Select a Topic
Select a Medium
Select a Product
Select a Country
Three years. No Cracks. Region of York finds ACE ...
In 2018, asphalt contractor D.Crupi & Sons advised the use of ACE XP Polymer Fibers on a deteriorating roadway within the Region of York in the Greater Toronto Area. The ACE XP overlay project on Yonge Street shows no cracking after three years, and the Region now routinely utilizes ACE XP in roadways where additional reinforcement can improve the pavement’s performance.
Yonge Street serves as a major arterial route in the province, connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe. In 2018, the roadway showed signs of significant deterioration. Frequent cracking, joint separation, rutting, raveling and potholes, along with drainage issues, created a dodgy driving experience.
The planned rehabilitation did not originally call for asphalt reinforced with ACE XP, but asphalt contractor D.Crupi & Sons suggested the Region consider adding it due to Yonge Street’s high traffic loads. Since the product was new to the Region, its engineers decided to utilize ACE XP only in the 70mm base course layer.
When added to a typical base course, ACE XP Polymer Fibers™ can improve crack resistance from 25% to 60%. After three years and no visible signs of cracking, engineers for the Region have become believers in the ability of Surface Tech to provide innovative solutions that improve road performance and longevity.
In addition to improving sustainability, ACE XP Polymer Fiber™ has also achieved an Environmental Product Declaration. An EPD listing validates the sustainability benefits of ACE XP, and it can help construction projects earn credits for LEED v4 and other green building rating systems.
For details on how you can improve the performance of your next pavement project, contact us, or click here to learn more about ACE XP Polymer Fiber™
San Angelo TXDOT District the latest to put ACE ...
The scorching Texas sun, combined with heavy-load traffic, created an early cracking problem for the TXDOT San Angelo District on a section of busy Highway 87. Bryan Lutz, Director of Maintenance, was searching for a way to make the maintenance overlays last longer, defer maintenance costs, and start catching up on the project list.
Lutz and other TXDOT personnel, along with the producer and paver, all concluded the data presented on ACE XP Polymer Fibers® warranted a pilot project, particularly since ACE XP does not require any changes to mix design.
Field trials and paving projects have repeatedly shown that ACE XP Polymer Fibers® can extend the life of pavement by 30 to 50 percent. Extended pavement lifespans deliver significant lifecycle savings, potentially empowering TXDOT districts across the state to invest in other needed paving projects.
Rees Albert Construction Company produced the 800-ton ACE XP-reinforced PG64-22 mix for the mill and overlay project. Dosing of the fibers was done at the CSA plant, and the job was completed in July of 2021. TXDOT officials on hand during the paving reported that the product was easy to adopt, and they had no issues with any of the mix. The paving crew noted that they could see the fibers in the mix clinging to their rakes and shovels, but the fibers posed no difficulty, nor required any changes to the normal process of installing the mix.
View a video of the project here:
If longer life pavement could be the solution to your paving headaches, visit https://surface-tech.com/asphalt-ace-xp/. In addition to the Pilot Program, Surface Tech offers value engineering options and can help save money on today’s projects, or those up for bid in the future. Let Surface Tech show your team the power of ACE XP’s promise: To produce asphalt pavements that are stronger and last longer than any comparable product on the market.
For details on how you can test ACE XP on your next project, visit https://surface-tech.com/pilot-program-acexp/
Tougher and under budget — with no ruts or cracks ...
City of Brooks finds ACE XP Polymer Fibers a good value for asphalt paving
In 2018, The City of Brooks in Alberta, Canada, needed a new pavement solution for a problematic intersection with a tendency to form ruts. In a leap of faith, Brooks Asphalt and Aggregate, along with the city’s public works officials, decided to try adding ACE XP Polymer Fibers® to a 75mm mill and replacement overlay project on a 1600-meter, or approximately one-mile section of Cassils Road, including a busy intersection.
