Laboratory Evaluation of Using Recycled Marble Aggregates on the Mechanical Properties of Hot Mix Asphalt

Road construction and maintenance require large quantities of virgin aggregate (VA). Using waste aggregate as an aggregate replacement reduces the extraction of new aggregate, pressing demand on existing landfill sites, and emissions of wastes into the environment. This study assessed the use of recycled marble aggregates (RMA) as replacement for virgin aggregates in hot mix asphalt (HMA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible use of hot mix asphalt containing RMA for roads with medium traffic volume. For this purpose, RMA was replaced by VA at rates of 15, 25, 40, and 60% in HMA. Resilient modulus, indirect tensile fatigue, dynamic creep, and indirect tensile strength ratio tests are performed to evaluate the field performance suitability of HMA. The results show that, for mixtures containing RMA, resilient modulus and fatigue life are slightly lower than those for the control mix, and they decreased when the RMA increased in the mix. In addition, the direct relationship between the percentage of RMA and rutting potential limited the use of RMA in hot weather. Moreover, because of the low percentage of SiO2 in marble, the tensile strength ratio increased with increasing RMA. According to the results obtained in this study, using a certain amount of RMA to replace VA in HMA is acceptable for roads with medium traffic volume. (c) 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.