XCMG’s sustainable pavement maintenance technology combines cold in-place recycling with foamed asphalt. Credit: XCMG.

Chinese construction machinery manufacturer XCMG has successfully implemented sustainable pavement maintenance technology on the G239 national highway section in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, China.

The new method, which uses cold in-place recycling technology with foamed asphalt, is claimed to deploy sustainable, eco-friendly and highly-efficient technology for pavement maintenance.

Named XCMG XLZ2305K, XCMG’s domestically made cold in-place recycling equipment is said to have considerable power reserve and strong milling power. Its 2.3m-wide recycling width allows a construction speed of 6m-8m per minute.

Recorded three days after the completion of the Xinzhou construction, the coring test results were noted as exceeding the company’s expectations.

This new technology is expected to offer a solution to road maintenance problems, including asphalt resource shortage and road construction disposal and waste maintenance.

XCMG chairman and CEO Wang Min said: “China has traditionally relied on importing the equipment. The application of the technology nationwide, through XCMG’s continuous technological breakthroughs and equipment R&D, manufacturing aim to build a solid foundation to extend road service life and support China’s pavement maintenance industry.”

According to XCMG, the total mileage of Chinese highways reached five million kilometres at the end of last year.

The company, which has been developing this technology and equipment since 2014, noted that it spent nearly six years trying to tackle fundamental problems in the pavement maintenance sector, including electric heating of asphalt and automatic flow control.

XCMG currently owns complete recycling equipment manufacturing lines to offer pavement maintenance services for different grades of roads, cold in-place recycling with concrete, foamed asphalt and emulsified asphalt.