astec hot mix mag vol19 no1

VOLUME 19 NUMBER 1 - 2014PUBLISHED BY ASTEC INDUSTRIES, INC. YOUR DEPENDABLE SOURCE FOR NEWS ABOUT HMA TECHNOLOGY

Astec’s innovative drum designs handle RAP usage from 0 to 100%Heatec delivers the Barracuda™ colloid mill for asphalt emulsion

Hawaiian HMA producer uses Astec’s portable plant to bridge the Big IslandAstec’s patent-pending V-Pack™ Stack Temperature Control System

13609_Astec_HotMixV19N1.indd 1 2/18/14 11:23 AM

Call Joe Clancy Mobile: 423.240.6968

astecused.comCHECK OUT ALL NEW FEATURES AND LISTINGS DAILY ON-LINE

Astec® T-400 Portable Six Pack® Plant2000 Astec T-400 Double Barrel® drum mixer w/ Gencor Burner. 5 bin cold feed system, 67K baghouse, Astec control house with TC2000 PLC controls. [2] vertical AC tanks with agitators. Burke heater, calibration tank. 2 bin recycle system and [3] Stansteel 200 ton silos. ONLINE #691

ADM® Model 225 Mile Maker Plant‘04. 5 bin cold feed system, 4’ x 10’ screen, 7’4” x 30’ drum with 1/2” shell, 4 trunnions, slinger feeder, tandem axle. Hauck Eco Star 75 burner, combo oil/gas. 6’ x 16’ mixing drum with 3/8” shell, 4 trunnions, tandem axle. 42k cfm baghouse, [2] 100 ton silos. PLC controls, [2] portable 20k gal. tanks, recycle bin. ONLINE #706

Astec® Relocatable 450TPH

9’ Double Barrel® PlantComplete plant with a 9’ x 47’ Double Barrel® drum mixer, Hauck® 150 mbtu burner, [4] Astec® 200 ton Astec® silos, drag, scale, control house with PMII controls, recycle bin, and Heatec® equipment. ONLINE #475

Astec® 8’ X 40' Double Barrel® PlantVery Good ConditionAvailable Now...#7058' x 40' Double Barrel New in 1998. 2012 gear box, 2012 tips, Hauck 580 burn-er, 1/2" thick inner shell.

Baghouse New in 1998. 58,000 cfm with cyclone. 14' x 24' dust screw to Double Barrel. 70'-2" footprint.

Five-bin Cold Feed System

Baghouse 58,000 cfm bag-house. 1998 model. Hori-zontal cyclone lined with ceramic.

[2] 30K gal. Vertical AC Tanks, Hot Oil Heater with 3 pumps, Calibration Tank

[2] Astec 200 Ton Silos with ceramic cones and batcher

[2] bin Recycle with Crusher

Controls 2012

Astec® 8’ X 35' Double Barrel® PlantVery Good ConditionAvailable Now...#7038' x 35' Double Barrel 2006 inner drum and outer shell. 2013 tips in mixer. Quad axle. 2012 gear box.

Controls 2012 PMII Control House 2012 new Power Rm w/Square D switch gear and Danfoss controls. New A/C in '10. Includes a Restroom.

Five-bin Cold Feed System

Baghouse PBH 58 with two extra modules, 19 total. '12 hopper under baghouse. Includes a cyclone.

[2] 30K gal. Vertical AC Tanks, Hot Oil Heater, Preheater, 20K gal. Vertical Fuel Tank

[2] Astec 200 Ton Silos with ceramic cones and batcher

[2] bin Recycle with Crusher

Zoning and Permitting • Retrofits and Upgrades • Warm Mix Green System Installations • Controls Upgrades • Batch-to-Drum Conversions Dismantles and Relocations • Set-ups and Repairs • Painting • Shipping • Engineering and Design — Call Joe Clancy 423.240.6968

NEW HM USED FULL PG AD.indd 1 2/19/14 9:20 AM13609_Astec_HotMixV19N1.indd 2 2/19/14 10:35 AM

ON THE FRONT COVERLocated in the province of Quebec, Canada, just south of Montreal, DJL Construction operates a portable 400 TPH (362 MTPH) 8 ft x 38 ft (2.44 m x 11.58 m) Astec Double Barrel® plant. The plant features the 72,589 CFM Express Baghouse with inertial dust separator and the Phoenix® Talon burner.

Here’s how to get all future issues of Hot-Mix Magazine absolutely free!

To have your name added to our mailing list at no charge, just call 423.867.4210 and ask for Diane Hunt,

or you can email your request to [email protected].

10 26

3834

5 Point of View Malcolm Swanson, President of Astec, Inc.

6 Ready, Set, Produce Canadian contractor uses portable plant for highway project

10 Voyager 120 Compact, highly portable plant has ability to run up to 30 percent RAP

12 Primed & Ready Astec goes hands-on for expanded tech training

14 Meet the Barracuda™ Heatec delivers colloid mill for asphalt emulsions

18 The Key to High-RAP Mix Production Astec’s patent-pending V-Pack™ Stack Temperature Control System

20 Milling Best Practices Road constructions’ smooth future

22 Size Advantage Paving contractor finds highway class machine in Carlson CP-100

26 Modern Innovations on the Big Island Hawaiian HMA producer and Astec’s portable plant make big waves

30 Taking RAP From 0 to 100 Astec’s innovative drum designs increase RAP usage

34 Meeting the Challenges: RAP, RAS & WMA 38 Turning Cast-Off Into Cash Texas HMA producer saves money by recycling on-site materials

41 Mixing It Up CEI concrete plants and Astec’s pellet plant

43 Hot-Mix News What’s happening at Astec Industries

46 Man on a Mission Walter Bruning’s three decades of experience is a benefit to customers

HOT-MIX MAGAZINE 3 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 1

VOLUME 19 NUMBER 1Copyright © 2014

Hot-Mix Magazine is published by the family of companies known

as Astec Industries, Inc. Our mission is to provide members of the HMA industry with up-to-date

news about HMA and WMA technology and the recent advances

in the industry.

Editorial StaffEditor:

Donna Campbell

Staff Photographers: Paul Shelton (Astec)

Brandon Meredith (Astec) Scott Lee (Roadtec) Sam Anselmi (Astec)

Subscription Services: Diane Hunt

Directors of Advertising: Paul Shelton (Astec) Frank Eley (Heatec) Eric Baker (Roadtec)

Editorial Board: Dr. J. Don Brock

Ben Brock Tom Baugh Paul Shelton

Norman Smith

Contact Information If you would like to be added to our free subscription list,

just call, fax, or write:

Hot-Mix Magazine c/o Astec

P.O. Box 72787 Chattanooga, TN 37407 Phone: 423.867.4210

Fax: 423.867.3570

Website: www.astecinc.comwww.hotmixmag.com



POINT OF VIEW

T hat our roads, from local streets to interstates, are in sad shape is not news to anyone with a driver’s license. How we got here is almost

as obvious. With government budgets in trouble at every level, money for roads is hard to come by. At the same time, the price of materials, liquid asphalt and rock, continues to rise.

In this situation, it would be great to have an increase in the gas tax, a new highway bill, or a completely overhauled funding mechanism. I am confident that some of these solutions will happen. When that may occur is what concerns me. The question, then, is what can we do between now and the arrival of effective funding means?

I think contractor opinions are better sources of wisdom concerning what we can do during this funding drought than anything I can offer. What several contractors have told me can be summed up by saying “we (the industry) need to do what we do better, especially when it comes to recycling and efficiencies at the plants.” My first reaction was that would be tough. After all, how much better can plants get? We have already come a long way on both of those fronts. If that isn’t enough, I have also been told that we need better control of the plant process. No pressure!

ANSWERING THE CALLAlthough plants today are considerably more sophisticated and efficient than they were just 10 or 15 years ago, the message is clear that they need to be better. We have responded to such needs before. For instance, when Astec was confronted with tighter NOX emissions limitations in California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District around 1990, we responded by introducing the industry’s first Flue Gas Recirculation System (FGR) system. It worked very well and became the standard solution to the California NOX requirements for several years. We were proud of the accomplishment. We have since replaced that technology with burners that don’t need FGR to meet even tighter requirements. It’s time to step up again. When I look at the technology in my car, I realize that it’s so smart it’s scary. So, yes, there are ways to do it still better.

One such opportunity is burner control. Ever since the introduction of counterflow drying technology (a long time ago) there has really been no effective automatic burner control. There may be a button on the screen that says “auto” but the burner will only run on automatic when it doesn’t need active control. We need to do better than that;

so we are. Feed-forward burner control, based on real-time data on moisture contents of aggregates and RAP, can be accomplished by calculating the heat demand and flowing the amount of fuel needed.

We could do a lot better on fuel efficiency, too. Why do we want to keep baghouse temperature at about 240 to 250 degrees F (116 to 121 degrees C) as a minimum? It’s because we need to avoid mud and corrosion caused by condensation, right? Condensation in a baghouse is bad news. However, if we really look at the conditions under which condensation occurs, we realize that we could very often run the temperature down to 150 degrees

F (66 degrees C) without a problem. So, it seems that we are often leaving about 100 degrees worth of fuel energy on the table—not a good thing. By changing our control from looking at temperature to looking at dew point, we can keep away from the mud while capturing all of the available energy.

