Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In today’s world, it is of the utmost importance to respect our resources and conserve what we can. In the asphalt paving industry, it is now easier than ever to do just that, as recycling and responsible alternatives exist which can aid in the significant reduction of energy, waste, and pollution. These sustainable options may also qualify for various LEED® credits.
One sustainable pavement improvement option is full depth recycling or full depth reclamation (FDR). FDR is a maintenance process which reconstructs existing deteriorated asphalt pavements through a recycling process. A reclaiming machine is utilized to uniformly pulverize and mix the existing asphalt, base and sub-base materials, leaving them in place for enhanced restructuring. During the pulverizing process, water and a variety of materials, such as fly ash, dry cement, asphalt emulsion, or lime can be incorporated for the achievement of proper moisture content and additional structural integrity. Once properly graded, the new base can then be compacted to produce a structurally sound and durable base for a new pavement surface.
Since FDR is an in situ process, import and export trucking of material is reduced by a ratio in the range of 40 to one, and in comparison to new full depth reconstruction, FDR reduces overall upfront costs by 30% – 50%, all while providing dramatic lifecycle savings through the reduction of future maintenance costs. Furthermore, carbon emissions and community disturbance is significantly reduced and natural resources are preserved by using existing materials and conserving virgin aggregates.




