Some construction problems cannot be solved by doing things the way they have always been done. Donelson Construction develops equipment, processes, and technology around challenges we encounter firsthand in the field.
Our Approach
Our equipment and processes are developed around real construction challenges: pavement quality, difficult roadway geometry, project efficiency, traffic management, and communication with the public.
When the standard approach creates a weakness, we look for a better way to solve the problem.
That mindset has led Donelson Construction to develop a variety of patented machines and pavement processes designed around the needs we encounter while building and rehabilitating roads.
Patented Equipment
Cul-de-sacs create a unique combination of pavement stress and construction difficulty. Our patented cul-de-sac equipment was developed to address both.
The Pavement Problem
Residential cul-de-sacs may have lower traffic counts than major streets, but the pavement is subjected to unusually aggressive tire movement.
Residents make tight turns around the circle. Delivery vehicles maneuver through the same area repeatedly. Heavy trash trucks return every week and rotate through the tight radius under significant load.
Those low-speed turns create twisting forces at the pavement surface that can accelerate raveling and surface wear.
Learn Why Cul-de-Sacs Are Difficult to Maintain
The Construction Problem
The unusual geometry of a cul-de-sac makes conventional machine application difficult near the outside circumference.
Conventional paving equipment can machine-apply the majority of a cul-de-sac, but the geometry often requires material around the outside circumference to be placed and finished manually.
Our patented cul-de-sac equipment follows the geometry of the circle, allowing more of the finished driving surface to be machine-applied rather than placed by hand.
Why Machine Application Matters
Pavement mixtures are designed around a controlled combination of aggregate, binder, and other components.
Hand placement requires the mixture to be moved, spread, and manipulated differently than material installed directly by the paving equipment.
Additional handling can promote segregation within the mixture, creating areas with a different aggregate or binder distribution than the surrounding machine-applied pavement.
By machine-applying more of the cul-de-sac circumference, our patented equipment helps create a more consistent finished texture across an area that already receives unusually aggressive tire movement.
Better installation isn't only about how the pavement looks on construction day.
The goal is consistency that supports performance years later.See It in the Field
See how Donelson Construction's patented equipment follows the geometry of a residential cul-de-sac and machine-applies the finished surface around the circle.
Long-Term Evidence
Cul-de-sacs are one of the most demanding residential pavement environments because of the constant low-speed turning and twisting that occurs across the finished surface.
That makes older cul-de-sac projects especially valuable when evaluating long-term pavement performance.
PressurePave® cul-de-sac approximately 10 years after installation.
Innovation Beyond Pavement Equipment
The same problem-solving philosophy that led us to rethink how a cul-de-sac is paved also led us to rethink how a construction zone communicates.
From Flaggers to Founders
Colin Donelson and Bryant Donelson began working with Donelson Construction in traffic control as flaggers.
Working directly with motorists and residents gave them a firsthand view of one of the most persistent challenges surrounding road construction: communication.
Residents wanted to know when their street would be worked on. Drivers wanted to know when roads would reopen. Project schedules changed because of weather and production conditions, while crews, municipalities, residents, and motorists often relied on different sources of information.
Colin and Bryant, alongside Donelson Construction owner Mike Donelson, helped develop CrewCast to address those communication gaps.
The Solution
CrewCast gives residents and municipalities access to project information from one communication platform.
Donelson Construction can use CrewCast on PressurePave® projects to help connect field operations with the people affected by the work.
See How Donelson Uses CrewCast
Keep Asking Better Questions
PressurePave®. Patented paving equipment. Specialized traffic management. CrewCast.
Each began with the same basic question:
What problem are we trying to solve?
Donelson Construction continues to develop equipment, processes, and technology around what we learn in the field because better pavement construction is about more than the material itself.
It is about improving the entire project.