Photo credit: Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry
The public hearings of the Judicial Inquiry into the Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP) started last week.
The inquiry was requested by the City of Hamilton, and in the first phase of the public hearings, the focus will be on: questions relating to the construction of the Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP), friction testing on the RHVP conducted by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, associated consultant and staff reports, and the discovery and subsequent public release of the 2013 Golder report on RHVP friction testing.
The second phase of the public hearings will focus on expert evidence looking at how friction and other factors may have contributed to motor vehicle accidents on the RHVP and the related policy and governance issues at the City of Hamilton.
Day Four and Five – April 28 and 29
After two previous days of expert witness testimony, the Commission then called Dr. Ludomir Uzarowski, a senior pavement and materials engineer and a principal at Golder Associates Ltd. It was Golder Associates who was retained City of Hamilton in 2013 to conduct a five-year performance review of the RHVP after construction, in addition to conducting friction testing. Golder Associates then subcontracted the friction testing to another firm, Tradewind.
Prior to this, Dr. Uzarowski of Golder Associates was involved in the initial design of the RHVP, where in 2005 discussed the use of “perpetual pavement” and SMA (stone mastic asphalt). The concept was to use a type of pavement that would provide a long-lasting lifespan of the road surface, especially on roads that are to experience a high level of traffic.
However, in the same year, the use of SMA was a growing concern within the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), where in 2005 the MTO identified safety concerns with low friction at recently constructed roads using SMA. The concerns progressed where MTO actually established various committees and taskforces to address the safety issues. This led the MTO to publish an approved list of aggregate sources to be used for SMA.
The aggregates used by Dufferin Construction on the RHVP was not on the approved MTO list. The aggregates used were sourced from Demix Aggregates at their Varennes quarry (located near Montreal).
In July 2007, Dr. Uzarowski expressed a rumour to MTO’s Chris Raymond that the RHVP aggregate source was not on the approved MTO list. After confirming this rumour, Dr. Uzarowski requested the MTO to conduct friction testing on the RHVP.
The friction testing was completed by the MTO in October. The results of the testing were sent by the MTO to Dr. Uzarowski and it was requested the information be forwarded to RHVP project managers. In turn, Dr. Uzarowski forwarded the friction testing results to the City of Hamilton.
The friction results showed an average value of above 30 Friction Number (FN) at 90 km/hr, which is deemed the minimum acceptable by some industry experts. However, some sections of the road, especially under bridges, were below the minimum 30 FN. Interestingly, similar friction results were being identified at other provincial highways where SMA was used (such as Highway 401 at Woodstock).
On November 3, 2007, there was an official ceremony opening the Red Hill Valley Parkway. Yet, two days after the official opening, on November 5 the MTO paused the use of SMA on any future projects until the friction concerns covering aggregate selection, asphalt mix design, and construction were resolved.
The MTO would continue with RHVP friction testing over the next seven years. The friction tests would subsequently reveal declining levels of road performance.
Summary
Although there were other Ontario projects using perpetual pavement and SMA (stone mastic asphalt), the RHVP was being boasted as the first fully perpetual pavement road in Ontario’s history. However, the use of perpetual pavement and SMA was a growing concern with the MTO, where just two days after the official opening of the RHVP, the MTO paused the concept on future projects.
The aggregate source for the RHVP used by Dufferin Construction was not on the approved MTO list.
Friction testing on the RHVP prior to the official opening showed results under 30 FN, which was a safety concern among industry experts.
What’s Next
Scheduled witnesses this week will include Andro Delos Reyes (Golder Associates), Peter Gamble (Dufferin Construction), Paul Janicas (Dufferin Construction), Marco Oddi (formerly from City of Hamilton) and Chris Murray (formerly from City of Hamilton).
For previous coverage of the RHVP Inquiry by The Hamilton Independent click here and here.