Another place where we can be better is control of asphalt content. At US $600 per ton, precise control is pretty important. Real-time measurements of moisture and the AC content of the RAP enable us to be more precise with the amount of virgin AC we inject.

ASTEC SMART PLANTWe have responded to our contractor friends with the Astec Smart Plant. The Smart Plant is the same highly reliable and durable Astec Double Barrel® that’s been around for years, but much smarter. More information is collected by sensors and processed by the control system. This enables the Smart Plant to do more with less and save money, enabling the current reduced funding to pave more lane miles.

As we responded to the expressed need for the ability to use more RAP, we found that we can do better there, too. The capability of plants to make high-quality mixes with very high RAP percentages, up to 100 percent, has resulted. Combining the enhanced recycling capabilities with the Smart Plant technology is more than just a bridge to better times.

As is so often the case, the great insights of our contractor friends are leading to some big improvements in plant design that will make our industry more competitive and, therefore, better able to weather lean times. When the funding situation improves, the advances that have come about because of the struggle will still be here and we will all be better for it.

WORDS FROM MALCOLM SWANSONPresident of Astec, Inc.

Hard Times Make Us Better

Malcolm Swanson, President, Astec, Inc.


Ready, Set, Produce

Canadian contractor uses portable plant for highway work

Located in the province of Quebec, Canada, just south of Montreal, DJL Construction operates a portable 400 TPH (362 MTPH) 8 ft x 38 ft (2.44 m x 11.58 m) Astec Double Barrel® plant.



L ocated in the province of Quebec, Canada, just south of Montreal, DJL Construction

operates a portable 400 TPH (362 MTPH) 8 ft x 38 ft (2.44 m x 11.58 m) Astec Double Barrel® plant. Purchased in 2012, the portable plant has been stationary, working on highway projects.

“The plant is stationed in our quarry working mainly on two highway jobs,” said Christian Fortin, equipment manager with DJL Construction. “We’ve been working on Highway 40 for the past two

years. We are looking forward to testing the portability of the plant once the projects conclude.”

BEST FEATURESThe ability to use recycle in the Astec Double Barrel® and the PMIII controls are some of the best fea-

tures of the plant, stated Fortin.

“Currently, the limit for recycle in mixes is 20 percent. To take advan-tage of reclaimed asphalt pave-ment (RAP), we have two RAP bins to use with the Astec warm mix system,” said Fortin. “When it came

to the controls, we were using a Quebec-made system. It was a first for us to purchase a manufacturer’s system. The PMIII Continuous Mix Blending Control is new to us, and we are very pleased that the user interface is in French.”

Other plant components:

• Portable Self-Erecting Surge Bin and 36 in (91 cm) drag conveyor

• Portable 10 ft x 14 ft (3.05 m x 4.27 m) five-bin cold feed system

Astec met the startup timeframe for the highway project with a quick

turnaround for setup.

The portable Astec Double Barrel® plant has a Portable Self-Erecting Surge Bin and a 36 in (91 cm) drag conveyor.

The portable Astec Double Barrel® plant has a Heatec 30,000 gal (113,562 l) Heli-Tank and a Heatec 30,000 gal (113,562 l) portable tank with 6 in (15.24 cm) insulation.

The portable Astec Double Barrel® plant has a Heatec 30,000 gal (113,562 l) Heli-Tank and a Heatec 30,000 gal (113,562 l) portable tank with 6 in (15.24 cm) insulation.



• Portable 10 ft x 14 ft (3.05 m x 4.27 m) dual-bin recycle feed system

• Phoenix® Talon burner

• Portable 72,589 CFM Express Baghouse with inertial dust separator

• 30,000-gal (113,562 l) Heatec Heli-Tank

TIME CHALLENGETime was of the essence to set up the portable plant. DJL Construction was to begin work on Highway 40 in August 2012. The Astec plant arrived for set up in July. Two Astec technicians were on-site to assist with the process.

“We underestimated the time it takes to set up a new plant,” said Fortin. “Astec handled the chal-lenge and we were ready to start the project on time; Astec worked through a short turnaround time and got the plant started.”

Fortin shared: “Astec’s equip-ment is quality; it’s heavy-duty and delivers. It’s also benefit for us to be able to attend the Astec Customer Schools. The hands-on training adds to our operational expertise.

OUTLOOK FOR 2014According to Fortin, the need for road building and infrastructure exists in Quebec. The projects depend on available monies in the budget for the work to be com-pleted.

“Once budgets and timing are back on track, we’ll be here with our two Astec portable plants ready to work,” said Fortin. “Portability allows us to move with the market to other jobsites; we’re looking forward to our next project and the opportunity to push the plant to full production.”

FOR INFORMATIONContact Diane Hunt

[email protected]

The 10 ft x 40 ft (3.05 m x 12.19 m) Power Center uses the PMIII Continuous Mix Blending Control with a user interface in French.

The 10 ft x 40 ft (3.05 m x 12.19 m) Power Center uses the PMIII Continuous Mix Blending Control with a user interface in French.


Voyager 120Voyager 120

The Astec Voyager 120 is built around a counter flow drum featuring Astec V-Fights.

Compact, highly portable plant has ability to run up to 30 percent RAP

Control Cab/PLC Control4-Bin Feed System

Attached Drag and Batcher

30% Recycle Inlet System Folding Handrails & Stack

Dust Return SystemAir Ride Suspension

Counter Flow Drum / V-Flights

Gravity Take Up With Mounted Direct Drive

S-Turn for Proper Tracking

Folding Conveyor

13609_Astec_HotMixV19N1.indd 10 2/18/14 12:30 PM


A stec, Inc. introduces the 120 MTPH (132 TPH) Voyager plant. The Voyager

120 offers a compact, highly por-table design. Unique for a plant in this class is the ability to run up to 30 percent reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). In addition, it is backed by the best service sup-port in the industry.

VOYAGER 120 FEATURESThe Astec Voyager 120 is built around a counter flow drum fea-turing Astec V-fights. The V-flights provide greater uniformity of the aggregate veil during the drying process, which results in better heat transfer, a reduction of fuel use, and increased productivity.

To enhance portability, a hydrauli-cally driven swing out drag and

batcher can be set and ready to go in about 10 minutes. Other fea-tures include a reverse pulse bag-house, a controls cab with fully automated PLC controls, gravity take-up with direct drive, air ride suspension, and up to five cold feed bins and two RAP bins.

VOYAGER 120 MARKETAccording to Andy Guth, manager of sales and marketing for Astec, Inc., the Voyager 120 is designed

to round out the bottom end of the plant lineup, and to be an export plant for Astec in markets where needed.

“We’re offering a small, por-table plant with 30-percent recycle capability,” said Guth. “The Voyager 120 will be instrumental in markets, like Latin America, where contractors do a small job, transport, and do another small job … always on the move. These jobs handle 2,000 to 5,000 tons

(1,814 to 4,535 tonnes) of mate-rial. The availability of recycle will depend on the market.”

Astec executive vice president Steve Claude noted, “Astec is excited about the opportuni-ties for the Voyager 120. Initial feedback from the industry has been extremely positive. Several orders for this plant have already been booked with the first production model set to ship immediately.”

The Voyager 120 is built around a counter flow drum featuring

Astec V-fights.


[email protected]

The Voyager 120 features a hydraulically driven swing out drag and batcher that can be set and ready to go in about 10 minutes.


A stec’s 2014 Advanced Customer Schools sold out in three weeks—record time. Training sessions

started in early January and ended mid-February. New to the sessions were a breakout of training for first-time students and a “Top Gun” class for returning stu-dents.

Astec’s Training Center East and Training Center West in Chattanooga, Tennessee, hosted the training sessions.

“Level I was designed to highlight the basics of every single aspect of plant pro-duction, from stockpiles to loadouts, for attendees,” said Astec service coordinator Troy Norris. “Increasing the knowledge base provides confidence to get the most out of plant operations, and we strive to make every class count.”

Two weeks of Level I training were offered and featured four full days of classes and networking, plus hands-on time with equipment demos. Two weeks of Level II training were also offered.

“Level II, called Top Gun Class, provides more in-depth training in four vital areas: burners, drums, controls, and electrical systems,” said Norris. “Level I is a pre-requisite for Level II.”

Averaging approximately 80 attend-ees each week during 2014 customer schools, representing 38 states, 7 Canadian provinces, and 3 countries. Astec is already looking forward to the 2015 training classes.

“It was good to see an abundance of new people to the school training,” said Norris. “Over the past two years, 90 to 95 percent of the attendees have been first-timers.”

The Astec Advanced Customer Schools is an ongoing effort to provide the neces-sary training for Astec’s diverse line of plants and new technologies to better efficiency, uptime, and to gain a competi-tive edge in the market.

“The insight of the hot-mix asphalt indus-try gained from time spent with Astec’s experts is one more benefit for successful plant operations,” said Norris.

