Road maintenance machine and methods

A method of restoring a paved road surface using a road maintenance machine moving along a roadway comprising:

• intermittently applying heat at a temperature substantially above the burning temperature of said road surface to strips of said road surface transverse to the direction of travel of the road maintenance machine as the machine moves continuously forward along the roadway to heat and soften the road surface material to a predetermined depth while maintaining the temperature of said surface below said burning temperature,
• confining with a confining surface spanning between consecutive intermittent heating steps the heat generated during said intermittent heating to a zone substantially between said confining surface and said road surface to further heat and soften the road surface material,
• shearing the heated and softened material from the roadway into a windrow to form a new road surface, and
• conveying the windrow of sheared material from the new road surface to a hauling vehicle for disposal of the sheared material.

A method of restoring a paved road surface using a road maintenance machine moving along a roadway comprising:

• intermittently applying heat at a temperature substantially above the burning temperature of said road surface to strips of said road surface transverse to the direction of travel of the road maintenance machine as the machine moves continuously forward along the roadway to heat and soften the road surface material to a predetermined depth while maintaining the temperature of said surface below said burning temperature,
• confining with a confining surface spanning between consecutive intermittent heating steps the heat generated during said intermittent heating to a zone substantially between said confining surface and said road surface to further heat and soften the road surface material,
• scarifying the heated and softened surface material to break up and thoroughly mix said material,
• tacking said mixed material with an emulsion or rejuvenating agent,
• spreading a layer of resurfacing material evenly over the mixed road surface material, and
• compacting the layer of resurfacing material and the mixed road surface material to form a new homogeneous road surface.

A method of restoring a paved road surface using a road maintenance machine moving along a roadway comprising:

• intermittently applying heat at a temperature substantially above the burning temperature of said road surface to strips of said road surface transverse to the direction of travel of the road maintenance machine as the machine moves continuously forward along the roadway to heat and soften the road surface material to a predetermined depth while maintaining the temperature of said surface below said burning temperature,
• confining with a confining surface spanning between consecutive heating steps the heat generated during said intermittent heating to a zone substantially between said confining surface and said road surface to further heat and soften the road surface material,
• scarifying the heated and softened surface material to break up and thoroughly mix said material,
• leveling and partially compacting the mixed material,
• spreading a restoring material over the leveled surface to restore the bitumen content of the mixed surface material to a desired proportion, and
• compacting the restored material and the mixed surface material to form a new homogeneous road surface.

A method of restoring a paved road surface using a road maintenance machine moving along a roadway comprising:

• spreading a layer of aggregate material evenly over the paved surface in front of the road maintenance machine,
• intermittently applying heat at a temperature substantially above the burning temperature of said road surface to strips of said road surface and said layer of aggregate material transverse to the direction of travel of the road maintenance machine as the machine moves continuously forward along the roadway to heat and soften the road surface material to a predetermined depth while maintaining the temperature of said surface below said burning temperature,
• confining with a confining surface spanning the heat between said intermittent heating to a zone substantially between said confining surface and said road surface to further heat and soften the road surface material, and
• compressing the layer of aggregate material into the heated and softened surface material to form a new homogeneous road surface.

A method of heating and working an asphalt road surface in a single pass of a mobile road maintenance machine having a plurality of spaced-apart rows of burners disposed transverse to the direction of travel of said machine, comprising:

• directing heat generated by said rows of burners to said asphalt road surface at temperatures substantially higher than the burning temperature of said asphalt surface to bring said surface to a temperature sufficient to soften said asphalt surface;
• moving said machine along said asphalt road surface to allow said surface to partially cool between said rows of burners to maintain the temperature of said surface below said burning temperature;
• confining the portions of said heat between said rows of burners with a plurality of insulator panels each extending substantially parallel to said asphalt surface between two adjacent rows of burners, said heat being confined to a zone bounded vertically substantially between said panels and said asphalt surface to promote conduction of said heat into said asphalt surface to soften said surface to a predetermined depth;
• and
• working said softened asphalt surface to a depth not more than said predetermined depth.