As counties are expanding at an exponential rate, they are faced with maintaining more roads with shrinking maintenance funding and increased roadwork costs. Coweta County in Georgia is overcoming this by implementing full-depth reclamation (FDR) with portland cement .
Coweta’s roads, like other Georgia counties’ roads, were built on a sand/clay base where the asphalt was placed directly over the underlying soil rather than on a rock/aggregate or soil cement base. This construction technique was used for many years and most roads performed quite well. However, as counties experienced growth, the roads were subjected to heavier loads and began to deteriorate. “Resurfacing a roadway that has a failed base is a waste in time and money,” said Bill Cawthorne, public works director. “We had to do something different.”
FDR with cement makes the reconstruction of roads a largely self-sustaining process. The complete recycling process can be finished in one day, and traffic can be maintained throughout construction. The old asphalt and any existing base material are pulverized, mixed with portland cement and water, and then compacted to produce a strong durable base for either an asphalt or concrete surface. There is no need to haul in aggregate or haul out old material for disposal, reducing construction truck traffic and waste. FDR conserves virgin construction materials, saves fuel and prevents truckloads from tearing up the road.
The process starts by evaluating the condition of the existing pavement including the sub-layers and mix design. Next, pulverization sizes the materials back down to 2-in. minus material. An exact amount of portland cement and water is blended into the material. Reshaping, proper compaction, grading and curing follow. This gives the new base the strength and durability to achieve long-lasting, cost-effective pavements.
By addressing the entire pavement section, FDR is able to correct delinquent cross sections, widen roads, increase the load-bearing strength of the base and utilize 100% of the existing materials. The process addresses crown and slope corrections, drainage problems, reflective cracking and rutting and potholing. Substantial savings can be attained while meeting environmental goals. Cement stabilization increases the stiffness and strength of the base material, reducing deflections due to traffic loads that result in lower strains on the asphalt surface and sub-grades. A cement-treated base also forms a moisture-resistant layer that keeps out water that can destroy untreated aggregate bases, resulting in potholing and alligator cracking.
According to the 20-year research study of the FDR process by the Portland Cement Association , roads reconstructed using the FDR process had a life expectancy up to three times that of non-treated roadways.
