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.

Diamond grooving machines with circular diamond-tipped saw blades are used to saw grooves into the pavement surface. The advantages of grooving are: reduced accidents, reduced hydroplaning, reduced splash and spray, faster braking, safer driving, easy to construct, economical and no adverse effect on pavement fatigue life.

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.

Dowel bar retrofit (DBR) is most often used as part of a comprehensive Concrete Pavement Preservation (CPP) program. The techniques employed in a CPP program usually include a combination of full-depth repair (FDR), partial-depth repair (PDR, dowel bar retrofit (DBR) joint and crack resealing, slab stabilization, cross-stitching of longitudinal cracks, diamond grooving and diamond grinding.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has implemented Dowel Bar Retrofit (DBR) on more than 300 lane miles since 1993 to combat aging concrete pavements. The process includes diamond grinding and joint resealing, proving cost-effective for long-term pavement preservation.

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.