ACE XP Polymer Fiber® was relatively new in Alberta at the time, but the reputation of aramid fiber, which forms the base of the product, is well established. As one of the strongest man-made materials in existence, aramid fibers provide tensile strength and durability to underwater cables, bullet-proof vests and many other products. Given this fact, city engineers wondered, “Could it also make pavements stronger and last longer?”
The answer is “YES!” Three years later, the town’s major roadway shows no signs of rutting or cracking, and city officials anticipate the new pavement will last 30 years — a 10-year life extension.
Better yet, Brooks Asphalt and Aggregate found adding ACE XP required no changes to the mix, and Surface Tech’s automatic dosing system ensured a reliable, quality end product.
As a welcome bonus the project also came under budget, proving that ACE XP Polymer Fiber® not only provides excellent value on the front end, but also lasting value in terms of less cracking, reduced rutting and longer pavement life.
For details on how you can add the exceptional value that ACE XP provides to your next paving project, visit https://surface-tech.com/pilot-program-acexp/
Hall Contracting on ACE XP®: The proof is in the ...
Jordan Sandquist, Quality Control Manager of Hall Paving in Louisville, KY, believes in the superior performance that Surface Tech’s ACE XP® para-aramid fibers provide to his paving projects. He sees it not only in the longer life the fibers provide to the pavement, but also in the testing numbers.
“I haven’t found anything that compares to ACE XP®. I’ve compared it to the best testing numbers that others offer and compared it to testing numbers that I have run myself, and none have approached ACE XP®.”
Sandquist points out how additives often affect the properties of asphalt. When using additives, if the Gmm (Maximum Specific Gravity) goes up, the density decreases. However, with ACE XP® he sees an increase in the density even though the Gmm patterns higher. He also appreciates how easily ACE XP® reinforced pavement goes down. His crews have no complaints.
“I’m prone to say adding ACE XP® is not just a theoretical good thing. Now there’s proof. To have something like this that you can show to municipalities, and when they see how well it performs, compared to other paving options, it’s evidence. It’s not just me making a claim.”
As for long-term performance, Sandquist can point to several projects. In 2015, the company paved a couple-mile test section on heavily traveled Dixie Highway (US31). A one-mile section served as a control, and portions of the other were reinforced with ACE XP®. The ACE XP® overlay section turned out so well, the University of Kentucky’s Transportation Center will reference it in an upcoming white paper.
“The first year out there was minimal cracking in both sections. They both looked the same. But from there on out, the cracking on the ACE XP® reinforced section basically stopped. The difference is now astronomical. It proves how good this product is for overlays and for base.”
Another project paved in 2015 involved firming up an overlay on a road leading to a section of The Parklands for the City of Louisville.
“It’s doing well compared to the other side in a residential area that was paved the spring after, without ACE XP®. That side is already showing wear, even though the roadway leading to the Parklands experiences more traffic with lots of turns at higher speeds.”
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has recently begun using ACE XP® on select projects, and Hall Contracting has increased its ACE XP® reinforced paving to above 30,000 tons per year on Louisville city streets, with a goal of using even more RAP (recycled asphalt pavement) on Louisville city streets with Surface Tech’s new REARM HR™ technology.
“We’ve worked with Phil Blankenship and BATT Labs to develop innovative paving solutions. He’s the godfather of Strata and developer of Surface-Tech’s new ARMI Interlayer, and Hall has provided more of this type of work in Kentucky than almost any other contractor. Phil always promotes a different perspective and brings new options our way.”
Working with BATT Labs and Surface Tech aligns neatly with the company’s goal of developing a reputation for providing a high-quality mix that adds minimal cost.
“Several years ago, we set out to find innovative solutions that would help us compete better. We told ourselves, ‘Let’s be the most innovative and have the best asphalt.’ We now have videos on trucks to show the results we’re getting. Sometimes data is hard to quantify, but actually seeing firsthand results with ACE XP® versus traditional, it’s hard to argue with that.”
Why pave more? ACE XP® delivers a tougher overlay ...
A 250-meter stretch of Mountain Highway in the District of North Vancouver was showing signs of fatigue cracking. The thin pavement endures an ever-increasing amount of traffic, but a solution was needed that would not require significant modifications to the existing road.
