Nebo Loop Scenic Byway

Utah County needed to bolster the byway, which is closed in the winter, with a quality pavement system that protects against reflective cracking and reduces the maintenance and lifecycle costs of the road. The rugged canyon environment and resulting road layout meant that challenging slope, temperature, dampness and directional factors had to be addressed during the project.

Approximately 60,000 square yards of GlasGrid TF were needed for the 5-mile application on the Nebo Loop, which was performed by a crew consisting of a truck driver, two to three men handling rolls and one on a roller. The high-strength fiberglass interlayer product was then topped with a 2 inch asphalt overlay, which uniformly bonds with the GlasGrid product thanks to its pre-installed top layer of elastomeric polymer film. The pavement reinforcement system provides much greater strength at much lower strain levels, producing better performance. "The fact that you don't have to spray the tack coat out is very good," said Mark Averett, Project Superintendent for Staker Parson Companies. "We didn't really have any problems with the tack film or product coming off. The tack membrane makes all the difference - with the crew not having to add a tack coat, we beat our estimates each day."

In October 2019, after 8 years of service in the extreme mountain temperatures, the site was revisited, and the roadway surface is in good condition. Cracking of the old underlying pavement was not observed at the surface of the GlasGrid TF stabilized overlay.