All Roads’ project on Airport Road in Chilliwack, British Columbia, was the first in Canada to use Topcon’s Smoothride technology, and the first job in British Columbia to incorporate a notch wedge joint. Photo courtesy of All Roads
All Roads Tests Out New Tech
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All Roads Construction Ltd., Surrey, British Columbia, embraces new technology and techniques. After two years in business, the Canadian road construction company has built a team of more than 80 employees and established its first asphalt plant in Vancouver. However, the company believes in approaching new technology wisely. “If you get support from the manufacturers, plan properly, and do a trial run, implementing new technology doesn’t have to be difficult,” said Denis Labelle, All Roads’ operations manager. That’s why they decided to test out a trio of new technologies on a ½-mile mill-andoverlay job on Airport Road in Chilliwack,
32 // November 2020
BY SARAH REDOHL
British Columbia, before deploying them on an upcoming 47-mile job on Canada’s Highway 1. The Airport Road project would be the company’s first time using Smoothride, a road resurfacing solution from Topcon Positioning Systems, Livermore, California. It was also All Roads’ first time building a notch wedge joint, for which they used the Notch Wedge Safety System from Willow Designs, East Berlin, Pennsylvania. And, it was their first time using a series of new rollers equipped with Intelligent Compaction (IC) technology, from BOMAG Americas, Ridgeway, South Carolina, and HAMM, a Wirtgen Group company, Antioch, Tennessee.
Not only was the Airport Road project a success in its own right and an achievement for All Roads, but it also proved to be a milestone for Canada as the first project in the country to use Smoothride and the first notch wedge joint in British Columbia. It began when All Roads was strategizing ways to be more efficient on its upcoming highway jobs when they learned about Smoothride. In January, Labelle and All Roads’ Superintendent Max Spedding attended a live demo hosted by Topcon. “I was immediately sold on the technology,” Labelle said. “I realized that if we could implement Smoothride, we would not only be more efficient but it would also help us meet
