NPC were invited to join as the pavement design specialist in a design and construct style contract with Seymour Whyte as the Principal Contractor and Flanagan Consulting Group as the civil design consultant. The project involved the 4 laning of sections of the North Ward Road in Townsville for the Queensland Department of Main Roads with an overall project cost of $50 million dollars.
A difficulty in one location on the site was the very soft subgrade which resided in a low lying flood prone area. In a move away from conventional remove and replace with thick working platforms, the design nominated insitu recycling using a 2 stage stabilisation process using lime initially then cement to provide a stabilised platform for the remaining pavement to be constructed.
NPC were able to monitor strength gains using the FWD testing undertaken several days and 3 weeks following the stabilisation.
The process was very successful and saved significant cost compared to alternative approaches.