Road recyclers work by cutting, pulverizing and mixing an old or deteriorated asphalt pavement for reuse as a road base material. The pulverized material may be mixed with a binding agent or additional granular material for improved road base performance. Okmulgee County uses this process for both hot mix asphalt and chip and seal road surfaces. "Actually, we've recycled asphalt roads for quite some time in Okmulgee County," said Henson. "I've been in office for three years and we've used recycling the entire time. The only major change in our program has been in the recycler technology itself."

Now with the new BOMAG unit, we've recycled as much as three miles per day.

Renting the recyclers from G.W. Van Keppel Equipment in Tulsa, Okla., the Okmulgee County Commission was recently introduced to the new BOMAG MPH454R road recycler/stabilizer. The MPH454R includes 196 cutting teeth that are strategically positioned for uniform material pulverizing, sizing and mixing with minimum vibration and shock load to the rotor and drive components. With a maximum cutting depth of 15 inches and the ability to produce an eight-foot cut, the MPH454R is BOMAG's largest, most productive recycler.

"We first rented the big BOMAG machine last year," said Henson. "Our operators really liked using this machine because it cut deeper and wider, but also faster than smaller units we've used in the past. Bottom line is it just allowed us to do more work in a shorter period of time, which means less expense. With the smaller machine, depending upon the road thickness, we could grind up about one mile in an eight-hour day. Now with the new BOMAG unit, we've recycled as much as three miles per day."

After selecting a stretch of road to recycle, the district crew usually grinds an entire lane section at once before moving onto the next step in the repair. "We can't close an entire road down, so we just do one lane and finish it before moving to the other side," said Henson. "But the recycler doesn't throw material, so there is no real safety risk to the public. Traffic can safely pass around the machine while it's grinding without a problem"

Depending on the quality of the previous road surface, aggregate and/or a binding agent may be added to the material as it is being ground and mixed by the rotor. "We typically add aggregate to provide for a better base, but sometimes, if the material is still in good shape, we won't add anything," Henson explained. With the new recycler, the surface usually requires only one pass for proper base material preparation.