Cold temperatures present a series of challenges in site work and require more planning to advance projects effectively. While temperature-sensitive work should be done during warmer times of the year, often that is not possible. Projects that begin in the fall face freezing temperatures that affect earthwork, concrete and asphalt paving.

The degree of site preparation is dependent on what the project developer expects to be accomplished over the winter. If all that is needed is access to the site to build underground infrastructure, such as the laying of sewer lines, then some rough grading and installation of construction rock is all that’s needed to mitigate the mucky conditions.

More substantial work — such as laying asphalt or constructing building pads — requires much more site preparation. The subgrade that will support a paved surface must be shaped to grade and properly compacted before any rock, asphalt or concrete is placed.

This can be especially difficult in winter months because subsoil frost particles can impede proper compaction.

Often, soil stabilization that includes use of a lime-based additive can be used to raise the temperature of the subgrade to improve compaction. The result is a less permeable, stabilized soil with a stronger base on which to build.

Once the site is properly prepared, concrete and asphalt paving can be completed during the winter but at additional expense and risk. Cold temperatures typically require additional manpower and equipment to compact asphalt, although there will still be a risk of the asphalt deterioration in the future.

Meanwhile, concrete costs rise as “winter service” charges are assessed to cover the expense of heating water used in concrete mixes and using blankets to protect concrete while it cures.

CARBONDALE – Artificial turf installation for the playing field of the new Saluki Stadium is complete, officials announced Thursday.

Byrne & Jones Construction, Inc., the St. Louis-based company, responsible for installing the turf, said the field is ready for SIU football’s first home game September 2.

The turf – Duraspine PRO from maker FieldTurf – is a high-end artificial material that is also used by the New England Patriots, Byrne & Jones representatives said.

It features two-and-a-half inch grass blades and was installed in 15-foot-wide panels between the field’s sidelines.

Byrne & Jones Construction, the largest commercial asphalt paving company in St. Louis, has launched a new division with a target of $1.5 million in first-year revenue.

The division, called Midwest Stabilization and led by Managing Director Mike Kappel, uses additives to improve the quality of soil before construction. The division also recycles asphalt for use in paved surfaces.

Kappel said the division is being launched to respond to demand from customers for less expensive ways to repair old pavement.

“The economic downturn forced many companies to put off necessary improvements to their properties,” Kappel said. As companies emerge from the recession, they are looking for cost-effective ways to improve their properties, he said.

“The cost to replace a typical parking lot using (Midwest’s) process can be up to 10 percent less than the conventional removal and replacement of the entire pavement structure,” he said.

Midwest uses machinery to pulverize old asphalt that is then relaid as new pavement.

Byrne & Jones, led by President Brian Goggins, produced nearly $21 million in revenue last year. The company employs 70 people.

The new division currently employs five workers originally employed by Byrne, and Kappel said that number is expected to double by the end of the year from new hires.

Joe Schroer, a field materials engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), said the department considered asphalt recycling and reclamation as an alternative for road repairs.

“There are cost benefits of recycling,” he said. “We can treat a deeper section of roadway at the same cost of placing a thinner section of new material.”

MoDOT’s first asphalt reclamation project, a 7-mile stretch of Route 71 south of Maryville, Mo., saved the department more than $500,000.

“We see more recycling being done as we look at options to do more with less and come up with longer term solutions at the same cost,” Schroer said.

ST. LOUIS – Given a window of just two and half months, Byrne and Jones Construction Co. took only 44 working days to transform two grass football and soccer fields into artificial turf fields for the St. Charles School District in St. Charles, MO. The fields are now hosting St. Charles West High School and St. Charles High School home games and other activities, said a news release from Bryne and Jones.

The school district installed the artificial turf fields to cut maintenance costs and improve player safety, said the news release. The $1.1 million dual installation would normally have taken up to four months depending on the availability of material. Byrne and Jones had them ready Aug. 1, in time for the district to host a regional qualifier for the National Junior Disabled Athletes Association.

“We’re delighted to have two fields which can host an unlimited number of activities and are also safer for our athletes and more cost efficient to maintain,” said Randy Charles, superintendent of the St. Charles School District.
Byrne and Jones accelerated installation through pre-planning by ordering turf, rock base and materials for drainage in advance. It initiated construction May 15 by removing the existing sod. It then laid a fabric, covered it with a rock base and installed 1,500 ft. of drainage pipe. Each fielded was overlaid with 30 pieces of Sprinturf DF artificial turf. Seams were glued using a special epoxy to create a smooth playing surface. The project employed a local union workforce. At peak, 12 journey workers from the carpenters, laborers and operating engineers were on the site.

The fields have a better G-max rating than grass turf, said the company in its release. G-max measures the ability of the surface to absorb impact. The turf’s design also makes it less likely that cleats will stick when an athlete makes a sharp cut, reducing the risk of leg injuries. In addition, the fields are available for unlimited use – including band practices.
Since 2004, Byrne and Jones has installed more than three dozen athletic fields throughout metro St. Louis. Clients include Chaminade, the Fort Zumwalt, Hazelwood, Parkway, Rockwood and Ladue School Districts, Lutheran South, Southern Illinois University (SIU) at Edwardsville, St. Louis Abbey, Villa Duchesne and the Scott Gallagher Soccer Club.

