Ceramic waste in semi-dense asphalt mixtures: alternatives for low-traffic roads in Colombia

Abstract

[ES] La condición de la infraestructura vial en zonas rurales es precaria en países en vía de desarrollo y es común encontrar vías construidas utilizando materiales como concreto y en escasas ocasiones con pavimento flexible. En este estudio se propone el aprovechamiento de residuos cerámicos como agregados en porcentajes del 30% y 35% en mezclas asfálticas semidensas preparadas según los estándares del Instituto Nacional de Vías en Colombia. Se realizaron ensayos Marshall, de susceptibilidad, deformación y módulos dinámicos encontrándose que los reemplazos al 30% presentaron el mejor comportamiento para vías de bajo tráfico.

[EN] The world population has shown an exponential growth [1] affecting the consumption of resources and therefore, the production of waste with the consequent problems associated with the disposal. That is the case in Colombia, where at least 22,270,338 tons of construction and demolition waste per capita are produced per year [2]. This country is behind several developing countries regarding density, specifications, and maintenance of the road system, affecting not only people¿s quality of life but also causing lost revenues [3]. Because of that, government agencies are encouraged to invest in public works [4] as such as highways, hospitals, schools, housing, sewer systems, waste water treatment systems, water supply systems, among many others [5]. It is a fact that transportation infrastructure is key to ensuring the development of economic and social activities and the cohesion of populations [6], however, the design and construction of these projects face difficult challenges such as shortage of materials. Due to this fact, alternatives such as the return of materials to the production processes have emerged [7], recycling, reusal, disposal of non-recoverable material, the consumption of recycled material prepared with an industrial treatment, the reduction of resource consumption, [7] among other initiatives, are being used in the improvement of pavements. It should be noted that various methods can be used for the conditioning of the coating, such as hot dense mixes, hot open mixes, hot demi-dense mixes. This study focuses on the analysis of the behavior of hot dense mixtures in which ceramic industrial waste has been introduced. It must be made clear that in recycling new products are made [8] while in reuse, the same product is reused several times during multiple uses [9]. Considering that the activities of construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of roads depend on nonrenewable resources [7], the incorporation of certain waste in road construction processes can generate significant benefits. For example, waste and plastic residues have been used as a modifier in asphalt mixtures [10] and ceramic residues [11][12] with results that have shown up to 13.5% higher elastic modulus than a conventional asphalt mixture [13]. It is irrefutable that the progress of a region evidenced by different aspects and connectivity conditions makes part of them [14]. This connectivity is achieved by different terrestrial, aquatic, or aerial means, but terrestrial means consisting of roads and unpaved roads are the most common. Around 90% of the roads worldwide are paved using asphalt [15], which is why the consumption of different types of this product reaches 100M t annually worldwide [7]. In the case of Colombia, a developing country, the armed conflict for over a period close to six decades [16] has had an impact on socio-economic, political, and cultural conditions [17] mainly in the rural areas where around 60% of the population is located, they are to use tertiary roads in order to reach the main roads through the [18] [14]. The objective of this research is to evaluate the mechanical behavior of hot semi-dense asphalt mixtures prepared with the replacement of 30% and 35% of stone material with ceramic waste. This alternative is presented as a solution for the disposal of this kind of waste in Colombia and for the improvement of mobility conditions on low traffic roads. The study responds to questions about the compatibility of the use of these waste as aggregate for binder by standardizing mechanical tests that allow the validation of the use in asphalt mixtures.