Onsite Use of Recycled Asphalt Pavement Materials and Geocells to ...

Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No.
25-1121-0001-462
4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date
Onsite Use of Recycled Asphalt Pavement Materials with Geocells to Reconstruct
Pavements Damaged by Heavy Trucks
7. Author(s)
Jie Han, Bhagaban Acharya, Jitendra K. Thakur, and Robert L. Parsons
ii
July 2011
6. Performing Organization Code
25-1121-0001-462
8. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No.
Mid-America Transportation Center
2200 Vine St. 262 Whittier
PO Box 830851
8. Performing Organization Report No.
11. Contract or Grant No.
Lincoln, NE 68583-0851
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
Final Report
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
Washington, D.C. 20590
MATC TRB RiP No. 28887
15. Supplementary Notes
16. Abstract
Asphalt pavements deteriorate with traffic (especially heavy trucks) and time. Maintenance and overlaying may solve minor to
medium pavement distress problems. When the condition of a pavement becomes badly deteriorated, reconstruction of the
pavement may become an economic and feasible solution. Reconstruction of a pavement requires removal of pavement surfaces.
On-site use of recycled asphalt pavement materials has obvious benefits from economic, to environmental, to sustainability points
of view. One attractive option is to use recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) materials as base courses with a thin new overlay.
However, RAP has its limitations; for example, it creeps under a sustained load due to the presence of asphalt binder. A
preliminary study conducted by the principal investigators has shown that the use of geocell to confine RAP minimizes creep of
RAP under a sustained load. However, the performance of geocell-reinforced RAP as a base course overlaid by an asphalt surface
is unknown. This research will utilize the geotechnical test box available at the University of Kansas to simulate the reconstruction
of damaged asphalt pavements by geocell-reinforced RAP bases overlaid by a thin asphalt layer and evaluate their
performance under cyclic loading. The main objectives of this research are to confirm the concept of using RAPs with geocells to
reconstruct damaged pavements by heavy trucks and examine the benefit of geocells to the pavement life as compared with
unreinforced base courses. In this research, at least four test sections will be constructed in the geotechnical test box including
control sections and geocell-reinforced sections. The properties of RAP including asphalt binder content and viscosity, aggregate
properties, compaction curve, and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) will be evaluated in the laboratory. The subgrade will be
prepared using an artificial soil by mixing Kansas River sand with Kaolin and compacted at an intermediate strength (i.e., 5%
CBR). The pavement sections will be tested under cyclic loading up to 25-mm rut depth.
17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement
RAP; Recycled Asphalt Pavement; Geocells; Reinforcement;
Deformation
19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of pages 22. Price
Unclassified Unclassified 121