A sign directing visitors to the new Brooks Construction Co. asphalt plant declared, "The Road to the Future Starts Here!"

Brooks Construction is hoping to pave that road and many more with mostly recycled asphalt.

The Fort Wayne company unveiled its new plant and product Wednesday, demonstrating material that co-owner John Brooks said is "a giant, game-changing leap forward in terms of recycling."

"What you are standing on is 100 percent recycled asphalt" that came from a city street, Brooks told a crowd of more than 100 at the Banks Avenue plant.

Brooks Construction and Crowley Chemical Co. of New York have spent four years developing HyRAP. It is made from old asphalt and a rejuvenating agent that restores binding properties damaged by the wear and tear of cars and trucks.

John Brooks said the privately funded plant cost millions of dollars to build. Tests show emissions are at or below Indiana standards for asphalt producers. And it will not have to use petroleum and crushed stone that are mixed to make asphalt.

"Essentially what we are doing is mining our own roads," Brooks said. "We don't have to buy aggregate, we don't have to buy foreign oil for most of what we do."

He said the process "is either energy-neutral or energy-negative" compared with other plants.

"This is the only one like it in the country," said John Berry of Crowley Chemical. "They whole country is going to benefit from recycling."

Or it might if state and local governments alter their specifications for asphalt.

In Indiana, asphalt can contain no more than 40 percent recycled materials, and most states have similar caps, Berry said later in an interview. Those restrictions would have to be relaxed for Brooks Construction to use HyRAP on public roads and highways.

Berry said Los Angeles allows 92 percent recycled asphalt to be used for public projects.

"This is a very good way of not having to landfill material," he said.

Among the guests at Wednesday's announcement and demonstration were representatives of local, state and federal government offices.

"I'm very excited about it," said Thomas Duncan of the U.S. Highway Administration. "The issue would be performance. We'd like to conduct a demonstration project."

After watching the asphalt being spread at the plant, City Councilman Mitch Harper said he would push the council to increase the amount of recycled material that can be applied to city streets.

"It's crazy not to do that, in terms of energy savings," Harper said. "We have a state-of-the art asphalt-recycling plant in Fort Wayne. We have asphalt needs."

But other asphalt producers and suppliers might be cool to the idea.

"Anyone who has a vested interest will resist," Brooks said. "The quarries won't like this. Oil companies won't like this."

In the meantime, both Brooks and Berry said HyRAP will be marketed for private projects, such as parking lots.

bfrancisco@jg.net