Experimental study of non-skid microsurfacing asphalt modified with recycled tires

Abstract

Given the current high traffic speeds in urban and rural roads, typologies of vehicles and the elevated number of accidents caused by the excess of speed, it is necessary to create new designs of asphalt mixtures that allow a greater adherence between tire and roadway and evacuate quickly the water from the roadway, hence a braking distance reduction. With that scope it has been considered the use of hot micro mixtures that guarantee an adequate macro and micro texture, by defining discontinuities in the grain size distribution curve and a relationship between the arid maximum size versus layer thickness. Of course, in order to maintain these conditions of superficial regularity along the time without being deteriorated under the action of the traffic load and environmental conditions, it is necessary to use an asphalt binder modified with a polymer. This paper presents the feasibility of modifying the asphalt with dust obtained from the recycling of tires out of use. The performance of this agglomerate compared to another selected as blank is experimentally studied. The asphalt binder is modified with a virgin conventional polymer, like Styrene Butadiene Styrene, known as SBS, that has a much higher cost even considering the process benefits of recycling latex from tires. It is concluded that the changes caused mainly by the microtexture is one of the most favourable aspects for the braking distance reduction.