Abstract
The California Department of Transportation is studying a pavement rehabilitation strategy that involves the pulverization of failed hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements and uses the pulverized material as a granular base material in the reconstruction of the pavement. Advantages of this technique include a reduction in the use of virgin aggregates, a reduction in the amount of construction traffic, and removal of the potential for reflective cracking from the existing pavement layers. The construction and performance of four pilot projects in District 2 in northeastern California were used to evaluate this rehabilitation strategy. The characteristics and performance of the pulverized material were evaluated by comprehensive laboratory and field testing. The laboratory testing covered basic index tests and comprehensive triaxial testing. Multistage repeated-load permanent strain triaxial tests on different material gradations, stress levels, moisture contents, with and without stabilizing agents (lime and cement), and the degree of compaction were used to investigate the resilient and permanent strain characteristics. Testing was conducted on saturated samples to evaluate the effect of saturation on the pulverized material. The effects of the number of load repetitions were also investigated. The performance of the pulverized material was also compared with two typical virgin aggregate base materials from California. A life cycle cost analysis of this rehabilitation technique when compared to a typical HMA overlay showed that the recycling option was cheaper in both the short term and over the life of the pavement.
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