As anyone who lives in an urban area knows, vehicle emissions have a negative impact on quality of life. They cause health problems and contribute to smog, acid rain, and reduced visibility. Greenhouse gases emitted by vehicles also contribute to global warming.
Road repair equipment and utility trenching equipment used to maintain utility pipelines and road surfaces also contribute to emissions. This includes asphalt and road base production and transportation, road recycling, and maintenance including pothole patching and utility trenching. In fact, construction based emissions make up 5% to 24% of total CO2 emissions from transportation.
Innovative Construction Techniques
One often overlooked way to reduce vehicle emission is through innovative construction techniques. The adage “Work Smarter Not Harder,” definitely applies to asphalt surface road repair and utility trenching projects. Here are some alternative ways to lower vehicle emissions on asphalt maintenance and utility trenching projects.
Full Depth Reclamation
Full depth reclamation, or FDR for short, is a road repair method that reuses worn asphalt in the road repair process. Instead of asphalt patching or a road patch, full-depth reclamation uses a road reclaimer to repair potholes. The high quality asphalt repairs also stabilize the road base.
An asphalt reclaimer pulverizes the asphalt into small pieces, acting as an asphalt recycler. At the same time, full-depth reclamation mixes it into the existing road base as new recycled road base. The heavy duty results are comparable to a full road reconstruction but are much less expensive. Full-depth reclamation lowers emissions in several ways:
· An asphalt reclaimer or small asphalt milling machine reuses the asphalt as road base material. This means less hauling in of new asphalt materials.
· A road reclamation project takes on average 75% less time than a full road reconstruction. Less time on the job means fewer vehicle emissions.
· An FDR project uses recycled asphalt millings. This means no loading or hauling emissions from asphalt disposal.
· Full-depth reclamation produces longer lasting results. A road patch or surface milling is a temporary fix to pothole ridden roads. Using an asphalt milling machine or road reclaimer for full-depth reclamation fixes the road base as well. This means fewer cracking or potholes in the future, which equates to fewer vehicle emissions during repairs.
Utility Projects
Using an asphalt grinding machine for utility trenching is another great way to limit vehicle emissions. Sawcutting is the typical method for removing asphalt from a utility pipeline project job site. Next, a backhoe breaks up the asphalt into chunks and a loader loads it onto a truck for asphalt disposal.
Alternately, some utility contractors use a skid steer cold planer to open utility trench. This process is extremely slow and subjects the operator to excessive vibrations.
Using an asphalt grinder to open utility trench lessens vehicle emissions in several ways.
· An asphalt grinding machine grinds the asphalt into spec-comparable asphalt millings. This eliminates the emissions involved with saw-cutting with a trench saw and chunking the asphalt.
· On many jobs, it’s possible to use the recycled asphalt millings as trench backfill. Recycling materials allows utility contractors to avoid hauling in new backfill materials or hauling out asphalt chunks.
· An asphalt grinder can open a trench that would take 8-plus hours cutting asphalt the traditional way in about 30 minutes. This is from improved asphalt trenching and backfilling techniques and leads to substantially fewer emissions.
· Fresh asphalt on the utility trench created with an asphalt grinding machine interlocks with the existing road base better. This means that it doesn’t sink over time from the weight of vehicles, reducing the need for further repairs.
Conclusion
Road reclaimers and asphalt milling machines are environmentally friendly choices for road repairs. These options are more sustainable than traditional methods such as patching or cutting asphalt. They help reduce waste and energy consumption.
Additionally, they are more cost-effective in the long run. By re-using existing asphalt, crews can conserve natural resources and eliminate the loading and hauling away of old asphalt. They also use less equipment and finish jobs much more quickly with better long-term results.