BA Blacktop paved a 65mm mill and replacement overlay consisting of 600 tons of ACE XP® Polymer Fiber reinforced surface asphalt. The reinforced mix increases the fatigue resistance of the pavement, equivalent to 80mm of unreinforced asphalt pavement.
The key to the strength of the reinforced pavement lies in the physical properties of ACE XP — wax-binded para-aramid polymer fibers.
Para-aramid polymer fibers provide outstanding strength, flexibility and abrasion tolerance.
To create ACE XP®, these high-tensile-strength fibers are bundled and coated with the wax to produce an asphalt additive that is simple to mix with any WMA or HMA in both drum and batch operations.
One of the most outstanding performance benefits of ACE XP® lies in its micro roots. These tendrils tenaciously anchor themselves into the bitumen of the asphalt, providing 400,000 psi tensile strength. The result is a three-dimensional reinforcement throughout the asphalt and a flexibility that resists rutting during hot summers and cracking through cold winters.
With ACE XP® in the asphalt mix, you get a tougher pavement that will stand up to harsh weather and traffic conditions, even if you pave it 65mm thick rather than 80mm. For more information on how Surface Tech products can make your pavement stronger and last longer, contact us.
REARM HR™ — Tougher pavement. More RAP. No cost ...
Hall Paving in Louisville, KY, recently discovered the sweet spot for using more RAP while keeping costs in line with traditional low-RAP pavement mixes. It’s a new development from Surface Tech called REARM HR™, the combination of a highly engineered bio-oil and aramid fibers that allows up to 50% RAP usage. This REAM HR™ project utilized the following in the 3/8” 5 NMAS; 5.6% PG64-22 total AC mix design:
Lampton Avenue Project — 10-14-2020
- 36% RAP (recycled asphalt pavement)
- TUFFTREK 4007
- ACE XP POLYMER FIBER™ from Surface Tech
A total of 900 tons was produced for the three-mile project. Hall Paving succeeded in developing a mix design that added ACE XP POLYMER FIBER™ to every ton of asphalt at a neutral cost. The mix also increased the percentage of RAP over the standard 20% RAP design, while maintaining the cracking and rutting performance of lower RAP % mixes.
ACE XP POLYMER FIBER™ aramid fibers strengthen the asphalt mix by providing increased tensile flexibility, which improves both cracking and rutting performance. TUFFTREK 4007 softens the virgin binder to compensate for the aged binder from the higher percentage RAP content. The resulting pavement resists rutting in hot weather and cracking through cold winters.
Final analysis: Pavement that lasts longer and requires less maintenance over its life span. In other words, the same up-front cost + lower maintenance costs = Big Win.
“Hall Paving was extremely excited about the way the mix went down and compacted,” said Joe Dennis, Surface Tech’s Chief Technical Officer for Asphalt. And the City was blown away by the look and performance going down. It’s really a smooth roadway.”
This mix was under the microscope! Blankenship Asphalt Tech and Training (BATT) assisted Surface Tech in testing and developing the successful formula and verified the mix with Hamburg Wheel Tracker and IDEAL-CT testing for rut and crack resistance. Surface Tech provided quality control support on site during production. S&ME was also on site to check overall quality on behalf of Louisville Metro.
Hall Paving used a pump system for adding TuffTrek 4007 from totes in line with the PG64-22 asphalt binder and dosed the ACE XP POLYMER FIBER™ into the HMA plant using Surface Tech’s Automated Micro Doser – MD3+. All parties agreed, the results were outstanding.
If you’re ready to increase the amount of RAP in your next project, plus get a tougher pavement at no extra cost, contact us.
ACE XP provides a strong, smooth ride for a ...
Surface Tech’s ACE XP Polymer Fiber™ is providing a new lease on life for North Harbor Drive in San Diego. This main artery, between downtown and the city’s international airport, rarely sees a letup of traffic. When the recent shelter-in-place orders greatly reduced the vehicle count, public works officials took advantage of the lull to repave the roadway.
