JPH Land Surveying, Inc. was founded in 2002 by its current owner, Jon P. Hoebelheinrich, R.P.L.S. as a solo operation. Since then, JPH has grown into a medium sized professional land surveying company that offers an array of professional services. The initial standards of quality as established by its owner have remained throughout these growth years. As outlined on our professional services page, JPH offers services for just about every need of land surveying within the State of Texas. JPH focuses its projects within the counties of Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Collin, Rockwall, Ellis, Johnson, and Hood, surrounding the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, but has provided its services in other parts of the state such as Odessa (Ector County), Belton (Bell County), Waco (McClennan County), Vernon (Wilbarger County), and Abilene (Taylor County). Employees of JPH Land Surveying, Inc. are equipped with the latest in land surveying technology to provide efficient production.  In the field, we primarily use Trimble brand products including robotic total stations, global positioning systems (GPS), and data collectors.  In the office, we use AutoCad embedded with surveying software to generate a field to finish product.  Each crew uses late model, four-wheel drive GMC pickups to get them to and from the job, as well as around the job site.  This combination of high quality equipment, powerful software, and professional staff, helps to make JPH Land Surveying, Inc. an outstanding company.

Land surveying has been in practice since the beginning of recorded history. Even our forefathers such as George Washington and other past presidents were notable land surveyors. And just as they laid the foundation for our nation, land surveying is still the foundation for any form of site planning, property transaction, mapping or construction. In today’s world we are commanded to use both skillful experience and cutting edge technology. These are the qualities and foundations to which excellent land surveyors subscribe to. Westergren & Associates will provide profession Land Surveying at a competative price in the states of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Meeting Your Needs  We has conducted land surveys in almost any imaginable condition across the United States for over 30 years. This experience, combined with our cutting-edge technology, provides you with experts ready to undertake any complex survey project. You can count on us to provide you with reliable and precise land surveying services at reasonable prices                   Dan Westergren PLS 13500 Echo Ave Lonsdale, MN  55046   612.756.017 507.744.2054

