Heat Design Equipment Inc. has been having good success in marketing the longitudinal joint heater. Many agencies have known for years that they have a problem with longitudinal joint construction and more recently have adopted tighter joint specifications in the form of density requirements, echelon paving, joint re-heating or longer warranties. As a result, contractors have taken a closer look at their joint making procedures and many are opting for the joint heater as a tool to make a better joint, especially in borderline paving conditions. Research studies at the Universities of Tennessee and Arkansas on joint making techniques have indicated joint heating provides the highest densities, and lowest permeability of several techniques studied. Joint heating projects in Canada and Tennessee have been closely monitored and showed good density results and not slowing the paving operation. An airport project in Canada, Shearwater Heliport, where typical FAA specifications of cutting off the loose cold edge were changed to allow joint heating, resulted in no failures of cores on the joint, faster paving progress and considerable savings for the contractor.
HDE introduced their new model of paver attached units that can be mounted on the paver in 10 minutes at the job-site, but can also be used on its own for doing joint repair work. The patented 100% surface emission heaters ensure a fast, deep heat penetration of the asphalt without overheating the surface. Attached is a picture of the first of several joint heaters sold into Tennessee this one to Charles Blalock & Sons of Sevierville, TN.
You can learn more about Heat Design Inc. by visiting their web site at http://www.asphaltheater.com.
