The crew member who follows the paver with a lute or rake to set joints, square up edges, fill low spots and do the handwork at structures, driveways and tie-ins. A good raker reads the mat, bumps the joint just right and leaves alone what needs no touching, since every pass of a lute can segregate mix. Rakers often move up to running the screed.
Put your best raker on the joint today, the inspector's coring every 500 feet along that seam.
Paving crews say the best raker is the one who touches the mat the least.
Also heard as
- lute man
- luteman
- rake man
Related terms
Lute
A flat-bladed rake used by paving crews to move, level and smooth hot mix by hand.
Bump
To push excess mix off the old side of a joint back onto the hot mat with a lute so the rollers can pinch it in.
Screwman
Crew slang for the screed operator, who sets mat thickness, slope and width at the back of the paver.
Longitudinal joint
The seam running lengthwise between two adjacent paving passes, the usual weak spot in an asphalt road.