Primed & Ready



Astec goes hands-on for expanded tech training for controlling costs


Meet the Barracuda™

Heatec delivers colloid mill for asphalt emulsions



Meet the Barracuda™

H eatec has built equip-ment for asphalt emulsion facilities for several years,

providing asphalt tanks, hot oil heaters, water heaters, and other equipment. According to Tom Wilkey, president of Heatec, Inc., building a new emulsion mill was a logical step in creation of a new product to meet the demands of the market.

“The heart and soul of any emul-sion plant is the colloid mill,” said Wilkey. “In conjunction with our sister company JCI, we developed a plan to produce an emulsion mill after complete due diligence of similar units; we integrated the best components into a JCI-Heatec design. After about one year of research and development, we have the Barracuda.”

Wilkey continued: “We have a Barracuda mill in operation at Vance Brothers in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It’s a prototype that was placed last November for testing. Our goal was to get the mill in operation and make various types of emulsion. To date, approxi-mately 150,000 gal (567.81 l) have been produced; it’s all good product, passing the specifications required.”

Products made through the mill so far include:

• SS-1

• CRS-2

• CSS-1H

VANCE BROTHERSVance Brothers in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, currently has the Barracuda mill prototype in opera-tion. According to Bryan Midgett, manager of operations at Vance Brothers, the new mill is robust.

“We’ve been very satisfied with the mill so far, especially the ability to change the mill gap,” says Midgett. “The emulsion produced thus far

has been of good quality and pro-duction has increased.”

According to Wilkey, the key concerns center on longevity and maintenance, and how long between rebuilds.

“The mill will be thoroughly tested as more gallons (liters) are run through the unit at Vance Brothers,” said Wilkey. “This will provide us with data in the coming months to determine how well the mill is functioning with respect to the dif-ferent asphalt emulsions.”

THE COLLOID MILLThe Barracuda mill mixes virgin asphalt with a water/chemical solu-tion to produce a stable, homog-enous material, either cationic or anionic. The end product, or emul-sion, is a maintenance product for use on rural and secondary roads as a surface treatment for pave-ment preservation.

MILL PLATES Mixing in the mill takes place in the gap between the two mill plates. One plate is mounted on the stator and remains fixed during operation. The other plate is mounted on the rotor and spins at 3600 rpm. The liquids are combined by the action of the plates. The gap between the plates can be adjusted to produce the optimum mixture. The plates

have 100-percent machined sur-faces and are precisely made from stainless steel.

ADJUSTABLE STATOR The gap between the mill plates is controlled by the position of the stator. The stator is adjustable, unlike mills with adjustable rotors. The adjustable stator avoids inher-ent problems with seals on shafts of adjustable rotors. Adjustments can be made while the mill is run-ning—a unique feature of this mill.

Adjustment of the stator is achieved using a self-locking worm drive. Manually rotating the worm moves the stator 0.002-in (0.005 cm) each turn. Total adjustment is 0.375-in (0.952 cm) or 187.5 turns.

The worm shaft is supported by precision bronze bushings that do not require lubrication. The worm shaft can be rotated with an ordinary wrench to adjust the posi-tion of the stator. A digital readout system using quadrature encoder technology indicates the gap between the mill plates for easy, precise adjustments of the gap.

LONG LIFE SEALS The rotor shaft in the mill uses seals highly suitable for produc-tion of asphalt emulsions. Three seals are used. Two are lip seals used on the shaft in the rotor shaft

frame. The third is a common, spring-loaded face seal used in the mill chamber. It is standard equip-ment. The seals are not adversely affected by recurring expansion and contraction. For example the shaft elongates as much as 0.015-in (0.038 cm) at the rotor seal due to thermal expansion.

BEARINGS AND LUBRICATION The rotor shaft frame houses and supports the rotor shaft. The shaft has bearings at each end of the frame. The bearings permit elongation of the shaft as it heats. Lubrication of the rotor shaft in the frame is critical for long bearing life. Lubrication is achieved by a simple, closed loop system with a ½ hp motor. The lubricating oil is filtered as it constantly circulates through the frame and is returned to its external reservoir by gravity. It is unaffected by temperatures in the mill housing and does not need water cooling used on some mills.

THE TOTAL PACKAGEThe typical emulsion plant has 15 to 20 different asphalt tanks and a processing building which contains the colloid mill. Wilkey explained the process: “The water is heated and the chemicals are added, and then the asphalt is injected into this solution in the colloid mill, and then pumped outside the building into an emulsion tank. The emul-sion is now ready for sale to a DOT (Department of Transportation) or municipality for road maintenance treatments.”

Heatec is looking forward to put-ting more emulsion mills into operation.

“The new Barracuda™ mill has increased our productivity,” said Bryan Midgett, manager of operations with Vance Brothers, Inc.

in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

FOR INFORMATIONContact Tom Wilkey

[email protected]

Vance Brothers, Inc. in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is testing the BarracudaTM mill.



The Barracuda mill has the ability to produce 15,000 gal (56,781 l) of emulsified asphalt per hour in a single pass through the mill. Mill production rates may vary depending on the ingredients used, droplet sizes to be produced, stability achieved, and other factors. The mill is powered by a 150 hp electric motor. Other sizes of mills will soon be available.

Barracuda ACM150 mill



I t’s difficult for most asphalt plants to run the wide range of mixes demanded by the industry

these days. High-RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement) mixtures tend to overheat the bags in baghouses, which are the air pollution control systems on all asphalt plants.

That is because the standard way to heat RAP is to mix it with super-heated virgin aggregate. When you run 50 percent RAP in a mix, you have less virgin aggregate to heat the RAP. The veil of shower-ing virgin aggregate in the drum is less dense in the drying zone. So you get a hole in the veil and the hot exhaust gases pass through the drum into the baghouse. Flights, or metal pocket-like devices, are attached to the inside of the rotat-ing dryer drum to lift and shower the virgin aggregate through the heated gases.

You can add more flights inside the drum to increase the density of

the veil. That will reduce the stack gas temperature to the point that you can run high-RAP mixes. But a problem arises when you try to take the same drum, with the added flights, and run a 100-percent virgin aggregate mix. Now the veil is much too heavy for virgin mixes and not enough heat will escape to keep your baghouse up to tempera-ture. And a baghouse that becomes too cold will cause mud deposits to build up on the bags because of moisture condensation. What’s more, mud may build up in the feed end of a counterflow dryer or within the exhaust ductwork itself. With mud amassing throughout the

system, the plant’s operation may slog to a halt.

WILLETS POINT ASPHALT CORPAt Willets Point Asphalt Corp., Flushing, New York, owner Ken Tully uses his Astec Double Barrel® plant with a warm mix system to run both virgin mixes and mixes with 40 to 45 percent RAP—or more—in them. Until recently, he would get high stack gas tempera-tures with high-RAP mixes, and low stack temperatures with virgin mixes. “We had some problems in the baghouse with mudding of the bags,” Tully said.

To resolve the problem, Astec installed its patent-pending V-Pack ™ Stack Temperature Control System and stainless steel combustion flights. Those ele-ments, plus some changes to the binder injection location, make up the Double Barrel® Enhanced RAP. Tully’s plant has been retrofitted with the system, which takes RAP capability above 60 percent.

V-FLIGHTS ARE KEYA key element of the patent-pend-ing V-PackTM Stack Temperature Control System consists of “V-flights,” which are patent-pending drum flights with a deep V-shape. They produce a uniform veil of virgin aggregate across the drum, regardless of how full the drum is, the plant’s production rate, or the RAP percentage used.

Moreover, Astec’s V-Pack Stack Temperature Control System moni-tors the exhaust gas temperatures at the baghouse inlet as the pri-

The Astec V-PackTM Stack Temperature Control System controls exhaust gas temp across a range of mix types and operating conditions.

THE KEY TO HIGH-RAP MIX PRODUCTION

THE KEY TO HIGH-RAP MIX PRODUCTION

Astec’s patent-pending V-Pack™ Stack Temperature Control System yields success



mary reference for control. As the exhaust gas temperature rises, the control system checks it against a set point. When the temperature exceeds the set point, the control system speeds up the drum’s rotational speed and controls temperature to the set point. The veil thickens, which brings down the stack gas temperature. The drum speed can be varied from a minimum of about 7 rpm to a maximum of about 12 rpm. (Normal for Astec drums without the system is 8 rpm.)

Because the V-flights shower mate-rial uniformly without regard to how much material is in them, they never leave a hole in the veil. More revolutions per minute place more aggregate in the air.

“When you manually adjust your flighting with a virgin mix, it’s very hard to maintain (stack gas) tem-perature because you have a lot of material in the drum,” said Tully. “And then to go to a high percent-age RAP mix, you have just 60 percent of the virgin aggregate that would be in there at 100 percent virgin. With this V-Pack, it enables you to run the target temperature that you’re looking for.

“We set the stack temperature at 250 degrees F (121 degrees C),” said Tully. “Previously, we would be running like 350 degrees F (176 degrees C) on a high-RAP mixture. And we would struggle to maintain 220 or 230 degrees F (104 or 110 degrees C) on a virgin mix. The V-Pack system improves our pro-duction for high-RAP mixes, and even for virgin mixes, because it allows you to maintain that temper-ature and you can run it at higher speeds. Normally, we would run like 300 TPH (272 MTPH) on a vir-gin mix, and now we can run 375 TPH (340 MTPH) with the V-Pack.”

