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Performance evaluation of Porous Rubber Pavement (PRP) in the Canadian climate

Abstract

Permeable pavements are becoming popular in North America especially in the last decade. Permeable pavements are considered as a low impact design and beneficial for best stormwater management practice. Porous Rubber Pavement (PRP) is a comparatively new addition to this type of pavements. PRPs are currently utilized on low traffic roads and pedestrian walkways as surface material. PRPs use as a surface wearing coarse for abating the road noise has been found in few European and Asian countries. The constituents of PRPs are stone aggregates, crumb rubber from recycled tyres, and polyurethane as the binder. As a new pavement material in North America, its performance has not yet been assessed for this climatic condition. Because of its higher permeability (27% to 29% of voids), this material can be highly beneficial for preventing hydroplaning, glare, spray and splash on the road surface during surface runoff. Also, as a result of its flexible nature, it has de-icing capability by deformation of ice on its surface layers. Field pavement performance evaluation was conducted on a parking lot located in Ontario, Canada where PRP was used as surface material. This paper presents some results obtained during these investigations with focus on surface roughness, permeability and surface distress of PRP pavements. Two equipment; SurPRO and Dipstick were employed to investigate pavement roughness in terms of International Roughness Index (IRI). The average IRI of the PRP surface was found to be 10 m/km. The average infiltration rate was found to be 30,836 mm/h. Ravelling (disintegration of material from the surface) was found to be the major surface distress during distress evaluation. Though the PRPs show widespread benefits, there is an opportunity to improve its performance after thorough evaluation, which can make this material a good candidate for the low impact pavement surface. This investigation can be the basis for the future improvement of this material.

Conference Paper Details

Session title:
Innovations in Pavement Management, Engineering and Technologies (PS)
Author(s):
Kabir, Tamanna
Grace Oyeyi, Abimbola
Al-Bayati, Hanaa
Tighe, Susan
Topics:
Pavements
Year:
2020