 Remember the good old days when a trip meant a jolting, rough ride over a dusty, rutted cow trail? Well, probably not. But can you relate to this? Life in the fast lane today. Modern-day traffic on smooth, surfaced, paved highways and interstates moves like lightning compared to the snail's pace of a century ago. And as population grows, so do the number of vehicles that travel every roadway in the country. As travel increases, so do the maintenance problems of these roads. More vehicles, heavier loads, weather damage and age all contribute to the deterioration of an asphalt surfaced road. Good maintenance starts with road patrol, identifying problem areas and planning repair work. Along with checking fences, signs and culverts, a supervisor also watches for defective spots on the road surface that need to be blade patched. Blade patching can correct rutted, shoved out areas, large alligator cracks and potholes too large for hand patching. Each area to be patched is marked and materials needed or calculated. Equipment is checked and prepared for patching, dump trucks, a loader, broom, roller, asphalt distributor and of course the motor grader. An important part of any maintenance activity is a good traffic control plan. The safety of both the work crew and the motoring public depends on it. The importance of proper signing, good transitions and alert flag people can never be overemphasized. Once traffic control is in place and everything is at the job site, preparation of the area begins. The first step is to cut off high spots and clean any old cracked or broken material out of the hole. The surface must be clean in order for the asphalt tack coat to stick to the mat. If the shoulder is higher than the mat, it's a good idea to cut it level with the mat so water can drain away. Feathering out waste material leaves a good appearance. The tack coat is sprayed evenly on the area to be repaired. Pre-mix is then spread or dumped from the dump truck extending a foot or two beyond the tack coat to ensure having enough material. Dumping should start from the end where blading will begin. A straight even windrow is essential to laying a good patch. The blade operator works the windrow from both directions always bringing it to the starting and ending points of the patch. Windrowing to the center of the patch eliminates the chance of losing material off the shoulder. A slightly angled blade with a little down pressure will tend to even out the pre-mix but prevents cutting into the old mat and getting chunks in the material. At the end of the patch, turning sharply toward the windrow as the material feathers out leaves it within 5 to 10 feet of the patch. Tailing out the windrow this way puts it in the correct position for the next pass. After the windrow is even in size, the final pass should leave the material at the inside edge of the patch. The aggregate size will affect how thick each layer is. But in general, a lift should be no more than one inch thick. Laying material should be done in low gear with the throttle open. This will give you live controls without excessive ground speed. Too much ground speed will cause a bounce in the machine putting washboards in the patch. Productivity with a motor grader is made by making fewer passes not by higher speeds. The operator makes as few passes as possible so the material will not separate. Too much working will separate the rocks and fines and the rocks will whip off the surface. Material should be forced under the blade so that the surface will be tighter but not so much pressure should be applied as to cause the patch to tear. The toe of the blade must be set correctly. If it is too loose, a ridge will be formed where the blade picks up the windrow. Quality is a prime consideration because this will be a permanent repair. The toe of the blade is positioned slightly past the outside front wheel at a sharp angle. The mold board is pitched slightly forward and raised just enough to allow material to flow underneath. Pre-mix coming out past the blade should not fall under the rear wheels. The material must be carried just beyond the patch. The beginning and end of each patch should be tapered to smooth transition from the patch to the existing road surface. The motor grader straddles the windrow and the operator applies slight down pressure to the mold board to start onto the patch area. He raises the toe gradually first and then the heel. When reaching the opposite end of the patch, the toe is lowered a few feet from the end and when about half of the blade is off the patch area, the heel starts lowering. The wheels are turned sharply toward the windrow at the end of each pass after leaving the patch area. This turn continues until the material under the blade is in line with the windrow. This is called a turnout. Rolling each lift with a steel wheel roller begins at the shoulder and progresses toward the crown of the road. Each pass overlaps to eliminate lines and to ensure good compaction. The next lift carries material back from the shoulder to the center line. The blade angle is not as sharp on the first pass so the windrow will again even out. One way the operator can tell if the blade is the right height above the area already laid is to watch just behind the toe of the blade. It should just touch and roll a rock or two now and then as it moves along. Again the machine straddles the windrow to carry premix towards the center of the lane. The operator stops on a level road surface and puts the blade in float position to adjust to the road contour and to pick up excess material. A blade not equipped with a float setting would require necessary adjustments. As he drives forward he watches the mold board and when it has material in it makes adjustments to follow the taper started by the first lay down pass. Adjustments are made only if necessary during this pass. Fine adjustments at the other end will run in the taper. As many passes as necessary move the material back to the center of the road. Approximately two-thirds of the material should already have been laid. The rest of the material will put a finish on the surface of the patch. By using a sharply angled blade on this pass with some down pressure any loose material will be removed. During the finish lift no more adjustments than necessary are made. Again the number of passes is determined by the width of the patch area. The material should run out just before reaching the end of the patch and there will be no pile left. A very small amount of material should roll off the edge along with the chunks. This will assure that all drag marks can be filled and the surface will be even clear across the patch. If material does not come out all the way it will leave lines running in and out which are called scallops. Rolling down the chunks along the edge leaves a good appearance to the patch. The material may not run out just perfect. The operator has to take the windrow back to the center and then complete the patch. He leaves room to put a wheel between the windrow and the edge and carry it back. The material should never come clear out to the edge until the patch can be finished. If there is just a small pile at the end of the patch it can be blended back over the patch but it should not be strung out down the road. A final rolling and cleanup completes the patching process. A good finished patch should have smooth transitions, be level and be evenly compacted so it will last as long as the surrounding road surface. Let's review the process. First identify area to be patched and plan the job. Second set up traffic control for the work zone. Third cut off high spots and remove old broken material from the area. Fourth sweep the patch area so the tack coat will stick. Fifth spray the tack coat evenly on the patch surface. Sixth spread or dump premix extending slightly beyond the tack coat area. Seventh windrow until material is straight and even leaving windrow at the inside edge of the patch. Eighth lay material in lifts of no more than one inch using low gear with the throttle open. Ninth the first lift moves the material to the shoulder in as few passes as necessary beginning the taper at each end of the patch. Tenth compact each lift working from the shoulder towards the center line. Eleventh the second lift moves the material back toward the center with fine adjustments made only as necessary. Twelfth the finished lift lays the rest of the material so that only chunks and enough material to fill all drag marks is rolled off the edge. Thirteenth final rolling and cleanup completes the patching. Fourteenth remove all traffic control devices. A good patch means highway dollars well spent using good materials, skilled operators and the correct procedures. It extends the life of the road and smooths the ride for the motorist. In fact if it's good he'll never know it's there.