More Recycled Materials Used In Asphalt

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), Lanham, MD reports that a survey of the U.S. asphalt pavement industry finds that close to 25 percent of the asphalt mixtures manufactured in the 2012 construction season were produced using warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technologies.

The survey, conducted by NAPA under contract to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), found that the 1,141 U.S. asphalt plants queried produced about 86.7 million tons of WMA during the 2012 construction season, a 416 percent increase in the use of warm mix since the survey was first conducted in 2009.

For the first time, the 2012 survey also asked about the use of ground tire rubber, steel and blast furnace slags, and other recycled materials. More than 1 million tons of these recycled materials were incorporated into asphalt mixtures in 2012.

The survey also found that about 68.3 million tons of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and 1.86 million tons of recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) were used in new asphalt pavement mixes in the United States during the 2012 construction season. For the first time since the start of this survey in 2009, the amount of RAP and RAS used by producers exceeded the amount collected, the NAPA notes.

© Scrap Tire News, March 2014