Comprehensive Laboratory Testing and Performance Evaluation of Recycled Pulverized Hot-Mix Asphalt Material

The California Department of Transportation is studying a pavement rehabilitation strategy that involves the pulverization of failed hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements and uses the pulverized material as a granular base material in the reconstruction of the pavement. Advantages of this technique include a reduction in the use of virgin aggregates, a reduction in the amount of construction traffic, and removal of the potential for reflective cracking from the existing pavement layers. The construction and performance of four pilot projects in District 2 in northeastern California were used to evaluate this rehabilitation strategy. The characteristics and performance of the pulverized material were evaluated by comprehensive laboratory and field testing. The laboratory testing covered basic index tests and comprehensive triaxial testing. Multistage repeated-load permanent strain triaxial tests on different material gradations, stress levels, moisture contents, with and without stabilizing agents (lime and cement), and the degree of compaction were used to investigate the resilient and permanent strain characteristics. Testing was conducted on saturated samples to evaluate the effect of saturation on the pulverized material. The effects of the number of load repetitions were also investigated. The performance of the pulverized material was also compared with two typical virgin aggregate base materials from California. A life cycle cost analysis of this rehabilitation technique when compared to a typical HMA overlay showed that the recycling option was cheaper in both the short term and over the life of the pavement.

[1]  Sohila Bemanian,et al.  Cold In-Place Recycling and Full-Depth Reclamation Projects by Nevada Department of Transportation: State of the Practice , 2006 .

[2]  David Mark Jared,et al.  Georgia's Use of Cement-Stabilized Reclaimed Base in Full-Depth Reclamation , 2006 .

[3]  Ulf Isacsson,et al.  STATE OF THE ART. II: PERMANENT STRAIN RESPONSE OF UNBOUND AGGREGATES , 2000 .

[4]  Rajib B. Mallick,et al.  Laboratory Study of Full-Depth Reclamation Mixes , 2002 .

[5]  K. H. Head,et al.  Effective stress tests , 1986 .

[6]  Edward J. Kearney,et al.  Full-Depth Reclamation Process , 1999 .

[7]  Andrew Dawson,et al.  PAVEMENT DESIGN MODEL FOR UNBOUND GRANULAR MATERIALS , 2004 .

[8]  Rajib B. Mallick,et al.  Evaluation of Performance of Full-Depth Reclamation Mixes , 2002 .

[9]  Ulf Isacsson,et al.  State of the Art. I: Resilient Response of Unbound Aggregates , 2000 .

[10]  E. J. Jeon,et al.  The evaluation of in-place recycled asphalt concrete as an unbound granular base material , 2008 .

[11]  Andrew Dawson,et al.  Design of Granular Pavements , 2003 .

[12]  Sohila Bemanian,et al.  Alternative Strategies for Rehabilitation of Low-Volume Roads in Nevada , 2007 .

[13]  Ravindra Gudishala,et al.  Development of resilient modulus prediction models for base and subgrade pavement layers from in situ devices test results , 2004 .

[14]  Andrew Dawson,et al.  Permanent Deformation Behavior of Granular Materials and the Shakedown Concept , 2001 .

[15]  J. Labuz,et al.  Resilient Modulus of Base Course Containing Recycled Asphalt Pavement , 2007 .