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| FDR Program Has Positive Impact on the Fort Worth Streets and Roadways | |
To create a longer service life and eliminate continuous pothole-filling, cities and counties across the country are adopting programs to recycle their streets and roads with cement. In Fort Worth, full reconstruction of failed asphalt roads currently costs the city about $380,000 per lane mile and requires replacing curbs, gutters, sidewalks and driveway approaches; by comparison, completely rebuilding a street using full-depth reclamation (FDR) with cement costs in the range of $250,000 per lane mile. However, with FDR with cement, the city is often able to keep existing curbs, gutters and sidewalks, cutting the cost even further. 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 619. lane-miles — or 4.72 million square yards — of roadway using FDR with cement, according to Najib Fares, Infrastructure Manager for the City’s Transportation & Public Works Department. In addition to making good economic sense, recycling rutted and failing roadways with FDR is also better for the environment. 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. Since FDR allows old roadway materials to be reused, the need for new raw materials is greatly reduced and previously-used materials are no longer sent to already-overburdened landfills. The FDR process also reduces the need for bringing new materials to the construction site and hauling old materials out, thus reducing fuel consumption and cutting down on vehicle emissions. “This new cement stabilized base, a product of in-place recycling, provides a strong, durable foundation for the chosen pavement surface,” said Matthew Singel, Program Manager of the Cement Council of Texas. “In addition to the reduced construction time and conservation of natural resources, the FDR process provides superior performance to minimize the need for maintenance going forward.” This philosophy has resulted in significant savings to Fort Worth in their annual road maintenance program. This savings translates into more roads being properly maintained per budget year. The implementation of FDR for reconstruction of failed asphalt pavements offers the City an estimated $117,000 per lane mile over conventional methods or a 42% savings. Rather than resting on his laurels after 20 years of working for the city of Fort Worth — 12 as the City’s infrastructure manager — Mr. Fares refuses to be satisfied with the status quo. He continuously evaluates his programs to ensure they provide the best value and performance. “We’ve tried several processes for street rehab, but found FDR with cement to be the best fit,” Fares says. Fares’ implementation of FDR to recycle city streets for the Annual Street Maintenance Program for the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is a winner of the 2008 Portland Cement Association Sustainable Leadership Awards. These awards honor public officials who utilize cement or cement-based products to achieve sustainable benefits. “Fares has created a superior street maintenance and improvement program by implementing techniques that save construction time, money and natural resources while providing long-term performance solutions,” concluded Singel. “The program has positively impacted the street and roadway infrastructure programs for the City of Fort Worth, Texas.”
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