Previously, Tully was having some problems with heat deformation of his flights in the combustion zone. The answer to that, he said, was to install stainless steel flights in the combustion zone; those are not V-shaped flights. Stainless steel can withstand more heat than mild steel.

RUNNING WARM MIXTully also runs warm mix with RAP in his Astec Double Barrel® plant. To make warm mix, he typically activates the foaming attachment on the plant that injects a tiny amount of water into the liquid binder—and yet Tully heats the asphalt up to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C). He can achieve the same 375 TPH (340 MTPH) as with a virgin mix.

Warm mix enables Willets Point to maintain workability of the asphalt mixture to a lower temperature than with conventional hot mix. “Conventional mix will be difficult to use after the temperature drops to 250 degrees F (121 degrees C) or so,” said Tully. “But the warm mix will allow another 20 to 30 degrees of workability. If a regular mix has a problem at 250 degrees F (121

degrees C), warm mix will be work-able up to 230 or 220 degrees F (110 or 104 degrees C). You’ll still be able to shovel it, rake it, and get your compaction. If we ship out the warm mix at 325 degrees F (163 degrees C), that will give them another hour and a half or two hours in the truck to allow them to use it.”

C.R. JACKSON INC.Another asphalt producer to use the patent-pending V-Pack Stack Temperature Control System is C.R. Jackson Inc., Columbia, South Carolina. The company runs a wide variety of mixes including both traditional hot mix, and warm mix, with and without RAP. The company tries to run as much RAP as pos-sible. They also run an open-graded friction course mixture (OGFC).

The V-Pack System did produce the desired advancement on an Astec Double Barrel® for C.R. Jackson, said Malcolm Swanson, president of Astec, Inc. “We first saw this when making OGFC for an Interstate highway project,” Swanson recalled. “Whereas the plant previously had been unable to make more than 150 TPH (136 MTPH) of this par-ticular mix, after the V-Pack was installed, the plant easily produced 350 TPH (317 MTPH) of the same mix.”


[email protected]

Top: Flights, or metal pocket-like devices, are attached to the inside of the rotating dryer drum to lift and shower the virgin aggregate through the heated gases.

Left: “V-flights” shower aggregate uniformly across the drum, no matter how much material is in the drum.



T he asphalt milling machine—also known as a cold planer, pavement planer, pavement

recycler, or roto-mill—is a construc-tion machine used to remove bitu-minous pavement or asphalt con-crete from roadways. The result is a somewhat rough but even surface that can immediately be opened to traffic.

The milled surface is accomplished by bringing a rotating mandrel or “head” into contact with the pave-ment at an exact depth or slope. The mandrel has hundreds of hardened spikes or teeth on its surface, which bite and cut away at the roadway’s surface. The surface material that is removed is normally fed by conveyor into a dump truck

or semi trailer, but can be left in place or windrowed to be removed or recycled later. A water spray sys-tem provides cooling for the man-drel, as well as dust management.

IN THE BEGINNINGIn the 1970’s, Galion Iron Works, based in Galion, Ohio, manufac-tured the first production milling machines, which were called

Galions. These first units resembled motor graders in shape and size. The difference was there was a 760 mm-wide (30 in) milling head where the scraper blade would normally be. The cutter drum was set into action by a large hydraulic pump.

Asphalt milling is the process of grinding up asphalt that can then be recycled. The process came about

because many streets were getting layered higher and higher as new surfaces were added, thus reducing the curb height and creating road-way drainage problems.

Early milling machines were simply a mining mandrel attached to a mobile undercarriage. They were designed to remove a layer of old concrete or asphalt so that a new layer could be applied to a better quality base than resurfacing over the old road surface.

MORE MATERIAL REMOVALFrom the start, the emphasis for milling machines was to place more power to the cutting drum, which is needed to remove more mate-rial. Thus, the cutter head itself and

Roadtec adds flexibility to its machines by manufacturing and

assembling the milling tractors and cutters separately.

Milling Best Practices

Road construction’s smooth future



the cutting teeth designs became critical. The cutting teeth would dull fairly quickly and needed frequent replacement. The replacement pro-cess could cause enough downtime to greatly detract from the initial efficiency of the milling process itself. So manufacturers worked on designs for quicker replacement, as well as increased durability of the cutting teeth. Different sized cutting drums were offered so that machines could mill at different widths.

Milling machines feature conveyor systems to collect the material during the milling process, thus reducing the labor of picking the material up from the roadway. Newer machines require two or

more people to operate safely and efficiently. The operator stands on the deck of the machine and con-trols most of the machine’s func-tions, while a worker on the ground controls the depth of the cut and keeps an eye out for obstructions in the roadway such as manholes and/or water valves.

TODAY’S MILLING MACHINESToday’s machines are bigger and more technologically advanced. They are designed to handle any asphalt aggregates in use today. Depending on the depth of the cut, some of the larger machines can cut close to 15,000 yd² (13,000 m²) a day, at 75 ft (22.86 m) per minute.

In addition to faster speed, added

precision to the milling process has become important. The innovation of controls and automation has brought greater precision for con-trolling slope, depth, and speed.

There is no question that the tech-nological advancements made in microelectronics have ben-efited milling machines. Electronics designed to improve performance, include electronic sensors and a built-in cross slope. A pair of sen-sors can read a variety of references from 12 to 55 in (30.48 to 139.70 cm) directly below the bottom of the sensor. Each sensor can be calibrat-ed and adjusted from the ground level or at the operator’s console.

The position of the rotor in rela-tion to the grade reference can be constantly displayed on the central controller. Changes to the eleva-tion controls include the addition of a raise/lower switch that is used when milling around obstacles. In many cases, the electronic control module monitors and regulates the performance of major machine systems, including speed, steering, rotor drive, and other functions. If a problem occurs, a warning is issued.

ROADTEC MACHINESAlong with the electronic features that keep milling machines on track are the advances being made to the machine’s cutting end. The ability to change cutting drums quickly to achieve multiple cutting widths with the same machine is a benefit to contractors who may only need one machine to accomplish multiple job requirements.

Roadtec, for example, adds flexibility to its machines by manufacturing and assembling the milling trac-tors and cutters separately, allow-ing the contractor to choose from several cutter patterns and widths when ordering equipment. The cut-ter assembly is designed for quick changing of cutting pattern styles and widths.

Plus, Roadtec machines also have the ability to mill in two different directions to accomplish different results. Traditional milling is accom-plished in an up-cut direction. But Roadtec’s offerings also can down-cut, which is designed to control

slabbing, permit pulverizing and mixing, and can be an effective way to remove material over wet base. The down-cutting feature is also designed to convert Roadtec milling machines into cold-in-place recycle machines.

Today’s milling machines also reduce the time required to change the all-important cutting teeth. Early machines had the teeth welded on, so tooth replacement required a fair amount of downtime as each had to be re-welded to the drum. Now, teeth are held in variously designed bolt-on housings that permit faster changing. Also, Roadtec machines come with an air compressor as standard equipment allowing the use of pneumatic tools for quicker tooth changes.

MICROMILLINGA relatively recent innovation to milling has been the introduc-tion of micromilling. For example, Roadtec’s Roadrunner drum design is intended to provide savings in consumable tooling—the cutting teeth. The company claims that contractors can regularly mill all day without a need to change tool-ing and finish the shift with little or no wear on the carbide. Additionally, working speeds of 100 ft (30.48 m) per minute and up with the drums producing straight line patterns that do not chevron out are said to be common with the Roadrunner.

A big benefit of micromilling that is shaping the future of road mill-ing is that the micromilled sur-face is smooth enough for road users to travel relatively fast over the surface during construction. Contractors can open the milled surface to traffic and come back later with an overlay. Cold winter states especially can save the cost of patching in the fall by micromill-ing instead. They then can then get an early start in the spring with paving.

FOR INFORMATIONContact Roadtec Sales

[email protected]



R oyalcrest Paving & Contracting, Ltd., based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,

serves the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding municipalities. The company’s management team has a collective 135 years of con-struction experience in the asphalt paving industry. During the past 15 years, Royalcrest has targeted a niche market in recreational pav-ing, which includes park pathways, walkways, and golf courses.

“We specialize in park develop-ment,” said Doug Kirton, president of Royalcrest Paving & Contracting, Ltd. “The work we do is artistic and highly detailed; it takes the right

equipment to tackle the intricate project designs.”

THE RIGHT EQUIPMENTDue to the nature of the projects, Royalcrest was seeking a durable asphalt paver able to meet the pav-ing width of a typical pathway, 2 m to 3 m (6 ft, 6 in to 9 ft, 10 in).

“We wanted a paver with high-way paving characteristics that was capable of doing the detailed work required in the recreational projects and also satisfy the heavy workload of our industrial/com-mercial projects,” said Kirton. “Over the past few years, we’ve tried various manufacturers’ pavers.

When we reviewed the CP-100, we took into account the support and service from the Carlson dealer in Eastern Canada, Johnstone Brothers Equipment Corp. Based on the CP-100’s features and our relationship with the dealer, the Carlson paver was our choice of equipment.”

