Applications & Innovations
by John Latta jlatta@randallreilly.com
Hotholes
A magic mix of magnetite and microwaves
offers a super year-round pothole fix.
P
ut two great pieces of innovative thinking together
and you might come up with a superior pothole
patching recipe, one that even defies winter at its
coldest.
The University of Minnesota Duluth's Natural Resources
Research Institute (NRRI), says the recipe goes like this:
"Dust a large pothole with magnetite concentrate. Preheat
with a microwave to 230 degrees F. Add a mixture of recycled asphalt, recycled house shingles and more magnetite.
Microwave for 7 minutes to almost 300 degrees F. Tamp
down while still hot."
The two halves of the whole are the use of the magnetite
and the power of the microwave.
"What I like about it is that it's particularly effective in
winter, when so many other repair options don't work too
well," says Lawrence Zanko, a senior research fellow at NRRI.
"A week later those other repairs may be failing or gone.
"Currently, if a repair lasts the season, it's considered a
success. But we think that when these [microwave plus magnetite] repairs are done, they're done," Zanko says.
20 July 2013 Better Roads
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