Asphalt Paving and Sealcoat  Blog

Environmental Benefits of Paving with Asphalt

Recycling 

Hot Mix Asphalt gives the best return on investment of any paving material. But beyond just having that fact that it saves money, it also has environmental benefits.

Because the main ingredient in asphalt is oil, its price has increased dramatically in the last several years. Five years ago, government agencies paid $35 to $40 a ton for asphalt. However, now the price has escalated to over $90 a ton, and it is predicted that the price of asphalt will continue to climb. This has led to an increased demand for recycled asphalt which is lower in price and widely available. Asphalt and tar recycling has also become more popular because of environmental concerns. Recycled asphalt simply produces a less negative environmental impact because it is not being placed in landfills. 

Hot Mix Asphalt(HMA) pavements are 100 percent recyclable and are America's most recycled product. Approximately 80 million tons of Hot Mix Asphalt are recycled each year. Compare this to any other recycled products. Hot Mix Asphalt pavements are truly environmentally friendly.

HMA pavement recycling is more cost effective than using only virgin or new materials. The quality of a recycled asphalt pavement is as good, or even better, than brand new pavement.

Hot Mix Asphalt pavement recycling not only conserves our precious natural resources and speeds construction, it also saves American taxpayers over $300 million a year.

HMA pavements which are not recycled must be disposed of, usually in a landfill. Transporting old asphalt pavements to landfills does not make best use of a product that can be recycled. HMA pavements can be recycled numerous times.

Currently, even most new asphalt has between 15 and 20 percent of crushed, recycled asphalt mixed into it. Because of this, asphalt has now surpassed aluminum as the most widely recycled material in the world. 

ASPHALT IS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND PRODUCT

 

Environmental Liners

Asphalt paving materials have been used to line the surfaces of everything from fish hatcheries to industrial retention ponds. In the case of fish hatcheries, an inert material was needed that would not chemically react with the water. This allows fish and game experts to precisely monitor and control the environment during the delicate stages of incubation and early growth for various fish species.

- For example, Oregon and Washington state fish and wildlife agencies began using HMA to line their fish rearing ponds in 1987. Typically 1/2-acre in area, the ponds are home to chinook salmon and other fry for about 18 months before the fish are released into rivers and streams. Both the Washington and Oregon state agencies are pleased with the effectiveness of the HMA liners and plan to use them for additional fish hatcheries in the future.

For decades asphalt paving materials have been used as liners for water reservoirs.

- For example, The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) has been using HMA-lined water reservoirs for more than four decades. Currently, the California Water Resources Board is completing construction on the Devil's Canyon Reservoir to store MWDSC drinking water. The 1 9-inch thick asphalt liner for the huge facility will hold 800-acre-feet of water. The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) in Oakland, California, has also been using HMA to line domestic water supply reservoirs since the 1 950s. A total of ten reservoirs store water in the EBMUD system.

Asphalt binders have also been used to line water pipes that supply potable water to humans.

When used for industrial retention ponds, the inertness of asphalt paving materials keeps liquid industrial waste material from percolating into the soil. This gives industry time to treat the liquid waste, and if needed, provides a platform with which to bring in mobile equipment to move the material to a processing location.

The ability of asphalt paving materials to be both chemically inert and strong enough to provide a structure for heavy equipment accounts for its use as both a landfill liner and cap. In landfills lined with asphalt paving materials modified earthmoving equipment can be employed to organize and compact landfill waste without fear of breaking the impermeable shell between the solid waste material and the soil.

Clean fill

Many states have tested discarded asphalt pavement and determined that it should be categorized as clean fill.

Even the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test, their most extreme and rigorous test for determining the toxicity of a substance, failed to show any appreciable quantities of toxic materials from asphalt pavement material.

Recreational Uses

HMA pavements are a perfect fit for the recreational industry. For years HMA has been used to pave running tracks, bicycle and golf cart paths, in addition to its traditional use for basketball and tennis courts.

Recently, there has been a move in the recreation marketplace to combine exercise with nature. Throughout the country old nature paths and abandoned rail lines are being converted into thoroughfares for bicyclists, roller skaters and roller bladers, besides the occasional pedestrian who wants to view nature while they exercise.

