Research on the Application of Rock Asphalt in a Seasonal Frozen Area

摘要

Along with the rapid development of highways in China, the performance of road pavement is being increasingly challenged. Highways in seasonally frozen areas, widely distributed in northern China, tend to infect diseases as heaving/ frost boiling attributed to recurrent freezing and defrosting of water in the soil as well as fatigue load exerted by overloading vehicles. This paper focuses on the performance evaluation of rock asphalt, modified asphalt in seasonally frozen areas. Buton Rock Asphalt (BRA) is chosen as a representative. Laboratory and field tests are conducted and the result manifests that BRA can: (1) upgrade the aggregate-binder cohesion and thus strengthen the high temperature stability significantly; (2) promote the low temperature cracking resistance to some extent; and (3) enhance the resistance to water damage. Additionally, a simplified analysis is made to verify the economic and environmental value of BRA modified asphalt.