LIGHT WEIGHT AGGREGATE (LWA) USED IN ROAD PAVEMENTS

Damage due to frost penetration into frost susceptible subsoil is a severe problem in the Nordic countries. Traditionally, road construction materials like gravel and crushed rock have very low insulation capacity and quite thick layers are needed to avoid frost penetration. Light weight expanded clay aggregate (LWA) is a promising alternative because of its good insulation properties. To investigate the mechanical and thermal properties of the LWA-material, both laboratory tests and a full-scale instrumented field test were performed. The tests showed that the material behaves similar to traditional granular materials as long as the stresses are low enough to prevent crushing of grains. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118503.