The following series of drawings have been prepared solely for the purpose of acquainting the public with some of the things that it should know about home building. The details shown are not working drawings, but illustrative drawings of standard construction practices. The man who expects to have a good house should understand the component parts of that house, and when he does understand the reason for doing things in the correct way, he will not be satisfied with something that is inferior and will himself use intelligent discretion instead of just accepting what comes to him.
Better homes are going to be possible to the extent that the public realizes its own responsibilities. After all it is the owner that dictates what is done, and lack of understanding on the part of the public makes it possible for those who build homes to produce inferior houses, boxes, and cells to live in.
1 See pp. 230-37.
2 Adapted from Pocket Guide to Good Construction. New York: Own Your Home Exposition, Inc., 1927.
- Concrete Foundation And Clapboards -
Fig. 26. - One of the chief reasons why many cheaply built homes deteriorate rapidly is that they do not have proper foundation. Footings should be carried to a firm bearing soil below frost, or to rock.
- Concrete Block Foundation -
Fig. 27. - Where easily procured, the use of concrete building blocks for foundations will be a saving. Studs run through two stories with the second floor carried on a ribbon (Balloon frame) is also an economy though not allowed in all localities.
- Brick Veneer Construction -
Fig. 28. - Where brick veneer construction is used, it is important to provide air space between sheathing and brick, also to insulate against air leakage due to shrinking of the wood construction at all windows and doors. Brick veneer on the outside of waterproofing on foundations is a wise protection.
- Brick Foundation, Stucco Upper Wall -
Fig. 29. - Dependent upon local conditions, brick is also a good foundation material. All joints should be thoroughly filled with mortar. Stucco on the exterior wall must be very carefully applied. Its permanence will depend upon the skill of the individual mechanic who does the work. Self-furring lath eliminates furring strips.
- Hollow Tile Construction -
Fig. 30.-Hollow tile walls make a fine base for exterior stucco; they should nevertheless, be furred on the inside before plaster is applied. Tile may also be laid with the webs horizontal. Care should be taken to see that the roof plate is securely anchored by bolts.
Cement Block And Rubble Stone Walls.
Fig. 31. - Economy in the use of stone depends upon whether it is plentiful in the locality. Furring provides an air space for protection against dampness. Cement blocks with special facings may be used without stucco. Avoid imitations of rough stone faces or raised panels.
- Brick Wall Bonds And Furring -
Fig. 32. - Brick walls depend for their attractiveness upon the bond or pattern in which the brick is laid and also upon the method of finishing the mortar joints. All brick walls should be furred before applying plaster.
- Exterior Wall Finishes -
Fig. 33. - Much of the beauty of the finished wall depends upon its texture and color. Care must be taken, especially with stucco, not to carry either texture or color to extremes.
- Windows In Frame Construction -
Fig. 34. - Window frames and sash are made at the mill. They must be properly designed and well put together or else they may leak even though protected by weather stripping. Use boiled linseed oil on channels in which sash runs.
- Metal Frames And Sash -
Fig. 35. - Metal-frame casements may be built into either masonry or frame walls; they must be kept carefully painted. Sash may be glazed with window glass A or B grade single or double thickness; or plate glass in 1/8 in., 3/16 in., or ¼ in. thickness.
- Frame Cornice Construction -
Fig. 36. - There are many different types of cornice construction. Box gutters must be carefully flashed. Shingles may be used either on laths or, in dry climates, on sheathing (roofers) with building paper beneath the shingles.
- Gutters, Leaders And Valleys -
Fig. 37. - The more durable the material used for gutters and flashings the longer the life of the roof and the fewer the repairs. Nine out of ten roof leaks are due to defective flashings.
- The Roof -
Fig. 38. - The roof, if faulty, is the place where the rain comes in and the heat goes out. All angles and points where pipes or chimneys pass through must be carefully flashed. Insulation under the attic floor or roof rafters is well worth while.
- Chimneys -
Fig. 39. - Chimneys may add character to a house. If badly designed they may spoil not only the appearance of the house but the usefulness of the open fireplace and lower the efficiency of the heatingapparatus. Fire-clay linings are indispensable.
- Fireplace And Chimney Details -
Fig. 40. - The size of the fireplace opening depends upon the size of the individual flue which serves the fireplace. Where damper and smoke chamber are wrongly placed there is likely to be trouble with the drafts.
- Interior Bearing And Solid Partitions -
Fig. 41. - Care must be taken to prevent uneven shrinkages in frame houses by correctly arranged interior bearing partitions and the use of well-seasoned lumber.
- Plastering, Interior Walls -
Fig. 42. - Plastering is a craft requiring skilled working of the material. Time must be allowed for the plaster to dry out before applying trim or paint. Strips of metal lath applied to interior corners where wood lath is used will prevent cracks.
- Stair Construction -
Fig. 43. - Well-constructed stairs are built up and fitted together. The treads must be of hardwood. Manybuilding codes prohibit the use of winders.
- Window And Door Trimming -
Fig. 44. - The beauty of the shadows cast by the moldings is responsible for the "character" which well-designed trim gives to a house. In the best work backs of all trim should be painted.
The desire to understand the construction of the home by the public is already responsible for a great improvement and it is our prophecy that this type of educational work will go further and further until public interest for sound and practical building has been fully awakened and the esthetic taste in relation to the knowledge of beauty and harmony in the home has reached a higher standard.

Slipform Paving

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Set-up

Prior to paving the concrete surfacing, a 4" HMA base was paved. Surveyors then determined the HMA elevation at 50' intervals so that the guide wire could be installed (Figure 1). The thin metal wire spans both sides of the road path and is positioned to ensure that the paver runs on the desired path and at the exact height; these two variables are critical for a smooth ride. If bumped or knocked, the wire must be re-set; unfortunately, it is the number-one tripping hazard for 1st year engineers. Once the wire is set, paving can commence as soon as the paver is set to the correct width. For the observed day of paving, the slipform paver was adjusted from 36' to a width of 38'. This process required 3 mechanics and approximately 40 hours of labor. Because of the inefficiency in adjusting the width, add/drop lanes and other small areas are usually constructed by hand. An important part of set-up is equipment and material layout. The critical items include the slipform paver, curing machine, dowel bar bundles and curing compound (Figure 2).

Figure 1. Wire

Figure 2. Dowel bundles

Figure 3. Water Truck

Water trucks, as shown in Figure 3, are also stationed nearby and make trips to the site to wet the base-course surface prior to dumping the concrete. This serves two purposes: 1) to prevent all of the moisture from the mix from being sucked into the asphalt base, and 2) to cool the base from heat of the day (when needed).

