Product Update: Just Enough of a Good Thing

EZ STREET Job Calculator allows speedy, accurate estimating

If you were a service station owner (or sports club administrator or even a home owner) with a pothole in your asphalt, who would you turn to for a fix? Cold mix is convenient but temporary and turning out a hot mix crew would be expensive. So you research the problem on the Internet and quickly discover EZ STREET is the solution you are looking for.

EZ STREET, exclusive to PRS, combines the strength and permanence of hot mix with the ease of application of cold mix. And it comes in convenient small bags and resealable buckets as well as bulk packs and loose. Unlike conventional asphalts it can be used in water-filled potholes and can be stored for up to 12 months.

A feature of the EZ STREET website – www.ezstreetasphalt.com.au – is the Job Calculator that estimates how much EZ Street is needed for a specific project. “With the Job Calculator, anyone can punch in the size of the hole to be repaired and it will instantly estimate how many bags or kilos are needed,” explains Douglas Cousins, national key products manager.

The enquirer can then request a quote or ask where they can purchase EZ STREET – it’s available nationally from a number of plumbing and hardware supply chains as well as PRS depots.

Aside from calculating material requirements for fixing potholes, this handy online tool can be used to estimate materials for utility cuts and overlays. “With the EZ STREET Job Calculator, you don’t need to be an asphalt expert,” says Douglas Cousins. The EZ STREET website also contains videos demonstrating the use of EZ STREET and all the information that is needed to turn a pothole owner into a pothole repairer.

Download a printable PDF here.

This Cold Mix is HOT!

Cold mix asphalt that sets hard and is as permanent as hot mix. That’s the promise of EZ Street, an American developed product that is now part of the PRS specialty products range.

PRS has been toll-manufacturing EZ Street – say it the American way: “Easy Street” – for three years and recently took over the Australian licence from the previous marketing company. This enables Pioneer to use its national manufacturing, sales and distribution network to bring this innovative product to a wider range of customers, including retail outlets.

But what is EZ Street? “It’s a permanent, cold asphalt that uses a special polymer and manufacturing process to quickly achieve a level of hardness and durability that is unavailable in cold asphalt, and rivals that of hot mix,” explains Douglas Cousins, national key products manager.

How quickly? “Once compacted, a pothole, for example, that has been repaired with EZ Street is trafficable immediately,” he responds. “In fact, the more trafficking the patch receives the harder it sets.”

EZ Street also doesn’t require a tack coat to ensure it bonds with the pothole, in fact it can even be placed in a water-filled hole! That makes it ideal for a road repairer who can carry a bag of EZ Street in the ute and effect a permanent repair in minutes with minimal equipment. It is even possible to compact by rolling a car wheel back and forth over the mix.

Not that EZ Street is restricted to filling potholes. Doug also cites utilties (water, gas, electricity) who need to reinstate a road or footpath opening. Using EZ Street effects an immediate permanent repair, eliminating the need to have a temporary cold mix repair followed a week or so later by hot mix. That saves time and money.

EZ Street can also be used in remote communities or operations that are far from a hot mix plant. This could allow a remote settlement to construct an asphalt footpath, for example. With some basic equipment and a little training the task could even be performed by local labour instead of bring in an outside crew. Add to that list remote mine sites, farms and military bases and you are beginning to see the bigger EZ Street picture.

So what’s the catch? “EZ Street in bulk costs about three times that of hot mix, more so in one tonne bulk sacks, 15 and 22 kilo bags and 20 kilo buckets,” Doug says simply. “But when this is offset against the extra costs in making a cold mix repair, for example, and then having to bring in a hot mix crew, the cost savings can swing EZ Street’s way.”

PRS is manufacturing EZ Street in Sydney and Melbourne, and looking to expand to other plants. (The process requires some simple modifications to a standard asphalt plant.)

Bags and buckets of EZ Street are available most PRS depots, and the bags are sold nationally through a number of hardware supplies chains.

Check out the EZ Street website in Australia at www.ezstreetasphalt.com.au.

Download a printable PDF here.

Producer of EZ STREET a recipient of the Diamond Achievement Quality Production Award

At Duval Asphalt, being first is never as important as being the best. Well, this time it looks like Duval has accomplished both. As recipient of the Diamond Achievement Quality Production Award for both of their asphalt manufacturing facilities, Duval Asphalt becomes the first company in the country to achieve this goal – out of over 4,000 other facilities across the states. 

