal)

• Important Notice 5

• Bridge Raincoats 5(Protecting bridge deck overlays)

• R.A.A. News 7(A chance to win $100.(0)

• Blade Cart Design 8

• Wanted! 9

• November Workshops 9

Hopkinton ...continued from p. 1

''The budget committee wanted toincrease the appropriation for this pro­gram," added Bob, "and that doesn'thappen very often."

It all sounded pretty good, so Iasked them the big question: "What wouldyou recommend to other road agents orselectmen that may want to try this pavingapproach in their own towns?" Bob andLester gave me some good pointers:

"Start early - we start in earlyMay right after the town meeting. Our goalis to be done by June. The state is eating upa lot of the contractors' time in July andAugust.

"Fix major problems before paving- we make sure we fIX all culverts, removelarge rocks, etc.

Below is a sample pavement project bid format. It has been provided by the town ofHopkinton.

TOWN OF HOPKINTON PAVING PROJECT - 1987

Sealed proposals clearly marked ''Town of Hopkinton Paving Project - 1987" willbe accepted by the Town of Hopkinton at the Town Office unti14:00 o'clock p.m., prevailingtime, on the 6th day of May 1987. All portions of this contract shall be submitted, all bidprices filled in and signed by an appropriate official.

The work shall consist of constructing a Hot Bituminous Concrete LevelingCourse and overlaying the roadways listed herein as resurfacing projects and constructingNew Hot Bituminous Concrete Pavements on the roadways listed herein as new pavementprojects. All work shall be constructed as outlined in this contract and as directed by theTown's Superintendent of Public Works.

Proposal

The construction includes the following roadways (see attached map - not included in thisnewsletter):

Resurfacing Projects

1. Farrington Corner Road - From Jewett Rd. to BrockwayRd. (1.7 miles long, 18feet wide).

"Make sure you actually go out tobid - just asking for a quote may cost thetown $4.00more per ton.

ItemItem

411.1 Hot Bituminous Concre leveling course _755_ Tons411.43Plant Mix Surface Treatment (Asphalt Cement 3/8 inch) _380_ Tons

"Put a completion date in the con­tract - this will help to reduce delays. Weuse a $150.00 per day penalty for each dayover due.

"Number estimates need to befairly accurate - its important to stay withinappropriations. We have a road committeeappointed by the selectmen that comes upwith the basic paving program. Our supervi­sor of public works does the estimating.

2. Woodland Drive - Total length (2100 feet long, 18 feet wide)

Item 411.1Hot Bituminous Concrete leveling course _150_ TonsItem 411.43Plant Mix Surface Treatment (Asphalt Cement 3/8 inch) _90_ Tons

3. Lower Spring Street - From a point approximately 0.3 miles west of Kearsarge Ave. to theend of the existing pavement (1200 feet long, 18 feet wide).

Ite 411.1 Hot Bituminous Concrete leveling course _85_ TonsItem 411.43Plant Mix Surface Treatment (Asphalt Cement 3/8 inch _50_ Tons

4. Sugar Hill Road - From Routes 202 & 9 southerly (3000 feet long, 18 feet wide).

"Be careful of what roads youpave - it's a good idea to spread it around alittle in the town or do a road that every­body uses. Don't pave the roads that willbreak-up in a year. Pave a little bit betterroad, but .obviou~ly do the ones that need it.

ItemItem

411.1 Hot Bituminous Concrete leveling course _260_ Tons411.43Plant Mix Surface Treatment (Asphalt Cement 3/8 inch) _130_ Tons .

New Paving Project

"Prices are variable - tonnage anddistance from the plant will change theprice. You may not get as good a price asHopkinton."

The town of Hopkinton sent itspaving projects out for bid by using theformat shown on the right of this page.They sent this paper to all contractors inNH, Associated General Contractors, andplaced an .ad in the Concord Monitor. Ifyou would like any further informationabout Hopkinton's paving approach, such asthe process for estimating numbers, pleasecontact the Technology Transfer Center bycalling toll free 1-800-423-0060.

