ABSTRACT
The primary objective of the presented study were to characterise the deformation and cracking resistance of HMA mixes containing different proportions of RAP for the New Zealand
1 INTRODUCTION
Recycled Asphalt Pavements (RAP) are a sustainable paving method that has many advantages to the pavement industry. Recycled asphalt pavements are constructed using a combination of reclaimed asphalt pavement material and new paving material, where during rehabilitation of pavements the asphalt surface layer is milled and combined with new asphalt binder and aggregate to create a recycled paving mixture. The use of RAP as an alternative to new Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) paving mixes reduces the requirement for quality binder and aggregates for pavement construction and the recycling of existing material preserves valuable resources. In addition to relieving pressure on bitumen supplies, the RAP technology has many benefits by providing both economic savings and environmental benefits. The attractiveness of RAP as a sustainable paving material means an increasing number of pavement practitioners and contractors are utilizing this technology as a method to relieve the pressures on the demand for quality bitumen and aggregates. It has been estimated that in the United States of America (USA) approximately 80% of reclaimed asphalt is recycled as pavement material (Federal Highway Administration, 1993) and in Australia it is estimated that approximately 50% of reclaimed asphalt is being used to produce RAP mixes (Austroads,
context. The performance assessments that were conducted as part of this study were based on laboratory prepared samples and it was intended that the results from the laboratory testing would form the basis for establishing performance limits for RAP mixes. Presented in this paper are the initial results from a larger study that is investigating the performance of RAP mixes for application on New Zealand pavements. The results that were obtained from the presented study were benchmarked against observed RAP performance of international studies in order to validate the study findings.
