The challenge was clear: mill and pave a 50,000-square-foot freight yard, a unique undertaking not only because of the scale of the yard, but because instead of asphalt, the surface was all stone with an above-grade elevation. The goal was to lower the surface by four inches while ensuring proper drainage across the area.
Conventional methods would have necessitated multiple milling and paving operations by a highly skilled paving team to achieve the required thickness.
Instead, Jacob and Zack Buck, fifth generation owners of Buck Brothers Asphalt Paving & Concrete, turned to its technology-enabled asphalt paving and milling tools and techniques.
3D MODELING
Less than two years ago, the brothers invested in the Trimble SPS930 Universal Total Station (UTS), which is both a survey and machine control instrument able to provide very high, 3-mm range, precision measurements. The UTS tracks a machine target and passes the positioning information from the total station to a machine.
Prior to milling on the freight yard project, Jacob surveyed the existing conditions with the UTS. He adds, “I shoot everything including curbs, drainage, flush surfaces, utility lids, and more. I send that data to Trimble Business Center to be cleaned and modeled.”
Once complete, the final surface was sent to a Caterpillar PM820 cold planer equipped with the Trimble Roadworks 3D Paving Control Platform to mill the stone parking lot to the specified grade. “The finished surface is always accurate because I’m working directly from as-built conditions, so our drainage, flushes, and transitions are all going to be exactly right,” Jacob emphasizes.
He continues, “Because we were able to mill in 3D, [we found] it considerably easier to pave to depth than using traditional paving methods such as checking depth with a dipstick or using sonics. We completed the work on time and to exact specifications, all while working around the client’s ongoing operations.”
AWARD-WINNING PERFORMANCE
Another project was the 20-year-old parking lot at Cornerstone Church in Maumee, Ohio. To complete the job, the Buck Brothers crew once again relied on its UTS to regrade 100,000 square feet to 1/16-inch precision. Further, the team optimized the curbs and islands for drainage and created 24-foot drive lanes for improved access and safety. Not long after it was complete, this project was nominated for the Pavement Maintenance & Reconstruction 2024 Award.
These are just two of many projects that Jacob and Zack have completed since investing in the UTS, and they are realizing value well beyond the single project’s productivity and accuracy.
Jacob points to greater efficiency of materials with no overage. “The cost savings on materials alone likely pays for the technology investment,” he adds.
Arguably, the greater benefit is confidence in the final results and customer satisfaction. “I know that everything we pave is at the right thickness and is going to drain correctly—and that’s big in the asphalt world,” Jacob explains. “My customers, both owners and general contractors, are kind of in awe of what they’re seeing. Many people assume this technology is only for large-scale construction sites and workflows, but we’re finding it has huge benefits for smaller sites where precision and material yields are equally important.”
for more information
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