Skip to main content

Road repairs with recycling for full reconstruction

Recycling of road surfaces has resulted in restoration and full renovation of a key California route. State Highway 137 in California’s San Joaquin Valley had suffered badly from the effects of weather, traffic and general ageing and the California Department of Transportation recognised the need to improve this route. A 15km section of State Highway 137 west of Tulare, which lies about midway between Fresno and Bakersfield, in the heart of the Central Valley. The road runs through the vineyards and almo
July 15, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
This rural route required rehabilitation
Recycling of road surfaces has resulted in restoration and full renovation of a key California route. State Highway 137 in California’s San Joaquin Valley had suffered badly from the effects of weather, traffic and general ageing and the 2451 California Department of Transportation recognised the need to improve this route.

A 15km section of State Highway 137 west of Tulare, which lies about midway between Fresno and Bakersfield, in the heart of the Central Valley. The road runs through the vineyards and almond groves, and the agricultural producers appreciate the state getting the job done between spring and harvest time.

The project from the California Department of Transportation gave a tight schedule to lead contractor Papich Construction, along with its demanding road specifications. Coughlin Company, based in St George, Utah, was the sub-contractor for milling and cold-in-place recycling of the worn roadway, headed by Darren Coughlin. He said, “Our fleet includes 12 1252 Roadtec RX-900 cold planers with various cutter widths, a Roadtec RT-500 mobile recycle trailer that is fed and pulled by an RX-900, a CRMX2 Recycle Train, a Roadtec RX-400 cold planer with various cutter widths for narrow milling, a 1222 Terex CMI PR-600, two 178 Caterpillar pulverisers, two custom built cement spreader trucks, various trimmers, and various support equipment for central plant recycling and In place recycling,” he said.

The California Highway 137 road had aged and was displaying both transverse and longitudinal cracking. The rehabilitation project was ideal for cold-in-place recycle (CIR).

According to Coughlin, the benefits of CIR are substantial. He said that the Roadtec RT-500 mobile recycle trailer saves 30% in cost and 25% in time.  In addition, the process reduces reflective cracking, substantially improving the road life cycle. Using a crew of seven, Coughlin Company finished the job within the allotted 10 days. The train used was a RX 900e milling machine towing an RT 500 mobile recycle trailer, plus support equipment.

When the situation does not require CIR, the machine does duty as a cold mobile mix plant.  “It’s nice that the RT-500 recycle trailer can be set up to make cold mix from our RAP stockpile using emulsion or foam. Of course, we have options to add cement or lime if required.” The RT-500 also has a weigh bridge on board, which is designed to ensure accurate additive injection in the pugmill.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Machine control brings accuracy to US paving job
    November 2, 2012
    The historic city of Raleigh in North Carolina is one of the few cities in the US that was planned and built specifically to serve as a state capital and its population and traffic volume have grown enormously in recent years An indicator of Raleigh's growth has been the need for an expanded roadway system to serve Wake County. As early as the 1970s there were plans for a Western Wake Expressway. This developed into a 112km, interstate-grade beltway, known as the Raleigh Outer Loop, which will encompass Ral
  • Bitumen additives raise environmental questions
    February 14, 2012
    New products, including additives, are coming onto the market to help reduce the cost of producing bitumen. Patrick smith reports. According to Eng. Paolo Visconti of Iterchimica, environmental issues and the health and safety of operators of manufacturing plants and workers laying bituminous mixes have raised long debates on the possible harmfulness of fumes which are emitted when heating these mixes at the temperatures (160-180°C) required for their production. "If, on the one hand, the effects on operato
  • Asphalt plant innovations coming to market
    April 27, 2015
    A series of new advances in asphalt plant design are now coming to market - Mike Woof writes Key innovations in asphalt plant designs from major manufacturers will offer clients reductions in running costs along with gains in quality control and output. Several of the leading manufacturers are introducing new models that will deliver efficiency gains, as well as options for greater mobility and/or versatility. Swiss-based Ammann is introducing two new mobile plants, the EcoBatch and QuickBatch models,
  • Milling accurately for construction efficiency
    May 16, 2014
    The two-way flow of machine data is a crucial issue for machine optimisation and new telematics systems are becoming increasingly important in construction Telematics systems can be tapped into by machine control technologies to allow greater integration of the machine as a data provider within an operation. And for certain production machines that feature wear-intensive operation, telematics systems are becoming a vital tool for minimising maintenance costs by scheduling service intervals, maximising u