ALAN CURTIS INDUSTRY SERVICE |
DORMIE ROBERTS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
TYMCO
Recognized for Innovative Regenerative Air Sweeper
The first air sweeper, originally called the air flow sweeper, was developed in 1965 to meet the needs of the road construction industry.
B.W.
B.W. Young (far right) standing next to his early invention, a slurry seal machine.
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The 2022 Pavement Alan Curtis Industry Service Award is presented to B.W. Young, founder of TYMCO, for the invention of the Regenerative Air Sweeper technology
Young of Young Brothers Contractors, Inc. and founder of TYMCO, Inc. is the recipient of the 2022 Alan Curtis Industry Service Award for envisioning multiple applications for the Regenerative Air Sweeper and the positive environmental effects the equipment would have, and continues to have, on the industry. “Kenneth and Gary Young continue the original vision of their late father,” said Tom Rokas, inside sales at TYMCO. “Developing and producing quality equipment that cleans and improves our industry from high-trafficked roads to parking lots and all pavement between.” DEEP ROOTED HISTORY The first air sweeper, originally called the air flow sweeper, was developed in 1965 to meet the needs of the road construction industry by the late Mr. B.W. Young of
Young Brothers Contractors, of Waco, TX. A self-educated road contractor, Mr. Young developed many pieces of equipment for the road building industry. His patented regenerative air street sweeper was developed in response to the demands of his earlier inventions — a truck mounted process of resealing asphalt roads with a layer of emulsified asphalt and sand, or as the industry knows it slurry seal. Conventional broom sweepers, which swept the dirt and debris into cracks in the roadway, thus preventing the sealing process, were costly to maintain and not effective in totally cleaning the road surface. Mr. Young's concept started with the idea to use a large portable air compressor to blast the roadway surface clean. Since the surface had to remain clean after being blasted with air, he developed the idea of a regenerative air system that captured the dirt and debris in a hopper and reused only centrifugally
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PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE & RECONSTRUCTION | February 2022 | www.ForConstructionPros.com/Pavement
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