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Similar to the oil crisis of the 1970s, recent exorbitant oil prices have had a profound impact on the price of liquid asphalt (AC). Current AC prices have reached $800 per ton in some regions. "Paying $800 for binder results in mix prices of roughly $40 per ton just for the liquid asphalt," says Tim Murphy, president of Dustrol Inc.

Coinciding with dwindling road funds, these inflated binder prices have many asphalt contractors and departments of transportation searching for more economical ways to reconstruct and rehabilitate roads. This gives an advantage to Dustrol Inc., of Towanda, KS., who has more than 30 years experience in the asphalt recycling and rehabilitation markets.

Dating back to the last oil crisis, Dustrol has focused solely on cold milling and Hot In-Place Recycling (HIR). In addition to its Kansas headquarters, the company has satellite offices in Texas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Colorado to serve a 16-state market.

"Throughout the years, HIR has proven to be very economical when compared to reconstruction, even more so now with the high AC costs," mentions Murphy.

HIR recycles 100 percent of the existing asphalt on site to effectively treat surface distresses such as raveling, potholes, bleeding, rutting and poor ride quality. Typical treatment depths range from 0.75 to 2 inches, although depths of up to 3 inches have been reached.