Utility Trenching Challenges
Utility trenching in asphalt pavement is challenging for a number of reasons. Utility trenching often takes place in busy urban or suburban areas where traffic flow is a significant concern. Trenching operations can block lanes, reduce road capacity, and create bottlenecks.
Asphalt trenching can also disrupt nearby businesses and residents with noise, dust and vibrations. Cutting through asphalt with a diamond trenching saw weakens the road structure. Improper asphalt trenching or inadequate restoration can lead to premature road failure. This in turn causes potholes or cracks to form, which require further repairs.
Using traditional asphalt trenching methods, road closures are often necessary for utility pipeline projects. By diverting traffic flow, they allow for continuous work and reduce the risk of accidents involving pedestrians. Road closures also provide a buffer zone between the dust and noise of a construction zone.
With saw cutting, asphalt surface removal is a time consuming process that involves the precise cutting of asphalt and excavation. These are only the first steps, followed by utility installation or repair and road restoration. Closing the road allows utility crews to finish projects sooner. They can also coordinate better between utility companies, local governments, and the community.
Removing Asphalt with an Asphalt Milling Machine or Asphalt Grinding Machine Instead
Portable asphalt milling attachments are revolutionizing asphalt removal on utility trenches. When used as asphalt grinders lieu of saw cutting, they drastically shorten project time. The greater flexibility that asphalt milling machines offer on the job site means much shorter road closures. This keeps governments, residents, and businesses happier.
Top Ten Reasons Using an Asphalt Milling Machine Can Reduce or Dramatically Shorten Road Closures:
- Asphalt milling eliminates multiple pieces of equipment and multiple steps. Traditional asphalt removal includes using a diamond trenching saw to cut the asphalt. The next steps involve chunking the asphalt layer into pieces, loading it on a dump truck and hauling it away for asphalt disposal.
- These processes involve multiple workers and large pieces of equipment. This makes it difficult to control traffic safely during the asphalt removal process.
- Asphalt milling means fewer pieces of equipment and workers on the jobsite. A portable asphalt milling attachment connects to a loader or backhoe. The machine features a large, rotating drum equipped with sharp, carbide cutting teeth that grind and cut away the asphalt, quickly milling it off of a utility trench.
- In fact, with an asphalt milling machine, utility crews can open 400 feet of trench in as little as 30 minutes. This allows crews to open the utility trench and install or replace the pipeline much more quickly. More efficient asphalt removal in turn leads to less traffic disruption.
- With your own asphalt milling attachment, you don’t need to open miles of utility line trench at a time. You can open only the trench that you need to complete a section of pipeline. Instead of closing large sections of road, you can close only what you need to finish that day.
- Vehicles can drive over asphalt millings. You can mill the asphalt and leave the asphalt millings in place until it’s time to open the trench. After you fill the trench back in, cars can also drive over the asphalt millings before asphalt paving.
- A portable asphalt milling attachment can produce spec-comparable material. In fact, many job specs allow for the use of asphalt grindings as trench backfill or base material. This eliminates the need to haul in additional trench backfill and shortens project times.
- Asphalt milling machines offer precise cutting widths and depths. Hydraulic depth control and precise milling widths give construction crews better control over removing asphalt during construction. Less asphalt removal during utility trenching means that the road sustains less damage and is quicker to repave.
- Trench joint bonding is greater with an asphalt milling machine. An asphalt milling machine produces a scarified edge during the asphalt trenching process. It bonds with the new pavement surfaces, creating a joint bond that is 25% stronger than a saw cut edge. Fewer utility trench failures extends the service life of the pavement and equals less traffic disruption in the future.
- Opening utility trench in asphalt is much faster and easier than saw cutting with a portable asphalt milling machine. The attachment allows for precise milling directly over the utility trench. This precision reduces the amount of unnecessary asphalt removal and minimizes the disruption to surrounding areas. You may also be able to use the asphalt millings as trench backfill
You can use portable asphalt milling attachments with existing construction equipment, such as skid steers, backhoes or loaders. This reduces the need to invest in or rent additional specialized machinery. You will use less equipment, and in addition, cars can drive over the asphalt millings during construction.
A portable asphalt milling attachment lets you open just the trench you need, whenever you need it. This flexibility leads to fewer road closures and quicker job completion times.