Oklahoma counties rent road recyclers to optimize maintenance program

OKMULGEE COUNTY, Okla. - Located less than 30 miles south of Tulsa, Okla., Okmulgee County shares many of the same concerns of countless other counties throughout the United States. Though primarily rural, Okmulgee County still needs to keep up with the unrelenting demands of road maintenance on a limited budget. This struggle is nothing new to the county administration scene, but how Okmulgee County is dealing with this issue is a testament to common sense and frugality.

By Mickey Cereoli
National Sales Support Manager - Landfill and Stabilization
BOMAG Americas, Inc.

It’s sound. It’s proven. And if done properly, full-depth reclamation of asphalt is just as effective as total reconstruction - but as much as half the cost.

Roughly 30 years ago, BOMAG pioneered some of the first full-depth asphalt recyclers in the road-building industry. This was not only a new piece of equipment, it was the introduction of a new concept.

The idea was intriguing enough. Instead of investing time, effort and materials in totally reconstructing an asphalt road from the ground up, full-depth asphalt recycling would permit the reuse of the previous road surface and sub-base to create a strong foundation for a new roadway.

Though recycling offered a revolutionary alternative that promised a tremendous cost savings, contractors, county engineers and state officials alike were skeptical. How could something that costs less be just as effective as the established reconstruction method? The task of selling the concept proved to be an uphill battle.