Weekend Closure for Construction of Asphalt Overlay on Urban Highway

Construction of asphalt overlays for urban highways is generally restricted to off-peak hours, often exclusively nighttime hours, and to partial closures to minimize public inconvenience. Such constraints are thought to adversely affect production and quality. In August 1997, the Washington State Department of Transportation implemented a pilot project to evaluate the option of a full weekend closure—closure of all lanes in a single direction throughout designated weekend hours—as an alternative to nighttime closures. Two concerns were consistent construction quality between nighttime and daytime paving and general comparison of the full weekend closure with other closure strategies. Surface smoothness (rideability) and in-place density were compared between nighttime and daytime mainline paving for this project, and gradation and asphalt cement content variabilities were compared with published average values. Production rates were compared to those from a comparably sized nighttime project. The investigation revealed that consistent quality, exceeding reported average values, may be achieved. High paving production rates resulted from close proximity of the hot mix plant to the work zone.