Extended life road system and method
First Claim
1. An extended life roadway system providing regular periodic wear strip wide partial lane shifts along a roadway surface for extending the life of a roadway in a roadway surface comprising a hard vehicle bearing surface having a number of travel lanes marked by lane divider lines thereon, each of the travel lanes having a pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface by receiving wear from tires of vehicles traveling over the roadway surface repeatedly following the same path of travel in each of the travel lanes, the pair of wear strips comprising a spaced parallel pair of roadway sections along the length of the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes, each of the wear strips having a width not greater than a quarter of the width of a travel lane, the system comprising:
- a lateral extension of a roadway surface on at least one side of the roadway surface by at least the width of a wear strip along the entire length of a roadway surface creating an extra side surface along the length of the roadway, so that an extended width roadway is formed for regular periodic partial lateral shifting of a series of lane markers by a width of a wear strip of the location of the travel lanes on the roadway, the extended width roadway having a first series of lane divider lines marking a first series of designated travel lanes on the extended width roadway in a first laterally positioned location on the roadway surface along the length of the roadway surface for normal traffic flow over a first period of time having a first pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes; and
a second series of lane divider lines replacing the first series of lane divider lines, the first series of lane divider lines being removed, the second series of lane divider lines positioned in parallel alignment to the first series of lane divider lines and spaced apart from the first series of lane divider lines by a width of the wear strip, at least one of the second series of lane divider lines located on the lateral extension of the roadway surface, the second series of lane divider lines marking a second series of designated travel lanes on the extended width roadway in a second laterally positioned location on the roadway surface along the length of the roadway surface for normal traffic flow over a second period of time having a second pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes adjacent to the location of the first pair of wear strips to provide regular periodic shifting of the series of lane divider lines to alternate the wear pattern to control the wear of the roadway and to extend the life of the roadway so that over the extended life of the road the entire roadway surface is worn evenly thereby increasing the life of the roadway and providing a safer environment for a motorist.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A roadway is widened preferably by no more than 36 inches to move current traffic lanes on state and interstate highways and county roads to control the wear of these roadways. After a period of time with normal road wear taking place along a first pair of strips in each demarked travel lane where the tires normally ride, the travel lanes are shifted preferably by 36+− inches. The old roadway lines are removed and new lines added shifted by 36+− inches. After the shift, the pair of strips of the road wear are now shifted to a second pair of strips in each demarked travel lane where there has been little wear, thus extending the life of the roadway, then after a period of time these lanes can be shifted back 18 inches, then shifted back to the original position and repeated until the roadway needs to be resurfaced, thus further extending the life of the roadway.
15 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An extended life roadway system providing regular periodic wear strip wide partial lane shifts along a roadway surface for extending the life of a roadway in a roadway surface comprising a hard vehicle bearing surface having a number of travel lanes marked by lane divider lines thereon, each of the travel lanes having a pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface by receiving wear from tires of vehicles traveling over the roadway surface repeatedly following the same path of travel in each of the travel lanes, the pair of wear strips comprising a spaced parallel pair of roadway sections along the length of the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes, each of the wear strips having a width not greater than a quarter of the width of a travel lane, the system comprising:
a lateral extension of a roadway surface on at least one side of the roadway surface by at least the width of a wear strip along the entire length of a roadway surface creating an extra side surface along the length of the roadway, so that an extended width roadway is formed for regular periodic partial lateral shifting of a series of lane markers by a width of a wear strip of the location of the travel lanes on the roadway, the extended width roadway having a first series of lane divider lines marking a first series of designated travel lanes on the extended width roadway in a first laterally positioned location on the roadway surface along the length of the roadway surface for normal traffic flow over a first period of time having a first pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes; and
a second series of lane divider lines replacing the first series of lane divider lines, the first series of lane divider lines being removed, the second series of lane divider lines positioned in parallel alignment to the first series of lane divider lines and spaced apart from the first series of lane divider lines by a width of the wear strip, at least one of the second series of lane divider lines located on the lateral extension of the roadway surface, the second series of lane divider lines marking a second series of designated travel lanes on the extended width roadway in a second laterally positioned location on the roadway surface along the length of the roadway surface for normal traffic flow over a second period of time having a second pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes adjacent to the location of the first pair of wear strips to provide regular periodic shifting of the series of lane divider lines to alternate the wear pattern to control the wear of the roadway and to extend the life of the roadway so that over the extended life of the road the entire roadway surface is worn evenly thereby increasing the life of the roadway and providing a safer environment for a motorist.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An extended life roadway method providing regular periodic wear strip wide partial lane shifts along a roadway surface for extending the life of a roadway in a roadway surface comprising a hard vehicle bearing surface having a number of travel lanes marked by lane divider lines thereon, each of the travel lanes having a pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface by receiving wear from tires of vehicles traveling over the roadway surface repeatedly following the same path of travel in each of the travel lanes, the pair of wear strips comprising a spaced parallel pair of roadway sections along the length of the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes, each of the wear strips having a width not greater than a quarter of the width of a travel lane, the method comprising:
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a first step of lateral extending a roadway surface by at least the width of a wear strip on at least one side of the roadway surface along the entire length of a roadway surface creating an extra side surface along the length of the roadway, so that an extended width roadway is formed for regular periodic partial lateral shifting of a series of lane markers by a width of a wear strip of the location of the travel lanes on the roadway, the extended width roadway having a first series of lane divider lines marking a first series of designated travel lanes on the extended width roadway in a first laterally positioned location on the roadway surface along the length of the roadway surface for normal traffic flow over a first period of time having a first pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes; and
a second step of forming a second series of lane divider lines on the extended roadway surface replacing the first series of lane divider lines, the first series of lane divider lines being removed, the second series of lane divider lines positioned in parallel alignment to the first series of lane divider lines and spaced apart from the first series of lane divider lines by a width of the wear strip, at least one of the second series of lane divider lines located on the lateral extension of the roadway surface, the second series of lane divider lines marking a second series of designated travel lanes on the extended width roadway in a second laterally positioned location on the roadway surface along the length of the roadway surface for normal traffic flow over a second period of time having a second pair of wear strips formed in the roadway surface in each of the travel lanes adjacent to the location of the first pair of wear strips to provide regular periodic shifting of the series of lane divider lines to alternate the wear pattern to control the wear of the roadway and to extend the life of the roadway so that over the extended life of the road the entire roadway surface is worn evenly thereby increasing the life of the roadway and providing a safer environment for a motorist. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification