The Clark Avenue interchange is a highly traveled, four-lane road serving as a primary access point to California State Route 135 in Santa Barbara County. It is also an arterial roadway for the Town of Orcutt. One critical problem that the County needed to address was deterioration to the longitudinal paving joint at and around the Clark Avenue Interchange. This type of deterioration can often lead to premature pavement failure if left untreated.
THE ISSUE
“Considering standard crack sealing to address this type of problem was not an option. The deterioration that was occurring to the joint progressed beyond the point of performing a typical crack sealing treatment,” says County of Santa Barbara Public Works North County superintendent, Andy O’Brien. “An application using cold mix or HMA was also not a viable option due to high traffic volumes. Extensive road closures would have caused a severe disruption to traffic flow.”
THE SOLUTION
Finding the right solution would be a challenge. The repair material needed to treat and preserve the pavement, but also not create significant disruptions to traffic flows or safety hazards when applied. According to Andy O’Brien, “We were looking for a repair material that could be quickly and easily installed, flexible, durable, and capable of receiving road paint markings that would hold up well in high traffic.” Through a product demonstration, “Mastic One®” by Crafco met all the requirements because of its ease-of-installation, proven service life of more than 5 years, and the ability to receive traffic when cooled.
THE WORK
Applied in September of 2017, almost 5 years has transpired since the County installed 4,200 lbs of the hot Mastic One material to treat the longitudinal joint cracking at and around the Clark Avenue Interchange. The work started at Foxenwood Lane on the west side of the SR 135, applying 200 yards of the hot Mastic One at a time with a drag box. This time and labor-saving installation method continued under SR 135, ending at the northbound on/off ramps.
THE BENEFITS
The County Public Works Department maintenance crew recognized that utilizing Mastic One to treat longitudinal joint raveling resulted in significantly less traffic interruption, less equipment and crew, less cost and time spent, and an improved long-term repair. These benefits along with ensuring a smooth ride for vehicles provided an unrivaled solution to one of the most prevalent forms of distress in asphalt roads.
“The performance has been excellent,” says County of Santa Barbara Public Works North County Superintendent, Andy O’Brien. Mastic One has performed how we expected. The unraveling of the joints/seams has stopped. Another concern was how the mastic material would accept traffic line paint. To our delight, the paint has adhered to the mastic material exceptionally well.”
CLOSING THOUGHT
The performance of Mastic One on this project has led the County of Santa Barbara to use the repair mastic on other projects. Mastic One enabled the county to complete the repair in a safe, effective, and efficient manner.
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For more information contact Andy O’Brien at aobrien@countyofsb.org or Chris Vacca at chris.vaccca@crafco.com. For more, visit crafco.com.
Modern Contractor Solutions, August 2022
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