Laboratory Study on Asphalt Concrete with Polypropylene Plastic and Non-selected Construction and Demolition Waste

Abstract

A contribution for solving the depletion problem of natural resources and, simultaneously, the abundance of urban and industrial wastes, could be its application in pavement construction. For this purpose, a laboratory study is carried out in which Non-Selected Construction and Demolition Waste (NS CDW) and polypropylene (PP) plastic waste are incorporated in hot bituminous mixtures as potential replacements, respectively, for natural aggregates and bitumen. Four AC20 50/70 mixtures were put to test: a control mixture exclusively with natural aggregate; a mixture in which 10% of the mass of natural aggregate is replaced by NS CDW; a mixture in which 6% of the mass of bitumen is replaced by PP waste and a mixture in which are combined the replacement of 10% of the mass of natural aggregate by NS CDW and 6% of the mass of bitumen is replaced by PP waste. Results show that: i. a slight decrease in the Marshall stability and rise in the Optimal Bitumen Content in the mixture with 10% of NS CDW compared to the Control mixture; ii. adding PP to the mixture containing NS CDW retrieves the result for the optimum binder content obtained for the Control mixture. Both wastes diminish mixtures ' resistance to moisture.