It has been tested with good results on several sections of the old Inca road, where a machine mills the old road surface to convert it, on top of the road itself, into aggregate for new asphalt.

The Consell de Mallorca has put into practice on our island a system for recycling deteriorated asphalt in situ for the first time. It has been tried out on several stretches of the old Palma-Inca road (Ma-15A) and has led to a significant environmental improvement. First of all, it is not necessary to use new aggregates from the quarry, no waste is generated and a considerable amount of emissions produced by transporting the material to the construction site is avoided.

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The Consell de Mallorca innovates by applying a new sustainable system of in situ recycling of deteriorated asphalt

The asphalt is recycled using a system called emulsion. This is a sustainable technique for rehabilitating road surfaces. A machine that, with a single pass, mills the old asphalt to convert it into aggregate. It then compacts it, using the emulsion system, and spreads it over the road again. The entire process is carried out cold, which also prevents emissions into the atmosphere from asphalt plants operating at high temperatures. The technique makes it necessary not to allow traffic on the new pavement, as it takes two days for complete solidification.

In the case of the old road between Palma and Inca, this innovative technique has been applied on several stretches in the municipalities of Marratxí, Binissalem and Santa Maria. Recycled asphalt has been applied over some six kilometres with a budget of 1.2 million euros.

The island’s Director of Infrastructures, Rafel Gelabert, explained that ‘this is an innovative system of zero kilometre asphalt that allows us to carry out works that are more respectful of the environment. We avoid the exploitation of quarries for the extraction of aggregates and the emissions from the transport of material’. Gelabert added that this system will gradually be applied to other road reinforcement works that the Consell de Mallorca plans to carry out in the coming years.