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Equipment, methods and cost as barriers to prevent vehicles from running off the road-
way, but in urban areas a mountable curb has certain ad-
comparisons vantages. It allows a disabled vehicle to move out of the
travel lane and permits the driver to more readily control
his vehicle when operating next to a median.
here’s a good market for concrete curb and gut-
Regardless of whether slipforming machines or sta- essary waiting time required for saw cutting. After joint-
tionary forms are used, careful attention must be given ing, a broom finish can be applied to produce a nonslip
to preparing the subgrade, placing reinforcement when surface.
needed, jointing and finishing.
The subgrade must be leveled to the proper elevation, Construction using stationary forms
compacted and moistened prior to concrete placement. Stationary forms may be constructed of wood or met-
In poor soil areas a granular base may be required. Fail- al. The low initial cost and adaptability of wood forms
ure to adhere to good construction practices may result makes them ideal for small jobs. They are also useful for
in a curb and gutter that settles, tilts or cracks. repair or replacement of existing concrete work. How-
Curb and gutter built on soft soils may require rein- e ve r, wood forms have several limitations. For large jobs
forcement—two #4 bars placed longitudinally—to limit they require extensive hand labor to construct and can
crack widths and settlement. This reinforcement is con- be used only a few times. Figure 2 shows the use of wood
tinuous through contraction joints, but stops at expan- for curved curb and gutter forms.
sion joints. Also, the American Concrete Pavement Asso- Metal forms overcome some of these limitations.
ciation recommends that curb and gutter construction Hand labor is reduced because the forms are assembled
crossing utility trenches be reinforced for 10 feet on each from factory-produced components. The metal can be
side of the trench. factory shaped to provide a variety of cross-section
Like concrete pavement and sidewalks, curb and gut- shapes and these forms can be reused an indefinite
ter work may shrink and crack. Contraction joints must number of times. Figure 3 illustrates the parts of a metal
be formed, tooled or sawed into both the curb and gut- stationary form. The full-depth division plate shown in
ter at spacings less than 25 feet. In integral curb pave- the figure is used to support the forms and create a full-
ment, the transverse joints must extend entirely through depth contraction joint in the curb and gutter. Skeleton
the curb at the same location as the joints in the pave- division plates can be used to produce partial-depth
ment. When a separate curb and gutter is used, there scoring that permits some aggregate interlock at the
must be joints in the curb and gutter at all the same lo- joint where controlled cracking occurs. Either skeleton
cations as the joints in the pavement (Figure 1), even or slotted division plates are needed when dowel bars or
though there may also be intermediate joints in the curb longitudinal reinforcing bars are used. When specifica-
and gutter. Expansion joints are usually required, spaced tions require joint-free curb and gutter construction, ad-
at 100-foot intervals. justable hangers may be used in place of division plates
The amount of hand finishing required for curb and to support the curb face form.
gutter construction varies considerably. When station- Flexible and fixed radius metal forms are also avail-
ary forms are used the exposed concrete surfaces must able for curb and gutter construction. The minimum
be floated; slipforming eliminates the need for hand forming radius for metal forms is 18 inches. Some flexi-
floating. Also, depending on the curb and gutter cross- ble radius forms can be converted to fixed radius forms
section specified, it may be necessary to hand tool a ra- by attaching an angle rolled to the desired radius. Uses
dius into the curb face. This hand tooling may be neces- for flexible forms include matching new driveway curbs
sary even when a slipform paver is used. Joints can be to existing roadways and building curbs for irregularly-
tooled into the curb and gutter, thus avoiding the nec- shaped parking lot planters.
form is loosely connected to the one previously set,
raised to line on the stake farthest forward and locked
before intermediate stakes are driven. Division plates are
hooked into slots along the curb form and front gutter
forms are attached to free ends of the division plates be-
fore squaring the forms and driving stakes. The front
form is then raised to grade line and locked with a wedg-
ing device. Finally, curb face forms are mounted on the
division plates and locked into position. Some face
forms have slots for attaching to the division plates, oth-
ers use clamping devices.
Advantages of stationary forms, whether metal or
wood include:
Figure 3. When metal forms are used, contraction joints are There will always be some curb and gutter which is
formed with division plates. A full division plate completely uneconomical or impossible to slipform (Figure 4). As a
separates adjoining curb and gutter sections, whereas a consequence, slipform paving contractors will also need
skeleton division plate scores the concrete to produce to have some stationary forms.
controlled cracking.
