Stephen Vance, Staff
Meaford council has given initial approval to a staff recommendation to test a new road surface product on four sections of road at a cost of $505,000.
At their May 14 meeting council was told that staff have been exploring road surfacing options, and had been in contact with a company called Superior Road Products (SRP) who have a proprietary product known as Reclamite.
“Reclamite is composed of petroleum maltene fractions. Maltene fractions are components of all asphalt cement, and are responsible for the ability of asphalt to remain flexible. By adding back the missing maltene fractions to recycled asphalt product (RAP), Reclamite re-introduces its ability to be tight, cohesive and flexible, as well as being waterproof,” Darcy Chapman, Director of Financial Services and Infrastructure Management told council in his report.
Chapman told council that in addition to offering the flexibility that is lacking in tar and chip road surfaces often used on rural roads, the Reclamite and recycled asphalt process offers a service life of 10-12 years; less than the 15-20 years of a new asphalt surface, but significantly longer service life than a tar and chip surface.
“Given this, the product has the potential to be used as an alternative to surface treatment and also used to enhance ride quality on bad roads that have a mid-term need for underground infrastructure rehabilitation. In this scenario, SRP’s process would be used to line up the timing of infrastructure projects to ensure that new asphalt roads are not trenched or destroyed within the first 8-10 years of their life expectancy,” Chapman told council in his report.
Chapman said that four sections of road will be included in the trial: Story Book Park Road (two sections), Burton and Farrar streets, and Concession 10/28th Ave. E.
Funding for the half-million dollar trial will come from part of the 2017 surplus ($425,000), the Roads & Drainage Reserve Fund ($28,700), as well as a contribution of $51,300 from the City of Owen Sound toward the Concession 10/28th Ave. E. trial.
Council was told that a number of municipalities have used the Reclamite process, including Kingston, Mississauga, Parry Sound, and also the District of Muskoka, where Meaford staff travelled to view roads that were surfaced with the product.
“Staff viewed the product on May 2, 2018 during a number of site visits within the Muskoka area and were impressed by its application and durability,” said Chapman, who provided a photo of a road with the surface application. “This road section, which was completed six years ago, has a traffic count of approximately 400 during the winter and over 2,000 during the summer. It also is a main access point for the public works yard, garbage depot, and a quarry.”
Part of Chapman’s recommendation sought approval from council to sole-source the supply, delivery, and application of the recycled asphalt and Reclamite. Typically a municipality will issue a tender seeking bids on projects, however in this case Chapman says there is only one supplier.
“SRP is the only approved distributor of Reclamite in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I. There are no other maltene based rejuvenators in the Ontario marketplace,” noted Chapman in his report to council. “SRP’s supplier, Tricor Emulsions in California, owns a rare napthenic crude oil source (as opposed to typical crude oil which is paraffinic in nature) that allows for easy extraction of the maltene fractions, allowing them to take the product to the market place at a reasonable price point.”
Council was enthusiastic about the potential for the trial, and unanimously supported the recommendation from staff.
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Sections of Roads to be Included in the Trial & Why (from staff report to council)
Storybook Park Road – Grey Road 11 to Eastern dead end, 2000 meters, AADT 133
This road section was pulverized in 2017 and was previously a surface treated road. There are known drainage issues. The road largely services residential properties however there is a farming operation located nearest the intersection which may have increased the wear on the prior surface treatment causing it to fail earlier than normal. Major drainage work would not be completed in an effort to understand if this product has an application for current rural gravel roads with low traffic counts and road base issues/failures allowing a surface to be provided without the expensive full reconstruction costs necessary.
Storybook Park Road -10th Concession to Grey Road 11, 2700 meters, AADT 222
This road section currently has surface treatment but is significantly failing in many areas. The road section is used in traffic flow between Grey Road 11 and Highway 6/10 and also has a traffic count double that of the other section of Story Book Park Road. Completing both section in conjunction with the resurfacing of Concession 10 this year will mean the entire block of roads north of Grey Road 18 will be in very good shape.
Burton and Farrar Streets – James Cres. to Union St., 340 meters, 180 AADT
This is an urban road section that eventually needs to be fully reconstructed to an urban standard with curb, gutter, storm sewer, sidewalks, sanitary sewers and upgraded water main. The full urbanization will cost in excess of $1 million and is currently not in the ten year plan and has been rejected multiple times through grant applications. The road surface has completely failed and poses a safety concern for motorists and pedestrians alike. This road section would be used as a test case for an urban/semi urban application.
Concession 10/28th Ave E – Superior St. to 8th St. E., 830 meters, 2,070 AADT
This is a high traffic road that has failing pavement. The road has recently been reduced to 60km given the wheel rutting and pavement condition. Testing the RAP process on this section will allow staff to understand the ability for this process to be used on higher traffic roads. Other alternatives including using a slurry with an asphalt overlay, micro surfacing and full reconstruction were all reviewed with staff from both Meaford and Owen Sound agreeing that this solution is the most cost effective at this time. The existing surface will be pulverized and additional granular added to ensure the road can be shaped and crowned properly.
Although the safety and ride quality would be greatly improved with a new surface, staff are recommending that the existing temporary 60km limit would remain in effect until such time that a full reconstruction could occur allowing vertical realignment at the intersection with Grey Road 5 and guiderail installations at various locations.
Photo: A section of road in Muskoka paved with the Reclamite process viewed by municipal staff while investigating road surface options.
