FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates generally to pavements or road surfaces, and specifically to a pavement interface.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The Inventor is aware that pavements are sometimes required to transition from one surface to another. For instance, in pavement resurfacing, the pavement may transition from the old surface to the new surface (or vice versa). Similarly, it is sometimes required to dig trenches in the pavement to lay cables or pipes. The trench is then re-surfaced.

The interface from one surface to another is almost always linear and usually perpendicular to a direction of traffic flow. This means that co-axial wheels of a vehicle will impact the interface simultaneously, resulting in a substantially instantaneous or impulsive impact. While the profile of the interface is as flat as possible to minimise this impact on the wheels, there is often still at least a small ridge or depression. This impact is noisy, and causes a shock both in the vehicle and the pavement, which is uncomfortable at best, and damaging to the pavement and/or vehicle at worst.

The Inventor desires a pavement interface which will overcome or at least alleviate the above mentioned drawbacks. SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention provides a pavement interface which includes:

a first section of pavement having a zigzag-shaped trailing edge; and

a second section of pavement having a complemental zigzag- shaped leading edge which abuts the trailing edge of the first section of pavement,

such that a boundary between the two sections of pavement is zigzag- shaped.

"Zigzag" in the context of this specification includes sharp apices (e.g. saw-tooth) and rounded apices (e.g. sinusoidal or undulating), and truncated apices. Pavement is understood to include any paved surface and includes a paved road surface or runway, whether made of asphalt, concrete, or other.

The interface presents a staggered or oblique edge to oncoming traffic, thus rendering the impact with the second surface more gradual (rather than instantaneous). This gradual (or at least more gradual) impact allows impact forces to be distributed over a greater time, which reduces shock and reduces all the accompanying drawbacks of shock.

The boundary, as a whole, may be elongated and may be arranged to extend orthogonally to an intended direction of traffic flow. Rising or falling edges of the zigzag boundary may be inclined by less than 45° relative to the intended direction of traffic flow, and more specifically may be inclined by 5° to 20°. Some portions of the zigzag interface may even be parallel to the intended direction of traffic flow (i.e. inclined by 0°). Thus, each apex or tooth (formed by a pair of adjacent rising and falling edges) of the boundary may be defined by an acute angle (i.e. less than 90°) and more specifically 10° to 40°.

The boundary may be segmented. For example, if a portion of road needs to resurfaced and the portion spans multiple lanes, the boundary may be created one lane at a time. Each lane may include only two or three apices.

In one embodiment, the interface may be from one type of road surface to another, e.g. an older surface to a newer one, or an asphalt surface to a concrete surface.

In another embodiment, the interface may be as a result of a trench or furrow dug in an existing pavement (e.g. to lay cables or pipes), and resurfaced. In such case, there may be two boundaries extending generally parallel to each other - one from the existing pavement to a re-surfaced strip and another from the re-surfaced strip back to the existing pavement.

In yet another embodiment, the interface may be as a result of repair work, e.g. pothole repair. In such case, there may again be two boundaries, both zigzag-shaped, one at each of the leading and trailing sides of the repaired pothole.

The invention extends to a method of creating a pavement interface, the method including:

creating, in a first section of pavement, a zigzag-shaped trailing edge; and

creating, in a second section of pavement, a complemental zigzag-shaped leading edge which abuts the trailing edge of the first section of pavement,

thereby to create a zigzag-shaped boundary between the two sections of pavement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a three-dimensional view of one embodiment of a pavement interface in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an expanded view of a portion of the interface of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a three-dimensional view of another embodiment of a pavement interface in accordance with the invention;

Figure 4 is a three-dimensional view of yet another embodiment of a pavement interface in accordance with the invention; and

Figure 5 is a three-dimensional view of a further embodiment of a pavement interface in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring initially to Figure 1 , reference numeral 10 generally indicates a pavement interface, in accordance with the invention. The pavement interface includes a first section of pavement 12 and a second section of pavement 14, and the interface 10 is between the two sections of pavement 12, 14.

A trailing (or terminating) edge 12.1 of the first section of pavement 12 has a zigzag shape. Similarly, a leading edge 14.1 of the second section of pavement 14 has a complemental zigzag shape, and it abuts the trailing edge 12.1 . Thus, a boundary 16 between the two sections of pavement 12, 14 is zigzag-shaped. The boundary 16 extends in a direction transverse to a direction of traffic flow (generally indicated by arrow 18).

Referring now also to Figure 2, the boundary 16 includes (in conventional zigzag fashion) a series of interspaced rising edges 16.1 and falling edges 16.2. Between each adjacent rising and falling edge 16.1 , 16.2 is an apex 16.3. Each rising edge 16.1 and each falling edge 16.2 forms an angle a with the normal line, which is parallel with the direction of intended traffic flow 18. Thus, the angle of each apex will be 2a. a may vary from 0° to 45° and each apex 16.3 will therefore always form an acute angle. In this example, a is roughly 15° and the apices 16.3 therefore have an angle of roughly 30°. (In this example, the angles a are equal, but they need not be.)

Figure 3 shows another embodiment of a pavement interface 30. In this example, the interface is formed between existing pavement 32 (a first section) and a re-surfaced strip 34 (a second section of pavement) used to cover a trench dug to install cables or pipes beneath the pavement. Two boundaries 16 are thereby formed, each being zigzag-shaped. The boundaries 16 are laterally spaced apart, but individually are similar or identical to the boundary 16 of Figure 1 .

Figure 4 shows yet another embodiment of a pavement interface 40, which includes an existing pavement 42 (a first section) and a repaired section of pavement 44 (a second section), for example as a result of repairing a pothole or other pavement defect. Both leading and trailing sides of the repaired pavement 44 define zigzag-shaped boundaries 16.

Figure 5 shows a further embodiment of a pavement surface 50 which spans multiple lanes in the road 52. The re-surfaced section is done in segments 54.1 , 54.2 one lane at a time. Each individual segment 54.1 , 54.2 may have relatively few apices 16.3. Also, the apices 16.3 need not be identical or symmetrical and may have uneven angles, even sawtooth-like angles.

The Inventor believes that the invention as exemplified is advantageous in that it provides a pavement interface which yields a smoother transition from one pavement section to another. The smoother transition results in reduced noise, and reduced impact which can prolong the life of both vehicle suspension systems and pavements by reducing the possibility of the second section of pavement becoming damaged by vehicle wheel oscillations.