Interstate gore paving

[Roadmh]

Construction engineer here. Looking for guidance on paving at freeway gores. When overlaying mainline and on-ramp must the gore be paved? Is it ok to have a drop off with no safety shoe (AASHTO safety edge)? This will create a drop off into the existing paved gore.

AASHTO standards preferred .

Thanks for any help.

 

[Ron]

If the gore is a faux gore or theoretical gore such as that which occurs as the beginning of an off-ramp at the overpass, it is typically overlaid with the other pavement if both the main and off-ramps are overlaid. If it is a true gore that is grassed at the end of an off-ramp, paving is unnecessary and would reduce the pervious area necessary for stormwater management.

 

[eea]

I'm assuming that this is an existing paved gore? If so, I would say yes. I had to rework some interstate ramp gores earlier on in my career that were design improperly with too great of a drop-off / over-break between the high-side of the on-ramp's super elevation and the gore.

On another project, we had full depth milling along the mainline shoulders and simply matched gore areas as we went through.

 

[Roadmh]

Thanks for the responses. Yes the existing gore is paved. Is there any applicable standards requiring the gore to be paved during a mainline and ramp overlay? At a minimum it seems a safety edge should be paved in for a recoverable slope. This is a 70mph interstate.

 

[Pinwards]

IMO if it was a paved gore area during the original construction, the overlay should extend to the same width and the safety edge constructed at that far edge, not a new step in the pavement at some arbitrary point in between. You shouldn't be adding new vertical changes of grade within the original paved area, unless you are taking over responsibility for the design of said highway.

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[BigH]

Damn, I learned a new word - I always called a gore "that triangular thingamajiggy".