Louisiana Concrete, Transportation Officials Work Together on Road Project

An alternate design/alternate bid project on a Louisiana state road has resulted in a win for concrete paving and a 10% savings of $1.6 million to the taxpayers of Louisiana, reports NRMCA Vice President, National Resources, Amy Miller.

"Our partners in Louisiana, Brandon Hays and William Temple, P.E., both of the Concrete and Aggregates Association of Louisiana (CAAL), requested a modified design per the AASHTO design process when they saw the initial design was 10 inches of concrete versus 8 inches of asphalt. The resultant design was 8 inches of concrete with a higher strength, " reports Miller.

The win can ultimately be credited to a strong relationship between CAAL and the Louisiana Department of Transportation (LDOT). CAAL asked transportation officials to evaluate changes per the current AASHTO requirements administered by the LDOT. Temple, the CAAL executive director, added, "The new Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design process is anticipated to correct this inequity once it is implemented by the state as has been corrected in other states. Also, history has shown that alternate bidding can reduce bid costs for pavements in the order of 10% regardless of which material prevails."