Asphalt pavements provide a safe and durable surface with which to accommodate both wheeled and foot traffic.

Other Uses

HMA is also used to pave cattle feed lots, poultry house floors, barn floors, and greenhouse floors. Asphalt not only provides an all-weather platform, it also provides protection against disease from waste materials. Asphalt is easy to clean and prevents pollution from getting into water supplies.

Asphalt mixtures are also used in sea walls, dikes and groins to control beach erosion. Its strength, waterproofing capability and inertness to sea water helps prevent the eroding action of tides and waves.

 

 

Porous Asphalt - part 1

Porous asphalt pavements are of great interest to site planners and public-works departments. With the proper design
and installation, porous asphalt can provide cost-effective, attractive pavements with a life span of more than twenty
years, and at the same time provide storm-water management systems that promote infiltration, improve water quality,
and many times eliminate the need for a detention basin. The performance of porous asphalt pavements is similar to that
of other asphalt pavements. And, like other asphalt pavements, they can be designed for many situations.

How does it work?

The technology is really quite simple. The secret to success is to provide the water with a place to go, usually in the form
of an underlying, open-graded stone bed. As the water drains through the porous asphalt and into the stone bed, it slowly
infiltrates into the soil. The stone bed size and depth must be designed so that the water level never rises into the
asphalt. This stone bed, often 18 to 36 inches in depth, provides a tremendous subbase for the asphalt paving.

What does it cost?

Special features such as the underlying stone bed are more expensive than conventional construction, but these costs
are more than offset by the elimination of many elements of standard storm-water management systems. On those jobs
where unit costs have been compared, a porous asphalt pavement is generally the less-expensive option. The cost
advantage is even more dramatic when the value of land that might have been used for a detention basin or other stormwater
management features is considered.

Recycled Baserock - REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

WHAT IS RECYCLED BASEROCK?

Recycled Baserock is made from used concrete and asphalt rubble, ground and stockpiled to specifications. Reusing and recycling construction materials diverts significant amounts of material from landfills and closes the loop on materials resuse. 

Our supplier Graniterock has a recycled baserock that can be used as a construction aggregate. This baserock is re-crushed locally at various locations in the Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay Areas. This baserock comes in class 2 and class 4 grades. It also comes in 1/2" and 1 1/2" inch sizes. This recycled rock is considered to be "green" and can qualify for LEED credits.

Just thought you might enjoy a little song about using recycled products. It's by Jack Johnson, called THE 3 R'S.

Three it's a magic number
Yes it is, it's a magic number
Because two times three is six
And three times six is eighteen
And the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is R
We've got three R's we're going to talk about today
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Well, if you're going to the market to buy some juice
You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R's don't work out
And if you've got to make some trash
Don't throw it out
Recycle, we've got to learn to recycle,
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Because three it's a magic number
Yes it is, it's a magic number
3, 3, 3
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36
33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, and
3, it's a magic number 

 

Paving Contractors Present Pervious Concrete

What is Pervious?

Pervious Pavement is a unique cement-based concrete product that has a porous structure that allows rainwater to pass directly through the pavement and into the soil naturally. This is achieved without compromising the strength, durability, or integrity of the concrete structure itself. 

The pavement is comprised of a special blend of Portland Cement coarse aggregate rock, and water. Once dried, the pavement has a prous texture that allows water to drain through it at the rate of 3 to 5 gallons per minute, per square foot. That's impressive considering tests conclude that a square foot of bahia sod drains at the rate of 2.5 to 3 gallons per minute. This remarkable flow through ratio inspired the phrase "...The pavement that drinks water". 

 ADVANTAGES:

• Meets Storm Water Management & First Flush Pollution Prevention Criteria (Infiltration BMP)
• Reduce or eliminate storm sewer tie-ins
• Reduced grading reduceds engineering and construction time and expense
• Durable: 30 year + life
• Little to no maintenance
• Doesn't pollute
• No extra SWPP devices
• Light colored surfaces are cooler, safer, energy efficient
• Available in many color choices

http://www.perviouspavement.org/

Pervious Concrete is provided through Graniterock

 

