Melissa Bailey Photo
Steam rose up off of a new “course” on Grand Avenue Thursday. It wasn’t an elote or a fresh piece of pan.
Two crews from Laydon Construction spread out bituminous concrete, otherwise known as asphalt, onto the street as part of major repaving job on Fair Haven’s main thoroughfare.
In past weeks, workers milled down the road, revealing historic bricks. This week, crews are laying down two inches of asphalt to build the road back up to its previous height, explained David Lavorgna, senior construction inspector with Milone & MacBroom, an engineering firm the city hired to oversee the work.
Roughly 20 workers started at 7 a.m. Thursday repaving Grand Avenue from East Street to Blatchley. It’s part of a $2.4 million effort, 80 percent of which is paid for by the state, to repave Grand, Dixwell and Davenport avenues.
Workers already laid down the first “course” of asphalt, Lavorgna explained. Thursday was the “second course,” which raises the level of the street to be flush with manhole covers.
Workers poured hot asphalt out of dump trucks …
… into small piles on the street …
… then spread it out with rakes and large Hamm brand machines called “rollers.”
The asphalt is heated to over 300 degrees, Lavorgna said.
The rollers chugged along the busy thoroughfare, past a memorial for homicide victim “Fast” Eddy Thompson.
After the rollers passed, workers used rakes to clear water mains and storm drains …
… and steered around a “compactor” to pack down the edges.
Amid all the commotion, cops helped pedestrians and motorists avoid the work zone. That segment of the road would be ready within an hour, Lavorgna predicted.