HighwayContractor
16 September 2014 Better Roads
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their own specifi cations to do so. The data indicated that the
maximum amount of RAP that was permitted was not being
used on a nationwide basis.
New York City estimates that the new law will save $2.3
million annually, compared to current practice. In fi scal 2014,
the city's crews resurfaced approximately 1,000 lane-miles
of roadway using some 1 million tons of asphalt. The cost of
that resurfacing work is approximately $190 million, and the
city's contains an average of 40 percent RAP. Currently, the
city only purchases 100-percent-RAP mixes for maintenance
purposes – pothole patching, temporary pavement, and dem-
onstration projects.
Better Roads asked the city what percentages of RAP they
expect to use under the new law. "The city's DOT has made
incremental changes in its use of recycled asphalt product,"
said the DOT in a statement. "The DOT has achieved its current
allowances by coupling new research and development efforts
with long-standing historical practices. With further research
and development, NYC's DOT hopes to increase the percentage
of recycled content in its paving mixes."
"We can run 60 percent RAP," says Ken Tully, owner of the
Willets Point asphalt plant in Flushing, N.Y. "We have run a
little bit at 65 percent, and I'm going to try it a little bit more.
If we had more business to do it, I think we'd be inclined to
try a higher percentage." Tully's plant is a specially equipped
Astec model with a variable-speed dryer and newly designed
The pilot plant for the Green Asphalt is shown here during a demonstration for
the New York City Department of Transportation.
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