Foamed Asphalt a Success on Federal Lands Highway
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently reconstructed the
Nation's oldest Federal highway using reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP)
treated with foamed asphalt. Combining cold water with hot asphalt to
temporarily create a binding foam is not a new idea; it has been widely
applied to virgin and recycled road projects in other countries. To
date though, it has only been used sporadically on State and local roads
across the United States (see October
2002 Focus). Recent improvements to foaming asphalt application
technology are making it an increasingly attractive option, however,
for transportation engineers seeking a cost-effective way to create
a high-strength road base.
After a failed attempt to apply the technique on Mississippi's Natchez
Trace Parkway earlier this year, the FHWA Eastern Federal Lands Highway
office decided to try it again on a 10.6-km (6.6-mi) stretch of the
South Old Mine Road in New Jersey's Delaware Water Gap National Recreation
Area. The road had not been repaved since its construction in the 1880s
and was in fair to very poor condition. A complete overhaul was required.
But rather than do a full-depth reclamation, FHWA opted to try and save
money and natural resources by recycling the asphalt. The most promising
approach seemed to be to grind it up, then rebind it with foaming asphalt.
First a reclaimer machine ground up the asphalt and several inches'
worth of subbase. The engineers wanted to double the road's thickness,
so they also added 5-cm (2-in) of aggregate base into the mix. The ground-up
layer was then graded and compacted.
Next the reclaimer was brought back for a second round, this time hooked
up to a bitumen tanker and a water truck. As it ground the soil, asphalt,
and aggregate for a second time, the mixture was injected with hot bitumen.
Very cold water was also added, causing the bitumen to instantly foam
up. The reclaimer then lay the mixture down in a uniform "fluff."
"The foaming only lasts a few seconds, but it's long enough for
the bitumen to expand and coat the aggregates," says Tom Jones,
the project engineer from the FHWA Eastern Federal Lands Highway office
in Sterling, Virginia. "By coating the finer aggregates, it holds
it all together."
![Stretch of road being pulverized and an aggregate base is added](images/04pict1.jpg) |
A 10.6-km (6.6-mi) stretch of the South Old Mine Road
in New Jersey's Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is pulverized
and 5-cm (2-in) of aggregate base is added. |
![Roadway being graded after pulverization](images/04pict2.jpg) |
After the pulverization, the road is graded. |
![Foamed asphalt being applied](images/04pict3.jpg)
![Foamed asphalt being applied](images/04pict4.jpg)
![Foamed asphalt being applied](images/04pict5.jpg)
|
The foamed asphalt is applied. |
The road was again compacted and graded before being covered with a
water-based paste that dried to form a moisture-proof seal. Finally,
after a week-long curing period, the road was overlaid with 3.8-cm (1.5-in)
of a Superpave mix design asphalt to ensure motorists would enjoy smooth
rides. "The strength, however, is in the expanded foam asphalt,"
says Jones.
Foaming asphalt "doesn't behave like regular asphalt" during
the application process, he adds. "The only thing that is the same
is that you use bitumen. The foaming asphalt mixture acts like soil
in terms of how you need to treat it; it's very moisture sensitive."
A technician therefore had to be on hand to ensure the right proportion
of water to bitumen was injected into the pulverized road components.
This moisture sensitivity is the primary reason why foaming asphalt
is not appropriate for every road, Jones says, although he adds that
"as long as the subgrade is good, you will not have problems."
The technique did not work on the Natchez Trace Parkway because numerous
springs flow underneath the road. "A soft subgrade like that will
come right to the top," notes Jones.
Subgrade problems also slowed down the Delaware Water Gap project,
as the project team had to fill in springs and undercut soft spots.
They also had to wait out rain showers while adding the top layer, so
that it wouldn't slip on the sealed layer below.
Despite the setbacks encountered, "I'm very happy with how the
foaming asphalt project turned out," says Jones. Not only did using
the RAP and foamed asphalt combination keep waste materials out of landfills,
but the money saved on trucking, disposal, and new materials reduced
the budget by at least $500,000. There are still questions about how
the foamed asphalt will perform on other types of roads, such as a major
highway with a lot of truck traffic, "but I expect we will try
different applications as we experiment more with it," says Jones.
For more information on the project, contact Tom Jones at FHWA, 908-841-9573
(fax: 908-841-9549; email: tom.jones@fhwa.dot.gov).
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Articles in this issue:
New Web Site Puts Highway Specifications at Your Fingertips
FHWA Launches Transportation Security Web Site
Proposed Work Zone Regulations to Improve Safety, Mobility
Foamed Asphalt a Success on Federal Lands Highway
Moving from Theory to Practice at the Fifth National Conferences on Asset Management
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