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Peterson offers the entire line of general and road construction products. Specializing in fast, accurate and reliable product support, we offer services to make sure you are up and running when you need to be. Whether you are buying or leasing, Peterson is committed to supporting you with the best equipment and the most cost-effective solutions.

Please enjoy the articles below and click on the various links for information on relevant Oregon associations.

A PLAN WITH

Cold planer work tool helps department handle asphalt patching

Background
The Page County Highway Department, in southwest Iowa, is responsible for maintaining more than 900 miles of road (552 gravel, 158 dirt and 219 concrete/asphalt).

The challenge
Tackling smaller asphalt patching jobs; providing quality road maintenance and construction services to taxpayers.

The solutions

• Invest in work tools that can handle the job. Those tools allow the Page County Highway Department's CAT^® 320C Ls Hydraulic Excavator and the CAT 268B Skid Steer Loader to handle many specific jobs and the daily workload, which in the past required additional pieces of equipment.
  
  "We look to maximize the usage of our machines," David Shanahan says. "These Work Tools do that to the fullest." The right tool, including the CAT Cold Planer Work Tool, also enhances customer service. "We can repair roadway surfaces and grind pavement bumps or pavement blowups that occur in the summer, in a short amount of time," Shanahan says.
  
  "This helps Page County get the roads back into service sooner and minimizes driving hazards to the public." That is a direct result of the versatility and the effectiveness of the cold planer and other CAT Work Tools, he says.
  
  
• Buy versatile machines. "The CAT Excavator is probably one of the more versatile machines out there," Shanahan says. It is used for general excavation, tree removal – thanks to a shear work tool – ditch cleaning, pipe removal and installation, rock ripping and truck loading. Another versatile machine is the CAT 268B Skid Steer Loader. It loads trucks and operates a tree shear, grapple fork and cold-planer CAT Work Tool.
  
  
• "As a county engineer, I look to Life Cycle Costing to ensure the purchase of the proper equipment," Shanahan explains. "It's not just about the lowest initial cost. It has to be reliable."
  
  The department also looks at resale value, parts availability and dealer support. "We have to look at all options and what keeps costs down after the purchase – and what benefits the county most from these machines," he says.

The bottom line
"There are more and more demands on the roads and road departments, so keeping pace requires innovative thinking and maximizing the return on equipment you have," Shanahan says. "You have to look at dependability, versatility and value when buying a machine."

Pre-project planning key to specialty projects

"Prior planning prevents poor performance" is how the familiar saying goes, or at least a derivative of it. This piece of wisdom is as true in paving as in any other undertaking, and is particularly applicable in specialty paving. This issue of Paving News highlights two unique paving jobs with special requirements emphasizing the importance of pre-project planning.

Specialty paving is a general category of non-highway projects including airport runways, racetracks, automobile test tracks, and parking lots. These projects often involve special tools and special mixes, and due to the application may have extraordinary logistical considerations or time constraints. Many special projects also come with very high performance requirements in smoothness, profile, and density.

All these factors combined can take a paving crew accustomed to highway projects out of their comfort zone. For operational efficiency and quality, every phase of the paving job must be planned. The added complexity inherent in some specialty paving projects must be especially considered.

"On track" on pages 4-8 describes paving a horse race track with a specialized mix. This job had unique compaction requirements, and also a limited window of time the plant could dedicate to producing the special mix.

"Air pressure" on pages 12-15 describes an airport paving job with very strict performance requirements and a tight time schedule. Imagine the complexity in planning to keep the pavers operating 22 hours a day for a period of time! The plant, trucks, pavers, compactors, and other support equipment needed to be well planned and coordinated to keep the operation going. To meet the joint density specification, the crews paved with varying widths and used a special homemade tool to help produce well-compacted longitudinal joints.

Both of these projects involved exceptional requirements that were considered and prepared for long before the trucks full of asphalt arrived at the jobsite. Typical factors which must always be considered are asphalt tonnage and trucking, minimum and maximum paving widths, existing grade conditions, and job specifications. Depending on the complexity of the job, the specification may necessitate significant planning and preparation.

Another factor that cannot be ignored when preparing for time sensitive and tight specification projects is equipment maintenance. Poorly maintained equipment makes it difficult to achieve specifications and performance requirements. Unreliable equipment on the jobsite can jeopardize the schedule and be very costly. CAT^® Dealers provide world-class service and support to keep your equipment running in top condition. You can partner with your CAT Dealer, who understands the paving business and is committed to your success.

Links:

http://www.apao.org/ – Asphalt Pavement Association of Oregon.