Life NEREiDE: New Low Noise Pavement surfaces

The Life NEREiDE project has the aim of evaluating the advantages of using crumb rubber and Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in construction of new Low Noise Pavement (LNP) surfaces, specifically designed to reduce rolling noise by optimizing surface texture. The new LNP surfaces are realized by using the Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technology that allows a significant reduction of mixing and compaction temperatures of asphalt concrete. The benefits of using WMA technology may include reduced fuel usage and pollution, and improved working conditions whilst the reuse of RAP allows to saving consumption of non-renewable resources in asphalt pavement industry. WMA technologies act on some characteristics of asphalt binders; the NEREiDE project will investigate the effects of the WMA additives in order to identify the most appropriate additives to be used to improve binder properties in terms of viscosity and coating properties; the work will be completed by determining the optimum mixing and compaction temperatures of the new LNP mixtures by using the selected WMA additive. These temperatures will be evaluated by measuring the internal resistance of the mix during compaction and this allows to evaluate resistance to compaction by using the Gyratory Load-cell and Plate Assembly (GLPA). A method to determine the allowable percentage of RAP that can be added in the new LNP mixtures has been proposed by the research team elsewhere and will be applied in the NEREiDE project. It is based on a new approach used to determine rheological properties of the RAP binder. From DSR frequency sweep tests carried out on mortars composed of RAP and fresh binder, the master curves of the RAP binder can be back-calculated by using the Modified Nielsen model and the Voigt model.