Method of covering an area with a layer of compressible material

Abstract

A method of covering an area with a compressible material, such as asphalt, to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of the compressible material of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation, includes the steps of determining the elevation of the foundation surface over the area, and determining the difference between the elevation of the foundation surface and the desired elevation over the area. A layer of the compressible material is deposited over the area. The layer has an upper surface that varies in elevation over the area, with the layer upper surface being higher in the areas having a lower foundation elevation and lower in the areas having a higher foundation elevation. The layer is sufficiently thick to allow for compression of the layer of compressible material over the area to the desired elevation. The layer of compressible material is compressed during one or more compression operations such that the upper surface of the layer after compression is uniformly at the desired elevation over the area.

1 . A method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation, comprising the steps of:
 determining the elevation of the foundation surface over the area,   determining the difference between the elevation of the foundation surface and the desired elevation over the area,   depositing a mat of asphalt over the area, said mat having a thickness that varies over the area, with the mat being thicker in the areas having a lower foundation elevation and thinner in the areas having a higher foundation elevation, said mat being sufficiently thick to allow for compression of said mat over said area to said desired elevation, said mat having a thickness that is substantially a constant K times the difference between the desired elevation and the elevation of said foundation surface at each of a plurality of points spaced over said area,   compressing said mat of asphalt during one or more compression operations such that the upper surface of said mat is uniformly at said desired elevation over said area,   determining the elevation of the upper surface of said mat after compression, and   adjusting the value of K to compensate for determined offset from the desired elevation of the upper surface over said area.   
   
   
       2 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 1 , in which the step of determining the elevation of the foundation surface over the area comprises the steps of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area, and storing the results of the scanning operation. 
   
   
       3 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 2 , in which the step of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of using a laser scanning device to determine the elevation of said foundation at a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       4 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 2 , in which the step of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of using a GNSS survey device to determine the elevation of said foundation at a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       5 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 2 , in which the step of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of scanning said foundation from a scanner mounted on said asphalt paving machine to determine the elevation of said foundation at a plurality of points spaced over said area ahead of said asphalt paving machine while said asphalt paving machine is depositing an asphalt mat of varying thickness. 
   
   
       6 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 2 , in which the step of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of scanning said foundation from a scanner mounted on a vehicle that travels ahead of said asphalt paving machine to determine the elevation of said foundation surface at a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       7 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 1 , in which the step of depositing a mat of asphalt over the area, said mat having a thickness that varies over the area, with the mat being thicker in the areas having a lower foundation elevation and thinner in the areas having a higher foundation elevation, comprises the step of depositing a mat which has a thickness that is substantially 1.25 times the difference between the desired elevation and the elevation of said foundation surface at each of a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       8 . (canceled) 
   
   
       9 . (canceled) 
   
   
       10 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 1 , in which the step of determining the elevation of the upper surface of said mat after compression includes the step of measuring the elevation of the upper surface of said mat after compression with a laser scanner directed to the surface behind the compacting machine. 
   
   
       11 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 1 , in which the step of adjusting the value of K to compensate for determined offset from the desired elevation of the upper surface over said area comprises the step of computing an adjusted value for K as the ratio of the thickness of the uncompressed asphalt mat deposited on the foundation surface to the thickness of the compressed asphalt mat. 
   
   
       12 . The method of paving an area with asphalt to a desired elevation using an asphalt paving machine that deposits a mat of asphalt of a controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the asphalt to the desired elevation according to  claim 11 , further comprising the step of determining the thickness of the compressed asphalt mat by subtracting the elevation of the foundation surface at a point in the area from the elevation of the upper surface of said mat after compression at the same point in the area. 
   
   
       13 . A method of covering an area with a compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of the compressible material of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation, comprising the steps of:
 determining the elevation of the foundation surface over the area,   determining the difference between the elevation of the foundation surface and the desired elevation over the area,   depositing a layer of compressible material over the area, said layer having an upper surface that varies in elevation over the area, with the layer upper surface being higher in the areas having a lower foundation elevation and lower in the areas having a higher foundation elevation, said layer being sufficiently thick to allow for compression of said layer of compressible material over said area to said desired elevation, said layer having a thickness that is substantially a constant K times the difference between the desired elevation and the elevation of said foundation surface at each of a plurality of points spaced over said area,   compressing said layer of compressible material during one or more compression operations such that the upper surface of said layer after compression is uniformly at said desired elevation over said area,   determining the elevation of the upper surface of said layer after compression, and   adjusting the value of K to compensate for any offset from the desired elevation of the upper surface over said area.   
   
   
       14 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 13 , in which the step of determining the elevation of the foundation surface over the area comprises the step of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area, and storing the results of the scanning operation. 
   
   
       15 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 14 , in which the step scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of using a laser scanning device to determine the elevation of said foundation at a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       16 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 14 , in which the step scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of using a GNSS survey device to determine the elevation of said foundation at a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       17 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 14 , in which the step of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of scanning said foundation from a scanner mounted on said machine that deposits a layer of the compressible material to determine the elevation of said foundation at a plurality of points spaced over said area ahead of said machine while said machine is depositing a compressible material layer of varying thickness. 
   
   
       18 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 14 , in which the step of scanning the contour of said foundation surface over said area includes the step of scanning said foundation from a scanner mounted on a vehicle that travels ahead of said machine that deposits the compressible material to determine the elevation of said foundation at a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       19 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a compressible material machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 13 , in which the step of depositing a layer of compressible material over the area, said layer having an upper surface that varies in elevation over the area, with the upper surface of the layer being higher in the areas having a lower foundation elevation and lower in the areas having a higher foundation elevation, comprises the step of depositing a layer which has a thickness that is substantially 1.25 times the difference between the desired elevation and the elevation of said foundation surface at each of a plurality of points spaced over said area. 
   
   
       20 . (canceled) 
   
   
       21 . (canceled) 
   
   
       22 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 13 , in which the step of determining the elevation of the upper surface of said layer after compression includes the step of measuring the elevation of the upper surface of said layer after compression with a laser scanner directed to the surface behind the compacting machine. 
   
   
       23 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 13 , in which the step of adjusting the value of K to compensate for any offset from the desired elevation of the upper surface over said area comprises the step of computing an adjusted value for K as the ratio of the thickness of the uncompressed compressible material layer to the thickness of the compressed compressible material layer. 
   
   
       24 . The method of covering an area with compressible material to a desired elevation using a machine that deposits a layer of controlled thickness on a foundation surface, and then using a compacting machine to compact the compressible material to the desired elevation according to  claim 23 , further comprising the step of determining the thickness of the compressed compressible material layer by subtracting the elevation of the foundation surface at a point in the area from the elevation of the upper surface of said layer after compression at the same point in the area.