Life Cycle of Hot In-Place Pavement Recycling

Abstract

It is no secret that all levels of government face unprecedented levels of deficits. While revenues drop, the costs to maintain infrastructure grow with its age. The question of sustainability takes center stage. Can the United States afford to keep its highway assets, all 3 million miles of its paved roads? The study reported in this paper examined hot in-place pavement recycling (HIPR) as a way to reduce the cost of pavement rehabilitation. The Florida Department of Transportation built a test section in 2002 and a control section in 2003 to compare the cost and performance of HIPR with conventional milling and resurfacing. After 8 years, in-service data were used to draw some conclusions. The test and control road sections performed well. The HIPR section was built at less than half the cost of the conventional section. Projections showed that HIPR was cost-effective and would save 40% more than the conventional method of pavement rehabilitation. These cost savings, taken together with derived environmental benefits, make pavement in-place recycling an option that should not be ignored.