Welcome to part five of our series, “Back to the Future: Concrete’s Role in Preserving the Interstate System.”
This series will take you on a journey through the rich history of roadway construction, sharing fun facts along with insights into what the future holds for highway construction. We hope each installment brings you a bit of industry-insider knowledge you didn’t know before!
Paving the Way
In this fifth installment, we examine the innovative strides made in concrete pavement from the 1970s through the 1990s.
In 1972, The International Grooving & Grinding Association (IGGA) was formed to advance diamond grinding and grooving processes.
The 1980s saw the birth of Concrete Pavement Rehabilitation (CPR), with municipalities adopting diamond grinding for street repairs and bridge decks. Two years later, GDOT Director Thomas Moreland confirmed to the American Concrete Pavement Association, “We have restored our confidence in concrete paving...” Throughout the decade, the bridge deck grooving market experienced significant growth and development.
During this period, Calcium Sulfoaluminate (CSA) Cement started being used as a rapid strength repair material. These products offer the ability to repair pavements and bridge decks using both partial and full-depth applications during short lane closures, minimizing disruption to the traveling public.
In the 1990s, Dowel Bar Retrofit (DBR) was an emerging rehabilitation strategy for non-doweled PCC pavements that were in good structural condition but had experienced slab faulting. This technique involved placing dowel bars in sawed slots at PCC joints and placing mortar or concrete mixture in the slots to cast the dowels in place.
Fun fact:
In 1990, NASA recognized safety grooving as a significant technology—cementing its place in the U.S. Space Technology Hall of Fame.
The 1990s also saw unprecedented pavement improvement initiatives in states like California and Georgia. Leading up to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia prepared by contracting more than 500 lane miles of CPR, resulting in a 10% improvement in average ride quality.
The first high-production slot saw made its debut in Washington State in 1993 and facilitated the construction of the first high-production dowel retrofit project in the world.
In 1995, the IGGA affiliated with the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) to represent its newly formed Concrete Pavement Restoration Division which continues to serve as the technical resource and industry representative in the development and marketing of optimized pavement surfaces, concrete pavement restoration and pavement preservation around the world.
Join us for our final installment in the coming weeks as we explore the 21st century and beyond!