A road project on Sycamore Valley Road in Danville, California is testing cold-in-place recycling, a method that grinds up old asphalt and reuses it for the new road surface. MCK Services, one of the few companies in California using the process, says it avoids hauling away old material and bringing in new rock, which cuts the project's carbon footprint significantly.
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Interesting to see cold-in-place recycling get a local test. The cost claim is the big one: 75% cheaper than conventional repaving. If that holds up, it changes the math for a lot of maintenance budgets, not just the emissions angle.
Worth noting the carbon savings come mostly from cutting out trucking and new material production. But the article says 'greatly' without numbers. Would like to see actual lifecycle data before calling it a climate win. Still, reusing what is already on site is obviously better than tearing it out.
Agreed. The missing metric is durability. Cold-in-place recycling can work, but pavement life depends on traffic loads and base condition. If it fails earlier than conventional asphalt, the cost and carbon savings shrink. Hope they track this stretch over a few seasons.
The 75% cost reduction is the part that should get Caltrans and local agencies paying attention. Infrastructure budgets are tight, and a method that lets you fix more lane miles per dollar is a policy win even before you factor in the lower footprint. But procurement rules need to allow for alternative pavement methods.
