My first task as the new Roads Chair for STEHOA was to take on the repair of a cracking and slumping area of Algardi. Here is a picture of the problem area:
Bates Paving had resurfaced the road several years ago and we needed to determine if this was warranty work or some other issue. Jim Wilson had coordinated with them in early May to come out and remove the asphalt.
I went out with a pick/shovel and confirmed there was moisture (not standing water, just moist). It was also very clear that under the asphalt, the soil was almost 100% clay material. That means it had little or no road bed (base or subgrade made of gravel) preparation in that area, and clay is probably the worst thing to have just under the asphalt as it retains water and is very elastic, making the road crack and slump as it is doing. Of course, this was not Bates Paving’s issue, since they only resurfaced the existing road and were not responsible for the road bed that was originally put in almost 30 years ago.
It seems my 3 years of internship at MN Dept. of Transporation Soil/Water/Noise analysis lab is coming in handy.
The moist soil indicated there might be a plumbing problem. So I figured I would give it a few days to air out and determine if it was more than condensation collecting. Unfortunately, it rained several times during the next weeks, so I waited. The moisture was still there on 5/17, so I called Tucson Water to come out and determined if any of their lines were possibly leaking. They did a thorough job of looking at all their valves on Algardi and found no problems, and they confirmed our irrigation valves are all off with no flow in the area. They also were confident that if their mains were a problem, there would be a flood of water, not just moisture. They said they would be o.k. uncovering their lines to prove it wasn’t their problem, but we would have to pay for that work. It would also likely require more road to be cut out and dug up.
Unfortunately, with no obvious source of water and the possibility it was natural or some distance away, calling a plumber out to make a professional investigation of the matter would probably be more expensive with more road destruction and might be of little or no value. I figured the best solution was to remove 10″ of the clay and put in a proper road bed.
The work was scheduled for this Monday, which has turned out to be one of the hottest weeks in Tucson history…
Checking for the water line based on Blue Stake paint locations:
Back hoe taking out the clay surface:
Putting in the new base material – a mixture of soil, gravel and ground up asphalt:
The new road bed waiting for new asphalt:
The finished product:
You may also have noticed the Valle Di Cadore cluster mailbox parking area pavement was deteriorating much faster than the roadway. So I had also negotiated an option to take advantage of the $1k “mobilization” cost to get the equipment on site and fix that area. Even thought Di Cadore, Masina, and Zurburan will be resurfaced in a few years, the Board of Directors weighed in and determined the cost of repair was worth the risk of someone tripping over a crack or hole while getting their mail.
This is a picture of that work being started. 
A video of the new 1.5″ asphalt going in:
and the asphalt vibratory roller giving us the final product.
