Recycling, Recovering, Reutilizing: An Innovative Way To Resurface Roads

This past Saturday, a resurfacing project began on North Little Tor Road. Set to finish work around the middle of the day on Wednesday, the mechanisms from this construction undertaking involve no new materials.

The process is called Pot and Place Recycling; it is a way to resurface roads with a more eco-friendly, cost-effective method.

Pete Euler, the engineering technician overseeing the project, explains the benefits of the recycling system.

“This is more economical than an asphalt overlay and there is 60 percent less of a carbon footprint,” he explains.

Roads in the county are constantly reviewed and rated. When a road has a low rating, whether the conditions of it are due to weather, traffic patterns, or location, it means it is time to resurface the road.

“We are resurfacing Little Tor Road because the road needed it,” says Euler. “This is just one of the processes that we do.”

The recycling process works in a number of steps. First a train of three trucks called preheaters works to scratch the surface of the existing road. The undercarriage of each truck is equipped with a box, and flames underneath that box heat and dig up the surface.

Then, equipment attached to the end of the train swirls the torn up road and mixes it with binding agents. Finally, an additional machine, equipped with a roller, works to smooth out the mixed material.

“This is basically to smooth out the road,” says Euler. “It is not finished until we come in with a topcoat to seal it up.”

The Pot and Place Recycling stage of the resurfacing process should be finished Wednesday and a topcoat will be put into place in the next month or so before the surge of cold weather.

Watch the video to see how it's done.