Sustainability and Profit

Excerpt of October 2022 Article Featured in Asphalt Pavement Magazine

BY BENJAMIN F. BOWERS, PE

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Volume 27 | Number 5

“The three tenants of sustainability are people (social), planet (environmental concerns), and the oft-forgotten profit. As a graduate student, I lounged one evening on my porch after a day of pounding out proctor samples in the lab, sipping on a craft beer (my millennial is showing), and reading the book ‘Cradle to Cradle’ by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart.

That book changed my career trajectory. One of my biggest takeaways was that I could do everything in the world for people and the environment; but if I didn’t make a profit, I would go out of business. That’s not sustainable.

RAP is a great example of cradle-to-cradle. Old binder is binder; old aggregate is aggregate. Asphalt pavement is used as asphalt pavement. How do we, the asphalt pavement industry, leverage sustainability (do good for our neighbors and our world) to also make a profit?”

Read more from the September / October issue of Asphalt Pavement Magazine by scanning the QR Code.

Footnote: Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is the term given to removed and/or reprocessed pavement materials containing asphalt and aggregates. These materials are generated when asphalt pavements are removed for reconstruction, resurfacing, or to obtain access to buried utilities. When properly crushed and screened, RAP consists of high-quality, well-graded aggregates coated by asphalt cement.

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Why The Reuse Of Existing Resources is Critical in a Pavement Manager’s Arsenal

We’ve all been told the importance of recycling. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” is a phrase we’ve heard all our lives. The importance of waste reduction lies in every direction. Ultimately, nobody wants to live in a high pollution environment or suffer the effects of climate change. There are economic, environmental, and equitable advantages to being a change agent for recycling initiatives.  

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Cold Constructed Asphalt Pavement Project in Ohio Helping Roads Last Longer

Small’s Sand & Gravel: 10229 Killduff Road CCAP® Patch Project

Pavement preservation is a cost-e­ffective and environmentally friendly way to extend the life of roadways which helps public funding go further. A pavement preservation strategy is proven to produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, expend less energy, and give faster application times than the alternative conventional approach, in addition to being cost-effective.

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AMIBIND™ Products Help CCAP Project in Jennings County, Indiana

An Economic Alternative to Full Reconstruction

Cold Constructed Asphalt Pavement (CCAP®) is a cold mix asphalt that is created by combining aggregate and a chemically modified asphalt and mixing the two ingredients at ambient temperature. The cold mix may be stockpiled for weeks to a few months and then placed using a paver for road repair such as patching potholes or adding a new layer to low-volume roads. A chip seal is often placed over the cold mix. 

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Fog Seal Treatments Can Enhance Safety

Fog Seal Treatments can be a valuable aid to renew weathered asphalt surfaces while also improving the appearance of the surface.

A fog seal is a single application, typically light, of emulsified asphalt to an existing asphalt road surface. This type of maintenance treatment can be a valuable aid to renew weathered (oxidized) asphalt surfaces, improve the surface appearance, seal minor cracks and surface voids, and inhibit raveling.

On July 29th a fog seal project took place in Morgan County, Indiana. The pictures in this article are from that project.

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Cold-in-Place Recycling is a Key Reason Asphalt is the Most Recycled Product.

Any day is a beautiful day to recycle pavement. This particular project took place earlier this week in Martinsville, IN with our Cold-In-Place Recycling (CIR) technology. CIR is a cost-effective and sustainable method of constructing a recycled asphalt-bound layer that reduces trucking and construction time and saves natural resources.

With an increasing emphasis on infrastructure, the reuse of valuable existing resources is a critical component in a pavement manager’s arsenal. According to research, the advanced technologies used in recycling and reclamation processes can provide major benefits such as:

  • significant cost savings,
  • lowered environmental impact,
  • and precision engineering for stronger, safer, more sustainable roads.

The asphalt industry is in a good place, but more work is being done to get even better, more sustainable and resilient if you will. The world’s most recycled material is asphalt. A report from the Federal Highway Administration shows that 80% of the asphalt pavement that’s removed each year during widening and resurfacing projects is reused.

CIR is a process that removes cracks and other pavement distresses. CIR is a rehabilitation technique where pavement is milled, crushed, and mixed in place with a stabilizing emulsion or foamed asphalt and then placed with conventional paving equipment. Roads should be evaluated beforehand for suitability for the CIR process.

Asphalt Materials has been focused on building longer-lasting, safer roads since 1956. We have the full support of the Heritage Research Group Laboratories to help us achieve this objective. We also have extensive knowledge in recycling products and processes, combined with the technical expertise gained from years of experience. To learn more about our AMICYCLE™ products, visit our products page. https://asphalt-materials.com/products/

J-Band® and CCAP®  are registered trademarks of Asphalt Materials, Inc.

AMIBIND™, AMIBOND™, AMICYCLE™, AMIGUARD™ and AMISEAL™ are trademarks of Asphalt Materials, Inc.



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