Experience with Cold In-Place Recycling as a Reflective Crack Control Technique: Twenty Years Later

Abstract

Cold in-place recycling (CIR) of existing hot-mix asphalt materials has been an available treatment for more than 20 years. A study evaluated the performance of CIR projects and materials over that period. Contractors in northwestern Pennsylvania have constructed a total of 44 pavement sections. Ninety additional sections have been recycled as part of maintenance activities. (The latter are not included among the study sections.) A subset of these projects has been evaluated to determine performance characteristics and cost-effectiveness of the treatment and the material. The treatment is used typically on rehabilitation projects of roadways with 8,000 average daily traffic (ADT) or less but has been used on projects with up to 13,000 ADT. The performance of CIR in resisting reflective cracking from underlying concrete pavements and material properties over time is discussed. Material layer stiffness was evaluated using backcalculation of deflection measurement methods. Additionally, the cost of constructing these rehabilitation projects and their average cost-effectiveness are discussed.