Sulfur: Potential Pavement Binder of the Future

A number of experimental pavement projects constructed by state highway agencies in the United States utilizing sulfur as an asphalt cement extender indicate that a good durable pavement surface can be constructed with this material utilizing existing paving plant and laydown equipment. Perhaps the most revolutionary and far-reaching concept in the highway pavement field since the development of asphalt cement as a binder for flexible pavements is the potential use of plasticized sulfur as an independent pavement binder. Sulfur has been identified as a material that possesses desirable engineering properties when modified with hydrocarbon plasticizers. It is also available in sufficient quantities in the earth's crust for use as an economically viable pavement binder material. The results of research by the Federal Highway Administration indicate that plasticized sulfur is a very promising pavement binder material.