Client: L.A. Fitness, Apple Valley, Minnesota
During the summer of 2017, Bituminous Roadways, Inc. (BR), was contracted to reconstruct the parking lot for a busy fitness center in the southern Twin Cities metro area. L.A. Fitness management communicated with BR the desire to continue full operation during construction. Due to the extensive nature of this project, BR recommended a two-phase approach. Phasing a project isn’t necessarily an obstacle, but it does take some planning and can present some challenges. The parking area was divided into two sections. When BR was working in the first area, barricades were used to indicate to fitness members where they could park. After the first phase was completed, the barricades were switched and users were able to park on the freshly paved asphalt parking lot while BR completed the second section.
As the excavation began during the first phase, the BR team noticed a significantly softer subgrade soil than anticipated. As history indicates, paving asphalt on top of a soft subgrade will only cause problems later in the pavements life-cycle, including widespread cracking, extensive rutting and problematic potholes. To overcome this obstacle, BR collaborated with the site engineers to determine the extent of additional subgrade work needed. As a result of these conversations, it was recommended to the client that additional soil corrections were needed in order to provide the proper pavement support ensuring a longer lasting pavement. Even though these corrections were not a part of the project timeline, the benefit would far outweigh extending the schedule a few days.
Upon receiving approval from the client, BR’s excavation crew removed an additional 5,200 cubic yards of poor quality soil and installed, compacted and graded a total of 12,500 tons of class #5 aggregate. When grading the site, BR used GPS technology for the most accurate results ensuring the proper slope for surface draining.
All of this was completed to ensure a strong foundation for the new asphalt pavement. After nearly three weeks of preparation, BR crews paved approximately 2,600 tons of asphalt.
With more than 70 years in the asphalt paving industry, BR has faced many obstacles and learned how to tackle them. This knowledge is passed along to our customers providing them with the best possible solution to produce a high quality, long lasting asphalt pavement they can be proud of. Call us today at 651-686-7001 or request a consultation. We proudly serve the Twin Cities metro and the surrounding area.
“Thanks Mike. You, Brad and the entire Bit Roads team did a great job and have been a pleasure to work with.”
-Gary C., with International Fitness, LLC.