Glacier National Park Pavement Preservation
Glacier National Park is in northwestern Montana, on the Canada–United States border. The park encompasses over 1 million acres and includes parts of two mountain ranges, over 130 named lakes, more than 1,000 different species of plants, and hundreds of species of animals. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centerpiece of what has been referred to as the "Crown of the Continent Ecosystem," a region of protected land encompassing 16,000 square miles.
The pavement preservation construction contracts are an ongoing effort by the National Parks Service and Federal Lands Highway Division to maintain the pavements in the park by applying low cost treatments that sustain and extend the life of the surfaced assets.
Project work included crack and joint sealing and filling; 6000 square yards of patching pavement repairs; 400,000 square yards of chip sealing; 860,000 square yards micro surfacing; and 2 million linear feet of pavement markings. The resurfacing encompassed single chip sealing, type 2 micro surfacing, and type 3 micro surfacing across a total of 4 main roadways in Glacier National Park.
Sun Road, which is the only roadway that transports visitors from the East to the West side of the park, received type 3 micro surfacing. This roadway provided difficult obstacles due to the steep, narrow, and winding features this roadway delivers.
Many areas of Glacier Road switched from a single chip seal to a Type 3 micro surface treatment due to a request by the Contractor. Both Camas Road, and Chief Mountain Highway will receive a single chip seal June/July of 2020. Parking lots, vehicle pullouts, and side roadways received Type 2 micro surfacing. This also included single lane campground loop roads that needed to be paved with the truck mount equipment.
RockSol provided construction inspection services for this project. Our staff played an integral role in the communication between all parties involved in this project. This was especially important due to the lack of cellular service within most of the project. Correspondence was at times strictly channeled through RockSol’s inspector.