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Discussion

Since the design of the new roadway consists of a different alignment from the original SR 240, there is adequate space for the slipform paver. Slipform paving through urban areas can create challenges due to limited lateral spacing. A typical slipform paver requires an additional 2-3' on both sides of the machine to account for the tracks. More space should be considered to allow access for laborers. These issues were not a problem for this project.

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Paving

Beginning the paving process is typically the most complicated and time consuming part of the work-day. Because the initial batch of concrete is usually wetter than the later batches to facilitate the movement of the mix through the machine, it is harder to form straight edges behind the paver; therefore, more laborers are needed to correct the slumping edges. When the concrete is dumped in front of the paver, the process begins. By the time 2 loads are dumped (side-by-side), theslipform paver approaches the mix which then passes under the screed and eventually into the paver. Another problem with the initial loads is that a "head" has not formed in front of the profile pan (sort of a second screed) and voids are more likely to result (Figure 4). The resulting voids must be filled in and finished by hand (discussed in detail in the Finishing & Curingsection). This process requires additional laborers, slowing productivity. Many times, a front end loader is used to push the concrete mix in front of the paver and towards the screed, shown below in Figure 5.

Figure 4. Voids in the PCC

Figure 5. Front-end Loader Pushing Concrete towards Slipform Paver

During the dumping process the mix is not of a uniform height in front of the paver and must be leveled out. To level the material there is a bucket, attached to a track, which travels the width of the paver. The bucket is controlled by the paver operator and can be rotated up or down depending on height of the mix (Figure 6). This allows the operator to redistribute the mix to a ensure a uniform amount and height is directly in front of the paver. Many pavers utilize an auger to accomplish this leveling task.

There are a few steps to examine as the mix passes into the paver. First, the screed serves as a strike off plate to level the PCC at the correct elevation. After this the concrete is consolidated by a series of vibrators (Figure 7). The vibrators are close enough to ensure their influence zones overlap across the width of the paver. The vibrators are adjustable and set according to mix specifications, which in turn reduces segregation.

Figure 6. Bucket

Figure 7. Vibrators

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Dowel and Tie Bars

Meanwhile, as the mix passes through the paver there are many other jobs being performed to support the paving process. On one side of the paver a team works on feeding dowel bars into the paver. These dowel bars are necessary to transfer the load from one slab to another. A crane attached to the paver lifts the pre-placed bundle of dowels (as previously shown in Figure 2) and loads them onto the side of the paver. Before insertion, one worker thoroughly sprays the bars with form-oil to ensure that the bars do not stick to the setting concrete. Two workers manually load the bars into a dolly which transports them across the width of the paver into predetermined, individual slots. They are then pushed into the slab at the appropriate time using forked rods. These rods vibrate when inserting the dowels into the concrete in an effort to fill the voids that are created in the mix. This process is shown below in Figures 8,9, and 10. Dowel bar insertion is one of the determining factors of the paver speed. If the workers can not load the dowels fast enough or the paver is moving too fast, the inserter can not place the dowels satisfactorily. In either case the paver speed would need to be reduced. If the dowel bars are not loaded onto the dolly and placed into the slots across the width of the paver, the entire paver will actually stop to allow the dowel bars to be inserted.

Figure 8. Unloading dowel bundle

Figure 9. Loading dowels into the dolly

Figure 10. Inserting dowels into PCC

To ensure that the dowel bars are inserted in the right locations, a "bicycle" wheel (Figure 11) is attached to paver to record the distance traveled by the paver. The wheel is calibrated and connected to the onboard computer; this information is used to inform the operator of the speed of the paver and, more importantly, to insert the dowel bars in the concrete at the required locations.

When the dowel bars are inserted into the concrete, a paint dot is sprayed onto the base at the midpoint of the dowel bars (Figure 12). This paint dot allows the contractor to locate the dowel bars after the paving is complete. Once paving is complete, the contractors will use a string line and match paint dots on both sides of the slab allowing them to saw acontraction joint at the midpoint of all the dowel bars. One possible problem with the paint dot is due to the wet asphalt base. Since the asphalt base is wetted prior to placement of concrete, the paint dot will not always "stick". As a result, the contractors for this project were measuring a distance of 15' (typical slab length) and placing a small nail into the side of the slab to inform the sawers of the location of the dowel bars.

