Carrier of Innovations in the Development of Pavement Materials

The road building industry is constantly exploring technological improvements that will enhance the performance of paving materials and pavement systems. In more recent years, the focus on sustainability has generated extensive research and developments worldwide. The road building industry has made considerable strides in regard to sustainability in developing: paving materials that are better for the environment, pavements systems that are safer and quieter, and products and processes that have less health and safety risks for workers and public. The priority given to sustainability in research and development is relatively recent. The results are revealing remarkable new possibilities related to paving materials and pavement systems. Environmentally friendly paving materials include increase content of recycled materials in hot mix asphalt, increase efficiencies in in-place pavement recycling, reduce manufacturing temperatures, increase utilization of local materials, development of bio-products and green chemistry. New generations of safer and quieter pavement are being developed. Alternative products and processes are developed to reduce risks including the usage of none nuclear compaction gauges, solvent free products and laboratory processes, hydrocarbon vapor reduction products and others. This paper presents various Canadian and worldwide initiatives to develop sustainable paving materials. An overview of the various initiatives is provided including, a brief listing/review of environmentally friendly paving materials, a review of the recently developed safer and quieter pavement systems and a review of green labeling systems for roads.