The recycling of roads is becoming an increasingly important option for maintenance of highways, for both sustainability and environmental reasons.
All UK County Councils should be considering the re-use of road materials in a closed cycle, looking to reduce the use of imported natural materials, previously used in road construction.
Cost savings of using recycled materials in the different pavement structures should be quantified and compared to a standard option, where new natural aggregates and binders would have been used. In this analysis, the consideration of the reduction in the disposal of reclaimed pavement materials should also addressed.
If general condition of the roads demands the full rehabilitation of their structural and functional quality. The rehabilitation could be undertaken through traditional methodology, or through the reutilisation of the existing pavement materials, taking into consideration the recent improvement in characteristics that technologies like RoadCem have brought to cement in-situ road recycling technology.
Essentially, the advantages and disadvantages of pavement recycling can be considered in terms of the environment and the technology: –
Environment:
- reduction of material consumption (binder and aggregates).
- reduction in landfill of reclaimed materials.
- reduction of the transport of materials.
- Reduced requirement quarrying of stone/aggregates.
Technology:
- better mechanical characteristics of the recycled materials.
- correction of the longitudinal and transversal profile.
- elimination of cracking or the reduction of this problem.
- lower costs.
- faster reconstruction, with shorter road closures.
Modifying the cement binder used for in-situ bound road base construction with RoadCem, will increase elastic stiffness and impermeability. Creating a longer lasting road base, capable of withstanding repetitive loadings over a far longer period and increasing the maintenance lifetime of the road.
Closed loop construction with increased usable lifespan, real lean sustainability.