IN THE COLUMN last time, the topic was the unique “language” of the paving and road-building industry and transportation sector, and we presented a baker’s dozen list of terms used in “the biz.” Thirteen words, phrases, and acronyms barely scratch the surface when it comes to the industry terminology our employees use, so we’ll present here another list of 13. We hope you find it all interesting — and perhaps even enlightening and useful.
• Aggregate — A mixture of sand and stone and a major component of concrete.
• Milling and resurfacing — The operation that involves removing the top few inches of asphalt on a roadway, replacing it with new asphalt, and restriping the roadway. This work is done to maintain and enhance the smoothness.
• Bedrock — A subsurface layer of earth that is suitable to support a structure.
• MOT — Maintenance of Traffic. A specific plan that indicates what type of traffic setup, lane closures, and, if necessary, a description of detours that will take place during construction.
• Take off — The material necessary to complete a job.
• Arterial — A highway classification that emphasizes mobility over access.
• Turnkey — A term used when the subcontractor provides all materials (and labor) for a job.
• Rolling stock — Vehicles in a transit system, such as railcars and buses.
• EV — Electric vehicle.
• Intermodal — Going from one mode or form of transportation to another, such as from rail to truck or from truck to rail. CSX, the railroad company, operates a truck-rail intermodal terminal right here in Tucker Paving’s headquarters city of Winter Haven.
• Scour — Sediment, such as sand and gravel, that has been removed from around bridge abutments or piers, by swiftly running water. Scour compromises the integrity of a structure.
• Riprap — Rock or other material used to armor shorelines, streambeds, bridge abutments, pilings, and other shoreline structures against scour, water, or ice erosion.
And, lastly, a word that all of us know and all of us have experienced in traffic at some point (but a word that few of us can properly define):
• Congestion (the official definition) — A degree of delay caused by vehicle volumes in excess of capacity — a condition measured by level of service (LOS), yet another term used in “the biz.”
Sources: The Florida Department of Transportation, the North Florida TPO, the Dictionary of Construction Terminology from Complete Designs, Inc., and EnglishLink.
