Lee County, Va., had a low-traffic dirt/gravel road that needed paving. The challenge: Make it happen with currently owned equipment and less than 500 tons of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP).

Blacklidge was up to the challenge with our product ReCharge™, the advanced cold mix recycling additive made specifically for RAP. ReCharge is made to work with or without special equipment, adding to its value for counties and other entities working with low-traffic and light-load pavement conditions.

A small demo was held in February for the Virginia Department of Transportation’s maintenance. VDOT then wanted to purchase ReCharge to use with RAP on dirt road refacing projects. In April, a ReCharge + RAP mixture was applied to a 3,696-foot long roadway section with an average width of about 15 feet. The goal was to place a 3.5-inch lift of the recycled cold mixture using about 500 tons of RAP and the desired ReCharge dosage.

The equipment that VDOT already owned and to which they had easy access was a distributor truck, a motor grader and a steel drum roller. The RAP was transported from the stockpile located about 5 miles away from the project site and spread across the existing roadway. ReCharge then was applied with a distributor and folded into the RAP using a motor grader to create a homogenous mixture. The motor grader was again used to achieve the desired thickness and create a ¼-inch crown in the middle of the roadway.

Some oversized material was noticed within the finished mixture after grading was completed. VDOT opted to remove these particles using a homemade pull-behind screen before compacting the mixture with a steel drum roller in static mode.

This process was used to work specifically with VDOT’s equipment to save money and time. However, this is not the only process that can be used to create and pave cold recycled mixtures using ReCharge. Due to its versatility, ReCharge not only allows for jobsite mixing, it makes off-site mixing also a viable option, using either conventional equipment such as front loaders or specialty equipment such as a pugmill. Additionally, since there is no heat required for ReCharge usage, material transport and construction are simplified and the paving season can last longer, compared to traditional hot mix asphalt application.

VDOT was pleased with both ReCharge and the final RAP product and will continue to monitor this section of road and provide feedback throughout the rest of the year.

To learn more about ReCharge, visit our ReCharge page or call 1-800-866-3878 or email contact@blacklidge.com.