In-Place Pavement Recycling on I-81 in Virginia

Abstract

During the 2011 construction season, the Virginia Department of Transportation completed an in-place pavement recycling project to rehabilitate a 3.66-mi section of pavement on southbound I-81 in Augusta County near Staunton. In 2008, the directional traffic volume was 23,000 vehicles per day with 28% being trucks (85% of the truck traffic consisted of five- and six-axle tractor trailer combination vehicles). This section of the Interstate showed structurally related deterioration at the pavement surface, had a low structural capacity, and had a history of frequently recurring maintenance. The construction project used three in-place pavement recycling techniques (full-depth reclamation, cold central-plant recycling, and cold in-place recycling) and a unique lane-closure schedule to accomplish the work. A construction contract with a value of $7.64 million and a time frame of approximately 8 months was awarded in December 2010. The in-place recycling portion of the work was completed in fewer than 20 workdays spanning 6 weeks. This construction work represents the first time in the United States that those three recycling techniques were combined in one project on the Interstate system, and the project showed that the construction techniques can be used on higher-volume facilities. The construction techniques and the traffic management plan are described, and the results of acceptance testing and initial field testing are discussed. Suggestions for future study based on lessons learned during this project are offered.

Application of Balanced Mix Design Methodology to Optimize Surface Mixes with High-RAP Content

“…Today, the most established use of RAP is in the lower layers of a pavement structure, where it has been proven as a valid substitute for virgin materials. For instance, base layers can achieve excellent performances while including up to 100% RAP through a cold process in which virgin asphalt is added as a recycling agent [ 17 , 18 ]. On the contrary, the use of RAP in hot asphalt surface mixes is more limited, with a major concern being that high RAP mixes may not perform as well as traditional mixes [ 19 ].…”

Sustainable Development Factors in Pavement Life-Cycle: Highway/Airport Review

“…For instance, Diefenderfer et al [95] stated a discussion about pavement recycling methods used by the Virginia Inter-state, where it is attempted to reduce the use of building materials, cost and expenditure on projects, and project impact on the public.…”

The Central Iowa Expo site pavement foundation stabilization and paving project: an investigation into the influence of pavement foundation stiffness on pavement design, construction, and performance

“…Current sustainable pavement rehabilitation methods allow for the use of recycled materials instead of virgin materials. Several cases have demonstrated successful use of on-site pavement recycling rehabilitation techniques by transportation agencies (Bemanian, Polish, & Maurer, 2006;Diefenderfer, Apeagyei, Gallo, Dougald, & Weaver, 2012;Lewis, Jared, Torres, & Mathews, 2006;Mallick et al, 2002;Maurer, Bemanian, & Polish, 2007;Miller et al, 2011;Romanoschi, Hossain, Gisi, & Heitzman, 2004;Wen, Tharaniyil, Ramme, & Krebs, 2004). On-site recycling of pavement materials has proven to be successful for pavement structure rehabilitation, but questions remain on whether or not on-site recycled pavement materials can increase pavement foundation quality.…”

“…Recent experience with on-site recycling of pavement materials has been documented as a sustainable (Cross, Kearney, Justus, & Chesner, 2010;Lee, Mueller, & Singh, 2014) and cost effective (Bemanian, Polish, & Maurer, 2006;Diefenderfer, Apeagyei, Gallo, Dougald, & Weaver, 2012;Mallick, Bonner, Bradbury, Andrews, Kandhal, & Kearney, 2002;Miller, Kestler, Amatrudo, Eaton, & Hall, 2011;Stroup-Gardiner, 2012) solution for pavement rehabilitation. Several cases have demonstrated successful use of on-site pavement recycling rehabilitation techniques by transportation agencies (Bemanian et al, 2006;Diefenderfer et al, 2012;Lewis, Jared, Torres, & Mathews, 2006;Mallick et al, 2002;Maurer, Bemanian, & Polish, 2007;Miller et al, 2011;Romanoschi, Hossain, Gisi, & Heitzman, 2004;Wen, Tharaniyil, Ramme, & Krebs, 2004). On-site recycling of pavement materials has proven to be successful for pavement structure rehabilitation, but questions remain on whether or not on-site recycled pavement materials can increase pavement foundation performance.…”

“…Unsuitable pavement foundations (e.g., use of frost susceptible materials) have detrimental effects on pavement performance Saad, 2014). Case histories of pavement rehabilitation with on-site recycled materials indicated that the pavements had deteriorated because the pavement foundations consisted of unsuitable subgrade (Becker, White, Vennapusa, & Dunn, 2014;Miller et al, 2011;Diefenderfer et al, 2012;White, Becker, Vennapusa, Dunn, & White, 2013). Laboratory testing of the pavement foundation materials provided index properties and frost susceptibility ratings.…”