Congratulations to the City of Kaukauna, the Wisconsin Asphalt Pavement Association’s (WAPA) 2021 recipient of the Local Government Asphalt Award for advancing innovation in asphalt pavements. The City historically reconstructed its streets using concrete pavements but sought more cost-effective solutions.
Northeast Asphalt (NEA) was honored to partner with the City of Kaukauna in reconstructing their roadways with asphalt, allowing the City to implement a cost-effective yet durable solution that would provide the shortest interruption to residents and businesses.
This 9,000-ton reconstruction project involved milling and paving several roadways and pulverizing the full depth of several high-traffic roadways, including Thilmany Road. This road is the main truck route to and from Thilmany Paper (Ahlstrom-Munksjo). Due to poor drainage and aggregate subbase saturation, the existing roadway exhibited extensive cracking. The goal of this new design would be to resolve drainage issues without the need for a complete reconstruction.
The City implemented a unique profile which included a typical crown with a super-elevated crown in some locations to allow for proper drainage from the large hardscape areas surrounding the roadway. A crown describes the side-to-side or cross-sectional shape of a road surface. Adjusting the crown from a flat surface will positively enhance drainage.
Due to its heavy truck traffic, the City initially bid the work to be completed using four different hot mix asphalt (HMA) mix designs and two grades of asphalt cement. NEA proposed reducing to two designs, which elevated the production efficiency while meeting project goals. Making this change cut interruptions at the paper mill in half.
Designing roadways requires a collaborative process that looks for innovative ways to achieve successful results. NEA was proud to work with the City of Kaukauna through the design and construction of their roadways and looks forward to future projects.
