Recycling of Bituminous Pavement

Physical Requirements:
 Covers the recycling of bituminous pavement materials to upgrade an existing bituminous
pavement which has served its initial intended purpose.
 Consists of pavement removal, stockpiling of materials from the old pavement, addition of
new bitumen and untreated aggregates in the requisite proportions, mixing, spreading and
compaction of the blended materials in hot condition.
 Reclaimed bituminous material shall be used in the production of BM and DBM wherein
not greater than 60% reclaimed bituminous material shall be used.
 Recycled materials shall be a blend of reclaimed and new materials proportioned to
achieve a paving mixture with specified engineering properties.
 Reclaimed materials (approximately one sample to represent 500 m two lane carriageway)
shall be tested and evaluated to find optimum blend meeting the mixture requirements.
 Bitumen extraction:
o Aggregate and bitumen shall be separated using bitumen extraction technique (ASTM
D 2172) from any representative sample of reclaimed bituminous pavement.
o Mechanical sieve analysis shall be performed on the aggregate portion of the
reclaimed bituminous pavement sample to determine the aggregate grading.
o After selecting the proportion of reclaimed materials to be recycled, the grading of the
mixture shall be adjusted to meet the specification requirements by addition of
selected aggregate sizes.
 Evaluation of Bitumen:
o When the amount of reclaimed bituminous materials to be used in the mixture exceeds
10%, penetration value of the recovered binder from the reclaimed bituminous
material, before mixing shall exceed 15 pen after recovery of binder.
o Hardening of the old binder during the original mixing process or through ageing can
be compensated by adding softer bitumen to obtain final grade of binder.
o Determination of the type and amount of binder required to be added in the final mix
is based on trial and error method.
o After mixing with recycled materials, the binder recovered from the mixture shall have
a recovered penetration value not less than:
Specified grade of binder Min. recovered penetration value of binder after mixing
VG 40 (45 pen) 27
VG 30 (65 pen) 39
VG 10 (90 pen) 54

 Untreated Aggregates and reclaimed aggregates:

o Untreated fresh aggregates are required to produce a mix with desired grading.
o Aggregate quality shall be checked for the requirement specified for either BM or
DBM depending on the proposed usage.
o Reclaimed aggregate, if any, or any aggregate used for desired bituminous mix shall
be checked for the physical requirements as mentioned above.
o The combined grading of blend reclaimed and new aggregate shall satisfy the
requirements (BM or DBM).
o Binder grading shall comply with the requirements of BM or DBM (depends on
usage).
o There may be variation on three to four sieves with respect to percent passing.
o The permissible variation shall not exceed 3 to 4% per sieve.

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Reclaiming Old Pavement Materials:
 Removal of pavement materials to the required depth shall be done either at ambient
temperature (cold process) or at an elevated temperature (hot process).
 Cold Removal Process:
o In the cold process, ripping and crushing operations shall be carried out using
scarifiers, grid rollers, or rippers or by any other means.

Grid roller

Ripper
o Removed materials shall be loaded and hauled for crushing to the required size.
o Alternatively, cold milling machines can be used to reclaim bituminous pavement to
controlled depths.
o Any bituminous layers or any remaining aggregate materials that are to be
incorporated in the recycled hot mix shall be scarified and removed.
o After removal of the pavement material, any drainage deficiencies shall be corrected.
o Base/sub-base shall be cut, graded and compacted to the required profile and density.
 Hot Removal Process:
o In the hot process, road surface shall be heated by infra-red/hot-air heating system
before scarification.
o A self propelled plant fitted with suitable arrangement for heating the existing
bituminous surface shall be used.
o During the heating process, surface temperature of the road shall not exceed 200 C
for more than 5 minutes.

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 Stockpiling:
o In the cold process, reclaimed bituminous pavement material shall be stockpiled with
height of stockpiles not exceeding 3 m.
o The reclaimed untreated aggregate base/sub-base material shall be stockpiled in the
same manner as new aggregate.
 Mixing and Laying: Refer to the requirements of BM or DBM.

In Situ Recycling – Remix and Repave Processes:

 Repave Process:
o In the process of repaving, existing surface is preheated and scarified but the scarified
material is not removed.
o A layer of fresh bituminous mix material prepared in the integrated mixing unit of the
plant is then spread evenly on the scarified surface to given a uniform profile.
o The spread material shall be compacted as soon as possible after laying.
o In the process, the total thickness is increased by up to 50 mm.
 Remix Process:
o In the remix process, the scarified material shall be taken from the mixing unit of the
plant where it is recycled with fresh binder, aggregate and recycling agent.
o The recycled mixture is spread on the preheated surface, tamped and compacted to the
required profile.
 Heating and Scarifying:
o Surfaces to be treated shall be heated by plant with surfaces insulated and fully
enclosed.
o Heated width of surfacing shall exceed the scarified width by at least 75 mm on each
side, except against the edge of the carriageway or kerb face.
o Depth of scarification shall be such that the bottom of the scarified layer is parallel to
and below the finished road surface level with a tolerance of  6 mm.
o During the heating process, surface temperature of the road shall not exceed 200 C
for more than 5 minutes.
 Rejuvenator:
o Rejuvenator, a non-emulsified aromatic extract, when required shall be uniformly
sprayed across the full width of the processed material.
o Rejuvenation of the existing pavement may also be performed by adding new hot-mix
bituminous material containing a soft binder for restoring the binder in the existing
pavement to the required viscosity.
o Use of rejuvenating oil may be restored if the target values of viscosity, penetration
and softening point are not met.
 Mixing:
o When required, new hot mix material shall be mixed with the heated and scarified
material in a pug mill within the remix machine, observing the mixing temperatures
specified under general requirement of bituminous mixes.
o After mixing, the recycled bituminous materials shall be automatically led to a
finishing unit, which spreads and levels the mixture to the specified thickness and
cross-section.
 Additional Material:
o The type and quantity of new hot mix material shall be determined by using Marshall
mix design procedure.
o Remix design shall incorporate the stated proportion of material sampled from the
existing road surface.

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 o When additional coarse or fine aggregate or filler are required to be added, they shall
comply with the requirements of BC.
 New Surfacing (Repave and Remix/Repave Processes):
o New surfacing material shall be bituminous concrete or any other approved wearing
course.
 Binder:
o The binder shall be recovered from samples taken from each layer of the material laid.
o The penetration of the binder shall be in the range of 35-70.
 Mixture Design:
o The mix design shall be done to satisfy the requirements of BC.
 Opening to Traffic:
o For recycled material forming the base or binder course layer, refer to the guidelines
given under BM or DBM (reproduced below).
o BM:
 BM shall be covered with either the next pavement layer or wearing course
within 48 hours.
 If there is to be any delay, BM shall be covered by a seal coat before opening
to traffic.
o DBM:
 The newly laid surface shall not be open to traffic for at least 24 hours or till
the time when the DBM layer has cooled to the ambient temperature
(whichever is earlier).
o For recycled material forming the wearing course layer, refer to the guidelines given
under CGPS/MSS.
o CGPS/MSS:
 Traffic may be allowed after completion of final rolling when the mix has
cooled down to the surrounding temperature.
 Excessive traffic speeds should not be permitted.
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