An unusual piece of machinery will slow traffic along the Inland Island Highway between Courtenay and Campbell River for the next few days.
The machinery is replacing the north and southbound slow lanes in what’s described as a very “economical way” of reprocessing a highway.
The equipment preheats the exhisting asphalt, chews it up and relays it into a recycled surface.
“We’re going to use 100 per cent that has been laid here 20 years ago, we’re also adding 10 per cent of virgin material that we supply from our asphalt plant,” said Garth Parker, ARC Asphalt Recycling Superintendent.
ARC Asphalt Recycling is one of only three companies that can perform the particular method and says it’s the only company that uses machinery that they built themself.
“This is the largest ‘hot in place’ project put out in B.C., 525,000 square metres in total, normally they’re average around 300,000 squares,” said Parker.
The caravan moves along the highway at less than five kilometres an hour, and to ensure safety of the crew members on site, the speed limit has dropped from 120 km/hr to 60 km/hr.
Crews say the project should be finished by the end of the month.
With files from CTV Vancouver Island's Gord Kurbis
