Pavement Preservation Journal, Fall 2011, Vol. 5, No. 1
By Nathaniel Bowe, P.E.
For many years, the in-place recycling industry has focused attention on the benefits of reusing raw materials in place. Due to increased asphalt, cement and fuel prices, these benefits alone have justified the use of in-place recycling opposed to traditional methods. Inherently, the re-use of raw materials in place saves money to the road owner and saves precious raw materials.
But until recently, there has been very little discussion on the decreased energy consumption and decreased greenhouse gas emissions due to the use of in-place recycling. Dunn Company completed two in-place recycling projects during the past few years in Illinois that have not only saved time, money and raw materials, but have also consumed far less energy than traditional methods and produced far fewer greenhouse gas emissions.