Paving was handled by a Vogele MT 3000 2i Offset PowerFeeder and an Ingersoll Rand Titan paver. A Link-Belt RTC 8110 crane was used to keep the machines in place.
Banking on less
As with any entertainment venue, the Texas Motor Speedway wants to create the emotional adhesive that keeps people in the stands, which made the paving project—the first one on the track since 2001—more than just about drainage. To add more excitement, a decision was made to reduce the embankment—from 24° to 20°—in turns 1 and 2.
“We knew we had to redo the track and we knew we had to do something, and we wanted to change the racing and put it back in the driver’s hands where the drivers had to decide,” said Swift.
After breaking up the pavement in turns 1 and 2, backfill was brought in, about 4.5 ft worth, and placed at the flat line, which is at the bottom of the track. Turns 1 and 2 also were widened, and the first lift consisted of 2 in. of a No. 57 stone, which is called a Type B in Texas. Next came the actual paving, which was handled by a Vogele MT 3000 2i Offset PowerFeeder and an Ingersoll Rand Titan paver, which laid down an 18-ft-wide mat around the track. Crews used a Link Belt RTC 8110 crane to keep the machines in place. An asphalt base layer followed the sub-base in turns 1 and 2. The mix contained a PG 64-22 binder and was about 300°F at laydown. A Bomag 202DB steel double-drum roller handled all compaction duties on the job. A Stansteel asphalt plant located about three miles from the track produced the mix at about 310-320°F. The plant was originally a batch plant before it was converted to a drum plant, and for this job asphalt was being cranked out at 130 tons per hour. Testing at the plant was being done every 500 tons, or as needed.
An open-graded asphalt drainage layer (OGDL) was applied around the whole track to help with drainage. So for turns 3 and 4 and the two straightaways, Lane used the existing track as a base for the new pavement. The OGDL was 2 in. thick, contained a PG 76-22 binder and had about 1.2% asphalt content. The rock size range was No. 67 stone mixed with No. 57 stone. It took about three passes with the Bomag roller to achieve the desired density.
The surface layer carried a PG 82-22 binder which was mixed in with 3⁄8-in. minus rock, ¼-in. minus rock and manufactured sand. Air voids were 6% and the asphalt content was plus 6%. The Bomag roller was making four passes—two in static mode and two in vibratory mode—to achieve 94-96% density. It would make an extra pass on cooler days. Lane used a Troxler nuclear gauge to test for density, which was done 100-200 ft behind the roller.