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JBand Comes to Idaho!

No, not like Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots - but almost as exciting!

Ideally, asphalt is laid down in one continuous placement at the proper temperature. Joints occur when asphalt is allowed to cool before placing additional asphalt. This might happen between one day’s placement and the next. Every joint becomes a spot where both water and air can infiltrate the asphalt, causing premature failure. One particularly problematic joint occurs between horizontal strips of asphalt placed longitudinally along (or in the direction of) the roadway. These longitudinal joints have long been recognized as a serious problem and are often the first part of the asphalt to fail.

Void Reducing Asphalt Membrane (or VRAM for short), such as the proprietary JBand, is used to help seal and prevent longitudinal joint separation in Idaho’s asphalt pavements. John Bilderback, the department’s Construction and Materials Engineer, heard about this product/technology at an annual AASHTO meeting that has been used in Indiana for quite a few years now. Indiana has had tremendous success with improving their longitudinal joints. Indiana is now using this technology as a standard business practice.

Bilderback wanted to bring this technology to Idaho for a product trial.

"District 3 had a candidate project that we could trial this new technology on and was very open and willing to give it a shot. We are all excited to see how this works in Idaho," Bilderback said.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve quality, and there’s definitely room for improvement in the area of longitudinal pavement joint construction," explained D3 Design Construction Enginer Shawna King. "When we heard about the JBand technology, we were excited to try it."

King said the JBand process is beng used on a section of the Marsing paving project on Idaho Highway 55, and will be monitored for performance. "We’re hopeful that the JBand technology will prove effective and can become a standard practice for ITD to prevent premature failure of pavement joints.”

Bilderback also wanted to thank Idaho Materials and Construction (IMC) for their willingness to participate in this trial.