SRM Materials mixed PG 64-10 with a single dose of ACE XP 38mm over the two-week-long project. Surface Tech’s MD3 auto-dosing equipment provided an easy plant-site system for precisely feeding the polymer fibers into the mix, and its user-friendly computer-control ensures accurate tracking and daily reporting of the dosage.
Paving of the 3.3-mile section required a 28 ton-equivalent of the asphalt mix in the 3-inch mill-and-fill project. Since North Harbor Road is the first roadway people travel when visiting San Diego, the city wanted an overhaul that would last long and stay strong under constant traffic pressure. ACE XP Polymer Fibers™ provide a 3-dimensional reinforcement to each ton of mix, increasing the resistance to reflective cracking, rutting and fatigue and making the asphalt stronger and last longer.
A similar ACE XP asphalt mixture was utilized this spring to repave a busy road in the Talmage neighborhood of San Diego with excellent results. By adding ACE XP Polymer Fibers™, the city can expect many years of crack- and rut-resistant service, and plans are in the works to continue using the product on future roadway projects.
For more information on ACE XP Polymer Fibers™ and other Surface Tech products, contact us.
Blackfeather Trail continues to see benefits of ...
In June 2017, the town of Castle Rock, CO decided to put ACE XP Polymer Fiber to the test on a busy section of Blackfeather Trail. With more than 40 years of experience in the paving industry, the civil engineers at Nilex were a trusted source for recommending the product as part of a thin lift repave project.
The location of this section of the road, near a middle school and recreation center, experiences continual high traffic from buses, commercial vehicles and cars. The unrelenting traffic load had created reflective and fatigue cracking. A thin lift repave of approximately 1.5 inches (38mm) was recommended as a solution that could not only withstand the stress from above and below, but also provide an lower cost alternative to expensive pavement grids.
Nilex recommended ACE Polymer Fiber for two main reasons. One, the product’s micro-fibers create a three-dimensional reinforcement solution uniquely suited to the high temperatures found in hot mix asphalt (HMA). ACE XP Polymer provides 400,000 psi tensile strength that combats rutting in summer heat as well as winter expansion/contraction cracking.
Two, ACE XP can be easily incorporated by any HMA contractor, and PLM Asphalt & Concrete, Inc. experienced no difficulties adding the fibers via vacuum line at the HMA plant. Once on site, the crews saw no change to the usual procedures for a non-reinforced installation.
For the town of Castle Rock, ACE XP proved to be a cost-effective solution for reducing cracks and future repair work. Today, almost three years later, the thin lift repave shows only minute wear and tear, and the life expectancy of this busy section of road has been extended far beyond the town’s traditional expectations.
For more information on ACE XP Polymer Fibers and how this innovative product can add strength and years of life to your next pavement project, contact Joe Dennis.
ACE XP Polymer Fiber helps a new pavement design ...
Taylor County Airport in Kentucky (Photo by Palmer Engineering)
A custom asphalt mix design utilizing ACE XP polymer fibers has given a general aviation airport the long-term solution it sought for a nagging pavement cracking problem. Initial results show the custom design, which combined both a binder layer and a surface layer reinforced with ACE XP, will exceed expectations by greatly reducing cracking potential.
The six-year-old runway pavement at Taylor County Airport in Kentucky was failing. Airport authorities called on Palmer Engineering to provide a desperately needed 15-year-plus solution to the pavement’s micro-cracking problem. Working with Haydon Materials, the team turned to an expert with long-standing experience in designing crack-resistant asphalt pavements.
“Haydon Materials brought in Phil Blankenship from Blankenship Asphalt Tech & Training,” said Joe Dennis, Surface Tech’s chief technology officer for asphalt.
“The airport authorities were concerned that numerous cracks in the existing pavement could lead to failure, a common failure in airport pavements as aging occurs can create FOD — Flying Object Debris — causing a danger to the aircraft and potentially the traveling public.”
