Sustainable Reuse of Limestone Quarry Fines and RAP in Pavement Base/Subbase Layers
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 4
Abstract
The advantages of utilizing recycled materials/byproducts in pavement construction are numerous. The reduction in landfilling resulting from the adoption of recycled materials in large quanitites primarily promotes their usage. Most of the recycled materials are used successfully throughout the world as embankment fill or subgrade foundation material. Although the utilization of the recycled materials/byproducts as pavement bases has been gaining increased acceptance, comprehensive geotechnical characterization of these materials is still lacking. In a research project, Limestone quarry fines (QF), which are a residue deposit produced from limestone quarries, and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) aggregates, obtained from milling existing hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavement layers, were characterized in both laboratory and field conditions. Before the usage of these materials as pavement bases, a series of laboratory tests were conducted to verify their engineering behavior and suitability. Shear strength and consolidation tests were performed to evaluate both strength and compressibility characteristics. Repeated load triaxial tests were conducted to obtain the resilient behavior of these recycled materials. Because the QF material exhibited both low strength and low moduli, cement stabilization was performed to enhance the material properties. The treated materials were then used as bases in test sections built as a part of the state highway. These test sections were instrumented and monitored for approximately 3 years. However, the long-term performance of the new materials is crucial for highways. Henceforth, numerical simulations were performed to predict the-performance of the test sections. This paper presents a summary of test results obtained from the laboratory, field, and numerical studies, and the results were analysed to evaluate the efficacy of these materials as pavement bases.
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Acknowledgments
Authors would like to acknowledge the Fort Worth District and Jeff Seiders of the Construction Division of TxDOT for providing financial support to this project under an interagency contract agreement. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Sunil Sirigiripet and Mr. Ekarut Archeewa for their support in field monitoring studies.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 4 • April 2012
Pages: 418 - 429
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 4, 2011
Accepted: Oct 14, 2011
Published online: Oct 18, 2011
Published in print: Apr 1, 2012
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