Friday, June 29, 2012

Hot Day, Hotter Tar


...with sweaty men caught in between.

Meet Mark, driver of the roller machine that smooths the newly
 laid asphalt being installed at the intersection of Crawfordsville Road
and Interstate-74. It was about 9 in the morning and temperatures
were already high, reaching 100 degrees in the shade by
afternoon. He wasn't being lazy, but awaiting his turn in the process
 of making certain the pavement would be smooth and
would adhere to the roadbed bases installed earlier. 


The above shot is of the tarry adhesive that helps the asphalt
stay in place. When freshly laid, the heated asphalt is over
200 degrees. I was told that if I walked on it, it could melt the
soles of my sneakers. I chose to not challenge the
statement. The roller would be slowly driven over the
newly laid material, further compacting it and driving it
into the roadbed. 


The stretch of road above is ready to be paved by
the equipment below. Consisting of two separate sections,
the newly-made asphalt is put into the rear section, then picked
up by a conveyor belt to be pulled into the front machine.
The asphalt is then laid at a pre-determined depth on the 
roadbed, allowed to cool a bit, when it's then rolled
into the adhesive and foundation by Mark
and his machine.


3 comments:

dive said...

Great portrait, Speedway. I love the smell of hot asphalt in the mornings.

Valladolid Daily Photo said...

Hard work, especially in summer with high temperatures.

Speedway said...

Thank you, Dive. It was the only picture I took of the roller-guy. I turned around just as I was leaving to see him already beginning to sag from a day of waiting and working in the heat.

Whenever I smell tar, I think of the creosote business down the block from my gran'ma's house. It was a pleasant smell to me because I associated it with her house and Sunday drives in the country that sometimes took us past a place that made creosote railroad ties.

Hello, VDP, nice to see you again, so to speak. Yep, it sure is hot work. All of the crew found shade at every opportunity, where the breeze seemed to make the air feel a bit cooler.