“The award process required a rigorous self-examination of every aspect our production capabilities. The award not only highlights what is being done right, but provides our team with an opportunity to look for ways we can improve on what we are already doing,” said Dan Engle, head of Duval Asphalt’s manufacturing facilities. Whether it’s the production of hot asphalt for a major development or EZ STREET cold asphalt for the maintenance and repair of roads and parking lots, the production plan ensures that every customer entering and leaving Duval’s facilities will always get a premium product. “That’s very important to us.”

The Diamond Achievement Commendation focused mainly on plant practices, as a blueprint for excellence in material supply in the asphalt industry. Quality Management practices from RAP and Aggregate Handling, Asphalt Storage, Drying and Mixing, Air Quality, Truck Scales, Silos, and Control Rooms were the main focus. Extensive supporting documentation such as technician certificates, laboratory accreditation, and third-party reviews were pre-requisite to the process.

As a privately owned, US operator of asphalt facilities, Duval Asphalt has maintained impeccable plants in the heart of Jacksonville for over 25 years. Duval Asphalt’s Plants #1 and #2 has previously been awarded NAPA’s Diamond Achievement Commendation as well as NAPA’s Ecological Awards.

Duval Asphalt provides a full range of asphalt manufacturing products and construction services to the North Florida market. For more information about the company, visit www.duvalasphalt.com

Road workers put secret formula to pothole test

Longer-lasting filler could save city both time and money

Edmonton is exploring new ways to fill an old problem.

Potholes sprout up every year, especially in the spring, when melting snow seeps into cracks and stretches the asphalt into bone-jarring gaps.

This spring, road crews have been patching potholes with a new material containing a secret ingredient that repels water and supposedly lasts longer than some of the material traditionally used.

The new material pushes water away so crews don’t have to soak up moisture or dig out debris beforehand, said Al Cepas, pavement management engineer with the city’s roadways maintenance branch. And while the traditional material, cold mix, doesn’t last more than a few weeks, the new mix is supposed to last years.

City crews using the new material patched potholes Wednesday morning along 88th Street. “These holes that have been filled today will last about three years,” Cepas said.

Road maintenance workers seem to prefer it already.

“They’d rather be using this than the cold mix,” said John Potter, supervisor of roadway maintenance for the northeast district. His workers found it easier to get a “nice finish” with it because it’s more malleable than the traditional mix.

Hot mix, a substance that lasts as long as five years, is used to fill potholes about 90 per cent of the time. The temporary cold mix is used in the spring, when the city is hit with a “pothole storm,” and there is not enough hot mix material or equipment to fill the holes, Cepas said.

Cold mix is also used by road workers on afternoon and evening shifts because the city’s asphalt plant shuts down at night, and new hot material isn’t available.

About a year and a half ago, two brothers from Florida arrived in Edmonton, offering the city free samples of the mix.

“We, of course, get a lot of people in the door claiming all sorts of fantastic things,” Cepas said. However, when the city tested the material in a few water-filled potholes in an industrial area, “lo and behold, they’re still holding a year and a half later.”

This year, the mix will be used to fill about 30,000 potholes. “This spring is really the test. Right now, it’s very promising, but we’ll have to wait and see,” Cepas said.

Although the city mixes the material at its own asphalt plant, the details of the secret ingredient are unknown, Cepas said. What he knows is that it’s no worse on the environment than the cold mix, contains a water-repelling ingredient, and so far, has filled wet potholes effectively.

Using the new material probably won’t save the city much money, but it might improve overall road conditions. Since crews shouldn’t have to return to the same holes to refill them, they will be freed up to fix holes they never had time to before, Cepas said.

The new mix costs 35 per cent more than the cold mix, which translates to about 70 cents more per pothole, pushing the total cost of filling an average hole to $8.70 from $8, Cepas said.

Edmonton isn’t the only city testing the new material. Calgary and Saskatoon are trying it out, too, said Christopher Hunt, president of the company that distributes the material.

Last fall, Yellowknife, N.W.T., switched to the new filler. Most cities in the United States, and places in Australia and New Zealand, are also using it, Hunt said.

Edmonton began testing another possible replacement for the cold mix last summer, when it laid down a soybean-based material in a southeast industrial area.

