Practical Application of Sustainable Road Structure: Mechanical and Environmental Approach
The principles of the circular economy are the basic determinants of the sustainable development of road construction. This paper presents a field study with a new concept of asphalt pavement structure with ecologically oriented attributes, significantly reducing the asphalt pavement carbon footprin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/23/11914 |
| Summary: | The principles of the circular economy are the basic determinants of the sustainable development of road construction. This paper presents a field study with a new concept of asphalt pavement structure with ecologically oriented attributes, significantly reducing the asphalt pavement carbon footprint while achieving a level of long-term performance comparable or greater than that of conventional pavement structures. The sustainable pavement consists of the introduction of a BIO-additive that allows for the integration of higher percentage of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) as an alternative to the traditional asphalt mixtures. In the sub-base the use of construction and demolition waste was adopted. The results were obtained from a full-sized test section of the road structure divided for reference and eco-innovative cases. Mechanistic analyses were performed for materials and pavement structure based on laboratory tests and on-site assessment. The new eco-design solution was subjected to a comprehensive LCA and LCCA analysis and summarised by SWOT assessment. |
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| ISSN: | 2076-3417 |