Figure 11. Bicycle Wheel

Figure 12. Paint Dot

Figure 13. Loading Tie Bars

Another aspect of the paving process is the insertion of Tie barswhich were installed on one side of the slab. Tie bars are 30", #5 steel bars which hold abutting slabs together. They are placed every 3' along the outside of the slab and are usually done during the paving operation automatically. One laborer loads tie bars into the inserter individually and they are inserted into the wet mix (Figure 13). The back tracks on the concrete paver are designed to allow the tracks to pass by on the outside of tie bars (Figures 14 & 15). The front tracks, however, are not wide enough to pass on the outside of the tie bars, and, as a result, the tie bars at the starting point of the day were not installed. This was done to allow the concrete paver to set back and begin paving in the opposite direction and not have the front tracks run over the tie bars. These remaining tie bars will be installed later by hand, by first drilling into the concrete slab and epoxying the tie bars into place. The side of the slab that received tie bars was located in a taper section that will be paved with concrete. As stated above, tie bars are used to hold abutting concrete slabs together. The other side of the slab will have an adjacent asphalt shoulder. As shown in the WSDOT standard plans, tie bars are not required in a slab when an asphalt shoulder is placed adjacently.

Figure 14. Edge of Tie Bars

Figure 15. Track

Two tie bars were also inserted within the width of the slipform paver. These mid-slab tie bars were inserted between the 12 foot lanes. A longitudinal contraction joint will be sawn over these dowel bars. The bars are loaded by hand into a machine that places them automatically into the concrete mix as shown in Figure 16. One laborer remained on the paver throughout the paving process to load both machines with tie bars.

Figure 16. Mid-Slab Tie Bar Inserter

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Discussion

Due to the paving startup location, a transverse construction joint was needed (Figure 17). The contractor's forms, however, were not tall enough to match the 0.92' concrete pavement depth. Therefore, shims were placed underneath to elevate the forms to the correct height. Utilizing this method to elevate forms can create problems because the end of the shims are placed into the concrete pavement and this can create a stress point. This stress point can cause the pavement to crack within a matter of days, as shown in Figure 18. It is unknown whether the shims used for this project caused cracking.

After the initial startup period, the slipform paver stopped only three observed times because the dowel bars were not in the correct locations for installation. Minimizing the number of these stops enhances the smoothness of the pavement. The paver operator said that he tries to maintain the paver speed at about 4 feet per minute. The measured speed throughout the case study ranged between 3.5 and 4 feet per minute. The paver operator also said that this was the best mix that he had seen in the past few years. His two main concerns during paving are, 1) ensuring the concrete dumped in front of the paver is uniform and not too far in front of the paver and 2) ensuring the surface behind the paver is not tearing or ripping. If the surface is tearing, it is usually due to a dry mix and the operator can subsequently increase the vibration rate. This was not needed during the time of the case study.

Figure 17. Forming of a Transverse Construction Joint

Figure 18. PCC Pavement Crack due to Shim (photo courtesy of Steve Muench)

For this project, changes were made to WSDOT standard plans regarding the dowel bar placement. As shown in the standard plans, a typical slab has dowel bars spaced 12" apart across the entire width. Due to the low percentage of trucks using this part of SR 240 and in an attempt to decrease project costs, this spacing was altered. The designers of the project labeled the lanes as either "slow" or "fast". Slow lanes were either the far right (outside) lane in the 6-lane section (3 lanes in each direction) or the two outside lanes in the 8-lane section (4 lanes in each direction) of the project. The fast lanes were the other lanes of the roadway. Dowel bar placement in the slow lanes is as shown in the standard plans. For the fast lanes, dowel bars are placed only in the wheel paths. That is, 4 dowel bars are placed at the edge of the lane, there is then a 4' gap and then 4 more dowel bars are placed at the other edge of the lane for a total of 8 dowel bars. This alteration saves the project approximately $42,000 per project mile (assuming dowel bars are $10 each). A detail in the contract plans showed this alteration. This detail also showed that the placement of the dowel bars in the "fast" lanes would be 1' on the inside of the longitudinal lane joint rather than 0.5' as shown in the Standard Plans. The paving contractor's slipform paver was not able to efficiently place dowels 1' on the inside and they were allowed to place the dowel bars at the typical 0.5'. The contractor had 2 different options for the type of dowels to use on this project: 1) Stainless Steel Tube Dowel Bars, and 2) MMFX 2 Dowel Bars. The contractor chose to use the MMFX 2 Dowel Bars.