Removal of a set depth of existing pavement by a cold planer, a machine with a rotating drum studded with carbide teeth that chews up the surface and conveys the cuttings into trucks. Milling restores grade and cross slope, removes cracked or rutted asphalt, keeps curb reveal and bridge clearance, and leaves a textured surface that bonds well to tack. The cuttings become RAP.
Milling crew's two blocks ahead, check their depth at every manhole, plan says two inches flat.
Worn or missing teeth on the drum leave ridges and a scalloped cut that come back as roughness in the overlay.
Also heard as
- cold planing
- grinding
- cold milling
Related terms
Mill and fill
A resurfacing job where the old surface is milled off and repaved with new mix, often the same day.
RAP
Reclaimed asphalt pavement: old asphalt milled or crushed and fed back into new mix as aggregate and binder.
Tack coat
A thin spray of asphalt between layers that bonds the new lift to the surface underneath.