BLASTING SPEEDS START, ENSURES BREAKAGE

A Louisville, Kentucky, highway widening project consisted of widening a 35,000 ft. section of connector highway between the Snyder Freeway and I-264 in the Louisville area. A 4 ft. inside shoulder was removed from one side of the roadway and a 12 ft. lane plus a new 10 ft. wide shoulder was added. This resulted in three driving lanes on the eastbound and westbound sides and two 10 ft. shoulders. Blasting during the winter enabled the contractor to complete excavation more quickly in the spring. Several areas needed blasting: 4-8 ft. thicknesses of rock over a stretch 1000 ft. long and 15-20 ft. wide along both outside shoulders of the divided highway; an 800 ft. long, 14-15 ft. deep section of hill in the median; and 20 ft. widths from both an 800 ft. long and a 700 ft. long section along the eastbound and westbound sides of the median, respectively. This article describes the blasting operations which employed a relatively new non-electric system of grouping delays, called bunch blocking. The method simplified the blasting work and saved money.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03620506
• Corporate Authors:

  Cahners Publishing Company

  275 Washington Street
  Newton, MA  United States  02158-1630
• Authors:
  • Brown, D C
• Publication Date: 1988-9

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: p. 30-32
• Serial:
  • Highways and Heavy Construction
  • Volume: 131
  • Issue Number: 9
  • Publisher: Cahners Publishing Company
  • ISSN: 0362-0506

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cost effectiveness; Pavement widening; Presplitting; Road construction; Rock excavation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Widening
• Old TRIS Terms: Bunch blocking
• Subject Areas: Construction; Geotechnology; Highways; I51: Earthworks and Soil Drainage;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00475919
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1988 12:00AM