Industry and MDOT recently met as a result of an MDOT directive to establish guidelines for the reclamation of concrete from MDOT projects. This meeting came on the heals of the September bid letting in which the I-75 project from Birch Run Creek to Dixie Highway required that the existing concrete road surface be recycled and used as base material.
Before moving too far into generating these statewide guidelines, your input is needed. Please answer the following questions and provide any comments to Doug Needham by October 13, 2006.
1. In addition to the mixtures described in section 902.03B of the 2006 MDOT Standard Specifications for Construction, are there other applications where you would like to have crushed concrete used?
2. On projects where concrete has been removed (curb and gutter, sidewalk, road surface, bridge decks, etc), how has the concrete been disposed of? Was there an effort to recycle?
3. Should there be a threshold based on the project size (dollar amount or removal quantity) for requiring recycling of concrete? If so, what should the threshold be?
4. What problems do you foresee if MDOT requires the contractor to determine how the removed concrete is to either be incorporated into the project or disposed of in such a way to ensure its incorporation into other projects?
5. Would you rather have MDOT specify the intended use for the removed concrete or leave it up to your discretion?
Thank your for your input. This statewide policy has the possibility to affect every project on which concrete is removed (i.e. intersection widening, concrete joint repair, sidewalk replacement, roadway reconstruction, etc.). MITA will be working closely with MCPA, APAM, and MAA in pursuing our industry interest on this matter with MDOT.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Glenn Bukoski at glennbukoski@mi-ita.com or Doug Needham at douglasneedham@mi-ita.com or by phone at (517) 347-8336.