Graniterock Paving & Concrete Contractors Expo

On Friday Jan. 16th, one our estimators, Mike McHugh and I went to the Graniterock Contractor Expo in Seaside, Ca.We learned a great deal about serving our customers with more quality products. The main reason I went, was to learn about all the green products coming out and the ones that many people are starting to use. I will be highlighting some of the GREEN PRODUCTS over the next few blog posts. In 2009 there are so many companies using green products, sustainable products, recycled, and environmentally acceptable products, and we want to offer those to our customers. Some of these are Pervious Concrete, High-Fly Ash Concrete, Interlocking Pavers, Recycled Baserock, Rock, Sand, and Gravel, Concrete and Asphalt Products, Parking Bumpers, Turfstone, ECO-Block, and Erosion Control Products. Many of these products are manufactured locally with recycled materials. Many of these products qualifyfor LEED credits. We are also in the process of becoming LEED Accredited and Certified Green Building. Stay tuned for more next about Pervious Concrete along with its advantages.

Energy Efficient Parking Lots

Green technology is becoming more creative. There are many ways to capture solar energy - some are even passive and offer other added benefits. One that I came across are parking lot "umbrellas" that are actually solar panels. The company, Envision Solar International is creating "solar trees" to help capture some of the heat given off by the sun in those asphalt paved parking lots all across America. Also they will offer a bit of shade to motorists and their cars.

These solar panels are about 12 feet tall with a 1,200 square foot canopy covered in solar cells. You can now find them in parts of California (always ahead of the "green" and environmental curve). Amazingly, the typical grove in a shopping mall generates enough electricity to power 500 homes.

 

 

Envision Solar plans to make parking lots into beautiful power plants with their Solar Groves and Solar Trees.
Envision Solar takes the hassle out of designing structures for solar with their turn-key solutions. Although the company is working on a next generation design for the Solar Tree, the current iteration includes 64 Kyocera solar modules laid out in total measuring 30' x 40'. The panels sit at a five degree angle and provide shading for six vehicles, too. Envision Solar has found success installing these parking canopies near commercial buildings and retail parking lots because the energy can be sold to businesses through power purchase agreements.

What's interesting, though, is what our country would be like with Solar Groves all over the place. With plug-in electric vehicles and plug-in slots near Solar Trees, parking lots could be the transportation energy stations of the future. Electric vehicles wouldn't be nearly as bad as they are right now if they're getting the bulk of their power from renewable sources.

As far as costs are concerned, Envision Solar seems to be aggressive in their pursuit of good deals. Depending on site conditions, the company says a good Solar Grove could pay for itself in five years. The good news is Envision Solar International makes it affordable for lot owners.

Asphalt Pavement - America's most recycled product.

Did you know that more asphalt pavement is recycled than any other product? Hot Mix Asphalt can be engineered to accept recycled products from other industries, helping to reduce our reliance on landfills.

How much asphalt pavement is recycled each year?

• Volume:80.3 million tons (73 million metric tons)
• Rate: 80% of the asphalt pavement removed during resurfacing projects. 

-Federal Highway Administration

• Only 28% of post-consumer goods in the municipal solid waste stream

Let's look at the numbers; the volume of recycled asphalt pavement is...

• 13 TIMES greater than recycling of newsprint/paper
• 27 TIMES greater than recycling of glass bottles
• 89 TIMES greater than recycling of aluminum cans
• 267 TIMES greater than recycling of plastic containers

What is recycled or relcaimed asphalt used for?

• New Roads
• Roadbeds
• Shoulders
• Embankments

Other recycled products are used in making asphalt pavement:

• Old tires
• Slag aggregate
• Roofing shingles
• Foundry sand

SLAG AGGREGATE:

A by-product of steel production, works especially well for high-volume and/or skid-resistance applications such as:

• Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Automobile manufacturer's test tracks

ROOFING SHINGLES:

Factory rejects are recycled into high-quality pavements.  It also works well for industrial and commercial parking lots.

FOUNDRY SAND:

Already screened, blended and ready to use in Hot Mix Asphalt. It reduces cost of sand by about 40% and 100,000 tons were used in Hot Mix Asphalt in 2000 alone.

Recycling of asphalt pavement benefits everyone. It maintains high quality, reduceds taxpayer cost, and rewards good environmental stewardship. Also, it helps qualify for LEED projects.

If you're going green this year or anytime soon, go green with paving as well...the most recycled product in the U.S.