Porous asphalt : a new pavement technologyin Palestine

Abstract EN

Porous Asphalt(PA)isresearched and produced in Europe and the United States of America to in-creasethe skid resistanceof the asphalt surface.

This can be causedwhen storm waterinfiltrate directlyin the ground through the porous surface layer.So far, in Palestine this type of pavement has not beenused.IfPA is used in Palestine, it maycontribute to solving many of the local problems especially groundwater deficit.

There-fore, this research deals with studying the possibility of producing Porous Asphaltas new pavement technologyin Palestine.

Based on several international researches, a proposal for the limits of aggregate gradation was deter-mined.

To investigate the applicability of using local material and the proposed gradation limits, several tests were conducted, includingsieve analysis, specific gravity, absorption, abrasion, impact and crushing value.

Bitumen tests were also conducted such as, penetrationtest, softening point, ductility and specific gravity.Also, asphalt mixtures were prepared in accordance with the proposed gradationcurves,followed by testing of 24 PA-speci-mensto determine the mechanical properties, especially stability, flow, and bulk density.

The results showed that any aggregate blending curve lie between the limits of proposed gradation can be used to produce PA.

Marshall test results showed that the optimal bitumen content wasapproximately 4% by the weightof total mixture, and the voidratio obtained was approximately 21% for the produced asphalt.