Slipforming Equipment
A common construction sequence is to place curb In principle, slipforming of concrete can be consid-
and gutter using metal forms, then pave the roadway be- ered as a variation of the extrusion process. Instead of
tween the opposite gutters. The gutters serve as edge the extruded material being carried away from the ma-
forms for the pavement. In such a case, after the grade chine—as in conventional extrusion—the slipforming
line has been set for the back curb form, a form is set in machine moves away at the same rate the concrete is ex-
position on the ground and stakes are driven when the truded or forced out of the machine.
form is precisely located. Then the form can be raised on Slipform machines are versatile and can be used to
the stakes to the correct elevation and wedges driven to produce a number of different concrete cross-sections
lock the form to the stake. Each additional back curb as shown in Figure 5. Also illustrated is a paver working
from a straddle mount and an outside mount. Curb and
gutter placed integral with a concrete pavement utilizes
a straddle mount for the pavement and an outside
mount (called a mule) for the curb and gutter.
The subgrade must be prepared before slipforming
concrete. Subgrade preparation for slipforming is no dif-
ferent than for stationary forms. First, survey the site,
then layout elevations, rough grade the subgrade, com-
pact the soil and fine grade it. It may also be necessary to
p re p a re subgrade over which the paver must tra ve l .
Some slipform machines fine trim the subgrade prior to
placing concrete while others carry out both operations
simultaneously. Automatic sensors connected from the
paver to a reference stringline control the line, grade and
slope of the curb and gutter.
Because it controls the paver the stringline must be
placed accurately. It should be supported at approxi-
mately 25-foot intervals for curves and 50-foot inter-
vals for straight sections. During the slipforming opera-
tion, workers should frequently verify correct stringline
elevation.
Figure 4. Very tight radius curves require the use of Once the subgrade is prepared, the stringline is up and
stationary forms. Note the crack near the center of the sensors are connected, slipforming begins. Ready mix
manhole. A joint was needed at the crack location. trucks deliver concrete to the slipform hopper (Figure 6)
Figure 5. Slipform pavers can be used to
produce a variety of cross-sections for
curb and gutter as well as sidewalks,
median barriers and other shapes. Either
straddle mount or outside mount
configurations are possible. For integral
curb construction, a straddle mount is
used for the pavement and an outside
mount for the curb.
where it is gravity fed and vibrated into the curb and gut- gutter cross-section and concrete slump, but ave ra g e
ter form. As the slipform moves forward a concrete curb paving speed is 20 to 25 feet per minute. The working
and gutter of high density is left behind. speed of a paver will usually vary between 5 and 50 feet
per minute.
Factors to consider in choosing a slipform paver How fast can a paver move from pour to pour? Pavers
Slipform pavers can be economically used on many have two speeds—a working speed and a travel speed.
types of projects. Se ve ral manufacturers offer slipform- Some pavers can move around a jobsite at speeds in ex-
ing machines in a variety of sizes and with a variety of cess of 100 feet per minute.
operational features. Because project requirements vary, What is the minimum turning radius? Most machines
it is essential to understand the paver’s operating char- will have two turning radii; one for outside and one for
acteristics. Answers to the following questions should inside turns. Generally, the minimum turning radius is
help you to choose the right paver for a job or to pur- limited to 7 to 14 feet. At this turning radius, paving
chase the paver that best fits job needs. speed decreases to 5 to 10 feet per minute.
What is the paving speed? It depends on the curb and Will the paver travel backwards? It is possible to have
both forward and reverse gears. Some pavers will back
down a stringline automatically for accurate position-
ing before pouring operations begin.
How are adjustments made when paver tracks have
to operate at different elevations? Most machines allow
adjustments for grade differences between tracks. On
some, these adjustments are handled hydraulically but
usually a mechanical bolting and unbolting operation is
required. Height adjustment capabilities in excess of 30
inches are common.
What other capabilities does the paver have? Pa ve r s
with trimmer attachments can fine trim the subgrade to
within + 18 inch of the desired grade in advance of slip-
forming but only a few pavers allow simultaneous trim-
ming and slipforming operations. Another feature of
some machines is a device that allows the operator to
depress curbs for driveway openings by simply pressing
Figure 6. Continuous concrete delivery to the slipform a button. This speeds up curb and gutter placement in
hopper is essential. Otherwise, bumps or dips in the curb residential subdivisions.
and gutter may occur. What is the fuel tank capacity? Pavers are manufac-
all concrete will settle to some extent, manufacturers
provide slipform molds that extrude a curb 1⁄2 inch high-
er than the specified cross-section.
Concrete that is too dry may tear or leave honey-
combed areas as it exits the paver. This will require more
expensive hand finishing to repair the defects.