Longwood Elementary School

The challenge

Once in a while, we run into a challenging project that at the time feels like a bad headache, but once completed, gives you a great sense of accomplishment. That was the case with the Longwood Elementary School project, which initially only called for the removal and replacement of 2,300 tons of playground and parking lot and putting down some 3,500 gallons of seal coat. Then we added cement/lime treatment along with grading to stabilize soft subgrade.

Once the old pavement came off, we found sections of subgrade too soft to build on. Paving over ground like that would bring back the same failure the school had just paid to remove, with new asphalt cracking and sinking within a few seasons because the ground underneath can't carry the load.

A school also can't move its calendar. The work had to be finished, and the surface safe for the kids, before the site went back into use.

How it was executed

Instead of paving over poor ground, we treated the soft areas with cement and lime to bind and stiffen the subgrade, then regraded to restore consistent elevations and good drainage.

Only when the subgrade was ready to carry the load did we place and compact the new asphalt. Seal coat followed once the asphalt had cured, with 3,500 gallons going down over the finished area.

The result

The school now has pavement built on ground that will actually support it, not a new surface with the old problem hiding underneath. We found, priced and completed the extra subgrade work inside the three-week window. A headache at the time, and a project we're proud of.