This disclosure relates generally to road construction and in particular to a method and system for forming a road base of a plurality of connected modular components.
Roads are commonly formed by forming one or more substrate or base layers below a pavement or concrete covering. Common materials for such substrates may be crushed stone or the like. Disadvantageously, it has been found that such substrates of crushed rock or dirt may be prone to being washed away under higher volumes of running water such as during the spring. In such circumstances, the substrate and the entire roadway may be prone to washing out thereby destroying the roadway.
One common method to repair a washed out roadway is to remove and replace the existing substrate with added drainage culvers or diversions to prevent future occurrences of the wash-out. Such replacement however is expensive and time consuming requiring the entire roadway at that location to be removed and replaced. It will be appreciated that for some locations, this may require removal to a significant depth.
According to a first embodiment, there is disclosed a system for forming a reinforced road base comprising an outer barrier having an upright portion forming a wall, a deadhead located inward on the road base of the outer barrier and at least one brace extending between the outer barrier and the deadhead, wherein each of the outer barrier, deadhead and at least one brace include metal connecting plates aligned with each other and operable to be welded together.
Each of the outer barrier, deadhead and at least one brace may be formed of concrete. The metal connecting plates may be cast into the outer barrier, deadhead and at least one brace. The deadhead may have a length less than the outer barrier.
The outer barrier may include connection plates for securing to a connection member spanning to an adjacent outer barrier so as to form a continuous barrier therewith. The connection member may be formed of metal. The connection member may be secured to the connection plates by welding.
The outer barrier may include an upright portion and a perpendicularly extending base portion. The at least one brace may rest on the base portion. The base portion may include at least one drain passage extending therethrough.
The at least one brace may include a middle portion having a bottom shaped to have an elevation above a bottom edge of the outer barrier. The deadhead may be secured to the outer barrier with two braces. The deadhead may be substantially parallel to the outer barrier.
According to a further embodiment, there is disclosed a kit for forming a reinforced road base comprising at least two outer barriers having an upright portion forming a wall, at least two deadheads each corresponding to and located inward on the road base of one of the at least two outer barrier, at least one brace extending between each of the at least one outer barrier and its corresponding deadhead, wherein each of the outer barrier, deadhead and at least one brace include metal connecting plates aligned with each other and operable to be welded together and at least one connection member operable to be welded to connection plates on the at least two barriers so as to connect the at least two connection barriers together.
According to a further embodiment, there is disclosed a method for forming a road base comprising locating at least one outer barrier along an edge of the road base to be formed, locating a deadhead inward of the outer barrier along the road base, spanning between the outer barrier and the deadhead with at least one brace and securing the at least one brace to the deadhead and the outer barrier by welding connecting plates on each of the outer barrier, deadhead and at least one brace together.
The method may further comprise locating a quantity of aggregate rock between the at least one outer barrier and the at least one brace. The method may further comprise locating a fabric barrier over the gravel.
Other aspects and features of the present disclosure will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
The accompanying drawings constitute part of the disclosure. Each drawing illustrates exemplary aspects wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,
Aspects of the present disclosure are now described with reference to exemplary apparatuses, methods and systems. Referring to
Turning now to
The outer member 12 includes a base portion 30 extending perpendicular to the outer member 12 away from the rear surface 16 proximate to the bottom edge 24. The base portion 30 provides a wider base for maintaining the outer member 12 in an upright orientation in use. The base portion 30 extends to a free distal edge 32 and may optionally include one or more drainage ports 34 extending therethrough.
The outer member 12 may be formed of any suitable material, including concrete, composite materials, metals, woods, or the like so as to provide sufficient strength to retain a quantity of soil therebehind and includes a plurality of welding plates embedded there for connecting to the braces 80 as will be set out below. In particular, the rear surface 16 of the outer member 12 may include end connection plates 40 proximate to the first and second ends and a plurality of brace connection plates 42. The brace connection plates 42 are located at positions corresponding to the desired location of the braces 80. As illustrated in
The first and second ends 18 and 20 may each include a vertical step 19 and 21, respectively into the first ends so as to enable adjacent outer members to be overlapped and interconnected with each other. In particular, the first end step 19 may be formed into the front face 14 whereas the second end step 21 may be formed into the rear face 16 such that the first and second end steps of adjacent member may be overlaid on each other to form a continuous barrier as illustrated in
Turning now to
The deadhead 50 may be formed of any suitable material, including concrete, composite materials, metals, woods, or the like and includes a plurality of welding plates embedded there for connecting to the braces 80 as will be set out below. In particular, the front surface 52 of the deadhead 50 may include end a plurality of brace connection plates 64. The brace connection plates 64 are located at positions corresponding to the desired location of the braces 80. As illustrated in
Turning now to
The sides of the brace include connecting plates 94 at locations corresponding to the brace connection plates 42, 44, 64 and 74 on the outer member 12 and deadhead 50. Accordingly, once the brace 80 is located at the desired positions between the brace connection plates, connectors, such as, by way of non-limiting example, metal bars or the like may be welded between the plates so as to secure the brace to the outer member 12 or deadhead 50. As illustrated In
In operation, a plurality of the outer members 12 may be located on a ground surface 6 to define an outer location of the roadway to be formed. As illustrated in
While specific embodiments have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative only and not as limiting the disclosure as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.