Recycled Asphalt Millings for Driveway

[Drstrangeglove]

Stuff works great here. It was easy to work and the hardened up nicely. I started putting cooking oil on the part that didn't harden and it fixed it.

 

[fruitcakesa]

Our town got a bunch after the state resurfaced some of the local road and they decided to see how it would work so they paved a dead end road near me this spring.
I am curious how it will stand up to the freeze thaw cycles we have here and more particularly mud season.
My main concern with it would be whether any petro chemicals will leach out and drain into the nearby waterways above my homestead.

 

[aczlan]

Our town got a bunch after the state resurfaced some of the local road and they decided to see how it would work so they paved a dead end road near me this spring.
I am curious how it will stand up to the freeze thaw cycles we have here and more particularly mud season.
My main concern with it would be whether any petro chemicals will leach out and drain into the nearby waterways above my homestead.

Don't worry about it, anything that was going to leach out would have done it in the years since they originally laid the road.
By the time it gets ground up and re-used they get dried up. That's why some places grind them up, heat them up, add more oil and lay them back down.

Aaron Z

 

[Industrial Toys]

I get the impression that them re-using their ashphalt makes for a second rate finished road, and I think has fallen out of favour, hence them often giving the stuff away. I could be wrong. You would think,grinding it off, heating it up, adding tar on site and repaving, WOULD make sense, but I don't think it worked out. Maybe further grinding the ashphalt, is more expensive than just making new ashphalt with tar and crushed stone.

 

[jcummins]

My driveway is about 4000 ft long. Half of it closest to the house is asphalt, the front half is gravel. Recently a highway resurfacing that started only a mile from the house made asphalt millings available. The asphalt company will sell millings but only if you are close to the project. If more trucking is involved they take back to the plant and recycle it.

It's been down on my gravel drive for 3 months. I like it better than gravel at this point. It is staying put better. BUT it seems street tires on my car sort of packs it down, but my utv with aggressive thread loosens it up, as well as my tractor with R4s. Recently sold my pickup otherwise I'd run it back and forth. It has been fairly hot here, in the 90s and very very dry, near drought status. Think lack of water is in part keeping it loose.

Thought of renting a roller from a rental place, but given what I'm seeing, wondering if it would be better buying a roller so it could be rolled once or twice a year. One that would weight 1200lbs or so and with water added around 2500 lbs. I could time the rolling better too, doing after a rain, etc. Reading through this thread seems there a definitely mixed opinions on the worth of millings. So far I find it considerably better than the gravel, but would like it to settle down better.

 

[Diggin It]

^^^ What about having hot tar sprayed over top of it, then rolled?

 

[Fallon]

I'd imagine a hot dry day would be better than a wet one if there was any tar left in the mix. But there rarely is as the material is rarely in good shape when being removed.

 

[DK35vince]

I'd imagine a hot dry day would be better than a wet one if there was any tar left in the mix. But there rarely is as the material is rarely in good shape when being removed.

Exactly.
Parking lots and boro streets, Etc. don't generally mill unless the pavement is dead and junk. So the millings often don't repack as well.
State roads are generally milled sooner and may pack better later.
But where the millings came from can have a big impact on how well they pack.

 

[jcummins]

I see some of it sticking, but most isn't.

Some rollers have a water tank.... They apply water as you roll. And someone earlier in the thread mentioned rolling with water. So my understanding is water can help. Am I wrong?

 

[aczlan]

I see some of it sticking, but most isn't.

Some rollers have a water tank.... They apply water as you roll. And someone earlier in the thread mentioned rolling with water. So my understanding is water can help. Am I wrong?

IIRC, water helps keep the asphalt from sticking to the drum.

Aaron Z

 

[DK35vince]

I see some of it sticking, but most isn't.

Some rollers have a water tank.... They apply water as you roll. And someone earlier in the thread mentioned rolling with water. So my understanding is water can help. Am I wrong?

As aczlan said, the water in rollers is to prevent asphalt from sticking to the drums.
It does nothing for the asphalt.

 

[Xfaxman]

Thy guy that did our driveway said he now only uses crushed asphalt, not millings.

 

[jcummins]

Thy guy that did our driveway said he now only uses crushed asphalt, not millings.

What's the difference? My asphalt came from them cutting off 1-2 inches off the road then laying new down.

 

[BoFuller]

Ditto. What is the difference?

 

[aczlan]

Ditto. What is the difference?

Size, millings will be like gravel from grinding off a layer, crushed will be chunks of asphalt where they took up the whole roadbed that went through the crusher.

Aaron Z

 

[Ford850]

There's a big difference between standard grindings/millings, and truly recycled and re-crushed asphalt. We had a 3" layer of the good stuff that was re-crushed or ground and very fine. Nothing larger than 3/8" and down to fine dust. We tried it on a whim instead of getting 411 crushed limestone this time, only on a hill portion of our long driveway. This stuff was applied using a paver just like hot asphalt, and rolled afterwards. It seemed loose though, even after rolling, but after a good soft soaking rain it packed to a very nice surface. Unfortunately being on a hill it is still washing out so it won't be our final solution there. On a more level surface it is an excellent alternative between stone and asphalt.

Size, millings will be like gravel from grinding off a layer, crushed will be chunks of asphalt where they took up the whole roadbed that went through the crusher.

Aaron Z

I think Millings are the rough grindings straight from the tear-outs or grinding jobs, and can include all sorts of chunks. Crushed asphalt is run through a crusher with a screen, like they crush stone, so it is all crushed to that one size or smaller. The crew put mine down with a paver and rollers, and although it was cold and dry it went down similar to hot asphalt. Smooth and fine texture.

 

[polkwrangler]

I have it down on my driveway once its summer time it will bond pretty good.lasts roughly 10 years for me ,just have a pile stocked in case you get a pothole

 

[Diggin It]

Bumping one of several old threads ....

Going to have a road project going right in front of my house. Still trying to find out if they're paving over the old or milling and replacing. If milling, do I want to try and get the material for the floor of my new-ish shed instead of gravel?

 

[jcummins]

Bumping one of several old threads ....

Going to have a road project going right in front of my house. Still trying to find out if they're paving over the old or milling and replacing. If milling, do I want to try and get the material for the floor of my new-ish shed instead of gravel?

I would!

 

[Clint S]

I had a few loads delivered. One was great nothing bigger than a golf ball. One had 2 buckets full of chunks soft ball size to football size