A pavement planing or pavement milling machine is a versatile piece of equipment. A common misconception is that their sole function is for planing asphalt or concrete a few inches only.  In reality the industry standard 455Kilowatt engine equipped machine can mill up to 6.5’ wide and +/- 12” deep in a single pass. A 522 Kilowatt machine can mill pavement up to 7.2’ wide. Several passes can be made further increasing the depth a milling machine can excavate.  The deeper the removal in a single pass the slower and less productive the machine will be in terms of area coverage per rate of time. Also the more you tax the milling drum the quicker it will tear up and eat away at the milling teeth requiring more frequent replacement. Because of the machines ability to excavate to reasonable depths efficiently, it is often utilized to excavate and remove asphalt roads and provide the pavement removal step prior to performing isolated pavement repairs in lieu of the sawcut, demo, and lift out method of pavement demolition.

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When using the mill to excavate out sections of road for pavement repair, most machines will leave a fairly clean pavement edge behind which often means there is no need to sawcut the pavement. A milling machine can be used to grind up and remove aggregate roads and bases, but this is typically avoided in large quantities if possible as larger aggregate pieces can get stuck in the machine and create a problem.

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Like any pavement milling operation, pavement excavation with the mill will require several trucks following the mill receiving the removed and conveyed material. The incorrect amount of trucks can lead to loss of productivity and waiting for the milling crew.