CP-100 COMMERCIAL PAVERAccording to Kirton, the CP-100 has the durability and strength of a highway paver. The unit allows for easier accessibility for mainte-nance, such as greasing the auger and conveyor bearings. The EZ Screed and heated endgate are valuable features on the machine.

Paving contractor finds highway class machine in a smaller paver

The Carlson CP-100 delivers top quality material handling like

a big machine with its smaller, robust design.

Size Advantage

Royalcrest Paving & Contracting, Ltd. used the Carlson Paving Products’s CP-100 on the Lyngate North Park project in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Royalcrest Paving & Contracting, Ltd. used the Carlson Paving Products’s CP-100 on the Lyngate North Park project in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.



“We were going through a set of auger bearings almost every year with our other paver until the CP-100,” said Kirton. “The EZ Screed is a tremendous advantage along with the heated endgate. In our climate, the heated endgate allows us to match joints seam-lessly.”

BISHOP ALLEN ACADEMYAn example of the type of projects Royalcrest is known for is the completion of a running track at Toronto’s Bishop Allen Academy.

“We were able to pave a 15 ft (4.57 m) width path with the screed fully extended without any loss of

power,” noted Kirton. “The com-pleted running track had no seams or joints; the mat was perfect. We used 276 tons (250 tonnes) of base and 150 tons (136 tonnes) of sur-face asphalt to create a 2 in (5.08 cm) base and 1.5 in (3.81 cm) sur-face. We finished in one day versus two, and with just one pass.”

Kirton shared: “The productivity of the CP-100 gives us a competitive advantage. Our ability to finish a project in less time and with excel-lent quality truly adds to our bottom line.”

LYNGATE NORTH PARKLyngate North Park in Brampton,

Ontario, Canada, is another example of the intricate projects Royalcrest is able to handle with the Carlson CP-100.

“Lyngate North Park was difficult to pave due to its geometric design,” said Kirton. “We paved widths from 3 m to 4.5 m (9 ft, 10 in to 14 ft, 9 in). The key attribute of the CP-100 is its maneuverability. This project was not just straight paving. We had tight curves, and the CP-100 handled the layout with ease.”

Kirton and Ben Prentice, Royalcrest’s field manager, contin-ued: “We found the right paver for our niche market in park develop-

ment. The Carlson CP-100 delivers top quality material handling like the big machines, yet packaged in a smaller, robust design. We’re more than pleased with the results.”

In addition to recreational projects, Royalcrest also serves the commer-cial, industrial, and some residential markets for asphalt paving.

FOR INFORMATIONContact Thomas Travers

[email protected]


Hawaiian HMA producer and Astec’s portable plant make big waves

ModernInnovationson the Big Island


N estled on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, Grace Pacific LLC operates sev-

eral modern asphalt production facilities throughout the state. Three plants are located on Oahu, one plant on Maui, and one plant each on the Big Island, Molokai, and Kauai for a total of seven plants—all Astec plants.

In late 2012, Grace Pacific pur-chased a portable 7 ft (2.13 m) Astec Double Barrel® plant. To meet the specs of an upcom-ing federally funded project to revitalize Saddle Road, a lime silo additive system was added to the plant.

“For Saddle Road, lime was needed as an anti-stripping agent to be mixed with the aggregate before entering the drum to be mixed with liquid asphalt,” said Darrell Goo, senior vice president with Grace Pacific LLC. “Astec provided a solution to the spec by adding a mixing drum and remote drum bypass unit to the portable plant to mix the lime with the aggregate. The additive system is removable depending on future job needs.”

The Saddle Road project bridged the gap between the communities located on the east (Hilo) and west (Kailua Kona) sides of the Big Island of Hawaii.

Grace Pacific LLC is a hot-mix asphalt producer in Hawaii with a total of seven Astec plants.



SADDLE ROADThe U.S. Department of the Army built the original one-lane Saddle Road in 1942 to provide access to its military training facilities located in the “saddle” between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. During the Saddle Road project, Grace Pacific erected the Astec portable plant at the top of the mountain near Pohakuloa Training Area Base, an army train-ing facility which uses live ammu-nition, said Goo.

“Saddle Road was in dire need of repair. The road was not feasible for vehicle traffic. The project had been on a wish list for more than two decades. It became reality as an infrastructure project when funded by the U.S. Department of the Army Defense Access Road and

Ecosystem Management Programs, U.S. Congress, and the Hawaii Department of Transportation. Saddle Road joined two communi-ties on the Big Island, bringing with it a social and economic boost to the area,” said Goo.

The Saddle Road project was completed in October 2013. The portable plant is currently erected and operating in Grace Pacific’s Makakilo Quarry on Oahu.

“We plan to keep the Astec plant ‘portable.’ Some of our other Astec plants started out as portable and then found a permanent home for operations,” said Goo. “The plant is easy to transport and could do work on any of the Hawaiian Islands.”

ASTEC SUPPORTGrace Pacific purchased its first Astec portable plant in 1985 and has since bought three more por-table plants.

“Owning seven Astec plants reflects the advancements and updated technologies over the years,” said Goo. “The support from Astec is undeniable. We are always able to get in touch with Astec’s service people, and they provide support on quick and long-term repairs to keep us running. Astec’s equipment is built to perform.”

2014 OUTLOOKGrace Pacific sees a positive year as the mayor of the city and county of Honolulu is targeting the reha-bilitation of streets on Oahu.

“Additionally, we will be doing major paving work on H-1 Freeway, and working on two projects at Kahului Airport on Maui using the Astec plant we set up in 1987.”

Goo continued: “Our core business is hot-mix asphalt, both produc-tion and lay down, and Astec and its subsidiaries have kept us up-to-date on all of the modern technologies and issues facing the industry.”


[email protected]

Grace Pacific LLC provided mix and paved a 10-mi (16.09 km) portion of the Saddle Road project that ties into Mamalahoa Highway.



I t’s no secret that customers are wanting increased RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement)

usage in mixes and are in need of the equipment to give them the competitive edge, especially in large metro areas where RAP is in good supply. Coupled with dimin-ished money available for projects, cities and states are trying to get the most out of the funds available by looking for ways to counter the high cost of asphalt and still main-tain the quality of material.

MEETING THE NEEDAstec’s innovative drum designs are able to provide customers with the equipment to meet their RAP needs. Whether it be zero or 100 percent RAP, Astec offers the fol-lowing:

Nomad: 0% RAPVoyager 120: 0 to 30% RAPUnidrum: 0 to 40% RAPDouble RAP 120: 0 to 40% RAPDouble Barrel: 0 to 50% RAPDouble Barrel HR: 0 to 65% RAPRAP King: 100% RAP

COST EFFECTIVEAccording to Malcolm Swanson, president of Astec, Inc., the cost of asphalt is more likely to increase, rather than decrease, over time.

“There’s a serious need to be able to use as much RAP as possible without sacrificing the quality of produced materials, Swanson said. “To be able to build a quality road using RAP (using high-RAP per-centages) and still meet air pollu-tion limits (that’s one of the issues with using high-RAP percentages

The need for more RAP usage in mixes is driving the Astec

equipment evolution.

Taking RAP From 0 to 100

Astec’s innovative drum designs increase RAP usage giving customers the competitive edge



in mixes) are vital to being cost-effective on all fronts.”

WORKING A SOLUTIONAstec is working on solutions in response to the situation concern-ing emissions by enhancing its equipment to be capable of using higher-RAP percentages, while maintaining production of quality materials.

The Astec Double Barrel® has been a key component in the produc-tion of material using RAP. Since its

beginning, the Astec Double Barrel® has been capable of producing 50/50 RAP mixes. But with the need for increased RAP usage, Astec has answered the call by enhancing the Double Barrel® to use up to 65 percent RAP. A totally new drum, the RAP King, makes 100-percent RAP mix.

“Astec currently has a plant operat-ing in the 60 to 70 percent RAP range,” said Swanson. “It’s a Double Barrel® that we have enhanced to use higher percentages of RAP.”

According to Swanson, a key ele-ment of being able to run higher percentages of RAP is to be able to control the baghouse temperature.

CONTROLLING TEMPERATURE“Over the last two to three years, Astec has developed a system that controls baghouse temperature and is able to do so with considerable independence from production rate, burner firing rate, and mix type,” said Swanson. “This is accom-plished by drum speed changes and

V-flights; dubbed the patent-pend-ing V-Pack™ Stack Temperature Control System.”

Swanson continued: “Standard flights tend to produce a less-than uniform veil. Having holes in the veil can be an issue when running RAP due to less material in the drum. It’s very important when running high percentages of RAP that the virgin aggregate be uniformly distributed in the drum to allow heat transfer. When this does not happen, the baghouse overheats.”

Above: LL Pelling in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, uses Astec’s warm mix system. The Double Barrel ® uses up to 50 percent RAP.

Below: For no need of RAP, Dillman offers the portable hot-mix plant called the NomadTM.