1. Farrington Corner Road - From Stickney Hill Road to Brockway Road (3200 feet long, 20feet wide)

Item 403.11Hot Bituminous Pavement, Machine Method (2 inch single course) _800_Tons

2. Lower Spring Street - From end of existing pavement to 1-89 (350 feet long, 18 feet wide)

Item 403.11Hot Bituminous Pavement, Machine Method (2 inch binder course) _80_Tons

Item 411.43Plant Mix Surface Treatment (Asphalt Cement 3/8 inch) _15_ Tons

continued on p. 3

page 2

\,~

il1\

Soft Does Not Mean Easy --

What to look for when buyingsoftware

Software is the most importantpart of the microcomputer. As I explainedin the last Road Business article, softwarerefers to any program or set of computerinstructions that controls the operation ofthe computer.

According to the dictionary, some­thing that is "soft" has a soothing or quietlyagreeable quality. Unfortunately, this de­scription does not always apply to computersoftware; many software packages are verydifficult to use.

But don't be discouraged. Thereare some good computer software programsthat are very easy to use . In fact, certainprograms actually tell the computeroperator exactly what to do step-by-step.These types of software packages arerefered to as being "user-friendly."

Because the concept of userfriendliness varies significantly from oneprogram to the next, it is very important thatyou evaluate software packages over aperiod of time. Also, don't let a salespersonjust show you a canned demo; instead, youshould "test drive" the software by sittingdown at the keyboard and trying it outyourself. This is extremely important.

There are three categories of soft­ware that you should be aware of: publicdomain software, shareware, and proprie­tary software. Each has advantages and dis­advantages. The public domain software is

Hopkinton... continued from p. 2

Item No.

often developed by "computer hackers" andis designed to do a very specific task.Usually, there is no technical support, nodocumentation, and no guarantee that it willwork under all conditions. In general, youget what you pay for . However, there aresome very powerful programs in the publicdomain, even if they are not always veryuser-friendly.

Shareware is the next rung up theladder. The philosophy behind the share­ware concept is that the program can becopied and distnbuted without restriction.If the user likes the software, then a smallfee is paid by the user to the developer. Inreturn the user receives a written copy ofthe documentation and becomes a regis­tered user. Shareware tends to be useful toa broader group of microcomputer owners.The documentation is better and once thefee is paid technical support becomesavailable. There are shareware programs

Summary of Quantities:

Description

by Dr. Dot

for such applications as spreadsheets,wordprocessing, data bases, and communi­cation (see page 4 of this newsletter forinformation on how to acquire copies ofsome good shareware software programs).

The third category of software isproprietary software. This type of softwareis available through companies that aretrying to make a living by developing andselling software packages to computer users.The cost of this software is usually muchhigher, but the user receives many benefits.Once the software is purchased, the userreceives written documentation, freeprogram upgrades for a period of time,reduced prices on new versions, access tolarger technical support staffs, and somevery sophisticated programs. Somecompanies even provide periodic publica­tions that the user will receive at no extracost.

All of this makes the selection ofsoftware a difficult and time-consumingtask. You must be careful that you reallyunderstand what you want your software todo before the purchase is made. Do not leta fancy demonstration or some flashy extras(refered to as bells and whistles) determinewhat software package you should purchaseuntil you are sure all of your basic needs willbe met. Remember to ask yourself thefollowing questions:

continued on p. 4

Quantity

403.11

411.1

411.43

Hot Bituminous Pavement, Machine Method

Hot Bituminous Concrete Leveling Course

Plant Mix Surface Treatment (Asphalt Cement 3/8 inch)

880 Tons

1200 Tons

665 Tons

Thiswork shall be constructed in accordancewith theStandard Specificationsfor Road and Bridge Construction dated 1983 of the Stateof New Hampshire, Department of Transportation.

The unit prices bid shall include all necessary work required to provide a completed project. Subsidiary items of work shall include,but not be limited to, traffic control, road sweeping and cleaning, and mobilization.

TheTown of Hopkinton reserves the right, with no change in the unit prices, to eliminate some of or add on to theproposed construction.Also, the Town reserves the right to waive any informalities in or to reject any or all proposals.

It is anticipated that all resurfacing projects will be ready for paving by July 1, 1987 and that all new paving projects will be ready forpaving by August 15, 1987.

The final completion date for this contract is August 28, 1987. The Contractor will be charged as a penalty $150.00 per calendar dayfor each day beyond the completion date the work is not completed. •

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