| Abstract |
There is a clear conscience amongst administrators and builders that investments on road network should increasingly be focused on rehabilitation (maintenance) rather than in building new roads. One of the most important matters in road rehabilitation is the pavement, in such a way that it determines its quality. Bearing in mind these facts, together with the obvious environmental and budget constraints, new rehabilitation and reconstruction techniques of road pavements with minimal resources consumption as those proposed in this project, should be considered as an opportunity and a clear option versus building of new roads.
Pavement rehabilitation using enhanced recycled asphalt mixtures, although still not a widespread procedure, in all European countries is increasingly used in some EU countries like Belgium, Netherlands and France. Pavement recycling probably the best choice for road maintenance since it provides very important savings compared to conventional options (i.e. addition of new pavement layers). It also reduces environmental impact (lower need of aggregates and eliminates rubbish dumps), diminishes the use of hydrocarbon binders based on petrol and minimises the need of transport during the building process. The economical gains will surely revert in an increase of safety in the overall road network as more roads can be rehabilitated for the same investment.
The new techniques and criteria for pavement rehabilitation proposed in this project will support the generalized use of recycled cold and hot asphalt mixtures for road rehabilitation ensuring the highest road quality with close to zero resources consumption. In addition, they will provide sound bases for new pavement rehabilitation standards as well as for general investment in road pavement infrastructure maintenance and control policies. |
