Pittsfield Council Previews Asphalt Recycler
  Public Services Commissioner Peter Bruneau, left, touted the cost-savings from buying the recycler on Friday with DPW consultant John Barrett III to Council Chairman Gerald Lee and Councilor Christine Yon. |
The council on Tuesday night will decide whether to approve $125,197 to buy the Bagela 7000 Asphalt Recycler. The money would come from unexpended funds in a bond account for purchasing equipment that will last 10 years or more.
DPW officials say the machine would save upwards from $75 a ton on asphalt by reusing thousands of tons of old curb cuts and pavement the city has stockpiled.
"This is a permanent fix in the wintertime, not a temporary fix," said new Commissioner of Public Services Peter Bruneau as the bright red machine chugged out steaming asphalt. "A temporary fix is the cold patch that is $116 a ton ... we can make it for anywhere from $18 to $25 [a ton]."
Bruneau said the city buys from from six to eight loads of cold patch a year at about $1,600 a load. That's a waste of money, he said, because the patch doesn't last — it crumbles and pops as water gets into it. It's temporary fix until the asphalt plant begins operating in April.
"This is the worst season I can remember [for potholes] in Berkshire County and throughout the state," said John Barrett III, who's been consulting on public services for the city. "It's going to be very useful in the city of Pittsfield this year."
Greg Harla, sales and marketing director for Bagela, said the machines are made in northern Germany and about 2,000 are now operating around the world. The Connecticut highway division has purchased one as has the cities of Ithaca, Rochester and Poughkeepsie in New York.
 The city plans a 24-hour campaign against the pothole scourge. |
The machine works by heating the used asphalt in a totating convection drum to break it down; from there, it's placed in one of the DPW's two 3.5 ton "hot boxes" to keep it hot enough to be spread. Highway foreman Joseph Cimini said a temperature has to be at least 200 degrees.
Officials said the volatility of the oil market and the expected "astronomical" jump in the price of asphalt this coming season make the buying the Bagela a no-brainer.
"It's recycled, it's green, it would be a substantial savings to the city," said Bruneau.
At the demonstration were Councilors Chairman Gerald Lee, Michael Ward and Christine Yon, who stayed to watch how a pothole is patched. "The whole concept as far as I'm concerned makes sense," she said.
Barrett said the city is using the recycler immediately. "Crews will be going 24 hours a day to attack this problem beginning tomorrow," he said.
