Asphalt Review - Feb/March 2013 - Australian Asphalt Pavement ...

Phillip Island Grand Prix Track Resurfacing
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a place that stirs emotions in motor
sport fans around Australia, whether it be V8 Supercars, Moto GP or
World Superbikes. The combination of a fast flowing world-class circuit
married with a picturesque setting on the coastline of Victoria’s Phillip
Island make this a special place.
When the circuit operators – PI Operations, which is charged with
managing the circuit for owner Linfox – reaslised it was time for a
new wearing surface, it looked into its history to guide a pathway for
selecting a new asphalt wearing surface.
Downer Australia East Chief Operating Officer, Sergio Cinerari, had
been intimately involved in the previous two upgrades and asphalt
overlays at the circuit in 1989 and 1998. The upgrade in 1989 was
probably the most significant performed on the circuit in its history. The
circuit was widened to around 10m and significant asphalt correction
work performed to iron out bumps prior to a full width overlay.
These works were to prepare the circuit for its first event on the
world stage in late 1989, the first Australian Moto GP. The upgrade
works were performed in 1989 utilising a small 100 tonne per hour
mobile asphalt plant established on the site.
By 1998, the circuit was in need of a new wearing surface. The works
performed in 1989 had stood the test of time, so the scope in 1998
was to purely overlay the circuit. This time, the asphalt was produced
in Melbourne and carted to Phillip Island where it was put through a
transfer vehicle and placed over four days. The paving method involved
completing a half-circuit of the track each day at 5m wide, resulting in
two transverse joins and a full length longitudinal cold join around the
centre of the track.
The mix placed in 1998 was a 14mm dense graded mix with C320
binder which performed admirably for over 13 years. It was due to
the success of the previous two upgrades and overlays that Fergus
Cameron, Managing Director of PI Operations contacted Sergio Cinerari
in February 2012 to commence the process of planning for the next
overlay scheduled for December 2012.
Right from the first meeting, the team from Linfox were very clear on
their goal, they wanted the “best racetrack in the world”. PI Operations
also employed the services of Aurecon to work with Downer and the
wider Linfox team to determine the most cost effective solution to
meet their goals. The only high-level constraints were that this was to
be a remove-and-replace operation, not a pure overlay on top of the
existing surface; the mix needed to have a similar look and texture to
the existing surface and the general geometry of the track needed to
remain the same.
Over a period of a couple of months, the methods available to deliver
the works were developed and costed, along with the advantages and
risks associated with each delivery method. At the same time, work
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