Monday, July 24, 2017

TrowelPave Concrete



A nice stroll down a scenic city sidewalk by the park can go tragically wrong in the blink of an eye. Damage caused by age, tree roots, and daily wear and tear leads to unsightly cityscapes but can also pose a serious risk for pedestrians and a tremendous liability for municipalities.

Billions of dollars across the country are spent maintaining, repairing, and rebuilding sidewalks. They connect cities in the most basic and necessary of ways, providing access for traffic by foot, bike, wheelchair, skateboard, and more. To maximize access for all citizens, ADA compliant ramps must be built and maintained to allow easy passage. But just as roads break down over time causing inconvenience to vehicle commuters, damaged city sidewalks require maintenance to keep things running smoothly.

In this video, we take aim at a unique sidewalk repair. It's not the disaster you might be expecting, but it is even more dangerous. Tree roots lifted this panel of sidewalk slightly over time. The shift has resulted in uneven concrete with nearly a 1" flush gap on one side and a 1.5" raised tripping hazard on the other. A pedestrian in high heeled shoes will have just as much problem with the gap as every other mode of transportation will have with the lifted section.

To repair this problem with typical methods is very expensive and time consuming. This would include either complete demolition and reconstruction or a labor intensive concrete grinding process. But there is a much easier, faster, and more cost effective solution called TrowelPave Concrete.

Watch as we tackle this sidewalk with a 1-man crew and make the repair in less than 15 minutes. By mixing TrowelPave Concrete by hand in a 5-gallon bucket using a 1/2" drive drill driver and the TrowelPave Mixing Wand, we are ready to bridge all the varying heights and depths of this lifted sidewalk.

Troweling the mixture into place is easy and satisfying. With only 20 pounds of mixed material (one TrowelPave bucket kit), we were able to span the entire width of the sidewalk and grade the material to a feather edge finish on all sides.

In a perfect world scenario, the area should be coned off for 2-3 hours before use but TrowelPave can typically take direct traffic in less than an hour. Let's think about the alternative fixes (demolition/reconstruction and grinding) for a second. Either of those would shut this sidewalk down for days if not longer.

TrowelPave Concrete is a permanent transition repair solution that saves time and money plus pain and suffering for all parties.

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