Development of a Specification for the Design, Production, and Construction of Foamed Bitumen Stabilised Base for Airport Pavements
Publication: International Conference on Road and Airfield Pavement Technology 2023
ABSTRACT
Foamed bitumen stabilisation is an attractive approach to sustainable and resilient pavement rehabilitation, particularly in areas that are level constrained or require expedient construction. However, the absence of an airport-specific specification has limited its adoption by Australian airports. To address this, a specification was developed that is outcome focused, provides maximum flexibility, covers both in situ and ex situ production methods, as well as paver placement and/or grader finishing of foam bitumen stabilised materials. The specification used local road specifications as the model. A pilot project was then performed to verify the draft specification. The pilot project identified challenges associated with surveying for layer thickness calculation, compacted density requirements, bitumen and cementitious binder content tolerances, extracted bitumen content measurement, and the basis of geometric design. The adjusted specification is now available for use and will promote sustainable, resilient, and efficient airport pavement construction and rehabilitation in Australia.
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Published online: Feb 6, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Air transportation
- Airport and airfield pavements
- Airports and airfields
- Asphalts
- Business management
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Construction methods
- Design (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Foaming (material)
- Highway and road design
- Infrastructure
- Materials engineering
- Materials processing
- Pavement design
- Practice and Profession
- Rehabilitation
- Sight distances
- Sustainable development
- Transportation engineering
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