SCAPA Education: Rock Hill Overlay Seminar a Success

Earlier this month, a group of contractors, public works employees, and consultant engineers gathered at SCAPA's Asphalt Overlay Design Seminar. The seminar was held at the City Club of Rock Hill, nestled in downtown Rock Hill, SC. The first round of SCAPA's Pavement Design Guide seminars in 2014 & 2015 had lots of success and reached hundreds of engineers across the state. The overlay course builds on the fundamentals taught in the new construction seminar: attendees learned what happens with new pavements after they have been designed and constructed.  

Attendees were able to learn about ways to address pavements that have been in service for several years. Over time, pavements begin to deteriorate and start to form different types of distresses. The class reviewed a number of distress types and what caused them, how they are measured for evaluation purposes and what types of problems they cause. A designer must first assess the condition of the pavement in question before determining a thickness. Next, the function of the overlay can be determined based on the future traffic loading and the existing pavement condition. This information can help determine if the overlay will be for preservation, structural improvement or reconstruction. Finally, the attendees utilized the pavement condition and structural information, along with the current subgrade condition and anticipated future traffic, to design the required overlay thickness.  

Pavement Design seminar attendees are encouraged to visit our website to register their design guides (link). SCAPA will send out updated printable digital versions when they are released.