News - Local News

POSTED: Friday, Jul. 18, 2008

Ferndale recycles Church Road

City to save about $50,000 reusing street’s materials

FERNDALE — The city will save about $50,000 on its project to improve visibility on Church Road by using a pavement recycling method new to Whatcom County.

Crews will reuse the existing pavement and gravel instead of hauling new materials in, saving a lot of money, and minimizing the impact on the environment.

Developers Bill Kramer of Kramer Construction and Ramon Llanos of Land Development Engineering and Surveying Inc. pitched the idea of recycling the road to the city.

“I suggested the idea because environmentally, it makes sense,” Llanos said. “Why waste perfectly good gravel and materials? Why spend resources exporting it away? Why not just reuse the pavement that is already there?” Church Road will be closed until Friday, Aug. 1, for the $400,000 project, which includes various improvements, such as lowering a 600-foot section just south of Whatcom County Fire District 7 Station 46 by one foot.

Generally when the profile of a road is changed, crews excavate the road and haul the excess material away, and then bring in new gravel, pavement and cement, which is costly, Llanos said.

With the recycling process, crews pulverize the road, then use excess material to fill ditches and shape the road, he said. Next, gravel and cement powder are mixed in with the pulverized material and water in a machine called a road reclaimer. In seven days, the road is dry and ready for traffic.

Ferndale will save about $50,000 by recycling the road, said city engineer Bill Henry.

“I like doing things that are innovative and environmentally friendly,” Henry said. “We would have to haul in 10,000 tons of material and put it on trucks and use up gas and other resources otherwise. None of that is good for the environment.”

Llanos, who has a master’s degree in engineering from the University of British Columbia, said recycled roads are used frequently in Canada and in the eastern United States.

He said people have been hesitant to do it in the past because it’s different, but as the economy slows down, he expects it to be more common.

“Nobody wants to be the guinea pig, but now … the cost of gravel is high, and it becomes even more expensive because of transporting it. It just makes so much more economic sense.”