Maryland DOT Partners with P.Flanigan and Sons

The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) is working with the local construction industry to develop environmentally safe methods of recycling pavement for use on highway projects.  The SHA is using 100 percent recycled crushed graded aggregate base (GAB), produced at P. Flanigan and Sons’ Winchester Recycling facility in Baltimore, as a base material for a $12.4 million widening project along MD 295 (Baltimore Washington Parkway).

“P. Flanigan and Sons has been using recycled materials for many decades,” says Pierce Flanigan IV, president of P. Flanigan and Sons. “The Winchester facility is just one example of our continued efforts to make infrastructure and transportation construction more environmentally friendly. We are proud to receive approval from SHA and hope the use of recycled products become more widespread. Through extensive testing, the Winchester plant ensures that the quality of recycled GAB upholds the standards of SHA for materials to be used in infrastructure projects.”

According to a SHA press release, using recycled crushed aggregate saves fuel that would otherwise be spent while mining for new material and its subsequent transport from quarries. Reducing fuel consumption has the added benefit of lowering vehicle emissions, which are harmful to the environment. Additionally, recycling pavement material conserves shrinking landfill space.  So far, both plants that SHA approved for GAB recycling have saved more than 13,000 tons of natural (not yet mined) aggregate, the release adds.

“I applaud the innovative use of recycled aggregate for construction projects throughout the state,” says Neil J. Pedersen, SHA’s Administrator. “SHA is building environmentally-focused projects and the use of recycled aggregate is a step toward paving the way for a greener and more sustainable highway system.”