The Performance of Full-depth Reclamation and Cold In-place Recycling Techniques in Quebec

The use of full-depth reclamation and cold in-place recycling techniques has been common practice at the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) since the early 1990s. In the space of 15 years, these techniques have been used on nearly 1,500 kilometres of pavement within the road network under the MTQ’s responsibility. The performance monitoring data from more than 90 projects carried out over the past 12 years and involving a total of approximately 425 kilometres was examined for purposes of this study. Pavement performance was evaluated in terms of the annual progression in road quality (measured using the International Roughness Index, or IRI) and rut depth. The progression in these two performance indicators was established for each project and the projects were regrouped according to the functional category of the roads involved and traffic volume. This in turn made it possible to determine the performance life of the rehabilitation operations. The results were then used to conduct a cost-benefit analysis based on the average unit costs of these operations and of the maintenance work costs. The benefit/cost ratios (BCR) of the rehabilitation operations were compared to those for various projects involving solely a hot mix asphalt overlay, the most widespread pavement maintenance technique used by the MTQ.