United States Department of Transportation
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Abstract:A maintenance issue that has the potential for cost savings is the maintenance of gravel shoulders. Maine
has 5600 miles of roadway with gravel shoulders that erode with heavy rains. Every year the gravel
shoulders erode to a point were the gravel shoulder elevation is as much as 2 inches below pavement elevation and isolated areas can be washed away to a depth greater than that. This elevation change can make it very difficult to control a vehicle that has wandered into the gravel shoulder. In addition, when a gravel shoulder is even with the pavement it gives support to the pavement edge. When the gravel is
below the pavement surface that support is diminished and trucks or vehicles that ride along the pavement
edge can ravel and crack the pavement. This occurs mainly on inside curves and over time, the cracking
can migrate into the wheel path decreasing the load carrying capacity of the roadway. Based on the
Departments Maintenance Activity Tracking System, which is a work accomplishment database that
records labor, equipment, and material costs for all maintenance activities, the Department spends as
much as 1.14 million dollars per year to re-grade and compact gravel shoulders.
One way to decrease the cost of maintaining the shoulders and improve safety is to add a binding agent to the gravel prior to re-grading and compaction. This could prevent rain water from eroding the gravel and add stability to the shoulder which could reduce pavement edge ravel and cracking and increase the life
expectancy of the roadway.
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