PennDOT trying out recycled asphalt

(Harrisburg) — Paving roads with recycled asphalt continues across Pennsylvania. 

PennDOT’s Road Maintenance and Preservation initiative,”Road MaP” or RAP for short, involves an environmentally friendly use of ground millings from road projects for other highways.

It allows the department to pave less-traveled roads that otherwise would go unpaved. The millings can also be used to reinforce highway shoulders.

Last week, PennDOT used the recycled asphalt on two roadways in Monroe County, totaling nearly four miles.

George McAuley, Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration, says this type of marterial will work well on a low volume roadway with less than 3-thousand cars a day and less than 10-percent truck traffic.

The roads were chosen based on a poor pavement-quality rating, and their proximity to stockpiles. 

Governor Tom Wolf recently announced an investment of 2.1-billion dollars in roadway maintenance and highway and bridge capital projects over the next decade.