Designing a toolbox for bitumen to answer the need for tomorrow's pavement

Abstract

The asphalt industry is facing some key challenges. There is a need to move towards more sustainable and environmental friendly solutions to construct the pavements for tomorrow. This has to answer the market needs for greater performance with improved warranties, increased safety and less impact on environment, all in required budget constraints. At the same time, there is an even greater diversity in binders, petroleum based binders from different sources or processes for which bitumen quality may be affected. Up to now, specifications and characterisation for asphalt binders have been designed for known petroleum-based bitumen. With complex binders, more fundamental understanding and properties have to be considered to really capture the long-term benefits in road and airport engineering. And finally, beyond the technical requirements, sustainable aspects need to be part of the design including circularity, environmental impacts, health and safety amongst others. This is an important paradigm where new technologies are needed and adjustment of designing materials. Thus, the need for new solutions are becoming increasingly common practice. Designing the exact solution may depend on various parameters such as the nature of the modifier, the dosage level, or the expected effects on the binder, on the asphalt mix and finally on the pavement. It can be viewed as a toolbox where different options can be selected and combined together to adjust the properties of the binders that fits the need for pavement applications. Through some examples with the specific use of polymers and bio-based additives, an example of general framework will be discussed to be served as a toolbox to design materials to bring the frontiers of road and airport engineering a step further to the future.