Increasing the Service Life of Porous Asphalt with Rejuvenators

The combination of load repetitions and severe environmental conditions (aging, moisture ingression, etc.) are causing ravelling (losing of the stones at the top) of porous asphalt. Ravelling has a strong influence on the service life, especially in the slow lane. The service life of porous asphalt can be extended by improving the self-healing capability in time. In this paper, the rejuvenation approach is described to upgrade the self-healing capability during service life. With this approach, the porous asphalt is rejuvenated from outside at the top in order to regain the self-healing capability. Experience with some test trials is described. After the treatment with rejuvenators, the beams from the single-layer porous asphalt show a higher bending stiffness in the 3-point bending test. The beams from the two-layer porous asphalt show a lower bending stiffness after treatment. The results of Rotating Surface Abrasion Test (RSAT) indicate that the rejuvenators can improve the ravelling resistance of porous asphalt. The rejuvenation approach can be very cost-effective not only for porous asphalt but also for other (noise-reducing) thin-surface layers and asphalt concrete containing highly aged reclaimed asphalt.