China-based company CSCEC Road & Bridge has reportedly completed more than 1,000 key projects globally and is now planning to add recycling capabilities to its existing asphalt mixing plants in order to meet new environmental guidelines and substantially reduce costs.

The company has been utilising Ammann Uniglobe asphalt mixing plants in some of its projects. For one key road expansion, a Uniglobe plant produced 7,000 t in a single day and averaged 5,000 t per day during the project. Both numbers are thought to be all-time production highs for China.

CSCEC currently owns four productive Ammann Uniglobe plants that have a great deal of life left in them. This is said to be the reason why the company decided to add recycling capabilities to the plants.

According to CSCEC, the company is now paying more attention to recycling technology as more and more public private partnership (PPP) projects are coming out. The company further highlighted that adding RAP capability is considerably less expensive than purchasing a new plant with recycling ability, plus there are environmental benefits and other cost savings.

Ammann has also been upgrading its asphalt mixing plants regularly. One of the improvements includes the addition of an RAH drum that heats the RAP before depositing it in the mixer.

RAP needs a separate RAH drum because it must be gently preheated, said Ammann, in order to prevent its bitumen from being damaged due to overheating. The bitumen is valuable and preserving it would be a cost saver.

After preheating, the RAP is deposited in the mixer, where it is blended with the hot virgin aggregate. The result is a quality mix with a high percentage of recyclables.

Website: www.ammann-group.com