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Recycling Of Pavements -A Sustainable Process For Rehabilitation And

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Article · February 2019

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ROADS
Recycling Of Pavements – A Sustainable
Process For Rehabilitation And Upgrading
Prof. Satish Chandra, Director, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi
Dr. Ambika Behl, Sr. Scientist, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi
T
he development of motorized transport has had a huge
impact on the performance of highways in the country.
Increased number of commercial vehicles and overloading
of these vehicles have often resulted in premature failure of
pavements. The road authorities are now placing more emphasis
on upgrading, maintenance and rehabilitation than on the
development of new roads. Severe distresses that occurred in the
existing road network required that the bearing capacity of the
existing pavements should be increased. Increasing environmental
and economic pressures have forced engineers to consider reusing
the materials in the existing distressed pavements, rather than to
open new quarries and import material to reconstruct the road
pavement. The modern trend in rehabilitation design is to utilize
the intrinsic values of the material within the existing pavement.
In a time when highway professionals determine pavement
rehabilitation techniques based on cost, performance, and
environmental sustainability, in-situ recycling processes offer the
best alternative to optimize these benefits. With strict attention
paid to pre-engineering, mix design formulation, construction,
and quality control, pavements constructed using these
techniques offer the ability to decrease life-cycle costs and the
environmental impact. Cold in-place recycling consists essentially
of milling the existing road pavement to a predetermined depth
in order to recover the material that was used in the original
construction. This material is then reprocessed, normally with a
stabilizing agent, to form a new pavement layer.
The conventional method of providing bituminous surfacing
on flexible pavements requires significant amount of materials
and energy. Therefore, in order to reduce consumption of fuel
and aggregates, pavement recycling technology may be adopted
for Indian roads (Reddy et al., 2013). Also, there is a problem
54
of the scarcity of aggregates, which forces truck delivery of
materials from long distance. The use of diesel for running these
trucks contributes to emission of pollutants such as particulate
matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxides and sulphur dioxides.
Many of the diesel engine emissions have been identified
as carcinogenic, and harmful to the human health, even at
occupational and environmental levels of exposure. For a lead
of 200 km (which is common in north India), requires 18 million
litres of diesel in transportation alone (Mallick and Veeraraghvan,
2010). Recycling of existing bituminous pavement materials to
produce new pavement material results in considerable savings
of material, money and energy.
One of the most energy efficient mechanisms for rehabilitation
of an asphalt pavement is cold in-place recycling (CIPR). It
involves recycling of asphalt pavement without application of
heat during the recycling process. CIPR is carried out on site and
generally uses 100 per cent of the Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement
(RAP). Bitumen stabilized materials (BSMs) incorporating
bitumen emulsion or foamed bitumen is primarily applied on
rehabilitation projects using recycled materials in the existing
pavement. Foamed stabilization technique needs less binder
and water compared with other types of cold mixing. Foamed
bitumen is a mixture of very hot bitumen and water. It is produced
by injecting water into hot bitumen (160–180°C) which is
supported by air. The volume of water is between 2–5% of the
volume of bitumen. When the water contacts the hot bitumen,
it rapidly changes to steam and the volume of bitumen expands
many times. In this stage the foamed bitumen is produced, which
contains thousands of bitumen bubbles and is ready to be mixed
with an aggregate (Thom, 2008)
CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) has
recommended recycling of pavement in several projects of
CE&CR February 2019
 ROADS

rehabilitation and upgrading. This article presents a case study Table 1: Conventional Pavement Design
of rehabilitation and upgrading of two national highways in India, Layer Specification Thickness, mm, for Design
NH-31 and NH-2, using CIPR (cold in-place recycling). Traffic of 150 MSA
Granular Sub Base (GSB)+ Granular 450
NH-31 Rehabilitation Program Base (WBM)
National Highway 31 (NH 31) starts from Unnao in Uttar Existing Bituminous Crust 230
Pradesh, passes through Bihar and terminates at its crossing Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) 135
with State Highway 10 (West Bengal). The project road is in the Bituminous Concrete (BC) 50
state of Bihar, about 60 km in length. It was heavily deteriorated
RAP Mix Design Using Foam Bitumen
showing signs of distress and failure, especially in the form of
Refinery produced VG-30 grade bitumen was used for
cracks and deformation. Photo 1 shows the condition of the
foaming purpose. Injection of cold water and air with varying
distressed pavement.
pressure into hot bitumen produces foamed bitumen. The
optimum water addition is chosen as an average of two water
contents required to meet minimum criteria of Expansion Ratio
(ER) more than 8 and half-life (HL) more than 6 seconds (as
specified by TG-2, 2009; Wirtgen, 2012). Foaming experiment
is conducted at two different asphalt temperatures and four
different water contents. Best foam with an ER of 9 and HL time
of 12s was observed at temperature of 180°C and the foaming
water content of 8 per cent. This combination for foaming was
selected for the VG-30 binder in mix design.

