Sustainable Pavement Treatment Approaches for County Roads

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Sustainable Pavement Treatment Approaches for County Roads Program allows the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works (Public Works) to maintain, rehabilitate, and construct the largest and most diverse municipal road network within the State of California, in a fiscally effective and environmentally responsible manner. The Program operates on the basic principles of utilizing taxpayer dollars more wisely by (1) preserving roads that are in good condition, first; (2) using recycled materials, such as used tires, or aggregates from existing pavement in treatment selections; and (3) reutilizing and modifying existing road materials in-place by recycling the pavement or strengthening the subgrade beneath the pavement. This three-pronged approach is in alignment with the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy usage, construction costs and impacts to landfills and communities. The implementation of the Program over the last five years has resulted in treating an additional 100 million square feet of pavement, reduced energy use by 81%, reduced GHG emissions by 87%, and savings over $20 million (which was reinvested back into the road network) when compared to past practices. In addition, 577,000 waste tires were repurposed and diverted away from landfills.