By: Angus W. Stocking
Paving contractors Crisdel Group, founded in 1968, have been serving the New York and New Jersey metro areas for more than 40 years. Crisdel recently teamed with Ferreira Construction to take on massive projects that involve widening and rehabilitating long stretches of New Jersey highways—the projects are valued at nearly $181 million.
One project, along Rte. 78, had an extraordinary amount of utility frames to contend with. Among the myriad details that go along with projects of this size, here’s one of interest mainly to paving contractors and utility specialists; about 450 catch basins are located in affected right-of-ways and, due to the workflow adopted, every one of those basins will need a riser to lift the final basin grade to finish elevation. Seeing an opportunity to cut costs and time on a large scale, Ferreira/ Crisdel Group relied on the experience of their supplier, Atlantic Waterworks, who pointed out that many of their customers—including 40 state departments of transportation—were using utility risers from American Highway Products.
Symosh explained the project workflow, designed to accommodate New Jersey’s cold winters; “The existing concrete roadway was removed to a determined subgrade, then reconstructed in various stages, constructing all five lanes, east and westbound , to an intermediate elevation—then the project was shutdown for winter.”
New utility frames were installed to match the intermediate elevation, providing service over winter, but the intermediate elevation was 2 to 2 ½ in. below final grade. So when final pavement was applied the following spring, all 450 catch basins needed to be raised to final grade.
Symosh said the risers were as sturdy as competing products, but lighter and stronger compared to cast iron risers (A-36 steel is 60,000-psi tensile ultimate yield, cast iron is 25,000-psi tensile ultimate yield), made to tighter tolerances, and more cost-effective.
