We spent one week in downstate of Michigan for the summer projects.
At least, I began to prepare for this project since the start of summer semester. It was a relatively intensive period. From the materials selection, binder testing, mixture design, to performance tests. The most tricky things are lab equipment are not always ready to work. You need to adjust the equipment or ask for help more or less. In addition, we had project meeting every morning afternoon.
From Houghton, MI to Kalamazoo, MI, it is quite a long distance, around 550 miles. We left Sunday morning 10 am and arrived in hotel 10 pm after a dinner in Kalamazoo, costing 10 hours.
For the construction, the more uncertainty is weather. The weather forecast showed thunderstorm or rain the early week. Due to the weather, we began the construction Wednesday morning. It rained Tuesday night. We need to pave 3/4 mile of chip seal on the test section. Few steps for the construction, binder preparation, binder application, chips application, rolling and sweeping. The road commission used an auger to transport the rubber, which are very creative. When on site to spread the chips, the weather goes very well.
Another day, we had an overlay section. The most important part for us is to core sample from the road. We almost brought everything for coring, including coring device, 6 inch kits, 8 inch kits, generator, water tank, etc. These stuff occupied most of the Cargo van space. Honestly to say, we didn't core well with our equipment and knowledge. Fortunately, T from SME helped us a lot, making coring process muck easier and safer. Thanks!
The good side of this experience, is no more than have a good dinner after a busy day. One day night, we went to enjoy the Sushi, since we had too many pizza for lunch.
