Sustainability Road Construction

Possible Use of Some Waste

Materials in Road Construction

Aravind Krishna Swamy, Ph.D. Animesh Das, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.

H
istorically, naturally available materials like soil, and engineering properties. If the chemical and physical
stone aggregates, sand etc. had been used for properties of the candidate material are similar to that of
construction of roads. For example, boulders, volcanic traditional construction materials, then existing testing
tuff and lime were used for the construction of Roman roads protocols may be used for evaluation of its engineering
(Barth 1990). Subsequently, as the civilization grew, some properties. Otherwise, new test procedures are to be
of the naturally available materials were processed further developed. For standard materials, the testing procedures
to derive new binding materials for example, bitumen, and acceptance specifications are prescribed by highway
cement etc. agencies or local public works departments. Further, cost
evaluation needs to be performed to check the economic
However, due to considerable usage of various naturally
feasibility of using the candidate material as replacement
occurring materials for building road and other infrastructures,
of traditional pavement material.
these have started depleting gradually. The cost of procure-
ment and processing of such materials are increasing Sometimes life cycle cost evaluation is conducted to
day by day. At the same time, large amount of industrial study in detail the overall impact of the new material on
and domestic wastes are causing serious environmental the total cost of the road project (through out its service
problems in terms of disposal or safe storage. It is in this period, including all maintenance activities). Finally, it is
connection, road researches have been trying to find out important to conduct field trial with the new material to
possible ways to use some of the waste materials (after due
processing) as alternative materials for road construction
(Aravind and Das 2004). For success of such an initiative,
the proposed material(s) should be safe, environmental
friendly and cost effective. This article presents a brief review
on possible use of some waste materials as reported in
various literature. It may be noted that the list is no way
exhaustive and the conclusions drawn may not necessarily
be final. Further research is needed before such material(s)
is/are finally recommended for use in road construction.

Approach to utilization
A processed waste material, which is proposed to be used
for road construction, is to be assessed for its environment,
health and safety hazards, physical, chemical and engineering
properties, cost effectiveness, field performance etc.
If environment, health and safety assessment results
are negative, the candidate material is rejected as a road
construction material and is recommended for safe disposal.
If the material satisfies the environmental, health and safety
criteria, then it is further evaluated for its physical, chemical Bituminous Concrete Primarily Consists of Aggregates and Binder

44 The Masterbuilder - October 2012 www.masterbuilder.co.in


Good Quality Aggregates are Gradually Depleting
gather information on the short-term and the long-term
performance of the road. Performance studies also help to
develop acceptance specifications for new road materials.
Waste material used in road construction
Several researchers have tried to incorporate bottom ash
and fly ash in various layers of pavement (Huang 1990).
Fly ash has been used as bulk filler in construction of
embankments and flyovers (Yoon et al. 2009). However, due
to corrosive nature of bottom ash, its usage near metallic
structures is limited (Ke 1990). Studies have indicated that
bituminous concrete containing bottom ash is susceptible
to rutting but more resistant to stripping (Majidzadeh et al.
Is it Possible to Have Alternative to Stone Aggregates?
Sustainability Road Construction
Pavement Needs to Perform Well Under Various Climatic Conditions
1979). Some field studies have indicated increased skid
resistance when bottom ash is used as top wearing course
of road (Shuler 1976).
Large Quantity of Stone Aggregates are Needed for Road Construction
Fly ash consists of extremely fine siliceous glass with
particle size ranging from to 10 and 100 micron (FHWA
2012a). Due to its smaller particle size, fly ash has been
used as mineral filler in bituminous mix. Due to increased
surface area of aggregates, overall demand for binder may
increase when fly ash is used as filler (FHWA 2012c). Due to
pozzolonic nature, fly ash with lime has been widely used in
base/sub-base courses as binder (Wen et al. 2011). Lack of
homogeneity, sulphates, and slow strength development
are some of the issues in using fly ash in road construction
(Sherwood 1995).
Waste glass has been used as bulk filler in layers beneath
bituminous layers (Ahmed 1991). Due to the presence
www.masterbuilder.co.in The Masterbuilder - October 2012 45
Sustainability Road Construction
Building of Highway Infrastructure Requires Resources and Time
of inherent porosity in usual stone aggregates, bitumen
adheres to the surface strongly, compared to broken glass
pieces used as substitute for aggregates. Thus, the strength
of bituminous mix with glass as aggregates are found to
show lower strength than normal bituminous mix (Su and
Chen 2002). It has been also observed that glass particles
break under traffic and finally leads to raveling (Larsen
1989). Some studies indicated that resilient modulus and
indirect tensile strength of bituminous concrete containing
glass are unaffected up to 15% of glass (Sultan 1990).
Construction and demolition wastes has been used as
Pavement Construction is a Challenging Task Under Extreme Weather
Conditions
46 The Masterbuilder - October 2012 www.masterbuilder.co.in
bulk filling material in road structure, well as in recycled
aggregate concrete (Rao 2005). In fine powder form, it
can also be used as fillers in bituminous mixes (Chen et
al. 2011). Some studies have indicate that performance of
construction and demolition waste as sub-base material is
comparable to the conventional material (Rao et al. 2007).
Colliery spoil has been used in bulk fill in pavement layers
(Sherwood 1995). Presence of combustible matter sometimes
makes this material unsuitable for direct use (Sherwood
1995). Thus, it is recommended to incinerate the waste
material before being used in construction. Colliery spoil
contains some amount of sulphates. Under presence of
water, compounds containing suplhates tend to leach out
and react with the cement (Sherwood 1995).
Air cooled blast furnace slag has been used in making
concrete, road base material. Also, fine ground slag has
been used as filler material as well as soil stabilizer (Mroueh
and Wahlstrm 2002). Due to high metallic content that is
fused at high temperature, steel slag has been observed to
show high skid resistance property (Asi 2007).
Attempts have also been made to use foundry sand in
highway construction (Kleven et al. 2000, Javed et al. 1994).
Since the particle size ranges from sand to fine dust, it makes
a suitable candidate for filler cement concrete (Javed et al.
1994). Also it can be used as filler in granular subgrade
material. Previous research has found that bitumen has
less affinity to foundry sand making bituminous concrete
susceptible to stripping (FHWA 2012b).
Past researchers have explored various other waste
materials for their potential as alternative road construction
materials, for example, spent oil shale (Gromko 1975), cement
kiln dust (Hawkins et al. 2003), marble dust (Okagbue
and Onyeobi 1999), incinerated residue of domestic
wastes (Ciesielski 1980), sewage sludge (Lin et al. 2006),
roofing shingles (Foxlow et al. 2011), polyethylene waste
(Hnslolu and Aar 2004, Punith and Veeraragavan 2011)
etc. The list is definitely not exhaustive and the research is
still ongoing.
Conclusion
Available literature points out that there is ample scope for
utilization of waste materials for road construction. However,
one needs to proceed cautiously, because of possible
environmental, health and safety concerns associated with
the usage of some of the waste materials. Thus, further
research is needed before any specific waste material
is finally approved as an alternative road construction
material. It is hoped that availability of suitable technology,
appropriate legislation and awareness among all stake
holders would widen the possibilities of using some of the
waste materials for sustainable road construction.
Sustainability Road Construction
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