Innovative Design, Traffic Management, and Construction of Concrete Overlay Technology: Canadian Municipal Application

Abstract

Concrete overlays have been used successfully by various agencies. Spragues Road is a two-lane rural highway in the regional municipality of Waterloo in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The highway was identified as a candidate for concrete overlay rehabilitation because of traffic considerations and long-term performance requirements. Before this rehabilitation method was implemented, however, many issues associated with the construction of a concrete overlay on a restricted-width, two-lane rural highway had to be resolved. These issues included facilitating safe and effective traffic management and maintaining resident access, along with other perceived concerns related to concrete construction. More specifically, the challenges included a 12.8-km detour, subsequent increased wrong-way traffic, and restricted resident access when the concrete was curing and when lane elevation differentials separated the travel lane from the residential properties. Throughout the course of the project, evolving traffic management practices addressed the wrong-way traffic and mindful planning maintained resident access. This paper presents a case study of the project’s issues and discusses how they were resolved in the field. The project was completed successfully; various lessons learned are presented. A major part of this success is related to the communications strategy and feedback loop during the project.