How Asphalt Recycling Is Improving Road Conditions And Reducing Maintenance Costs
Asphalt pavement recyclers are commonly used to recycle large amounts of the road surface. Repaving highways and other long sections of roads can be expensive, and grinding the road surface and reusing the asphalt can offset the cost, making the process more efficient.
Asphalt Recycling
Recycling asphalt on-site is an excellent way to remove and replace the road surface with the same asphalt that you are taking from the road. This process is a good option for long, open roads that need grinding two or more inches before resurfacing.
Alternatively, the material can be removed from the road and taken to an asphalt pavement recycler for processing, but that adds time and transportation cost into the process, delaying the resurfacing, sometimes by weeks. In-place asphalt pavement recyclers can eliminate most of the process and remove then resurface the asphalt as they move along the road.
Some asphalt pavement recyclers set up production sites near the worksite to better process materials during large maintenance and repaving processes, but as the crew progresses down the road, they begin to spend more time waiting on materials that need to be trucked back to the plant to further ground and mixed with oil and fresh asphalt before using the mix on the road.
Hot In-Place Recycling
Hot in-place recycling is one of the most efficient methods of refreshing the surface of an asphalt road without adding the cost of new material into the project. The asphalt pavement recycler will heat the surface of the asphalt then grind off a small amount as they move down the road. Several heaters and grinders continue down the road, removing more of the material until the road is ground to the height required and the asphalt material is in a long pile in one long row.
Before the material is recycled or reapplied to the surface, the grind is heated again. Oil is mixed with the ground material, and it is fed into a road paver then reapplied to the road surface in the same way new asphalt would be. The entire process happens in the space of a few hundred feet, and because the asphalt pavement recycler is reusing the material to put right back down on the road, the process is extremely fast.
Companies using this method of asphalt recycling are saving money, reducing the time it takes to maintain the roads, and are reusing the asphalt to reduce the carbon footprint paving has on the environment. Many companies are adding their own touches to this process to make it work even better for them. For paving crews working along long stretches of open highways, this method of repaving can be one of the best options available.