Charleston County progresses eco-friendly paving on Charlie Hall Boulevard

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Charleston County Public Works is preserving one road at a time with its hot-in-place recycling paving project.

The organization completed patriots point road and now moves to Charlie Hall Boulevard in West Ashley.

In the process, the Charleston County Public Works is stressing anything can be recycled – even roads.

"It's new to Charleston County, but not new to paving," said Mackenzie Kelly, a Charleston County Public Works pavement manager.

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The process – hot-in-place recycling – maintains and corrects pavement for drivers.

"When the train goes through, it's gonna use these large propane heaters that are gonna heat up the asphalt," Kelly said. "They're gonna scarify and mix about an inch of the existing asphalt."

And it will happen in an eco-friendly way.

"We're recycling it right in place and then we're gonna overlay it with new asphalt, about two inches of that all in one continuous train," Kelly said.

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Charleston County is saving the environment and taxpayer pockets – paving municipal and state secondary roads. Hot-in-place recycling is funded through the transportation sales tax.

"We're able to save money by recycling that one inch of asphalt," Kelly said. "We're not having to haul it away and bring it back. We're able to recycle the one inch and then bring in only two inches."

Nearly three inches of new roadway surface will be added, extending the life of the road and preventing cracks.

The road pavement of Charlie Hall Boulevard is taking place during the evenings. The process can take up to two weeks, depending on the length of the road