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Fort Worth's FDR program saves millions
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| Fort Worth spent $4 million on FDR projects this year. |
 Since
1996, Fort Worth’s street maintenance program has saved taxpayers
millions of dollars by recycling the city’s deteriorating
and failed asphalt streets with cement. The city has rebuilt 296
lane-miles or 2.26 million sq. yd. of roadway using full-depth recycling
(FDR) with cement, according to Najib Fares, the city’s street
program manager. “We’ve tried several processes but
found this to be the best fit,” he says. The city is spending
about 40% of its annual $10-million street maintenance budget on
the cement recycling. Full-depth recycling (FDR) with cement often
replaces the traditional but burdensome and costly method of full
reconstruction, which requires completely ripping out the old, worn
out roadway and replacing it. Full reconstruction currently costs
the city about $278,500 per lane mile and requires replacing curbs,
gutters, sidewalks and driveway approaches. By comparison, completely
rebuilding a street and all the concrete elements with cement full-depth
recycling only costs $200,000, a $78,500 cost-savings. But, say
officials, the city routinely keeps 40% to 90% of the existing curbs,
gutters and sidewalks, further cutting the cost to $83,050 per lane
mile. The cost-savings is $116,950 per lane mile. “By just
replacing what needs to be replaced, we’re saving a lot of
money,” says Dan Callaway, Fort Worth’s senior construction
inspector. The average cost for FDR with cement ranges from $1.95
to $2.45 per sq. yd.
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