THE PERFECT LABORATORYAstec has a host plant in service in New York City using the V-Pack sys-tem. The plant is the perfect labora-tory for Astec’s new system, making high-RAP mixes routinely. Using the Astec system, this plant has made mix with as much as 70 percent RAP.

“In the same plant in New York City, using the Astec system to control baghouse temperature, the opera-tors are able to make 100-percent virgin mixes and high-RAP mixes without having to make any physi-cal changes to the plant,” noted Swanson. “The plant can handle the mix changes without difficulty. The patent-pending V-Pack™ Stack Temperature Control System is able to control the drum speed to control veiling.”

The problem with running both types of mixes in a plant has always centered on flighting. The flight-ing for RAP mixes is designed to avoid overheating the baghouse. When using the same flighting for virgin mixes, condensation occurs in the baghouse. The end result of condensation in the baghouse is

The Astec Double RAP separates the drying and mixing process to provide reliable RAP recycling, effectively using up to 40 percent RAP.

Dillman builds tough equipment.Equipment that performs reliably for years. Equipment you can count on to produce high quality asphalt mix. Full plants. Single components. Individual parts.

Dillman gets the job done



Asphalt producer and seller Kelterite Corporation in Downey, California, stockpiles RAP.

a buildup of mud, and replacing blinded bags is expensive.

“The V-Pack system has elimi-nated this problem,” said Swanson. “The Astec system enables a plant to make both mixes, back to back, by changing drum speed to control veil density.”

Another key element in the Astec V-Pack System is the special

geometry of the combustion zone flighting. The new system is using a unique combustion zone flighting that varies from Astec’s traditional design,” said Swanson. “The com-bustion zone flights are also made of stainless steel to withstand higher temperatures associated with using higher-RAP percent-ages.”

100-PERCENT RAPThe RAP King will be the Astec system using 100-percent RAP in mixes. It will be a hot oil tube-based dryer. Still a rotary dryer, but instead of having direct exposure to hot gases, the RAP is tumbled over a heating element inside the dryer, keeping the RAP in a nearly oxygen-free atmosphere.

In summary, Swanson noted: “The need for more RAP usage in mixes is driving the Astec equipment evo-lution.”


[email protected]

Dillman builds tough equipment.Equipment that performs reliably for years. Equipment you can count on to produce high quality asphalt mix. Full plants. Single components. Individual parts.

Dillman gets the job done



A number of contractors in Texas are successfully run-ning reclaimed asphalt pave-

ment (RAP) and recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) and warm mix all at the same time. However, these con-tractors have faced challenges in running all three at once, and they have climbed the learning curve to do so.

“When you’re running RAP and RAS, you’re doing it for a couple of reasons,” said Mike Brown, vice president of construction, Wheeler/Oldcastle, Round Rock, Texas. “One reason is to reduce the amount of virgin asphalt cement, and the other is to reduce or eliminate modifying the virgin asphalt cement with a polymer. So we’re able in a lot of cases to get high-temperature and low-temperature properties—and eliminate the polymers—by using RAP, RAS, and warm mix.”

The maximum amount of RAP allowed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in sur-face mixes is 20 percent. In base courses, the limit is 30 percent. And the maximum shingles content is 5 percent. But if a contractor runs 5 percent shingles, the maximum RAP content gets reduced by that 5 percent, to 15 percent.

But hold on, it gets more compli-cated. “We only allow 20 percent recycled binder in the surface course,” said Dale Rand, director, Flexible Pavements Branch, TxDOT.

“However, if they make a binder grade adjustment where they go with a softer, what we call our allowable substitute binder, they have to lower the high-temperature grade and the low-temperature grade of the binder. Then we’ll allow them to go up to 30 percent recycled binder in the surface. And in that case, they could probably use, depending on how the num-bers come out, 15 percent RAP and 5 percent shingles. We have a table on how much total recycled binder they can use.”

That said, Rand noted that more experienced asphalt producers do not run the maximum allowable percentages of RAP and RAS. For example, they may use 3 percent shingles and 10 percent RAP together. “They know that if they try to go much above that, that may not get good mixing, and could have other problems,” said Rand.

“Whereas a less experienced asphalt producer will tend to maxi-mize the specification because it gives him the lowest bid,” Rand continued. “In my experience, the more experienced people tend NOT to maximize the specification. They tend to find that spot where they operate the most efficiently.”

TRANSFERRING HEATOne challenge is to transfer enough heat—by conduction through the superheated aggregate in a

The lessons learned from seasoned asphalt producers pave the way for more usage of recycled materials.

Meeting the Challenges:

RAP, RAS & WMA



drum—to the RAP and RAS to melt the liquid asphalt in both and achieve good mixing. “We get a lot of mixed messages across the country,” said Rand. “One is to use more and more recycled material. But the reality is that there are limitations on what you can use from a physical standpoint. You just cannot transfer that much heat to a cold material without having some issues. And it can also depend on the type of asphalt plant and whether or not the contractor uses a material transfer vehicle. Some of the contractors will do that. Others won’t.”

Rand acknowledged that some asphalt plants are better at run-ning recycled materials than others. “Some drums have longer dwell times,” he said. “An example is an Astec Double Barrel® drum that mixes in the outer chamber and gives you better heat transfer. Some plants handle RAP much better than others. And some of them have a very short mixing zone.”

The ideal way to introduce RAP and RAS to the mixture is to introduce the shingles earlier than the RAP, said Malcolm Swanson, president, Astec, Inc. That way the stiffer

asphalt in the shingles gets the benefit of the higher temperatures in the superheated aggregate before it before it starts giving up heat to the RAP. “Not a lot of plants are equipped that way, however,” said Swanson.

“So in many cases you’re going to end up introducing the RAP and shingles together,” said Swanson. In a counterflow plant, that will occur at the RAP collar or, with an Astec Double Barrel®, at the RAP chute to the mixing chamber. As Swanson pointed out, the Astec Double Barrel® plant has a mixing chamber that permits the RAP and RAS to mix with the superheated aggregate in an inert, non-oxidizing environ-ment. “Pretty much everybody in the industry, even our competitors, acknowledges that the Double Barrel® is a recycling beast,” said Swanson.

Swanson also noted that when you lower the mix discharge tempera-ture from 300 degrees F to 275 degrees F (149 degrees C to 135 degrees C) it sounds substantial. But when you’re talking about lowering superheated aggregate temperatures from 600 degrees F to 550 degrees F (316 degrees

C to 288 degrees C), it doesn’t sound like much. “It really isn’t,” said Swanson. “So you can get adequate melting of the shingle asphalt within the superheat tem-perature range that you’re going to use, even when you’re making it as warm mix.”

In new asphalt plants, Astec can provide the capability to add RAS first, then RAP. Or, Astec can retrofit a Double Barrel® plant by adding another inlet to the mixing chamber. Many Double Barrel® plants in the field can add lime upstream of the RAP, and RAS would be no different. Swanson said: “To do so, you would need to add a complete RAS feed-ing system—including a weighing RAS Feed Bin, conveyor, and inlet chute.”

MOISTURE CHALLENGE Another challenge is moisture in the shingles. “Moisture adds another degree of difficulty,” said Brown. A problem arises when moisture in the shingles is inconsistent throughout a stockpile. For moisture testing, samples are small, but the plant must run tons of RAS.

Moisture tests in shingles can produce satisfactory results in the laboratory, but the stockpile can still

present problems, said Chuck Fuller of Ramming Paving Co. Ltd., Austin, Texas. “If you’re at 7 to 8 percent moisture in the RAS, it can produce a failure in the field,” he said.

“A fundamental problem is that shingles tend to retain water very well,” said Swanson. “And the water content can be more than 20 percent and quite varied within a given quantity of shingles, so it’s hard to know how much water is going into the plant with the shingles at every instant. As with all materials, it is important to keep them dry. But with shingles, it’s even more important because they can hold so much moisture.”

“If you don’t do a pretty good job of keeping your shingles dry and moisture fairly consistent, you can suddenly be putting proportionately a larger amount of water into the system,” said Swanson. “And if you don’t know what that percentage of water is with a fair degree of accuracy, because it all weighs as shingles you can introduce an error into your binder content.”

For example, if the shingles contain 12 percent water, a producer will subtract that from the weight of shingles that is used to calculate

The 4700B Horizontal Grinder from Peterson, an Astec Industries company, is an asphalt shingle grinding solution.

The 4700B Horizontal Grinder from Peterson, an Astec Industries company, is an asphalt shingle grinding solution.



liquid AC content. “If it’s 12 per-cent water, then it’s 88 percent shingles,” said Swanson. “So that’s the mass that you calculate your asphalt on. But, if the shingles contain 20 percent water, then the material going into the mixer as shingles is actually on 80 percent shingles. So, what is weighed as a ton of shingles and, if bone dry, would contribute say 360 lbs (0.16 tonne) of liquid AC would actu-ally contribute only 288 lbs (0.14 tonne) of AC. That being the case, the importance of knowing how much water is in the shingles is important and minimizing it is even more important.”

