Investigating the Performance of plastic waste as an additive in enhancing the quality of asphalt concrete.

Abstract

Polymers have been used as an additive in asphalt, they are used to help the pavements to resist higher temperature by minimizing the formation of cracks and reducing rainwater infiltration which otherwise leads to the development of potholes. These pavements constructed with plastic additive have shown improved crushing and abrasion values and reduced water seepage. Polymer modified roads are also a boon for hot and extremely humid climate, where temperatures of the road surface frequently cross 50°C and torrential rains create havoc, leaving most of the roads with big potholes. Although road modification with polymer has enormous advantages but comes with a lot of associated costs making its use hard in developing countries like Uganda. Therefore, the study seeks to get alternative cheap polymers for use as an additive in road construction. Plastic waste is one such resource a lot of solid waste is abundantly available and disposed-off without proper treatment. There has been an exponential growth in municipal plastic waste disposal especially in urban areas, which is associated with the growth in population, which deteriorates the beauty of the landscape. This study accesses the suitability of the use of polymers, which are readily available in the form of plastic waste. Bituminous Concrete (BC) composite material mostly used in construction projects like road surfacing, airports, parking lots, etc. It consists of asphalt or bitumen (used as a binder) and mineral aggregate, which is mixed together and laid down in layers then compacted. Nowadays, the steady increment in high traffic intensity in terms of commercial vehicles, and the significant variation in daily and seasonal temperature put us in a demanding situation to think of some alternatives for the improvisation of the pavement characteristics and quality by applying some necessary modifications which shall satisfy both the strength as well as economic aspects. This study generally focused on the performance of bituminous concrete when plastic is added as an additive so that we can reduce the cost of construction of road and as well as increase the life span of the road. Standard bitumen and asphalt test were done on asphalt concrete with varying percentages of plastic and the results analyzed and conclusion drown for a recommendation. We focused on solid wastes like water bottles, packaging bags, plastic food containers. According to all results and conclusions, it is found that plastic waste will be suitable for road and it is cheap compared to the manufactured polymer modifiers.