Why are we losing “black gold” by not recycling existing asphalt pavements?

Are you involved in rehabilitation of existing roads; two-laning of single-lane roads;

four-laning of two-lane roads; or six-laning of 4-lane roads? If so, most likely you are
losing the “black gold” (that is, the very very expensive bitumen) on such projects by
not resorting to recycling of existing asphalt pavement. In many cases, we are either
just dumping the RAP (recycled asphalt pavement) material on the road side or
mixing it with granular subbase (GSB) or Wet Mix Macadam (WMM). Both are
examples of sheer waste and loss of bitumen, which is the costliest ingredient in
asphalt pavement.

Hot mix recycling is economically lucrative when existing bituminous pavements get
buried while constructing vehicle under passes, public under passes, and flyovers.
This is happening on many national highways in India when six-laning of existing
four–lane highways is done. In such cases, the existing bituminous pavement usually
consisting of Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) and Bituminous Concrete (BC),
can be milled off and RAP transported to hot mix plant for recycling. A hypothetical
case is given here. An existing four-lane highway with a total length of 120 km is to
be made a six lane highway. Due to construction of numerous under passes and
flyovers during six-laning, about 30 km of existing four-laned highway will get buried
if not reclaimed. The total tonnage of bitumen in existing 115 mm thick DBM and 40
mm thick BC is estimated to be 7,119 tons, which has a value of Rupees 22.1 crores,
considering the cost of bitumen at Rs. 31,000 per ton. The total tonnage of aggregate
which can be reclaimed from RAP is 165,238 tons, which has a value of Rs. 6.1
crores considering its cost of Rs. 370 per ton. Therefore, the gross savings from
reusing the bitumen and aggregate from RAP amounts to Rs. 28.2 crores. It is
estimated that cold milling and transport of RAP to a hot mix plant would cost about
Rs. 8.2 crores. Therefore, a net saving of Rs. 20 crores can be realized on this six-
laning project if hot mix recycling is implemented.

Cold in-place recycling should have been implemented in India many years ago when
2-laning and 4-laning of highways was begun. Most of the existing bituminous
pavements were constructed in several stages in the past using different (sometimes
unknown) types of bituminous mixes or surface treatments. These pavements can be
converted into a uniform and stable base course through cold in-place recycling. An
existing one-lane road can also be widened into a 2-lane road simultaneously by
incorporating extra virgin aggregate and asphalt binder during the same recycling
operation. If the bituminous crust of the existing road is thin, cold in-place recycling
can include the underlying water bound macadam (WBM) or wet mix macadam
(WMM). The rejuvenated, uniform, stable base can be provided with bituminous
overlay(s). This recycling/widening process has been done successfully in the US.
This is far better than strengthening the existing singe lane road with questionable
pavement courses and widening it to two lanes with dissimilar paving materials.

In case of four-laning of a two-lane highway, the existing two lanes can be

strengthened by cold in-place recycling as described above. It is about time cold in-
place recycling is encouraged and implemented in India. Savings of as much as 30%
can result when cold in-place recycling is adopted in lieu of total reconstruction.
Hot in-place recycling (HIPR) is most suited for removing surface distresses such as
ravelling and cracking in the top 50 mm of asphalt pavement, thereby renewing the
asphalt wearing course.

Whereas recycling of asphalt pavements has become a standard practice in many

countries of the world for the last 30 years, we in India have missed the boat. How
long are we going to wait? It is high time the major contractors take lead and start
using appropriate recycling techniques not only to reutilize the “black gold” to save
money and energy but also to reduce the carbon footprint in India. This is quite
possible on many major highway projects where the contractors have the option of
designing the project.

Is recycling of asphalt pavements a “rocket science”? No, it is not. Several

publications are available on this subject. I (together with Dr. Rajib Mallick) had the
privilege of developing detailed, easy to understand, guidelines for recycling asphalt
pavements; the project was funded by the US Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA). This manual was used by us to conduct field workshops throughout the
US to train highway engineers of state and local governments, contractors, and
consultants. Twelve workshops were conducted by us in different parts of the US to
train engineers of all 50 states. This comprehensive manual addresses all issues
related to recycling such as performance of recycled mixes; selection of appropriate
type of recycling; economics of recycling; and structural design of recycled
pavements. Four types of recycling have been described in detail: Hot mix recycling;
Hot in-place recycling; Cold asphalt recycling (both central plant and in-place); and
Full depth reclamation. Each recycling method has been described in terms of
construction methods & equipment; materials & mix design; and case histories and
QC/QA (quality control/quality assurance).

You can download and print these guidelines “free” from the internet links, which are
provided below. I sincerely hope engineers involved in major highway projects would
take initiative and implement recycling techniques appropriate for their projects. I
sincerely hope that the Indian Roads Congress will develop specifications for all types
of asphalt recycling as soon as possible to facilitate the implementation of recycling
by specifying agencies.

Prof. Prithvi Singh Kandhal

21 January 2011
Homepage: www.eng.auburn.edu/users/kandhps

“American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because
American roads are good.” - John F. Kennedy

“Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the
only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

Kandhal, Prithvi S. and Rajib B. Mallick. Pavement Recycling

Guidelines for State and Local Governments. Federal
Highway Administration Report FHWA-SA-98-042, December
1997.

The reader can download any or all of the following chapters by clicking on
URL given under each chapter (or CTRL plus click or copy and paste in
URL). For example, if the reader is interested in cold in-place recycling only,
then Chapters 13, 14, and 15 would be appropriate. Use the main reference
above if any material is quoted from any chapter. The copyright of this
manual is held solely by the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The full manual can be downloaded and printed free at the following URL:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042

Individual chapters can be downloaded and printed free at the following

URLs:

1. Introduction to Pavement Recycling

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_01.pdf

2. Performance Data of Recycled Mixtures

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_02.pdf

3. Selection of Pavement for Recycling and Recycling Strategies

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_03.pdf

4. Economics of Recycling

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_04.pdf

5. Hot Mix Asphalt Recycling - Batch Plant (Construction Methods and

Equipment)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_05.pdf
 6. Hot Mix Asphalt Recycling - Drum Plant (Construction Methods and

Equipment)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_06.pdf

7. Hot Mix Asphalt Recycling (Materials and Mix Design)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_07.pdf

8. Hot Mix Asphalt Recycling (Case Histories and QC/QA)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_08.pdf

9. Hot In-Place Recycling (Construction Methods and Equipment)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_09.pdf

10. Hot In-Place Recycling (Materials and Mix Design)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_10.pdf

11. Hot In-Place Recycling (Case History and QC/QA)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_11.pdf

12. Cold-Mix Asphalt Recycling - Central Plant (Construction Methods

and Equipment)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_12.pdf

13. Cold In-Place Recycling (Construction Methods and Equipment)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_13.pdf
 14. Cold-Mix Asphalt Recycling (Materials and Mix Design)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_14.pdf

15. Cold-Mix Asphalt Recycling (Case Histories and QC/QA)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_15.pdf

16. Full Depth Reclamation (Construction Methods and Equipment)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_16.pdf

17. Full Depth Reclamation (Case Histories and QC/QA)

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_17.pdf

18. Structural Design of Recycled Pavements

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/recycling/98042/CHPT_18.pdf