Studebaker Road Improvement Project (Finalist)

Studebaker Road Improvement Project Summary: The City of Long Beach Public Works Department strives to operate, preserve, and enhance the City’s physical infrastructure and transportation systems by providing a variety of services which include the repair, rehabilitation and general upkeep of City streets, trees, and sidewalks. The City of Long Beach is committed to improving service-life and quality of the road systems with the most cost effective and environmentally responsible approach. To this end, the City of Long Beach embarked on a pilot project to perform roadway maintenance with more sustainable and environmental friendly construction methods. The roadway rehabilitation project consisted of removing and replacing the upper 4.5-inches of asphalt on Studebaker Road between Spring Street and Wardlow Road. The construction rehabilitated the roadway by recycling the existing pavement to a depth of 3-inches using the cold in-place recycling (CIR) paving method, followed with construction of 1.5-inches of asphalt rubber hot mix using traditional paving methods. There were four travel lanes with a median on Studebaker Road to be replaced on this project, along a distance of 0.5 miles, with a total 2.5 lane miles. Some of the challenges that the project overcame included: the street has a very high volume (traffic count) residential arterial within a popular area, ensuring continuous residential traffic ingress and egress, minimizing noise, construction inconvenience, providing access to school route, and a curious public. CIR is a fairly new and innovative process where the road is recycled, much in the same way that many residents already recycle plastic and aluminum cans. The City implemented this technique as a way to sustainably improve our local roads while lessening the impact on the environment. The steps in cold-in-place recycling consist of preparing the construction area, milling and grinding the existing pavement, addition of recycling agent and binding oil, placing the recycled asphalt in a windrow, compaction, and placement or surface wearing course. By utilizing CIR, the City was able to improve the road in a more efficient and cost effective way. In the past, the existing pavement would need to be hauled away before delivering a traditional hot mix asphalt. By recycling, the City was able to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete this type of project, diminish construction and traffic impacts, and improve the quality of life for our residents. The CIR process helped in addressing these challenges and provided numerous advantages: • Reduced the City’s rehabilitation cost per lane mile by more than 30 percent. • Reduced public inconvenience and project duration by 25 percent. • Quick traffic return to recycled surface. • Increased the integrity of the street’s structural section.