Skip to main content

Road recycling with Ammann in China

A Chinese road builder is planning to add recycling capabilities to its existing asphalt-mixing plants to meet new environmental guidelines. Another benefit of this approach is that the firm will also be able to substantially reduce its costs CSCEC Road & Bridge is a highly successful business in China and utilises Ammann Uniglobe Asphalt-Mixing Plants for its operations. The firm says that the results have been impressive and during one key road expansion project, one of its Uniglobe plants produced 700
February 27, 2019 Read time: 3 mins
Ammann plants have been upgraded with the addition of RAP circuits for a client in China
A Chinese road builder is planning to add recycling capabilities to its existing asphalt-mixing plants to meet new environmental guidelines. Another benefit of this approach is that the firm will also be able to substantially reduce its costs


CSCEC Road & Bridge is a highly successful business in China and utilises 6791 Ammann Uniglobe Asphalt-Mixing Plants for its operations. The firm says that the results have been impressive and during one key road expansion project, one of its Uniglobe plants produced 7000tonnes in a single day. The plant also managed to deliver an average of 5000tonnes/day for the duration of the project. Both numbers are thought to be all-time production highs for China.

However, production output is not the only key factor for asphalt plants in China. New regulations are requiring an increasing use of ARP in asphalt mixes, so as to improve the environmental profile of construction operations.

“In recent years, as more and more public-private partnerships are coming out, we also are paying more attention to recycling technology,” said Zhou Shixin, chairman of a CSCEC Road & Bridge branch in Shijiazhuang City.

The company has owned four productive Ammann Uniglobe plants for some time but these machines are still well within their effective operating life and have many years of productive use ahead of them before requiring replacement. As a result CSCEC Road & Bridge opted to add recycling capabilities to its existing Ammann plants

Ammann has considerable expertise in upgrading its plants. The upgrade for the four plants has included the addition of an RAH drum that heats the RAP before depositing it in the mixer. When using RAP in a mix it is necessary to have the separate RAH drum because the material has to be gently preheated.. This is because the valuable bitumen in the RAP can be damaged when overheated. After preheating, the RAP is deposited in the mixer, where it is then blended with the hot virgin aggregate. The result is a quality mix with a high percentage of recyclables.

Ammann has a great deal of experience in making the plant upgrades, and was able to complete the work in the off-season, so as not to affect the firm’s production during its busy period.

Adding the RAP capability has proven effective for the customer as this method is considerably less expensive than purchasing a new plant with recycling ability. According to Zhou, this has provided a highly cost-effective solution.

The company appreciates the green approach and the costs savings. “We can mill our own material for public-private partnerships and reduce costs by 20-30%,” Zhou said.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Fayat launches COMPACT asphalt plant in series of world firsts at INTERMAT
    January 6, 2017
    Fayat’s new COMPACT asphalt mixing plant creates a continuous flow of multipurpose product, including cold, warm and hot mix. The new plant ensures optimum energy management when mixing aggregates while maintaining the ability to recycle materials according to typology. The feed is conventional into the dryer tube for virgin materials – and into the continuous mixer, or both, for recycled materials. Bitumen is introduced into the Retroflux or Recyclean dryer tube, or into the mixer, far away from the flame.
  • Fayat launches COMPACT asphalt plant in series of world firsts at INTERMAT
    April 16, 2012
    Fayat’s new COMPACT asphalt mixing plant creates a continuous flow of multipurpose product, including cold, warm and hot mix. The new plant ensures optimum energy management when mixing aggregates while maintaining the ability to recycle materials according to typology. The feed is conventional into the dryer tube for virgin materials – and into the continuous mixer, or both, for recycled materials. Bitumen is introduced into the Retroflux or Recyclean dryer tube, or into the mixer, far away from the flame.
  • Finnish airport paving contract
    October 12, 2012
    The Finnish contractor Lemminkäinen is currently working on a paving contract for Finavia, the company which maintains Finland's airports. The contract includes paving milling, as well as paving work for runway 3 and taxiways at Helsinki- Vantaa airport. Lemminkäinen began its operations on the €20 million paving contract in April 2012 and the work is expected to end in the autumn of 2014. Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is an important traffic hub for Finland, as well as for the region, with around 15 million pass
  • Innovative compaction advances
    July 23, 2024

    Innovative asphalt compaction machines are now being introduced by several of the major manufacturers, with solutions offering improved working efficiency and performance.

    Three of the most innovative developments for asphalt rollers come from Dynapac, BOMAG and Hamm, although new asphalt compactors are also being introduced by other firms such as Ammann and Caterpillar.