Swanson said producers running RAS need to check moistures often in the stockpile. “And more than that, you really need to keep the shingles dry,” he said. “Another problem is that shingles tend to be delivered pretty wet. Most of the contractors are not processing the shingles themselves. They’re buying them preprocessed. And processing the shingles is typically a wet process. The water doesn’t drain out too well. So I don’t know to what degree the shingle proces-sor has control over the amount of water that is residual in the shingles, but that is a factor in the

water content of the shingles going into the plant.”

BENEFIT OF COVERShingles need to be covered to keep them dry, Swanson said. A cover over the RAS will also pro-vide shade from the hot sun and help reduce the tendency of the RAS binding together.

Covering stockpiles is not just important for shingles. RAP must also be kept as dry as possible since it can gain significant envi-ronmental moisture resulting in higher production costs. Though logistics often prevent it, just-in-time milling and processing can reduce RAP moisture to near 0.5 percent. Running 20 percent RAP at this moisture content as com-pared to running RAP having 3.5 percent moisture content typically observed in uncovered stockpiles results in a fuel savings of over 6 percent. Additionally, with less moisture in the RAP from the beginning, less heat transfer is required. Since less heat transfer is required of the device that mixes the superheated virgin aggregate and RAP together, the transfer of heat occurs more quickly. Paradoxically, laboratory heat transfer tests show that at least

some moisture in the RAP/RAS enhances heat transfer—the steam that flashes off the RAP/RAS as it contacts the superheated virgin aggregate actually serves to help transfer heat.

Brown said he and Chuck Fuller generally use tear-off shingles in central Texas. But in cities where asphalt shingles are produced, contractors often use manufactured shingle waste. Those shingles are not oxidized as much as tear-off shingles.

Shingles need to be ground finely, said Rand and producers. The TxDOT specification calls for RAS to be ground to 0.375-in (0.95 cm) minus. “Texas producers typically double-grind the shingles,” said Rand. “Whether it’s twice, or three times, or however many times, the finer the grinding on the shingles, the better they work. They blend in better.”

HOT MIX OR WARM?As for whether Brown uses warm-mix or hot-mix asphalt for a given project, he said it depends on the haul distance and a number of other variables. The longer the haul distance, the more Brown is inclined to use hot mix.

“If we discharge a mix at 275 degrees F (135 degrees C) and we’re going to have a 20-degree loss during transit, and another 20-degree loss to put it on the ground and through a material transfer vehicle, I get a 40-degree loss,” he said. “So that puts the maximum compaction temperature at 235 degrees F (113 degrees C). But that temperature will also diminish rapidly once it has been placed, depending on the thickness of the lift, the wind conditions, and the amount of water on your breakdown roller.”

Brown said he likes warm mix, and he says owners like it because you don’t oxidize the binder as much. “You’re not burning off the light ends of the asphalt and hardening it as much as with hot mix. So, warm mix should give you longer life in the field. I think our owners like it, and I like it, because I want our product to be long-lasting and meet their expectations.”


[email protected]

A RAS (recyled asphalt shingles) bin can be added to a plant configuration.


Turning Cast-offInto Cash

Texas HMA producer saves money by recycling on-site materials

Brauntex Materials produces hot-mix asphalt and crushed limestone products in central Texas.Brauntex Materials produces hot-mix asphalt and crushed limestone products in central Texas.



When the most expensive product in an asphalt mix is one that can be created

on-site using recycled materials, smart producers seek alternative means to use that surplus product in a new way to improve their bot-tom lines.

For Brauntex Materials, a leading provider of hot-mix asphalt and crushed limestone products in central Texas, a cost-benefit analy-sis quickly showed that investing in equipment that could produce fractionated reclaimed asphalt pavement (FRAP) would not only eliminate unused material from

the company’s operation, but save money at the same time.

NEW MATERIAL PRODUCTIONUsing a KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens ProSizer 3100 and a Fold ’n Go 2612D mobile screen-ing plant purchased from T-K-O Equipment in New Braunfels, Texas, Brauntex Materials found it could produce a variety of new materials, including a 1/2 in x 3/8 in (1.27 cm x 0.95 cm) product and a minus-3/8 in (0.95 cm) for its FRAP product, according to company employee Albert Flores. The company also owns a FT2640

By incorporating a high percentage of FRAP into an asphalt mix, producers not only reduce the amount of virgin rock mined and use less oil, but they

also conserve the energy used for trucking and decrease the energy

used for processing.

Above: On-site material is recycled for use as virgin material in asphalt mixes.

Below: The closed-circuit mobile plant allows oversized material to recirculate leaving no wasted material behind.



track-mounted jaw crusher to crush recycled concrete and oversized rock that is brought from other jobsites.

“The 1/2 in x 3/8 in (1.27 cm x 0.95 cm) product is one of the most valuable products in our asphalt mix because it is the most expen-sive to purchase as virgin aggre-gate,” Flores said. “By processing the recycled material using the mobile high frequency screening plant, Brauntex Materials is able to save on virgin aggregate and bring costs down, as well as offer an environmentally-friendly solution for our end-users.”

Brauntex Materials currently pro-duces 160,000 tons (145,149 tonnes) of aggregate per year, 20 percent of which is recycled, Flores said. The company has five virgin aggregate bins and two RAP bins on-site.

“The high frequency screen works much differently than any conven-tional screen we’ve ever used,” Flores continued. “Because you can’t fractionate the finer products required for FRAP efficiently using a conventional screen, this high frequency screen makes all the dif-ference to our operation, and allows us to get the sizes we require for our asphalt mix.”

The ProSizer high frequency screening plant functions by provid-ing an aggressive screen vibration directly applied to the screen media that allow for the highest screen capacity in the market for fines removal, chip sizing, and dry manu-factured sand. The closed-circuit mobile plant incorporates a double-deck Pep Vari-Vibe high frequency screen with a 3136 horizontal shaft impact crusher, which allows Brauntex Materials to recirculate

the oversized material so two sizes are produced, leaving no wasted product behind, Flores said.

“We can handle up to 6 in (15.24 cm) minus material in our mobile screening plant,” Flores said. “The horizontal shaft impactor will break down that pancake-size product into usable material, which means we have less waste, giving us a higher return.”

BENEFICIAL SAVINGSBy incorporating a high percent-age of FRAP into an asphalt mix, producers not only reduce the amount of virgin rock mined and use less oil, but they also conserve the energy used for trucking and decrease the energy used for pro-cessing, according to regional sales manager John McGimpsey.

Brauntex Materials selected the ProSizer 3100 because it knew

incorporating FRAP into its asphalt mix was important to achieving a better bottom line, as well as stay-ing environmentally friendly in its operation.

“The portability of the ProSizer 3100 allows the producer to move around to multiple jobsites and process FRAP back to its original size,” McGimpsey said. “It allows producers like Brauntex Materials to increase its RAP and FRAP usage, while adding flex-ibility and improved control in mix designs.”

FOR INFORMATIONContact Melinda Schweitzer

[email protected]

l to r: Albert Flores of Brauntex Materials and John McGimpsey, regional sales manager for KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens.



C EI Enterprises, Inc. announces that effective immediately it will begin engineering, manufacturing, and mar-

keting a full new line of concrete production plants. The plant line will include nine new designs of concrete plants that will include both traditional batch plants and innovative new plant technologies.

Included in the new innovative technologies will be the Conventional Concrete, Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC), and Cement Treated Base (CTB) plant designs that had previously been produced by Astec, Inc.

As a result of this technology transfer, Astec, Inc. is exiting the concrete production plant business to focus on a new renewable ener-gy product line. This will move all concrete plant production equipment to CEI.

The CEI concrete plants will feature innova-tive, leading-edge technology that will bring new solutions to concrete contractors work-ing to build heavy civil, airport, highway, and hydrodam projects. These solutions will pro-vide contractors with higher quality concrete at lower costs to produce it.

A stec, Inc. announces that it will sponsor the third Bioenergy Conference and Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, March 18-19. Approximately 40 speakers and 70

exhibitor companies will participate in the Bioenergy Fuels & Products Conference & Expo. The event is expected to involve 500 industry professionals from the wood energy and fuels industries, including wood pellets, biomass power, biofuels, woody feedstock, and harvesting.

The Bioenergy event immediately precedes the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), which will be held March 20-21. Astec will display a scale model of its state-of-the-art pellet plant and will have representatives available to answer questions during both events.

Astec Gold Sponsor of Bioenergy Conference and Expo

CEI announces new line of concrete plants

FOR INFORMATIONContact Mike Bremmer

[email protected]

MIXING IT UP

Astec pellet plant, Hazlehurst.Astec pellet plant, Hazlehurst.

The CEI concrete plants will provide contractors with higher quality concrete at lower production costs.The CEI concrete plants will provide contractors with higher quality concrete at lower production costs.



NEWSAstec Wins Gold in Contractor’s ChoiceAstec, Inc. announces that the Astec Six Pack® series portable asphalt plant received a Contractor’s Choice Award in 2013. Roads & Bridges invited contractors from across the country to cast their votes for the strongest performers out on the jobsite. The Astec Six Pack series asphalt plant won the Gold Medal for its category. This is the seventh time since 2005 that the Astec Six Pack has won Gold.

The ability to quickly move a portable asphalt plant from one jobsite to another is a very important consideration for paving contractors who serve widespread geographi-cal areas. The Astec Six Pack was the first truly portable facility available to asphalt producers and has become the world’s best selling portable asphalt facility.

