Tarmac in Glasgow & The Road Laying Process

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Road construction involves using heavy equipment and tarmac in Glasgow to lay a solid foundation for roads that will wear away before their expected lifespan expires. 

Without such a foundation, any road is sure to meet a quick collapse under its own weight and fail much earlier than expected.

Earthwork is the first step, where bulldozers move dirt from dump trucks onto flat surfaces using bulldozers and install drainage systems as necessary.

Glasgow city centre

Earthwork

Excavation is an integral component of road construction, clearing away land to make way for the new highway. This may require large-scale project management using heavy machinery to dig, transport, and replace soil from excavation sites, as well as creating embankments to elevate the roadway above ground level.

Road construction projects involve excavating and adapting large amounts of earth, which requires extensive clearing, screening, rearranging, grading, backfilling, compacting, and levelling operations to take place simultaneously. This can be a costly operation that often consumes thousands of cubic metres per kilometre.

Once this has been accomplished, the road surface can be covered with rigid or flexible pavements, typically Portland cement concrete covered by asphalt (a petroleum-based product that protects underlying layers while providing motorists with a smooth ride) before bitumen seal is added on top for added protection and motorist comfort. This process usually takes up to one year per kilometre of road.

Subgrade

Subgrade soil layers serve to distribute traffic loads evenly over a pavement structure, protect it from vehicle wheel abrasion, and provide skid resistance. They’re an integral component of road construction as they ensure structural soundness without deforming; improper construction could cause ruts to form on road surfaces and ultimately result in their failure.

To prevent this from occurring, the subgrade should be tested thoroughly for strength. If its soil is too loose to support load-bearing capacity and needs stabilising with sand wicks or drains. In addition, soil stabilisation procedures using chemicals, cement, or bituminous materials may also help improve the performance of the subgrade.

A quick way to assess whether the soil has sufficient bearing capacity is by giving it a squeeze with your hand. A well-bearing soil will retain its shape without leaving moisture behind on your hands, while powdery or loose soil indicates too little water has reached it.

Pavement

Once the subgrade has been constructed, it’s time to pave the road. This step involves layering materials to form a pavement structure capable of supporting traffic loads while offering resistance against skidding, traffic abrasion, and climate disintegration effects. Depending on its type, flexible or rigid pavement structures may be constructed accordingly.

Flexible pavement is created when one or more layers of unbound granular material or road asphalt base are laid over a prepared subgrade to improve bearing capacity and minimise the capillary rise of water in the ground.

A binder course is installed over the granular layer and coated with a thin tack coat for bonding with the asphalt surface. Marshall tests and other quality control checks are conducted on the pavement to assess its consistency, density, and strength for the safe transportation of vehicles over it. These quality assurance procedures help ensure proper performance as well as the safe transport of vehicles on it.

Finishing

Road construction entails multiple steps before it’s ready for vehicle use, including excavating, grading, and paving. It is an extensive operation that may take years to complete; planning is essential, along with evaluations such as environmental and structural analyses, as well as construction teams and machinery that need to be assembled before this work can begin.

After finishing the fine grading of the surface, it’s time to apply an aggregate base course made up of crushed stone or gravel and laid evenly along the roadway. After this has been completed, grading and compacting may take place before finishing up with another round of fine grading and compacting of the surface.

Once applied to the base course, a bituminous mixture known as tack coat is then spread on it to act as an adhesive between the asphalt surface course and the base course. Finally, road paver machines lay asphalt or tarmac in Glasgow to surface the course, which is compacted by tandem rollers for an even finish and checked with a straight edge to ensure it does not contain undulations.