No milling was done on the runway pavement prior to re-paving. This meant the existing cracks would be exposed to the bottom of the binder layer and would ultimately reflect upward through the new pavement. The solution called for an inordinately crack resistant and resilient binder layer that either needed to be custom-designed, or an expensive two-dimensional geosynthetic rolled interlayer product.
“As a member of Surface-Tech’s Technical Advisory Committee, Phil is well versed on the capabilities of ACE XP, and he set about designing a completely new binder layer asphalt mix using it.”
Blankenship was able to deliver a design that Haydon could produce in its plant and pave with existing paving equipment. Using ACE XP in the new binder layer design gave Haydon Materials an effective crack resistant solution, while maintaining cost control for this demanding application.
The customized ACE XP mix achieved a new level of flexibility for the binder layer. The new binder layer design — a finely graded, highly asphalted crack resistant mixture — greatly reduced the potential for cracks to reflect upward from the base through the new pavement.
An ACE XP reinforced surface mix was also designed utilizing a higher-than-normal asphalt content to provide even greater crack resistance than a typical FAA asphalt mix design,
“The development of this unique combination of mix designs for the binder and surface layer is an exciting advancement for the paving industry that holds great promise for dramatically improving crack prevention,” said Dennis.
“With this new approach, contractors can also control the quality in both production and installation, as the new mix design is simply incorporated into the contractor’s production processes, thus eliminating third party contractors to install the 2-dimentional geosynthetic rolled interlayer product.”
For more information on ACE XP crack resistant designs, contact us.
ACE XP Paves a Grand Entrance for California’s ...
In the chic Palm Desert region of California, the owners of the historic Marrakesh Country Club faced overwhelming roadway maintenance costs as they grappled with a history of standard mix designs that resulted in rapid weathering and failure.
Experts from California Filtration Specialists (CFS) and Surface Tech immediately realized the many benefits Marrakesh Country Club could realize by using ACE XP. After analyzing the project pavement design, Surface Tech was able to provide Marrakesh Country Club with a ¼ inch reduction in asphalt thickness, which resulted in significant cost savings.
“ACE XP reinforce the pavement so that it can withstand a harsh environment such as the California desert,” said Joe Dennis, Director, Asphalt Division - Surface Tech. “The Marrakesh Country Club team was optimistic that ACE XP could provide the exact solution they were in search of - strength, durability, and longer life expectancy.”
The project specified an ACE XP - Fiber Reinforced Asphalt Concrete (FRAC) mix design. Over 10,000 ton equivalents of ACE XP FRAC were used on the five-week project for the country club’s roadways.
About ACE XP:
ACE XP, a Surface Tech asphalt additive, uses aramid fibers to address the two major distresses affecting asphalt performance today; cracking and rutting. Doing so also dramatically improved the treated roads’ life expectancy.
When ACE XP is mixed into asphalt, it disperses over 19 million Aramid fibers throughout each ton of mix to provide 3-dimensional reinforcement that increases the asphalt’s resistance to reflective cracking, rutting, fatigue and increased life expectancy.
And best of all, no specialty contractors are needed for installation. Contractors handle ACE XP reinforced asphalt the same way they handle standard asphalt. This underscores ACE XP’s technology in being easy to adopt.
For more information visit http://surface-tech.com/asphalt-ace-xp/.
Video: ACE XP Selected for Busy Asphalt Road in ...
Blackfeather Trail is a busy asphalt-paved road in Castle Rock, Colorado which faced cracking issues after years of fatigue. The town of Castle Rock sought an innovative and cost-effective solution to repair the road and ensure its durability. Located near a high school and recreation center, high traffic volumes were certain to continue, including a large number of school buses.
Surface Tech distributor Nilex discussed with the town its need for an effective, long-term solution that would reduce costs. The existing road experienced reflective cracking and rutting, and was in poor condition. Castle Rock recognized the value that ACE XP provides to prevent these burdensome and costly issues in the future and chose Nilex and ACE XP for the project. By choosing ACE XP, the town was able to utilize a thinner pavement overlay, resulting in significant cost savings.
