GB2172638A

GB2172638A - Constructing paved area

Info

Publication number: GB2172638A
Application number: GB08606943A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Terence Edward Neary
Original assignee: CHARCON
Current assignee: CHARCON
Priority date: 1985-03-20
Filing date: 1986-03-20
Publication date: 1986-09-24
Also published as: GB8606943D0; GB8507157D0

Abstract

When constructing a surfaced area a boundary between a roadway (14) and each of footpaths (16, 18) is firstly defined by a right-angled strip (32). The roadway (14) is surfaced up to the strip (32) to overlie the leg (36) thereof. Kerb edging components in the form of blocks (40) moulded from a cementitious material are laid with the vertical face of a lower shoulder (42) abutting the leg (34) of the strip (32) such that the horizontal face of the shoulder (42) overlies the edge of the surfaced road. The respective pavement area (16, 18) is then surfaced into an upper shoulder (44) of each block (40) to the level of the upper face of the block (40). The positioning of the roadway and the pavement areas within the shoulders of the blocks (40) creates an effective mechanical interlocking arrangement which avoids the need for haunching and consequently the mixing of concrete on site. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Constructing a surfaced area This invention relates to the construction of a surfaced area and particularly the construction of a roadway bounded by pavements.

In constructing roadways and paved areas at present, skilled labour is generally involved, particularly where the laying of interlocking units is concerned, as cutting of such units at the edges of the roadway is required. Also it is generally necessary to use kerb edging components which are secured in position by means of haunching and consequently it is required to mix concrete on site.

According to the present invention there is provided a method of constructing a surfaced area, the method comp-rising positioning at least one component at a location to define a boundary between adjacent sections of the area which are intended to be at different levels, surfacing a first of the adjacent sections to the location of the boundary component, positioning a kerb edging component in abutting relationship with the boundary component, the kerb edging component extending above the level of the first sectioned surface and having an internal shoulder at an upper corner remote from the first sectioned surface, and surfacing the second of the adjacent sections of the area into the internal shoulder of the kerb edging component.

Preferably the kerb edging component has a further internal shoulder at a lower corner opposite to the first mentioned shoulder, whereby the kerb edging component can be positioned to overlie the boundary component and the adjacent edge of the first sectioned surface. The kerb edging component may be laid on a prepared bed of particulate material and sand without haunching.

Preferably also the surfacing of the first section comprises dry laying of interlocking units on a prepared bed and infilling any gaps between the interlocking units and the boundary component with particulate material, the gaps being subsequently overlaid by the kerb edging component, whereby substantially no cutting of the inter-locking units is required.

The surfacing of the second section may comprise dry laying interlocking units on a prepared bed.

The prepared bed for the interlocking units of each of the first and second sections may be formed of particulate material and sand and the interlocking units after laying may be vibrated into position.

The kerb edging component preferably has a length of 100 mm to be compatible with the dimensions of the inter-locking units so as to define a modular system. Alterna-tively the kerb edging component can have a length of between 100 mm and 1 ni in increments of 100 mm.

The present invention also provides a surfaced area constructed in accordance with the method described in any of the six preceding paragraphs.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the single figure of the accompanying drawing which is a schematic perspective view of a roadway during construction.

Referring to the drawing, the area between boundary fixtures 10,12 is intended to be surfaced to form a road 14 with footpaths or pavements 16,18 at respective sides thereof.

A setting bar 20 having a plate 22 at one end and being formed towards the other end with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures 24, mounts a further plate 26 which can be clamped in any suitable position towards the other end of the bar 20 by means of a clamping screw 28 engageable through a sleeve 30 into a selected one of the apertures 24. The plate 26 is clamped in such a position as to correspond to a pre-selected width of pavement between the plates 22,26. The bar 20 is then positioned with the plate 22 abutting the respective one of the fixtures 10,12 to extend at right angles from the latter. This defines the desired location for a component in the form of a strip 32 used to define the boundary between the pavement and the road 14.

The strip 32 has a right-angled section and is laid with one leg 34 abutting the outer face of the plate 26 and the other 36 on the ground facing outwardly of the fixture. A plurality of the strips 32 are laid end to end along the length of the roadway to form a continuous boundary between the road 14 and each of the pavements 16, 18.

Between opposed strips 32, the road area is prepared as a bed for surfacing with interlocking units, such as interlocking blocks 38. The bed is formed of particulate material such as scalpings and waste infill overlaid with sand which is compacted. The blocks 38 are then laid in accordance with any desired pattern up to the opposed strips 32 and overlie the horizontal leg 36 of the strips 32.

As the blocks 38 are laid towards the strips 32, the dimensions of the road as well as the design in which the blocks 38 are laid, can lead to gaps between the edge blocks 38 and the vertical legs 34 of the strips 32. These gaps are infilled with chippings or scalping.

Kerb edging components in the form of elongate blocks 40 moulded from a cementitious material are then laid in position. Considering the blocks 40 to be of substantially rectangular cross-section, each of a pair of opposed corners is removed to form an internal shoulder, i.e. a right-angled shoulder 42 at a lower corner and a right-angled shoulder 44 at the opposed upper corner. The other upper corner is formed with a chamfer 46 and the remaining edges of each of the blocks 40 may be radiussed or chamfered.