Although the last time Cepas checked on it, about a month and a half ago, it seemed to be “holding up,” he said it hasn’t been monitored too closely.

However, if the soybean product and the material used along 88th Street on Wednesday prove effective in the long run, they might both replace the cold mix.

“Ideally, we’d like to have more than one product to use. If the price of one product goes out to lunch, we’d like to have another product to substitute with,” Cepas said.

Although some extra-large potholes showed up this spring, including one just north of the Quesnell Bridge along Whitemud Drive which motorists were warned to drive around rather than through, Cepas said the number of complaints has been typical for the season.

Julius Madsan lives in the cul-de-sac off the section of 88th Street repaired Wednesday morning. “Last year it was disgusting,” he said, referring to the springtime potholes. When he learned the city was testing new filling material, he seemed pleased.

“I know some of the stuff they were using before didn’t last more than a couple of weeks. If it’s something that works, it’s a good idea.”

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Road+workers+secret+formula+pothole+test/1455178/story.html

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Edmonton using new mix for filling potholes

Crews patching potholes in Edmonton this spring will be testing a new material the city hopes will last through wet spring road conditions, city officials announced Wednesday.

Potholes are traditionally filled with what’s known as cold mix this time of year, but the material can weaken when it gets wet, meaning crews sometimes have to go back and patch holes a second time.

This new material works well with water and bonds better with roads, meaning potholes will stay filled. It also means crews can work on potholes even during wet weather.

“What this allows us to do is if the potholes stay filled, then we’re able to get on to filling the other holes that may take a little bit longer to fill otherwise,” said Al Cepas, pavement management engineer with the City of Edmonton.

The material, which Cepas said is a proprietary secret, was developed in Florida.

Edmonton is one of the first cities to try it out. The city of Yellowknife has already been using it exclusively to patch its potholes, Cepas said.

The city mixed up the additive with its usual asphalt material and tried it out for the first time last fall.

“We’re seeing some pretty good success with it,” Cepas said. “We’re hoping to see that this material will replace the old cold mix we’ve been using for forever and a decade.”

The city fills about 400,000 potholes a year.

The new additive is about 35 per cent more expensive and will cost the city between $30,000 and $40,000 extra every year but is expected to last much longer.

Copyright © CBC 2009

EZ STREET® Arrives to Permanently Repair Colorado Potholes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Christa Rehlinger
Colorado Asphalt Services
(303) 292-3434
christa@coloradoasphaltservices.com
http://www.coloradoasphalt.com

EZ STREET® Arrives to Permanently Repair Colorado Potholes

Denver, Colorado – February 19, 2008 – Just in time for “Spring break up”, Colorado Asphalt Services of Denver, CO has brought one of the world’s most formidable and economical solutions to the road industry.

This is asphalt, you’re asking? Yes!

EZ STREET is a polymer modified cold asphalt, developed over 12 years ago by a Miami based technology company that recognized the need for a better solution. In use by state agencies across the country, and throughout the world from Melbourne, Australia to Santiago, Chile, EZ STREET is “cold”, and can be used in inclement weather conditions, a variety of temperatures, and can even be put in a pothole full of water!

Bumper Crop.

“With above average snow falls this year, the pothole season is bound to be a long and drawn out one, delivering a healthy dosage of freeze-thaw activtity”, says Christa Rehlinger, Colorado Asphalt’s Marketing Manager, the one responsible for providing the education to the end user, as to the benefits of using EZ STREET over conventional products. In years past, the Colorado Department of Transportation, cities, and private contractors did not have the level of technology as they do now, with a solution like EZ STREET, to rapidly and permanently solve pothole problems. Now they do. Our combined investment in EZ STREET is an investment in the future infrastructure needs of the state. The less funds there are for major construction, state and local agencies will need “fix it now” solutions – and EZ STREET provides that, but with a far greater degree of intermediate and long term results than anything else out there.” EZ STREET is being featured in a live demonstration at the 35th Annual Rocky Mountain Asphalt Conference, alongside Colorado’s Governor Bill Ritter – who will be there to explain his plan to increase funding for Colorado roadways. To be part of this live action demonstration, please contact Christa at 303.931.7530.

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Click here for Press Photos

Service Tips – Watch out for Potholes!