Preparation of Foam Mix

Materials like blended recycled and fresh aggregate, foamed
(i)
bitumen with VG-30, and filler as cement of about one per
cent is used. The average binder content in this processed RAP
material was found to be 2.00 % by weight of total mix according
to ASTM D6307 test procedure. The aggregates obtained after
binder extraction process were washed and dried in oven for 24

(ii)
Photo 1: Pavement Condition before Rehabilitation

With the aim of recycling the existing pavement layers and at

the same time strengthening the aged and distressed pavement,
Cold in-situ recycling using foamed bitumen approach was
considered. Based on field and laboratory test results of the sub-
grade and the planned traffic design, if the pavement had to be
reconstructed, the existing 200-230mm of existing bituminous
layer would not have been put on effective use and the pavement
design of the whole pavement is shown in Table 1. Fig.1: Gradation of Blended Material as per IRC 37

CE&CR February 2019 55

ROADS

hours. This was followed by sieve analysis to find the particle size
distribution. 80 per cent of RAP material, 19 per cent of stone
dust and 1 per cent cement was blended to meet the gradation
requirement as given in IRC 37: 2012 (Figure 1).
The Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) of the untreated
blended materials was determined using the moisture-density
relationship according to AASHTO T180 (2010) as shown in
Figure 2. It was 6.5 per cent. This pre-wetting water content is
added to get better dispersion of foam in the mix. The sample of 8
kg of material was prepared and mixed at Foamed Binder Content
in Wirtgen WLM 10 pug mill mixer. The different batches by
varying the foam bitumen content from 2.0% to 3% in increment
of 0.5% by weight of aggregate were prepared. Upon mixing,
samples were prepared using Marshal Compactor. Compacted
mix was then cured for 72hrs at 40°C in an oven. Six specimens
were made from each batch: three for dry ITS and other three
for wet ITS according to ASTM: D6931-12.
is determined. Unconditioned specimens are maintained at
room temperature and then adjusted to 25°C. The conditioned
specimens are placed in a water bath maintained at 25°C for 24
hours and then placed in an environmental chamber maintained
at 25°C for two hours. The minimum requirement of Dry ITS
and Wet ITS is 225 and 100kPa respectively. The maximum
strength both in wet and dry conditions was found to be at 2.5%
of binder content.
Resilient Modulus Test
This test is used to analyse the pavement response for
the repeated traffic loading by measuring the indirect tensile
strength modulus according to ASTM D7369 (2011). The test is
performed on Universal Testing Machine (UTM-16). Specimens
prepared at their optimum binder content were loaded by
diametrical force in pulse loading. Table 2 shows the Resilient
Modulus at 25ºC and 35ºC for different binder contents. The
maximum MR values are obtained at 2.5% foamed binder content
at both the temperatures.

Table 2: Resilient Modulus Values

Foam Binder 2.0% 2.5% 3.0%
Content

Testing 25°C 35°C 25°C 35°C 25°C 35°C

Temperature

Resilient 1302 1034 2129 1550 1875 1429

Modulus, MPa
(Average of 3
tests)

The final recommendation for RAP mix design was for 2.5%
Fig.2: Optimum Moisture Content
foam bitumen and 6.5% optimum moisture content. The optimum
Indirect Tensile Strength: Dry & Wet
foaming characteristics were achieved at temperature of 180°C
Indirect tensile strength test is useful to evaluate resistance
and foaming water content of 8%. This combination for foaming
of compacted bituminous mixture to cracking. Marshal specimens
was selected for the VG-30 asphalt binder in mix design. 1%
were tested for their tensile strength at 25°C. The failure load
cement OPC 43 grade was added to improve the stability and
was recorded and the indirect tensile strength (St) was calculated
better dispersion of foamed bitumen in fine particles of the mix.
using the following Equation (1)
The RAP content recommended to be used was 80%, stone dust
2P
St= 19% and 1% cement.
πDt
Where, P is the load (kg), D is the diameter in cm of the The pavement was designed as per IRC 37:2012 for 150
specimen, and t is the thickness of the specimen in cm. msa and CBR 8%, with 90% reliability performance. The existing

To identify the susceptibility of binder coating to moisture bituminous crust was 200-230mm, out of which 180mm was
damage, indirect tensile strength of water conditioned specimens recycled.

56 CE&CR February 2019

 ROADS

Table 3: Crust Composition with Recycled (BSM) Layer

Layer Specification Thickness, mm, for Design
Traffic of 150 MSA
Granular Sub Base (GSB)+ Granular 450
Base (WBM)
Foam Bitumen Stabilized Base 200
(BSM) (recycled layer)
DBM 90
Bituminous Concrete (BC) 50

The new crust composition is given in Table 3.

(iv)
Field Construction
The existing bituminous crust was recycled using foam
bitumen. Photo 2 (i-v) shows the recycling process carried out
at NH 31 section. Fresh crusher dust was spread (as per the
gradation requirement) before spreading of the cement.

