Cold Recycling

The increasing availability of material from the milling of pavements (RAP), requires the search for solutions suitable for its reuse on a large scale.
The cold recycled bituminous mixes offer the possibility of using maximum RAP percentages (close to 100% of the aggregate fraction) for performance that require in-depth analysis for their optimal use.

To this goal, the aim of the study carried out was to investigate – in view of recent technological developments (both as regards the machinery used and the binders and additives) – the actual differences in performance between cold recycled mixtures and traditional hot bituminous mixtures produced with hard polymer modified bitumen, in order to proceed with their correct use in the design of the road pavements.

From an economic and environmental point of view, the cold recycling is really more advantageous because – working without heating the materials and thus being able to use 100% of the recycled materials – it ensures excellent performance while minimizing costs and guaranteeing high eco-sustainability.
The cold recycling represents in this way the right compromise between economic and environmental requirements and this is why – especially in recent years – this technique has been applied in many areas with the ultimate goal of increasingly and increasingly encouraging the construction eco-sustainable road infrastructure. As far as the environmental aspect is concerned, in fact, with cold recycling it is possible to remark not only the absence of bitumen fumes, but it is also possible to work at room temperature, avoiding in this way the exposure to high temperatures, one of the typical aspects of hot bituminous mixtures paving.