PennDOT workers were performing shoulder cutting and grading on Levittown Parkway in Bristol Township on Thursday.
Advertisements
The work was part of routine maintenance of the roadway.
Shoulder cutting, a key maintenance operation, involves removing excess material and debris from the unpaved shoulder areas of roads, while grading shapes and stabilizes these areas.
According to PennDOT, the process is crucial for enhancing road drainage, allowing water to exit the roadway effectively, and preventing shoulder drop-offs.
Advertisements
The process requires a variety of heavy machinery, including graders, trucks, brooms, belt loaders or wheel loaders, and rollers.
Typically, a crew of 12 is needed for the operation, PennDOT said.
Advertisements
During the process, a grader trims excess material from the shoulder, collecting it into piles. The material is then loaded into trucks by belt loaders and removed to a fill site. Any discrepancies in the shoulder level are corrected by adding material, followed by sweeping any residual material from the roadway. The area is finalized with a roller that compacts the disturbed soil, helping to prevent erosion.
“These are important highway maintenance operations. When drainage systems do not function properly, water collects on the roadway, creating potential icing conditions in the winter and weakening pavement, causing potholes,” PennDOT said.
Busy Levittown Parkway was repaved by PennDOT in 2022.
Advertisements
Advertisements
Advertisements
Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies
