2009 City of Calgary Warm Mix Asphalt Trials: The Experience, The Questions, The Need for Answers

摘要

The asphalt paving industry is constantly under pressure to reduce energy consumption and emissions due to the higher cost of fossil fuel and more restrictive environmental regulations. In response to these issues, Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) has become the “hottest” topics in the asphalt paving industry for some time and the subject of a number of CTAA paper publications. The City of Calgary began an initiative to implement WMA capability for their asphalt plant operation. The additive Sasobit? was chosen for a trial project in 2009. Mixing and compaction temperatures were reduced up to 35°C, with no negative effects. This trial positions the City to comply with the sustainability aspects of the City’s Plant-It and Triple Bottom Line policies. Given there are currently over twenty different WMA additives or processes, the need exists to define and implement sound quality management practices, including QC/QA protocols. What quality management processes must be in place to move forward towards successfully implementing WMA technology? This paper will provide details with respect to the City of Calgary 2009 experience. A discussion will be presented regarding the need to ensure the potential benefits of WMA technology are not compromised by performance deficiencies.