The Utah Department of Transportation’s largest pavement recycling project is underway on U.S. Route 50 in Millard County.
The process, called cold-in-place recycling, grinds up the existing roadway and mixes it with rejuvenating oils and asphalt binder before placing it back on the road as a new layer of pavement.
By reusing 90% of the material, the project is expected to save about $5 million compared to traditional road repair methods.
The process also reduces the need to haul materials in and out of the work zone, which shortens construction time and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
UDOT said the process is especially useful on roads with pavement issues like cracks and depressions.
For example, it’s a way to maintain rural roads that have lower traffic volumes than major urban routes, but still play an important role in connecting small communities across the state.
The department doesn’t use the repaving process on high-volume roads like Interstate 80 and 15 because it requires one-way alternating traffic during construction.
