Community

Jul 25

Written by: Julie Jarnot
7/25/2012 9:50 AM 

Growing up as a young child I remember hearing about the state of Minnesota really having only two seasons, not four, which I was learning about in school and I was always a bit puzzled. Now as I'm more mature or should I say older I really understand the phrase.

I am experiencing a road project construction zone right in front of my own home and throughout my neighborhood. We are getting new streets which was very much needed as we had lots of pot holes, cracks and crumbling tar. It has been fun to see their progress daily and realize that they work extremely long hours every day.

How many of you know that they actually recycle the tar and/or pavement during these road construction projects? I just learned and became aware about this through my own neighborhood project. Asphalt pavement can be recycled and reused and if offers the same durability as pavement constructed with new materials. The paving contractor came in with a big machine that ground up the existing pavement that was later packed down for a base. As you can see I'm not really familiar with the name or type of machine as I'm not affiliated with a construction company or a husband in that business. But I do hope you were able to follow my thought :)

Forms of asphalt recycling date back to about 1915, and it became more popular in the 1970's. Today the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Highway Administration estimate that more than 80% of the 90 million tons of asphalt pavement is reclaimed/recycled each year in the U.S. That is very exciting as we all know asphalt doesn't do well in landfills.

Even though I can't visit 511mn.org to see if I have a traffic delay in my own neighborhood it has been heart-warming to see my neighbors slowing down and being very patient with this project that is causing us some delays and detours in our day. I truly live in a Minnesota-Nice neighborhood.