Warm-mix asphalt technologies in Europe and USA

Abstract

Warm-mix asphalt (WMA) represents the group of technologies that enables reduction of temperatures at which the asphalt mixture is produced and placed. WMA is produced at 20 to 55°C lower temperatures than those typical for hot-mix asphalt (HMA). Consequently to lower temperatures, WMA has a set of benefits comparing to HMA. Primary benefits of WMA include reduced fuel and energy consumption, reduced green house gasses (GHG) and other harmful substances emissions, reduced workers exposure to harmful impacts, particularly with mastic asphalt, and range of other paving benefits. Hence, the development of WMA technologies application could be significant contribution towards sustainable development concept realization. General expectation of WMA is that their overall performance is equal of better then HMA, which is proven by some laboratory investigations and short-term field performance in Europe (3 years of less). Further application of WMA also requires adjusting of pavement performance related specifications. .

Asfaltne mešavine po toplom postupku (warm-mix asphalt, WMA), predstavljaju grupu tehnologija koje omogućavaju snižavanje temperatura na kojima se asfaltna mešavina proizvodi i ugrađuje. WMA se proizvodi na oko 20 do 55°C nižim temperaturama nego što je to uobičajeno za asfaltne mešavine po vrućem postupku (HMA). Kao posledica niže temperature, WMA ima niz prednosti u poređenju sa HMA mešavinama. Osnovne prednosti WMA uključuju smanjenu potrošnju goriva i energije, smanjenu emisiju gasova staklene bašte (GHG) i drugih štetnih materija, smanjenu izloženost radnika štetnim uticajima, posebno kada je u reč o livenom asfaltu, i niz prednosti u pogledu ugrađivanja. Stoga, razvoj primene WMA tehnologija bi mogao predstavljati značajan doprinos realizaciji koncepta održivog razvoja. Opšte očekivanje u pogledu WMA je da njihovo sveukupno ponašanje bude podjednako dobro ili bolje od HMA, što je potvrđeno nekim laboratorijskim ispitivanjima i kratkoročnim ponašanjem na terenu u Evropi (3 godine ili manje). Dalja primena WMA zahteva i prilagođavanje specifikacija u pogledu ponašanja kolovoznih konstrukcija u eksploataciji.