ORIL Best Practices - Pavement Restoration of Open Cut Utility Installations or Repairs

Local public agencies often face the challenge of repairing their pavements after the installation or repair of subsurface utilities in the roadway. While minimizing the need to disturb the in-service pavements through advanced planning and coordination with other planned roadway work is ideal, open utility cuts are often unavoidable. The performance of a repair is influenced by a number of factors such as backfill materials, compaction of the backfill, season in which it was completed, and compaction of the asphalt surface. 

The Ohio Research Initiative for Locals (ORIL) program and the Ohio Department of Transportation - Office of Statewide Planning & Research teamed up to identify the best practices for pavement restoration of open cut utility installation on local roads in urban areas to ensure low cost and long-term performance.  In a report titled “Best Practices for Pavement Restoration of Open Cut Utility Installations/Repairs on Local Roadways in Ohio,” a literature review was completed, local agencies across Ohio and surrounding states were surveyed to collect information pertaining to current practices for pavement restoration of open utility cuts, and follow up interviews were conducted with local transportation officials in Ohio to gather additional information related to their standards and practices.  Field sites were visited to select sites for detailed evaluation and field and laboratory evaluation was conducted on three poor performing repairs and three good performing repairs in each of three cities in Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton. From the research gathered by local transportation agency officials and identified from field evaluations, a matrix of best practices was developed.
 

The text above is the abstract from the official report. Please click here to view the report and facts in full.