Connecticut Demonstration Project: Pavement Preservation on Interstate 95, Towns of Westbrook and Old Saybrook

The Connecticut DOT (CTDOT) initiated a pavement preservation project to resurface a section of I-95. The project limits spanned over 17.8 miles in both the northbound and southbound directions, from mile post 60.65 to mile post 78.45. The innovative technologies deployed on this project included warm mix asphalt (WMA) and Safety Edge pavement. CTDOT’s current standard specification does not allow for the use of WMA or polymer modified binders. Nonetheless, CTDOT is interested in implementing the WMA technology due to its advantages, such as production/compaction of asphalt concrete at reduced temperatures and increased mixture workability especially for polymer modified mixtures. To this end, CTDOT had already constructed five pilot projects that utilized the WMA technology, and the current project will add to CTDOT’s experience in implementing WMA for production use. This project also delivered the first pavement section in Connecticut constructed with Safety Edge. CTDOT has been aware of the benefits of this technology in reducing roadway departure accidents and improving the durability of the outer edge of the pavement. This project will help CTDOT to develop standard guidelines for future projects. Due to the limited crash history that were available from the locations where Safety Edge was installed, analysis on safety was deemed unnecessary. According to the field observations made by the project staff and the results from a user satisfaction survey, the construction activities resulted in minimal queuing of traffic. Although some of the Highways for LIFE goals were not fully evaluated, and those for smoothness and noise were not met, the end product was a smooth riding pavement, as indicated by the user survey and a smoothness bonus to the contractor.