(July 13, 2017) Compactors and pavers will be a regular sight for commuters on Route 113 between Snow Hill and Berlin, as construction crews begin laying base asphalt on portions of the highway.
Maryland State Highway Administration Spokesperson Bob Rager provided a status update last week on phase three of the $86 million highway dualization project, which covers a 4.6-mile stretch of road between Massey Branch at the north end and Five Mile Branch Road.
“We just started paving last week,” he said. “The order of business for the rest of the summer is going to be paving, paving, paving.”
The initial base asphalt paving was done last week between Massey Creek and Langmaid Road, Rager said.
“We paved last week right up to Langmaid Road,” he said. “Now we’ll work south of there and continue that throughout the summer all the way down to the railroad crossing by Basket Switch Road.”
The process becomes more involved, Rager said, because two layers of base asphalt are required.
“They’ve got to go up and down that road twice and pave all of that,” he said. “That’s just going to have our base down. We’re not going to have a final surface on it probably until the spring.”
Rages said the road base, which handles the bulk of the weight from traffic, has different considerations than the top two inches of asphalt.
“Since the surface asphalt mix requires different temperatures than the base, we probably wouldn’t do that in late fall or early winter,” he said. “We would probably push it off until the spring.”
Considering the varying temperature requirements, Rager said the most prudent approach is to focus initially on applying base layers and addressing the top surface toward the end of the project.
“I’m assuming that’s going to run well through the summer and into the fall,” he said. “That puts us on schedule to get the final surface for everything by the spring.”
Maryland State Highway Administration Spokesperson Bob Rager provided a status update last week on phase three of the $86 million highway dualization project, which covers a 4.6-mile stretch of road between Massey Branch at the north end and Five Mile Branch Road.
“We just started paving last week,” he said. “The order of business for the rest of the summer is going to be paving, paving, paving.”
The initial base asphalt paving was done last week between Massey Creek and Langmaid Road, Rager said.
“We paved last week right up to Langmaid Road,” he said. “Now we’ll work south of there and continue that throughout the summer all the way down to the railroad crossing by Basket Switch Road.”
The process becomes more involved, Rager said, because two layers of base asphalt are required.
“They’ve got to go up and down that road twice and pave all of that,” he said. “That’s just going to have our base down. We’re not going to have a final surface on it probably until the spring.”
Rages said the road base, which handles the bulk of the weight from traffic, has different considerations than the top two inches of asphalt.
“Since the surface asphalt mix requires different temperatures than the base, we probably wouldn’t do that in late fall or early winter,” he said. “We would probably push it off until the spring.”
Considering the varying temperature requirements, Rager said the most prudent approach is to focus initially on applying base layers and addressing the top surface toward the end of the project.
“I’m assuming that’s going to run well through the summer and into the fall,” he said. “That puts us on schedule to get the final surface for everything by the spring.”