According to a comprehensive 2018 survey, asphalt is the most recycled product in America. Around 82 million tons of repurposed asphalt and a million tons of reclaimed asphalt shingles were used in about 400 million tons of new pavement just then. And the number keeps growing!
While we mainly discuss seal coating dos and don’ts or asphalt repair techniques in general, we also advocate using ‘green’ sources for asphalt to give back to our environment in a sustainable run. If you’re familiar with sustainability journal, you’ll discover ongoing asphalt repurposing research that employs engine oils, plastics, solid & industrial waste as fillers or binders in asphalt mixes. The field is vast in innovating recycle, reuse, and reclaiming asphalt for paving purposes.
We can do a few things to help us go the sustainable route by repurposing and recycling asphalt.
1. Pulverize The Asphalt:
An infrared plate is used to heat the old pavement and scarify the subgrade to create a new foundation for fresh asphalt. This process, also known as In-Place Recycling, lowers the cost of new subgrade materials by a whopping 80 to 90 percent. The new asphalt is mixed into the repurposed pavement with a fresh binder layer on top of the freshly mixed subgrade, et voila, you have a good-as-new pavement!
2. Use Asphalt Millings!
You must have seen those colossal milling trucks that take off chunks of defective pavement during pavement grading or even a full-depth repair. Instead of dumping those chunks and milling at a decrepit dumpsite, ship the asphalt off to be blended and sorted to newer aggregate. The resulting asphalt exhibits even better binding properties with prime, tack, and seal coats and even offers significantly higher resistance to weathering!
3. Shred Your Asphalt Shingles!
Asphalt is a versatile roofing material used on shingles. It’s made up of 30% asphalt cement, 40-60% crushed rocks, and 12% fiber, all in a proportion you will find in asphalt on your roads. When your shingles have done their 20-year stretch weatherproofing your home, instead of trashing them during a replacement, give them to an asphalt repurposing plant to be shredded for use as asphalt aggregate. It’s a responsible way of making your green style statement stand tall!
4. Add more recycled materials to the hot mix!
You got to hand it over to highway engineers; when asphalt recycling runs out of possibilities, they engineer more ways by supplementing asphalt with other recycled materials! Tire rubber is a fantastic component of rubberized asphalt that is known for its excellent noise reduction on highways. Sand derived from deconstructed glass bottles is used as fine-grade aggregate in asphalt pavement.
Engineers have answered that before you consider the issue too, repurposed or recycled asphalt can’t be mixed with recycled tire rubber without sacrificing pavement flexibility. Though not a complete no-go, in specialized ratios, the materials will work together to a degree.
The soils around Arlington, TX, are of an acidic nature that can combine with a surface run-off to corrode your asphalt, something that repurposed asphalt with the polymer properties of tire rubber is built to resist. So, we at Action Construction Asphalt & Concrete not only pave roads, but we know what to serve you regarding your locality best.
Please check our free quotes on our dedicated services in Arlington, Texas, and let’s join in on our efforts towards ensuring a greener approach to asphalt paving!
