‘Ready to rubble’ on County Road 49

Starting later this month, the County’s contractor, R.W. Tomlinson Ltd., will begin “rubblization” on County Road 49. This road rehabilitation technique involves breaking the existing concrete road into small pieces and leaving them in place, creating a strong foundation for the new asphalt road.

Construction is planned to begin this week as the contractor will begin by replacing road cross culverts. Motorists can expect minor traffic delays as the work zones will be relatively short. Replacement of all culverts is estimated to take four weeks.

The municipality breaks down the process:

How it Works
Step 1: Break the concrete
A specialized pavement breaker will deliver high frequency, low-amplitude energy that will break up the brittle concrete. The concrete remains in place rather than being removed and hauled away, creating the granular base for the new asphalt road.

Step 2: Compact the broken material
Heavy rollers will compact the broken concrete. This creates a stable layer that behaves more like aggregate (crushed stone) than rigid concrete.

Step 3: Add new asphalt
Once the rubblized concrete has been compacted and tested, crews will place new asphalt layers on top. For County Road 49, the municipality intends to place three layers of asphalt. The municipality is aiming to place two layers of asphalt over the entire length of County Road 49 in 2026, followed by a final layer in 2027.

Benefits of rubblization
Using the rubblization technique is widely considered a major step forward for sustainable infrastructure.

100 per cent in-place recycling: the existing concrete roadway is never sent to a landfill. This helps reduce the demand for new aggregate (crushed stone).

Reduced carbon footprint: On-site recycling of the old concrete eliminates the heavy greenhouse gas emissions, fuel consumption, and traffic congestion associated with hauling away the rubble and trucking in new crushed stone.

Zero reflective cracking: When a new hot-mix asphalt overlay is placed directly over a rubblized base, the interlocking angular concrete fragments prevent the old cracks from reflecting through to the new surface.

Overall, this technique will help lower costs to taxpayers and allow for a faster rehabilitation.

Project staging
The major structural rehabilitation of County Road 49 is expected to begin mid to late July. Crews will start at County Road 15 (Northport Road) and work their way south. Crews will be on site Monday – Friday, 7 am to 7 pm.

The contractor intends to rehabilitate County Road 49 in sections approximately 1- 2 kilometres in length:

A minimum of one lane of traffic, operating under alternating directions, will be maintained at all times.

The rubblizing machine will break up the concrete in one lane for approximately 1 – 2 kilometres.

Crews will come behind to compact and level out the road, followed by a layer of new granular material.

When that lane of road is complete, crews will turn and work back in the other direction and repeat the process on the adjacent lane.

Once both lanes have been rubblized and a new layer of granular material has been placed, the base lift of asphalt will be placed over both lanes.

Drivers can expect delays of between five to 10 minutes. Both lanes of traffic will re-open at the end each construction day and on weekends. Calcium chloride will be applied to the gravel sections of the road to suppress the dust.