Because it’s good for the environment, easy on the landfills, and good for business, Tucker Paving Inc. is big on recycling construction materials — asphalt and concrete especially.
We recycle these materials from our own jobs and accept clean asphalt and concrete debris (such as waste underground pipes) from others. After we’ve taken these materials (usually in large chunks or in a not-so-refined state), broken them down into very small pieces (aggregate), and removed material that doesn’t belong (such as rebar), we’ll use what we need ourselves and offer the balance for sale to the public.
In a previous blog item, we touched on some of the ways recycled asphalt millings can be used, but what about aggregate from recycled concrete waste? It doesn’t take long to discover that the possible projects for recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) far exceed those for recycled asphalt.
Crushed concrete — the recycled kind is much less expensive than new concrete — can be used as a base under country roads, driveways, patios, and structural foundations and basements (depending on building code requirements). It can be used as a land filler (under proper conditions) and as inexpensive structural filler.
Concrete aggregate also can be used for walking paths, raised garden beds, terraces, retaining walls, and drainage applications. You can use it as a base for decorative outdoor border blocks and, depending on the refinement, as a good substitute for more expensive landscaping stone and even mulch.
RCA often is used as a substitute for gravel in new construction projects, reducing the need for gravel mining, and, if it’s free of contaminants, it can be used as the dry aggregate for new concrete.
If you can use some crushed concrete (or asphalt millings or even some fill dirt when we have it) for a large construction project or perhaps a smaller project for your home or business, let us know here at Tucker Paving. Your best contact is Barret Tucker, and the best way to reach him is by e-mail at barret@tuckerpaving.com.