 Auto dealers in the northeast are noticing the extensive pothole damage this year caused by the constant warming and cooling. Kent Brown Toyota in Elmira, New York writes this service tip in response to the pothole epidemic:

“In many areas of the country, the snow and ice of winter have left roads in bad shape. The repeated freezing and thawing of moisture seeps through road surfaces and causes potholes.

Hitting potholes can throw your vehicle’s front end out of alignment. If you feel your car “pulling” during driving, that’s a clue that you could have a problem. Check the tread on your tires: uneven tread wear can be a sign of misalignment. If you hit a severe pothole, have your dealer check your vehicle’s alignment and tire balance.
When you hit a pothole you can damage your tire and/or the metal wheel of your vehicle. Keeping your tires properly inflated will help reduce damage from potholes and other road hazards.

The impact of potholes on tires increases dramatically with speed and can cause hidden, internal damage that could lead to tire failure weeks, or even months later. It’s best to avoid potholes entirely, but if that’s not possible; don’t just brake during the pothole impact. Instead, apply brakes before hitting a pothole and release them just prior to impact. Braking during the impact sets up the wheel and tire assembly for a “solid hit” against the edge of the hole. Less severe damage occurs when a tire is rolling than when it is skidding over a hole during braking.”

Visit http://www.kbtoyota.com/potholes.html for the full story…

Tackling asphalt maintenance: There’s no ‘pot’ in the hole

OK … got your atten­tion yet?

As real estate and property owners and property managers, it is your obligation to maintain the integrity and condition of your parking lots, not only for “curb appeal” and possible rental space, but also for the value of the real estate investment. Deferred mainte­nance of asphalt ends up being a disaster later in time. From an asphalt maintenance com­pany’s perspective, as the old saying goes, “Pay me now, or pay me lots more later.” It is no different than telling your dentist that even though you have a cavity in a tooth, do not fill it now – and then lose your entire tooth in a couple of years, due to lack of effort, money or desire to remedy the problem when it first became apparent.

Webster’s Dictionary dis­closes that the word “pothole” originated in approximately 1926. The primary definitions are: “(1) a sizable rounded often water-filled depression in land; (2) a pot-shaped hole in a road surface.” So, you see, there is no cannabis in “potholes”!

Potholes are created when pavement or material beneath it, called base, subbase, or subgrade, cannot support the weight of traffic. Likewise, there is always water associated with the creation of potholes, as described above.

Proper asphalt maintenance includes sev­eral efforts, and some amount of money. You must maintain it, like your teeth, your vehi­cles, your houses, etc., or you will pay dearly later. The primary things needed to be done on a regular basis (either every year, or every other year, or sometimes a bit longer) are the fol­lowing:

1. Crack-fill cracks every year – otherwise, they get much worse, and then they can ruin an entire asphalt surface, over time.

2. Fix potholes every time they appear, and do not delay! Otherwise, as in cracking, they will cause the entire asphalt surface around them to dete­riorate to a condition known as “alligatoring” (which looks like alligator skin – asphalt crack­ing up everywhere).

3. Seal coat every two or three years to increase the lifespan of your asphalt.

For surface blemishes only, use infrared patching, which is a giant heater-like device that heats up only the top inch or so of asphalt and replaces it with replacement asphalt. This is a superficial fix, and does not address pothole problems or subgrade issues. It is widely overused because it is cheap­er than a proper “repair-and-replace” method of repairing potholes or larger alligatored or cracked areas, but it will last only temporarily when improperly used in such situ­ations.

In warm weather, the proper “fix” for a pothole is to have the hole cleaned and dried, and “sawcut” for clean edges, then having new hot-mix asphalt used to fill the hole. This is a permanent repair. In cold weath­er, the hole can be cleaned out and “cold-mix” asphalt can be installed to temporarily fill the whole, until it is warm enough (in the ground) for a proper hot-mix repair. Another new alternative, and there are a couple of products now being created, is to use a product like EZ STREET cold asphalt, which is a special cold mix that can be used in any temperatures to permanent­ly fix the potholes or cracks. These products are a bit more “pricey” at first blush, but they save money in the long run, in that they eliminate the need for two repairs on one hole (i.e., first cold mix, then later replaced by hot mix in warmer weather).

H. Wayne Leiser

President and CEO, Colorado Asphalt Services Inc., Commerce City. Leiser is on the board of directors of the Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association and the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.

From www.crej.com