Alley repairs are a challenge for many communities. Although alleys have a low volume of traffic, a lot of that traffic is from heavy garbage trucks weighing up to 25 tons. This results in potholes, rutting, and poor drainage.
With tight budgets and small work forces, cities and towns often prioritize main arterial roads and residential streets. As a result, alleyways are often poorly maintained. Unfortunately, many communities don’t know that they can maintain alleys, as well as roads and streets, in-house with the right process and equipment.
Traditional Options for Alley Repairs
- Hiring a contractor to do the work can be very costly, causing many communities to resort to mere pothole patching and surface repairs. This often becomes a seemingly never ending cycle of patching and pothole repairs.
- Large self-contained asphalt milling machines or road reclaimers are generally a good choice on major arterial roads. However, they are often too large to fit into the narrow alleyways behind our homes. Equipment of this size can also be very expensive and difficult to transport.
- Small skid steer cold planer attachments are another option that will fit nicely into an alleyway for asphalt grinding. However, they can be quite slow and limited in the depth and scope of work they can do. Skid steers may produce larger, chunkier material which may also require additional processing to achieve spec grade aggregate material.
A Better Option: Portable Road Reclaimers
Fortunately, there is a better solution: a portable self-powered road reclaimer. Portable reclaimers are similar to larger self-contained machines but are more compact, significantly less expensive, and easier to use. However, don’t let the compact size fool you: they can be just as productive and even more versatile than the more expensive, self-contained machines.
They can also be easily towed behind a work truck and quickly connected to a backhoe or loader you already own. Most importantly, you are now able to more easily and affordably do the process called full depth reclamation (FDR). This process recycles road surfaces into spec comparable road base material or aggregate in one easy step. See how FDR works here.
Owning the right equipment is an important part of reclamation and road base stabilization. Ultimately, the compact size of a portable road reclaimer also allows it to fit nicely in tight, narrow areas like alleyways. See an alley repair in action with a portable road reclaimer.
Full Depth Reclamation in Alleys
Full-depth reclamation is a simple process that any community can do in-house with the right equipment. This process involves simultaneously pulverizing / recycling road surfaces into spec-comparable material and blending it into a portion of the base. You are now able to regrade for optimal drainage, re-compact, and apply a new road surface.
Full-depth reclamation might seem like an expensive process for alleyways. But with the right portable road reclaimer / recycler, you can now do a project that used to take all day in as little as 1 to 2 hours for less than half the cost.
If the alley has an asphalt or chip seal road surface, the asphalt millings / recycled asphalt product (RAP) can often produce enough spec-comparable base material to be used for in place base stabilization. If the existing wear surface is insufficient, you can simply spread additional aggregate materials or road base to improve stabilization (mechanical stabilization). You can also use stabilizing additives like Portland Cement for even greater stability (chemical stabilization).
Most potholes, ruts and cracks are a result of insufficient or failing road base in alleyways. Full-Depth Reclamation can create a more stable road base. This means you can virtually eliminate potholes, wheel rutting and cracking through base stabilization. As a result, your alleys will now be able to withstand heavier traffic loads with significantly less maintenance.
Best Road Surfaces for Full-Depth Reclamation
Full-depth reclamation is ideal for
- Asphalt
- Chip Seal (Tar and Chip)
- Gravel
FDR is generally NOT recommended for
- Concrete
- Pavers / Bricks
Other Uses for Portable Road Reclaimers
Portable road reclaimers are very versatile with a wide range of applications. Following are just a few of the many uses:
- Full-Width Roads – full city streets to miles of county highways
- Road Patches – all shapes and sizes
- Surface Milling – go where larger machines are unable due to weight and/or size limits
- Gravel Roads – can bring new life to gravel roads with less maintenance
- Trails / Paths – golf cart paths, hiking / biking trails and more
- Soil Stabilization – easily incorporate a wide range of liquid and dry stabilizers
- Parking Lots – easiest way to work around light poles and landscape islands
- Shoulder Maintenance and Widening – stabilize or widen road shoulders
- Utility Trenching – absolute fastest, most economical way to open utility trench in roads
In conclusion, portable road reclaimers / recyclers empower communities to make more affordable and longer lasting alleyway repairs. Better still, they are also ideal for a wide range of other projects.