Water, slush or wet snow on a runway surface can cause aircraft to skid upon landing. Runway diamond grooving is a time-and cost-effective way to rehabilitate older runways that are showing loss of friction. Diamond saw blades can be used to create grooves in both portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement and hot mix asphalt pavement.

Conventional diamond grinding (CDG) removes a thin layer of hardened concrete surface using a self-propelled machine outfitted with a series of closely spaced diamond saw blades. CDG provides several benefits: Smooth riding surface , its safe , quiet, removes faulting at joints and cracks, does not significantly affect fatigue life, can extend pavement service life by decades, does not affect overhead clearances underneath bridges or signs, may be done in isolated areas as needed and during off-peak hours and its cost effective.

Joint resealing protects pavement joints from water and incompressible. Uncontrolled water ingress, especially water from a pavement’s surface, can lead to spalling, base or subgrade softening, dowel bar corrosion, pavement joint blow-ups and/or materials-related distress. Performed alone, joint resealing is a maintenance activity. However, it is also an important part of the Concrete Pavement Preservation (CPP) toolbox.

The introduction of diamond-grinding surfaces on bridge decks has created some challenges, however, that can be easily overcome following a few simple tips. Ensure tight line and grade controls when paving, add additional concrete thickness, check your steel, control your slump, slow down, know your deck and walk-behind and short wheel base grinders should not be used.

Although the introduction of profile measurement equipment using spot lasers significantly improved the ability to more accurately measure and evaluate smoothness, spot sensors often erroneously report excessively high readings – most notably on longitudinally grooved/tined and diamond grinding surface textures.

Surface diamond grooved bridge decks can reduce accident rates and hydroplaning risks. The best solution is bridge deck grooving for weather hazards. Advantages of diamond-sawed surface grooves are to help prevent hydroplaning, enhance braking action, often last as long as the deck does, are uniform and do not distort the surface, help facilitate ice breakup, can be sawed in any concrete including high performance and latex mix designs, can be sawed to different groove configurations and mechanical grooving lasts longer than conventional tines.