“One of Castle Rock’s core values is innovation,” said Joe Dennis, Managing Partner, BreakThrough Technologies. “Nilex and ACE XP align perfectly with this value while providing cost savings in addition to the anti-rutting and anti-cracking attributes required for this challenging job.”
Nilex’s successful installation resulted in a durable and strong paving solution that the town of Castle Rock can enjoy for many years with less maintenance and more reliability.
To view more project details, photos and video, visit http://nilex.com/projects/blackfeather-trail-ace-fiber-thin-lift-repave.
About ACE XP Polymer Fiber:
ACE XP, a Surface Tech asphalt additive, uses aramid fibers to address the two major distresses affecting asphalt performance today; cracking and rutting. Doing so also dramatically improved the treated roads’ life expectancy.
When ACE XP is mixed into asphalt, it disperses over 19 million Aramid fibers throughout each ton of mix to provide 3-dimensional reinforcement that increases the asphalt’s resistance to reflective cracking, rutting, fatigue and increased life expectancy.
And best of all, no specialty contractors are needed for installation. Contractors handle ACE XP reinforced asphalt the same way they handle standard asphalt. This underscores ACE XP's technology in being easy to adopt. For more information visit http://surface-tech.com/asphalt-ace-xp/.
CASE STUDY: Louisville Adds ACE XP to Overlay to ...
When the City of Louisville in Kentucky wanted to extend the life and delay the maintenance cycle of a resurfacing project on West Broadway downtown, they protected their investment by adding ACE XP to the mix.
Current and historic research and case studies show that ACE XP significantly enhances asphalt concrete performance. A 140% increase in crack resistance and 60% rut resistance have been demonstrated.
“By adding ACE XP to the 1.5-inch overlay, Louisville Metro can expect it to last longer and need maintenance less often. Like all of our clients, they want to save time and money that they devote to roads,” said Jeff McConahy, regional account manager for Site Supply, the ACE XP distributor in Kentucky and Ohio.
McConahy worked on the project with the paving contractor Flynn Brothers Contracting and CBC Engineering, whose technicians added the fibers to the asphalt.
Louisville Metro will continue to monitor the improved performance of the road. Producing and installing the ACE XP Polymer Fiber reinforced asphalt went very well with no issues or changes to typical procedures.
“Mixing at Flynn Brother’s plant and paving with the fibers on West Broadway was a great experience for everyone,” said McConahy.
CASE STUDY: BreakThrough Technologies Puts ACE XP ...
Collin Browning of BreakThrough Techologies LLC (BTt), master distributor for Surface Tech, sees ACE XP success stories throughout North America, including the recent conclusion of a controlled test for a county in Ohio.
“The Road Superintendent of Butler County was amazed to see the results of a year-long side-by-side comparison of control no-fiber vs. ACE XP polymer fiber reinforced asphalt,” said Collin.
Collin is co-partner of BTt. The company, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, oversees Surface Tech’s north American distribution effort and offers unique value-added products and sales-related services throughout the United States and Canada. In addition, BTt provides full engineering and quality assurance/control services to deliver certified turn-key projects.
In July 2015, BTt and Surface Tech performed a county road overlay field comparison project for Butler County, OH. After seeing a presentation on the benefits and value offered by ACE XP, the Butler County Road Superintendent wanted to see for himself how effective the fiber additive could be for their asphalt overlay program.
For the comparison, Butler County used a road with moderate to severe transverse and alligator-type cracking. The main form of maintenance done prior to the test overlay had been crack sealing as needed. A quarter mile section of a two lane roadway was targeted. The control lane was overlaid with 1.5 inches of asphalt surface course without the fiber additive while the opposite lane received 1.5 inches of asphalt surface course with ACE XP.
In August 2016, Collin and the Road Superintendent returned to the test section to see how well the ACE XP side of the road held up. Over the past year, the crack underlying the asphalt on the control section had reflected up and through the new asphalt overlay, but not on the section where ACE XP had been used.
“The Superintendent said he gets many salesmen in his office trying to sell him on products that never seem to work as advertised, but the Surface Tech results really impressed him,” Collin said. “He’s an ACE XP believer now.”