What is cold-in-place recycling? And why do we need it? Keep reading to find the answer to those burning questions. In the meantime, here’s the “where” and “when” you need to know so you can make your Kane County driving plans this week:

Starting the week of June 1, 2015, milling, in-place recycling and paving improvements on various roadways will begin. Construction work hours will be from 6:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. each day for approximately the next three weeks, weather permitting.

The in-place recycling process will include:

• Removal of 1.5 inches of existing pavement to allow for the new surface course to be placed
• Mill in place the existing pavement 4 inches below the driving surface
• Placement of 1.5 inches surface course over the recently milled pavement

Temporary daily lane closures Monday through Saturday will be required to accomplish this work. Please watch for fresh oil signs, flaggers, and reduced speed while traveling through the construction zone. Motorists should expect delays, increased travel times during the in-place recycling process, and are advised to consider alternate routes during the work.

Questions and concerns may be directed to John Guddendorf (630) 816-9671. For all Kane County Traffic Advisories, see KDOT Traffic Alerts.

SOURCE: Kane County Division of Transportation press release

About Cold In-Place Recycling

What Is It?

Cold in-place recycling process involves a milling machine with a paver mixer. The milling machine breaks and pulverizes a thin amount of the top layer of the old pavement. It can also break and pulverize all of the HMA and some of the base. This material is crushed and screened to the proper size and recycling agents are mixed in to rejuvenate it and give it more life. If necessary, virgin aggregate can be added and spread on the existing surface. Recycling agents that are used include: emulsified asphalt, foamed asphalt, and chemical additives. The material is deposited into a windrow behind the machine and then picked up by the paver and spread. Then, it is compacted using steel-wheel, pneumatic-tire, or vibratory rollers. CIR material tends to have high voids so a HMA overlay or double surface treatment is applied as a wearing course to seal and preserve the recycled pavement layer.

Why Do It?

CIR is useful in treating a wide range of distresses and failures such as: raveling, potholes, bleeding, skid resistance, rutting, corrugation, shoving, fatigue, edge, and block cracking. It can improve the ride quality caused by bumps, swells, sags, and depressions. CIR can be performed relatively quickly which reduces user delay. Brittleness of aged existing pavement is enhanced, and it can provide improved rutting resistance in the pavement life. Extensive laboratory research has shown that CIR is effective in improving performance of the pavement while also reducing overall cost.

SOURCE: LAcounty.gov