Cedar Rapids starts recycling streets

Grey dusty rocks have never looked so green, at least in Cedar Rapids.  And by green, we mean environmentally friendly.

“This process improvement started two years ago, and now that we've waited and built up the pile, the fruits are coming to bare and we'll see the cost savings,” said Cedar Rapids Public Works Maintenance Manager Craig Hanson.

There are large piles of concrete chunks and asphalt ready for crushing and recycling sitting at the city's storage yard.  The collection started two years ago, but Hanson said the pile wasn't big enough to be cost-effective until now.

DeLong Recycling, based in Washington, Iowa, is crushing the materials picked up two years ago, and the city is putting it down on projects it is working on this year.  Some of the rock is already under a fresh pour of concrete on Glass Rd. NE.  Hanson said the material will mostly be used in road-base and shoulder work.  Some might also go in alleys.

It is a new project for Cedar Rapids. However, Ross Allen with DeLong has seen this work for years on large scale projects.

“We're grinding up a lot of highways and putting it back down for a sub-base without ever taking it off location  It saves trucking, saves handling, and a lot of tax dollars,” said Allen.

In this case, Hanson said it's saving $10,000 in materials cost, and $100,000 in landfill costs.

Before now, when crews tore up a road, the old material had to go somewhere.  Hanson said they had offered up the material for anyone that wanted it to fill in ditches and holes and other work.  Landfills were a last resort, he said.

“We've been doing that for the last 30 or 50 plus years.  Eventually, you start running out of places to put stuff,” said Hanson.

Allen said rock crushing equipment started to gain popularity in the 1980's.  However, Hanson said it wasn't widely available in Eastern Iowa, and because of that, it was expensive to use.

Now, Hanson said there's a myriad of contractors and the pricing is very competitive.

Hanson said according to the latest bids for road work in the city, recycled rock from DeLong was $4.74 a ton.  To buy a similar product new, Hanson said bids came in from $5.40 to $9.00.

Hanson said residents will benefit from that savings in cost later this year.

“This will allow us to do extra shoulder and alley work in June, that otherwise we never would have done,” said Hanson.

-Justin Foss, KCRG-TV9 News