The Federal Highway Administration has adopted an official policy on recycling.
Builders and owners are recognizing the cost efficiencies and value of recycling
strategies. Increasing material costs and environmental pressures have intensified
the market need. Advanced technologies (such as sophisticated additives), specialized
equipment, and years of proven performance have eliminated the risk. Recycling has
come of age. Pavement Recycling Systems has been part of that evolution.
Green Engineering
From project evaluation, to pulverization, to mixing, to application, Pavement Recycling
Systems has developed a series of engineering best practices for pavement preservation
and recycling. Best practice engineering for roadways means building the required
structural section and wearing course at the best price. Today's real world problems
also require all of us to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases.
PRS combines best engineering with best practice energy use by finding the best
way to use in-place materials. Since the turn of the century, we have invested substantial
R&D resources seeking new and better ways to improve and use in-situ materials.
The result is superior pavement sections at much lower cost.
New Products, New Research
Using and improving existing technologies like Cold In-Place Recycling, Full Depth
Reclamation and Soil Stabilization, PRS already has a significant, positive effect
on local street budgets.
New technologies we have developed include RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement) road
slurries for pavement preservation; warm-asphalt recycling where 100% of an asphalt
roadway is recycled, and cement-treated recycled aggregates as a pavement's load
bearing section. In the future we will add rubber from recycled tires to RAP-based
slurries, to take PRS one more step up the recycle ladder.
Recouping investments in aging infrastructure
America needs its roads, but they are aging. Vehicle miles traveled in the U.S.
have increased five-fold over the past 50 years to 3 trillion vehicle miles in 2006.
Roadways are becoming distressed, carrying heavier loads than originally intended.
Since 2004, unprecedented price increases for steel, cement, asphalt and construction
equipment have translated into a 30% plus rise in the cost of street and highway
construction. At the same time, federal, state and local governments continue to
face shortfalls in funding for roadway construction and maintenance.
PRS pavement preservation and recycling strategies help agencies meet these challenges.
We prolong pavement lifecycles value for their investment in street reconstruction
largely by preserving or recouping prior investments.
Reducing Environmental Impact while Improving Economics
To achieve true sustainability, we address the environmental and economic impact
of each pavement practice from start to finish. Consumption of resources like aggregate
and oil: net energy expended at each stage; greenhouse gas emissions ; dust pollution;
waste generation; and transportation (such as import/export) are all part of the
equation. Meanwhile, performance and economics must be equal or better.
Confronting the resource crisis, from rock to oil
Gravel pits are scarring our landscape. Sky high aggregate and oil prices are the
new reality. Our strategies to reclaim aggregates and recycle in-place asphalt eliminate
the need for virgin rock. Oil usage is reduced too: fewer in-and-out truckloads
mean less fuel consumed, and recycled aggregate mixes often require less oil-based
emulsion.
Reducing emissions: from greenhouse gases to dust
Our processes that re-use and rehabilitate in-situ materials, from pavement to soil,
eliminate the cost, energy use, air pollution and disruption caused by importing
and exporting materials to and from jobsites. The ratios are startling: 40 truckloads
to 1 or better, versus conventional methods.
Turning waste into productive material
Instead of removing truckloads of pulverized asphalt from distressed roads and dumping
it, we rehabilitate it and put it to work again. Plus, the net energy expenditure
to re-use is much lower than the energy required to manufacture and transport. Our
REAS slurry contains recycled rubber, diverting thousands of used tires from landfills.
Our soil stabilization not only eliminates the hauling and disposal of unsuitable
soils. The structurally superior base lets you use thinner overlays and seals.