Pavement Milling
Pavement milling is the process of removing the old loose pavement surface and replacing it with a new one. Unlike the typical repairs that fixed various spots, pavement milling includes the removal of the entire carpet and replacing it with a new one. However, milling should not be confused with installing new pavement. It is just a replacement of an already existing concrete or asphalt surface meant to improve the smoothness of the pavement.
Pavement milling uses a milling machine. These are special equipment designed you remove the old layer of the pavement and install a new one. They have a rotating drum fitted with milling teeth for the digging of the surface. When the machine moves, the drum rotates to remove and ground the surface it passes over. With a pavement milling machine, you can set the depth of the pavement layer that you want to remove. However, this depends on the extent of the damages.
For relatively damaged pavements, then you might need to remove just a few millimetres of the surface. Note that that larger the replaced layer of the pavement, the higher is the quality of the new pavement. Pavement milling is usually divided into three main categories. They include cement concrete pavement milling, asphalt cement concrete pavement milling, and bridge deck milling.
The cement concrete pavement milling is the process of removing the old loose layers of the cement concrete and replace it with a new one. The aim usually to enhance the friction resistance of the surface to keep the pavement instinct. The old surface is ground the old aggregate mixed with the new one to form the new layer.
The deck milling process fixes the problem of water slurry on the water concrete pavement surface of the bridge deck. For the asphalt cement concrete pavement milling, the milling machine is used to remove and renovate the part of the asphalt concrete surface later. The process is usually done for damaged pavement surfaces that are beyond repair.
The choice of the milling machine is one of the crucial factors to consider when milling pavements. The type of machine that you pick determines the quality of the surface that you get. First, the power of the machine is an essential factor to consider. Depending on the surface you are dealing with, you need to get horsepower that will deliver enough power to remove the loose pavement layer.
You also need to check the quality cutter tool on the milling machine. Whether it is cement or asphalt concrete surface, you need sharp milling bits on the drum that offer resistance to abrasion and impact. Carbide cutters are highly recommended for all kinds of pavement milling. Tools made from this material also offers high cutting performance. There are all sizes of road milling machines in the market for you to choose from.
In conclusion, pavement milling simply restores an old pavement by recycles the old layer, ground it up, and used as the aggregate for the installation of the new pavement layer. So, milling pavement does not have to be costly. You can reclaim the old layer and combine it with the new aggregate to restore your pavement with a better quality concrete or asphalt surface.