(v)
Photo 2: Cold in Place Recycling Carried out at NH 31

WR240 machine was used for recycling at NH31 project. The

foam mixing recycler is coupled with a bitumen supply tank and
water supply tank. The recycler pushes the tanker. Heated bitumen
at 180°C is transported from hot mix plant to construction
site through a temperature-controlled tank. Hot bitumen and
(i)
water get injected in to the recycler and foaming takes place
through spray bars. The foamed bitumen then gets mixed with
the pulverised pavement material. Immediately following this
recycler was Hamm roller to compact the recycled base (Photo
2-v). After grading and profiling of the recycled base layer, steel
drum roller was used to seal the top layer. The compaction was
then followed with curing process prior to overlay. The recycled
surface is cured for 48-72 hours by sprinkling of water at an
interval of 6-7 hours. Photo 3 shows the surface after overlay.
(ii)

(iii) Photo 3: Recycled Surface after Overlay

CE&CR February 2019 57

 ROADS

Conclusion
The most significant contribution of cold in-situ recycling
is substantial reduction in transportation of materials as well as
reduction in requirement of fresh aggregate and bitumen. The
required DBM thickness as per conventional design was 135 mm,
but when the existing pavement crust was reused/recycled as BSM
layer the requirement of fresh DBM was reduced to 90 mm, over
which 50 Bituminous Concrete (BC) layer was provided. Use of foam
stabilized technique enabled utilization of 80% of recycled aggregate
and about 60% less bitumen for construction of pavement.
The data collected by CSIR-CRRI from the site of another
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the team of M/s Wirtgen India
Pvt. Ltd, for their support during the project work. The research
sponsoring organization and authors do not endorse any
proprietary products or technologies mentioned in this paper.
These appear herein only because they are considered essential
to achieve the objective of this article.
References
1. AASTHO (American Association of State Highway & Transportation
Officials) (2001) T 180: Modified Method of Test for the Moisture–
Density Relations of Soils. AASTHO, Washington, DC, USA.

project (of NH-2) where 85 km length of 4-lane highway was
rehabilitated using cold in-place recycling was analysed through
CHANGER software to calculate the reduction achieved in carbon
dioxide emissions due to use of foam stabilized materials. Results are
given in Table 4. The saving of CO2 emission using conventional and
RAP design using foam stabilized material is due to the reduction
of temperature during mixing and due to saving of aggregate and
bitumen, which result in reduction of embodied emission.
Table 4: Consolidated Results of Emission per km per Lane
2. ASTM (2016) D 6307: Standard Test Method for Asphalt Content
of Asphalt Mixture by Ignition Method. ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, PA, USA
3. ASTM (2012) D 6931: Standard test method for indirect tensile
(IDT) strength of bituminous mixtures. ASTM International, West
Conshohocken, PA, USA.
4. ASTM D (2011) 7369: Standard Test Method for Determining the
Resilient Modulus of Bituminous Mixtures by Indirect Tension Test.
ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, USA.
5. IRC: 37. (2012). Tentative Guidelines for the Design Of Flexible
Pavements. Indian Road Congress, India

Pavement Design (RAP) Conventional Design 6. IRC: 120 (2015), Recommended Practice for Recycling of Bituminous
Pavements, Indian Road Congress, India
Consolidated results: tCO2-eq Consolidated tCO2-eq
7. Asphalt Academy, Technical Guideline: Bitumen Stabi­lised Materials, A
results:
Guideline for the Design and Con­struction of Bitumen Emulsion and
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Recycled Aggregate 4.9 Bitumen   35.5 Asphalt Academy, Second Edition, Pretoria, South Africa, May 2009.
8. Mallick, R. B., and Veeraragavan A. (2010). Sustainable pavements in
Cement 13.6
India-the time to start is now. New Building Materials and Construction
Bitumen 24.3 Aggregate 18.7 World (NBM&CW) Magazine 16.3: 128-140.
Aggregate 9.2 9. Reddy, M., Reddy, A., Reddy, K. S., and Pandey, B. B. (2013). Recycling
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From mix preparation 20.2 From mix 59.2
preparation In Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting (No. 13-3740),
Washington, DC.
Total CO2 equivalent 73.5 Total CO2 113.4
emissions: equivalent 10. Thom, N., (2008), Principles of Pavement engineering. London: Thomas
emissions: Telford Ltd.

Embodied energy of cement and recycled aggregate is

Embodied energy of cement and recycled aggregate is also taken Prof. Satish Chandra
into consideration for GHG emission calculations. Approximately 40 Director,
Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi
tons equivalent CO2 is saved per km per lane construction.

Cold recycled materials are good opportunity to save money

and resources. The recycling process resulted in construction time
Dr. Ambika Behl
saving, minimal use of virgin aggregates, less transportation of Sr. Scientist,
materials and several other environmental benefits. Huge reduction Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi

in carbon emissions can be achieved with the use of RAP technology.

58 CE&CR February 2019

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