The Municipalidad de San José is offering up a solution to poor road conditions in the country, testing a new technology on the side road of the Torre Mercedes, Calle 24, on Paseo Colón.
The process is called “whitetopping”, the covering of an existing asphalt pavement with a layer of Portland cement concrete.
Whitetopping is divided into types depending on the thickness of the concrete layer and whether the layer is bonded to the asphalt substrate.
According to a search on the web, the process of Whitetopping is beneficial when fast placement is critical, use to replace damage or worn-out asphalt in low-speed urban road ways and residential roads. The curing time is less than 24 hours, and many ultra-thin whitetopping projects can reopen traffic within 1-2 days.
Has anyone ever employed this technique elsewhere? Concrete expands at a rate different from that of asphalt, and is more rigid and brittle than asphalt. I have seen concrete used for roads throughout the country in recent years and have wondered about the wisdom of using it in an earthquake-prone region – anyone who has removed a concrete slab knows that this is done by vibrating the material. Putting it over a softer material like asphalt will undoubtedly cause the surface to break up. Since the government refinery makes asphalt which the government therefore gets at cost, one has to wonder about undue influence on the part of cement makers here.
It has been documented before that CR uses the wrong type of asphalt for its climate. MOPT, Conavi and the petroleum entity refuse to import the necessary materials to make correct asphalt as it’s ‘too expensive’.
Ticos will never understand that you save money when you first spend money to do the job right the first time. This concept is foreign and this country will forever be a bandaid nation of zip ties and duct tape.