The benefits to polyester concrete overlays for bridge decks and highways include shorter lane closures, increased live load capacities, higher tensile strength and a greater resistance to impact. The overlay can be placed as thin as ¾ inches and up to 12 inches thick in a single lift.
When Truesdell Corporation obtained a contract which included joint repair and resurfacing of twenty bridges on a nine-mile stretch of highway, they turned to Allen Engineering Corporation (AEC) to design a small slipform paver capable of placing the polyester concrete in ¾-inch up to 6-inch thick lifts. Allen is not new to the polyester concrete overlay industry, and has been involved with polyester concrete since its genesis in the 1980s.
AEC took on this challenge and developed the model APSFP- 800 Polyester Slip Form Paver capable of paving whatever required thickness Truesdell required, and at 12 feet wide. The paver also has automatic grade control that can be used with stringline or by utilizing Allen’s 30-foot averaging skis.
The compact size of the Allen APSFP-800 Polyester Paver with its standard dolly jack system allows for easy loading and unloading in existing lane closures which expedites the paving process and makes for quicker lane openings once the job is finished.
AEC has a larger polyester concrete slipform paver for lifts greater than six inches thick, and for wider than 12 feet. They also offer Razorback vibratory truss screeds for smaller jobs.