Each of the blocks 40 is positioned so that the vertical face defining the lower shoulder 42 abuts the face 48 of the leg 34 of the adjacent strip 32 which is remote from the road surface. The horizontal face defining the shoulder 42 thereby overlies the edge of the surfaced road and forms a cover for those gaps between the interlocking blocks 38 and the strips 32 which have been infilled. For this reason it is not necessary to cut blocks 38 so as to locate in such gaps. The chamfer 46 thus faces outwardly into the roadway.

In each of the pavement areas 16,18 a bed is then prepared for laying of interlocking units in the form of paving slabs 50. The bed preferably comprises a base of particulate material, for example scalpings and waste infill, and an overlying layer of sand which is compacted. On the prepared bed the slabs 50 are laid dry and the slabs 50 preferably comprise different sizes within a modular system.

The slabs 50 are laid into the upper shoulders 44 of the blocks 40 to the level of the upper faces of the blocks 40 and it will be appreciated that, depending on the width of pavement chosen, substantially no cutting of the slabs 50 may be necessary.

After laying, the slabs 50 are vibrated into a final position and also the interlocking blocks 38 are similarly vibrated into a final position. The positioning of the blocks 38 and the slabs 50 within the shoulders of the blocks 40 creates an effective mechanical interlocking arrangement which enables the blocks 40 to be laid on a prepared bed of particulate material and sand without the need for haunching and consequently the mixing of concrete on site. The blocks 40 can be laid on the prepared bed and vibrated into position. Also the interlocking arrangement enables the blocks 40 to be shorter and have a lower unit mass than conventional kerb blocks due to the fact that loading on the blocks need not be distributed over such a length as is necessary with conventional kerb blocks.Further displacement and/or subsidence of the blocks is less likely to occur as the blocks are more capable of withstanding the impact, and overrunning by, motor vehicles.

The length of the blocks 40 can be chosen so that, with the interlocking blocks 38 and the paving slabs 50, a modular arrangement is created, which can, for example, ensure that joints between adjacent paving slabs do not align with joints between adjacent kerb blocks 40 as this would otherwise weaken the structure. The blocks 40 can be formed for example of a length equal to twice the length of the slabs 50 for a staggered relation. The kerb edging blocks can however have a length of 100 mm or any length up to 1 m in increments of 100 mm.

The kerb edging block as described is advantageous in that the single design of block can be laid in several different dispositions. For example the block can be turned through 180 , relative to the disposition described and shown, so as to present the corner opposite the chamfer to the roadway.

Alternatively the block can be re-orientated and turned through 90 in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction relative to the orientation as described and shown.

There is thus provided a method of constructing a roadway which can result in a high performance good quality roadway possibly using unskilled labour as there is substantially no cutting of components involved and no haunching necessary.

Construction is by way of modular interlocking compatible units which are easy to handle and easy and quick to lay. This combination of various block orientations and alternative height dispositions between footpath and road provides, with minimum number of components, a wide variety of footway constructions which will fulfill the many varying needs encountered in difficult applications, e.g. inner city, surburban, or rural envir-onments. It will be appreciated however that the road may be formed of other than interlocking blocks such as black-top and also the pavement may be formed of other than slabs, such as interlocking blocks or black-top.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the invention. For example the configuration of the kerb edging block may differ from that described and shown, although it will be appreciated that where the kerb edging block provides no overlie of the roadway surface, it may be necessary to surface the gaps at the edge of the roadway, and it also may be necessary to use haunching to bed the kerb edging blocks in position.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing Specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims

1. A method of constructing a surfaced area, the method comprising positioning at least one component at a location to define a boundary between adjacent sections of the area which are intended to be at different levels, surfacing a first of the adjacent sections to the location of the boundary component, positioning a kerb edging component in abutting relationship with the boundary component, the kerb edging component extending above the level of the first sectioned surface and having an internal shoulder at an upper corner remote from the first sectioned surface, and surfacing the second of the adjacent sections of the area into the internal shoulder of the kerb edging component.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the kerb edging component is positioned to overlie the boundary component and the adjacent edge of the first sectioned surface by way of a further internal shoulder provided at a lower corner opposite to the shoulder at the upper corner.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the kerb edging component is laid on a prepared bed of particulate material.

4. A method according to any of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the surfacing of the first section comprises dry laying of interlocking units on a prepared bed and infilling any gaps between the interlocking units and the boundary component with particulate material.

5. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the surfacing of the second section comprises dry laying interlocking units on a prepared bed.

6. A method according to claim 5, when dependent on claim 4, wherein the prepared bed for the interlocking units of each of the first and second sections is formed of particulate material and sand.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the inter-locking units after laying are vibrated into position.

8. A method according to any of claims 4 to 7, wherein the kerb edging component has a length compatible with the dimensions of the interlocking units so as to define a modular system.

9. A method according to any of claims 4 to 7, wherein the kerb edging component has a length of between 100 mm and 1 m in increments of 100 mm.

10. A surfaced area constructed in accordance with the method described in any of the preceding claims.

11. A method of constructing a surfaced area substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

12. A surfaced area substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

13. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter herein disclosed in the foregoing Specification or Claims and/or shown in the drawings, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.