RAP slurry fits agency's 'green' initiatives

by Greg Udelhofen
Created: May 6, 2009

Pavement Coatings Co. asked to treat one road in the project with a slurry seal containing 100 percent reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). Five years later, the performance of that RAP slurry sealed street provided the performance and confidence city...

Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.
Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.
Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.
Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.
Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.
Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.
Pavement Recycling Systems, which controls the entire recycling process, produces the RAP slurry dust for Pavement Coating's projects.
Pavement Recycling Systems, which controls the entire recycling process, produces the RAP slurry dust for Pavement Coating's projects.
Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.
Using a VSS MacroPaver, crews placed 210,000 sq. yds. of RAP slurry seal over residential and small collector roads in eight days.

Pavement Recycling Systems has taken a leading role in promoting the benefits of a 100% RAP slurry seal alternative in meeting the needs of road agencies charged with the task of maintaining good road systems. As virgin aggregates continue to become a scarce resource and more expensive, utilizing recycled aggregates becomes a much more ecologically sound alternative.

But as Pavement Recycling Systems and Pavement Coatings point out, there has always been the issue of consistency in the quality of RAP that has caused some reservations on the part of agencies to award contracts where 100% RAP is used in the slurry application.

Pavement Coatings, which is a division of Pavement Recycling Systems, has been able to address the quality consistency issue and deliver a competitive product because Pavement Recycling controls the entire recycling process.

Pavement Recycling Systems is a vertically integrated company that maintains complete ownership and control of the RAP slurry manufacturing process - from milling to processing the recycled asphalt pavement material to be incorporated in the slurry Pavement Coatings delivers to its agency customers.

As one of California's largest cold planning and milling operations, Pavement Recycling produces a continuous supply of recycled material. That material is trucked to the company's processing facility where it is tested, fractionated (or separated) into various components, and then ground and homogenized into a mixture of uniform properties.

At each stage of the process, a full range of QA and QC procedures are performed to maintain a consistent quality product that can then be used in slurry mixtures.

The Duarte RAP slurry seal 2008 project used 1,400 tons of RAP material, which saved 49 tons of emulsion. Using a VSS MacroPaver, Pavement Coatings' slurry crew placed 210,000 square yards of RAP slurry seal over both residential and small collector roads in eight days.

"We applied the RAP slurry over some roads that were first treated with a cape seals and other roads that just received the slurry," notes Doug Ford, manager of Pavement Coatings. "We're having success with promoting the advantages of RAP slurry preservation treatments and I think as more agencies recognize that the sustainability advantages make it the right solution for preserving and maintaining the service quality of their road systems, more will choose it as their preservation solution."

The message Pavement Coatings continues to communicate to agencies is that its 100% RAP slurry product and process conserves virgin aggregates and emulsion, while performing as well as conventional slurry.

As the asphalt industry and the agencies it serves continue to look at ways to implement sustainable practices that maximize investments, conserve valuable resources, and still deliver the quality and performance expected, Pavement Coatings is convinced its "green" slurry seal preservation solution is a win-win for its future success and the needs of its customers.