The use of cement treated reclaimed asphalt pavement-quarry waste blends as highway material

ABSTRACT

Massive highway reconstruction work being undertaken by Federal Road Maintenance Agency in Nigeria generates large volume of reclaimed asphalt pavements waste while the quarrying of rocks to provide material for pavement construction also generate large volume of quarry wastes. This paper present results of the laboratory evaluation of the characteristics of cement stabilised reclaimed asphalt pavements-quarry waste blends with a view to determine its suitability for use as flexible pavement material. The mixtures were subjected to British Standard light (standard Proctor) compactive effort to determine their compaction characteristics and California bearing ratios. Test results show that the properties of reclaimed asphalt pavements waste improved with quarry waste and cement treatment. The maximum dry density increased as the optimum moisture content decreased with higher quarry waste and cement contents in the mixes. The optimum California bearing ratio values of 48% (unsoaked) and 76% (soaked for 24 hours) were recorded for 70% RAP + 24% QW + 6% C mix. The optimum mix satisfied durability requirements with insignificant water absorption and can be used as sub-base material in flexible pavement construction. Further work may be encouraged to assess resilient modulus of this material under cyclic load.

KEYWORDS:

• California bearing ratio
• cement
• durability
• highway
• quarry waste
• reclaimed asphalt pavements
• stabilisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.