Founded in 1976, Byrne & Jones is the St. Louis area’s largest commercial paving contractor. The firm builds parking lots, roads/highways, running tracks, tennis courts, underground drainage systems and maintains paved surfaces, including micro-surfacing. The company employs more than 80 people at its headquarters in Maryland Heights, MO.

Efforts to improve the quality of stormwater runoff, limit flow and save on sewer rates has a growing group of local construction pros exploring porous asphalt.

Porous asphalt is like popcorn shaped asphalt with about 25 percent voids, allowing water to filter through it.

It’s particularly attractice now that new rates by the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) charge for every 100 square feet of impervious area. Starting in March this year, the monthly rate was 12 cents per 100 square feet, and it rose to 14 cents this year. By 2014 the rate will be 29 cents.

The new rates were enacted because the district found that its previous billing method did not raise adequate funds or treat all customers fairly, according to MSD. The rates — along with the St. Louis County stormwater management plan, which aims to improve water quality by reducing pollutants carried by stormwater runoff — are putting holes in arguments that plain asphalt or concrete are the best surface materials for parking lots and other paved areas.

“I think porous pavement uses in the next five to 10 years will absolutely explode,” said Dave Yates, associate project manager for CH2M HILL, an engineering and construction firm based in Englewood, Colo. “Not only is it the right thing to do because it’s green technology, but it offers significant financial benefits to commercial users.”

Yates, based in Richmond Heights, serves as a consultant on a project authorized by the St. Louis Board of Public Service (BPS) that saw porous asphalt installed on a 130-foot-long alley here last fall. Cardinal Alley, at Cardinal and Park avenues near Lafayette Park, is one of three area alleys to receive porous pavement in the test. The other alleys, to be paved this spring, will get porous concrete and porous concrete pavers, said Larry McLeese, project engineer with the BPS design division.

“Cardinal Alley has been great so far. It’s holding together well,” said Brian Goggins, president of Byrne & Jones Construction, the largest commercial asphalt paving company in the St. Louis area, which laid the porous asphalt. “The concern was that it would come apart. It’s 30 percent voids. There’s a lot of air.”

The Cardinal Alley project cost $39,000, according to McLeese.

The cost of porous asphalt, including the rock underneath it, is about $35 per square yard, compared to about $18 per square yard for regular asphalt, Goggins said.

But commercial users could realize approximately 30 percent savings on a project by building fewer storm sewers and related infrastructure, he said. Plus there’s the savings through MSD for having pervious pavement.

How does porous asphalt work? The technology is quite simple, according to the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA).

“The secret to success is to provide the water with a place to go, usually in the form of an underlying, open-graded stone bed,” according to the association’s explanatory materials. “As the water drains through the porous asphalt and into the stone bed, it slowly infiltrates into the soil.”

It’s important that the stone bed size and depth be designed so that the water level never rises into the asphalt, which must be vacuumed at times to prevent clogging.

NAPA says that while porous asphalt is more expensive than regular asphalt, savings from elimination of elements of standard stormwater management systems offset the cost. “The cost advantage is even more dramatic when the value of land that might have been used for a detention basin or other stormwater management feature is considered,” the association said.

Porous asphalt for the Cardinal Alley project was manufactured by St. Louis-based Pace Construction Co. “We’ve gotten a lot of calls on it,” President Phil Hocher said of the material. It’s been used in other areas of the country, including the Northeast, for more than 20 years.

Yet aside from the Cardinal Alley project, porous asphalt has been little used locally. “It hasn’t really taken off yet,” said Hocher, whose firm also laid a porous asphalt test section of about 700 square yards at its asphalt plant at 14201 Lewis & Clark Blvd. in Florissant.

“Everybody has to get used to it,” he said. “The consulting firms have to get on board with it.”

Another area where porous asphalt is being used is a strip mall parking lot at 17670 Chesterfield Airport Road in Chesterfield Valley. When completed, the lot will hold about 20 parking spaces, said Jim Imperiale, senior project manager with Rhodey Construction Inc., general contractor for the project.

“It’s a cost-effective, green choice,” Imperiale said, adding that besides cost, ease of installation and low maintenance make porous asphalt an attractive choice.

Elsewhere, porous asphalt was considered for parking pavement at BJC HealthCare’s Progress West expansion in O’Fallon, Mo., which includes a new $50 million medical office building and data center. But decision-makers settled on bioswales instead. A bioswale is a landscaped water retention area that slows stormwater runoff through vegetation, said architect Megan Nasrallah of Arcturis, which is working on the project.

The expansion calls for 300 new parking spots, with 300 already there on regular asphalt. Progress West officials didn’t like the idea of two different types of maintenance for the parking lots, Nasrallah said.

“If there hadn’t been existing paving already, then there would be a better case to go with pervious pavement,” Nasrallah said.

Meanwhile, MSD couldn’t be happier with the growing interest in porous materials.

“We’re certainly supportive of the use of pervious pavement,” said MSD spokesman Lance LeComb. “Our impervious fee wasn’t designed to bring green into the community, but that’s the way it has turned out.”

Cynthia Vespereny is a St. Louis freelance writer.