(APAI Newsletter, May 2003)

A Tale of Two Projects

In 2001, the City of Iowa City completed two projects with the same objective, rehabilitate a worn PCC pavement. They found the cost to crack-and-seat the Court St. pavement with HMA overlay was less expensive than diamond milling the PCC roadway. These projects ran nearly simultaneously with the Court St. project taking eight days to complete and the Rochester Ave. project taking nearly four weeks. The diamond milling method will need to be examined in five to ten years, whereas, the crack-and-seal/overlay is designed for a fifteen to twenty year lifespan. The City of Iowa City Acknowledges the dramatic cost difference; the residents of Court Street acknowledge they got the better deal.


Court Street, Iowa City, IA Crack-and-Seat with 4in. HMA Total Cost: $135,024.40 Price per Square Rard: $9.80 Total Square Yards: 13,778	Rochester Avenue, Iowa City, IA Diamond Grinding of 7in. PCC Total Cost: $173,951.40 Price per Square Rard: $12.45 Total Square Yards: 13,972