Re-Road project aimed to develop knowledge and innovative technologies for enhanced end of life strategies for asphalt road infrastructures. Such a strategy has an important impact on the energy efficiency and the environmental footprint of the European transport system and fits within the life-cycle thinking which is being introduced in waste policy at European level. It leads to reduction of the need for new raw materials, prevents the creation of waste and the occupation of landfills and consequently minimizes the need to transport these materials to and from the work site and hence reducing energy, pollution including CO2 -emissions. The project has covered the following topics that are important for the determination of an end of life strategy:
Dismantling strategies: Impact and potentially adverse effect of different dismantling procedures on the quality of RA will be investigated.
Characterization strategies: Improving characterization of RA and technical evaluation of RA as a raw material considering the heterogeneity of the material and considering the specific industrial process for producing the asphalt mix.
Handling strategies: optimization of the recycling at highest possible level and for the original layer, depending on the RA characterization and environmental sound reuse or disposal of the marginal materials that can not be recycled.
Environmental criteria: Assessment of risks and benefits to the environment with the use of RA will be developed. Special attention will be paid to potential harmful substances (like tar-containing asphalt) and life cycle analysis (LCA) will be used as a tool for this assessment.
Cost-effective recycling: Short and long term performance, life time prediction by modeling of asphalt mixes produced with different levels RA and with different production techniques.
Industrial processes: Study of the potentially adverse effect on the final asphalt mix quality derived from the specific method for introducing the RA in the mixing plant. How to avoid problems in the re-cycling of polymer modified RA and how to take full advantage of their special qualities
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