Rieth-Riley Construction Co. Inc., based in Goshen, Ind., is at work on I-70 on the east side of Indianapolis.
The existing roadway had deteriorated and was in need of replacement. The project involves the complete reconstruction of 6 miles of two-lane interstate, with the addition of a third lane in each direction. Current traffic volumes average 66,000 vehicles per day; that count is expected to reach 91,500 vehicles per day by 2030.
Rieth-Riley Construction is using a GOMACO four-track Commander III on the east end of the project. The Commander III?is slipforming 12-ft-wide lanes of interstate, 12 in. thick.
Concrete is supplied by a mobile batch plant set up on the project. It is producing a portland cement concrete pavement (PCCP) using the Indiana Department of Transportation’s quality control/quality assurance (QA/QC) specifications. Concrete slump averages 1.5 to 2 in.
Trucks haul the concrete to the paving site, where they dump into the hopper of Rieth-Riley’s GOMACO RTP-500 rubber-tracked placer. The RTP-500 places the concrete on grade over dowel baskets placed on 16-ft centers in front of the four-track Commander III.
Production is limited because of the project’s tight paving conditions. Trucks can only back into the RTP-500 one at a time because of the limited working area and no available room for a haul road. The Commander III’s paving speed is kept to 160 to 170 cu yd of production per hour to accommodate the slow delivery. The slow paving speed eliminates any unnecessary stops and allows for a smooth finished product.
Finishing work behind the Commander III?is kept to a minimum. A burlap drag is attached behind the paver, followed by workers with bull floats.
Rieth-Riley Construction is happy with the performance of their four-track Commander III paver. It is producing a new, smooth concrete road that is earning the company bonus pay. R&B
