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| Fort Worth spent $4 million on FDR projects this year. |
Since
1996, Fort Worth’s street maintenance program has saved taxpayers millions
of dollars by recycling the city’s deteriorating and failed asphalt streets
with cement. The city has rebuilt 296 lane-miles or 2.26 million sq. yd. of
roadway using full-depth recycling (FDR) with cement, according to Najib Fares,
the city’s street program manager. “We’ve tried several processes
but found this to be the best fit,” he says. The city is spending about
40% of its annual $10-million street maintenance budget on the cement recycling.
Full-depth recycling (FDR) with cement often replaces the traditional but burdensome
and costly method of full reconstruction, which requires completely ripping
out the old, worn out roadway and replacing it. Full reconstruction currently
costs the city about $278,500 per lane mile and requires replacing curbs, gutters,
sidewalks and driveway approaches. By comparison, completely rebuilding a street
and all the concrete elements with cement full-depth recycling only costs $200,000,
a $78,500 cost-savings. But, say officials, the city routinely keeps 40% to
90% of the existing curbs, gutters and sidewalks, further cutting the cost to
$83,050 per lane mile. The cost-savings is $116,950 per lane mile. “By
just replacing what needs to be replaced, we’re saving a lot of money,”
says Dan Callaway, Fort Worth’s senior construction inspector. The average
cost for FDR with cement ranges from $1.95 to $2.45 per sq. yd.
©2005 Road Recycling Council
P.O. Box 17362 - Cambridge, MA 02141
phone: (857) 998-0119 fax: (617) 547-0042
www.roadrecycling.org