Astec gives Six Pack customers a wide range of options on these compact, maneuverable plants, including self-erecting features and a choice of 200, 300, or 400 TPH (181, 272, or 362 MTPH) capacities. All come with the highly efficient Astec Double Barrel® drum mixer.

Astec Six Pack® plant.

KPI-JCI and AMS Promote Egge to Engineering Manager KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens promoted Alan Egge to engineering manager of Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc., the company’s Yankton, South Dakota-based manufacturing facility.

In his new position, Egge will be responsible for managing the design engineering and technical publications departments. Egge has been employed at Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. for the past 35 years, and most recently served as operations manager for the inside sales/research and development departments.

Egge replaces Greg Stach, who retired January 10, 2014, after 17 years of ser-vice to the company.

Jeff Egge



NEWSPatek Elected 2014 AEM ChairRichard Patek, group president, Aggregate & Mining, Astec Industries Inc., Mequon, Wisconsin, was elected 2014 AEM chair at the Annual Conference on November 5, 2013. Patek will lead the AEM board of directors to achieve AEM’s 2014 goals, priorities, and strategic direction. He served as vice chair in 2013.

Patek has responsibility for Astec Industries’ Aggregate and Mining Group (Telsmith, Kolberg Pioneer, Johnson Crushers International, Breaker Technology, Astec Mobile Screens, Osborn Engineered Products), which provides innovative solutions for the material handling, mining, quarry, recycling, construction, and demolition industries.

Patek succeeds outgoing 2013 AEM chair Stuart Levenick, group president of Caterpillar, Inc., Peoria, Illinois.

May Promoted to President of Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. (KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens) announces the promotion of Jeff May to company president. In his new position, May will focus on leading and manag-ing the activities and functions of Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc., while helping to direct its strategies in provid-ing growth and profitability for the company and its parent corporation, Astec Industries, Inc.

May, who began working as Controller for Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. in 1996, is a 1985 graduate of the University of Iowa, where he also earned his Master of Business Administration degree in 1995. Before his promo-tion to president, May served as vice president of operations and finance for Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. Prior to his employment with Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc., May served as controller for Fairtron Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa, and Lebeda Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Joe Vig, a group vice president with Astec Industries, said May’s dedication to the company and leadership capabilities made him a standout candidate for the position.

Rick Patek Jeff May

Astec Warm Mix System Wins Gaia Award Astec announces its United Arab Emirates dealer, House of Equipment, was awarded a 2013 Gaia Award in December during the Dubai Big 5 International Building and Construction Show for the Astec warm mix system, which produces warm-mix asphalt.

The Gaia Awards honor companies in the construction sector whose products and services demonstrate a reduction of construction’s impact on the environment. The Gaia Awards aim to promote a company‘s respon-sibility to the environment by recognizing achievements and providing a platform to highlight “green” products and showcase future developments.

House of Equipment (HOE) is a rapidly growing com-pany specialized in managing, trading, servicing, and rental of construction equipment. An exclusive dealer of Astec equipment, HOE has established an operational base in Dubai with branches in Abu Dhabi and Overseas to service the entire Middle East. For more information about House of Equipment LLC, visit www.hoeuae.ae. Astec’s warm mix system.



NEWSAstec, Inc. reports that in January 2014 it sold the 600th warm mix system since it began producing it in 2007. The 600th system will be installed at Delta Contracting in Humboldt, Tennessee.

The Astec warm mix system enables its world-wide network of existing and new plant owners, who are all experiencing rising fuel and liquid asphalt prices, to lower their overall operating costs without sacrificing quality.

The Astec warm mix system allows producers to reduce fuel consumption, increase production,

eliminate smoke and smell, and use a higher percentage of recycle by producing mix at a lower temperature. The Astec warm mix system does not require the addition of expensive com-mercial additives. Instead, water is injected into the mix along with the liquid asphalt cement. The injection of water causes the liquid asphalt to foam and expand in volume, which helps the liquid asphalt coat the aggregate at a lower temperature.

When it was introduced in 2007, the Astec warm mix system was a major breakthrough in the warm mix asphalt technology arena that

had been attempting to define a process that would provide both the desired “green” benefits of lowered emissions and lower overall produc-tion costs. Since that time, the Astec system has experienced phenomenal acceptance in the field.

The Astec warm mix system can be installed on either existing or new Astec drums. The Astec warm mix system can also be retrofitted to con-tinuous mix and batch plants from any manu-facturer. For more information about Astec warm mix systems, visit www.astecinc.com.

In November 2013, Astec, Inc. test-fired the 500th burner manufactured since Astec entered the burner market in 2003. Astec built the 100-million BTU/hr gas-and-oil-firing Whisper Jet® burner to be used with a new 375 MTPH (413 TPH) Astec batch plant produced for Aztexnika in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Astec burners offer the latest in reliable burner technology combined with complete one-source responsibility. Astec is able to offer everything from a simple burner replacement to a complete installed system, including retrofit installations. The Astec burner group engineers the burn-ers to the specifications of each customer and

manufactures each in a state-of-the-art manu-facturing facility. Prior to shipment, each burner is tested on one of Astec’s tri-fuel (oil, gas & coal) test stands to ensure fast and easy startup at installation. For more information about Astec burners, visit www.astecinc.com.

The Astec burner team gathers around the 500th burner built by Astec, Inc.

Astec Builds 600th Warm Mix System

Astec Builds 500th Burner



B ehind the wheel of his truck and on the road is where you’ll find Astec regional

parts salesman Walter Bruning. His territory covers Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan. He’s traveling to visit customers every week unless the Astec Customer Schools are in session, then he dedicates his time to giving facility

tours and meeting with customers attending the training.

“I started working for Astec in May 1983; that’s 31 years,” said Bruning. “Over that time I’ve had different positions within the company, starting in the service department then the electrical shop. I moved into handling all

electrical maintenance and mate-rial prep before becoming a parts technician on the phone. I made the natural transition to parts estimator and finally to regional salesman.”

ON THE ROADTo service his territory, Bruning takes to the road Monday through Friday. When traveling to Michigan, he typically stays in that area for two weeks. For every journey, his truck is packed with test equip-ment, maps to reach locations, and various parts. A thermos and small cooler carry refreshments and he packs a small suitcase for changes of clothes. He’s a man on a mis-sion to meet with customers and carry on the Astec reputation of excellence in customer service.

“Some of my best days have been in the field with a customer solving issues and showcasing the latest parts,” noted Bruning. “Knowing I’ve made a positive difference for my customers gives me great satisfaction.”

ALWAYS PREPAREDBruning’s truck is a testing facil-ity on wheels. When the back of the truck is open, various testing equipment can be seen. He’s pre-pared and ready to measure drum thickness, check flights for wear, and inspect the cold feed bins.

“My job is to be a liaison between the customer and Astec,” said Bruning. “A typical day spent with a customer involves a plant inspection and checking wear parts. If I see an area of opera-tion that would benefit from a retrofit or design change to newer parts, I address the issues with the customer. My years of experience allow me to look at the whole picture, helping the

customer to increase efficiency, increase uptime, increase tonnage, and make the plant more user-friendly.”

THE ASTEC DIFFERENCEAstec is well known in the industry by its quality equipment, excel-lence in parts and service, and its approach to delivering above and beyond the expectations of its customers. It’s a family affair with solid relationships built on trust and reliability. And it’s more than just equipment; it’s the people of Astec that make the difference.

“You work here long enough like I have and you get to know everybody,” said Bruning. “The atmosphere at Astec is one of cooperation. There’s a great sense of urgency through the various departments to resolve any down-time issue a customer may be experiencing. I receive top-notch support from service, engineering, and parts departments. Our manu-facturing shop will jump into action when a plant is down—the goal is to get the customer back up and running. We take that seriously.”

To sum it up: “The best part of my job is seeing the customer happy. My customers are family in the field; Astec is my family in the office; and my own family is expanding with the addition of a grandchild.”

Bruning is celebrating the December 2013 birth of his first grandchild and is looking forward to spending time with her.

Man on a MissionMore than 3 decades of experience to benefit customers

Walter Bruning

l to r: Walter Bruning showcases his truck’s readiness with Cullen Carter with Hiwassee Paving on the Jersey Pike in Chattanooga, Tennessee.


The Only Asphalt Plant In Its Class In The World Able To Run 30% RAP

• 120 mtph Production Rate• counterflow Unidrum™ design• patented Astec V-Flight®

• 17.600 cfm reverse pulse baghouse

Visit us in Booth 50327 Central HallVisítenos en el stand 50327

• Producción de 120 mtph • diseño de contraflujo Unidrum™ • Astec V-Flight® patentado• filtro de mangas con impulso inverso con 17.600 cfm

HM BK COVER VOYAGER.indd 1 2/6/14 2:54 PM13609_Astec_HotMixV19N1.indd 48 2/18/14 11:26 AM

astec hot mix mag vol19 no1

Documents

astec double barrel

double barrel new

ton astec silos

astec control house

astec industries

baghouse new

calibration tank2 astec

cfm baghouse