Engineers for the Utah Department of Transportation are exploring ways to eliminate waste of old existing asphalt pavement through a new recycling process. And they seem to be having some success, rasising hopes for savings of taxpayers’ money as well as road materials in years to come. CENTER LINE, UDOT’s monthly publication, notes that since the advent of road building, thousands of tons of asphalt pavement “have been wasted by plowing it into embankments or burying it in waste location.” In the asphalt recycling process now being tested, old pavement is removed from a roadway and taken to a central location. Here the material is crushed and sent through a drum dryer mixing process in which needed asphalt or additives are introudced. The result is an asphalt which is ready for highway use, The first application of the recylced asphalt pavement in Utah was accomplished in October of 1975, according to CENTER LINE. A 40(Hoot-long test section was placed on I-70 near Cove Fort, using recycled asphalt. “Today, after nearly 10 months of use, a visual inspection of the test section as well as actual test samples taken at various time periods show that the recycled pavement is performing as well as the new pavement placed adjacent to the test section.” Wade Betenson, UDOT pavement design engineer, explained that recycling offers cost savings to the state and federal governments. Two natural resources are saved – aggregate (gravel) and asphalt, Thus the impact on the environment stands to be lessened through less scarring of the terrain in development of gravel pits. Mineral aggregates are becoming increasingly more difficult to obtain, says Mr. Betenson. “ln some areas of the state, aggregate sources for roadway surfacing have been depleted or nearly depleted, We are also experiencing more difficulty in purchasing asphalt cement for the mix, and its cost is increasing,” He predicts that mineral aggregates will not be available in many parts of Utah in the next 20 years, A drawback to recycling noted by the UDOT people is that the process creates some air pollution during the heating and mixing of old asphalt pavement. Nevada, the first state to use the recylcing process, already has made progress in combatting the air pollution. Engineers seem not to regard the problem as insurmountable. Asphalt pavement recycling appears to be a necessity of the future. The Herald commends the Department of Transportation for being on top of the program. We encourage continued efforts to make the process process, as warranted, a standard part of road-building in this state. What People Are Saying “When have you ever seen a report from a consumer ‘pr0tection’ group ‘ by any name – pointing out the increased living costs to all consumers caused by union featherbedding, make-work rules or excessive wage demands without increased productivity?” –Allan Grant, president of the Farm Bureau Federation, on the effects of a Teamster strike of ,California processing plants which left thousands of tons of fruit rotting on the ground.