Improving Sustainability and Durability of Pavement Structures in Cold Regions

在资源有限和极端温度下建设和维护大型公路网的需要是加拿大交通机构面临的挑战，特别是在草原地区。膨胀土和高质量集料的枯竭是建造低维护路面结构的另一个挑战。土/团聚体稳定技术可用于提高膨胀土和劣质团聚体的稳定性和硬度。然而，在寒冷的气候下，稳定土/集料层的耐久性是一个令人担忧的问题。与稳定层的长期性能相关的巨大不确定性限制了它们在寒冷地区的使用。除了上述挑战外，塑料垃圾的管理一直是市政当局面临的环境挑战，因为它不会随着时间的推移而降解。虽然塑料垃圾可以通过回收从垃圾填埋场转移出去，但一些塑料废物不能在家庭使用的产品中回收。为了解决这个问题，几项研究调查了塑料废料在沥青混合料生产中的使用情况。虽然它已经显示出一些希望，但只有有限数量的研究调查了含有塑料垃圾的沥青混合料在寒冷地区的性能。这项研究计划的长期目标是为寒冷气候下的路面设计和施工确定经济和可持续的解决方案。这一长期目标可以通过减少与创新施工技术相关的不确定性、优化有限资源的使用以及在路面施工中使用回收材料来实现。拟议研究计划的具体短期目标如下：a.评估不同稳定技术对研究区域可用土壤、集料和气候条件的适宜性。B.使用基于性能的加速实验室测试来表征稳定土和集料层的耐久性和长期性能。C.研究塑料废料在寒冷地区沥青混凝土混合料中应用的可行性。利用成像技术表征含有塑料垃圾的沥青混凝土混合料的性能和冻融耐久性。基于本研究项目的发现，提供在沥青混合料中使用塑料垃圾以及在寒冷地区稳定土壤和集料层的指导方针。提高学生在路面材料先进检测和路面结构设计方法方面的知识和技能。该研究计划将对提高寒冷地区路面结构的可持续性和耐久性产生重大影响。因此，交通机构和市政当局将优化有限预算的利用，这对寒冷地区和加拿大草原的机构来说是一个挑战，并减少路面建设的碳足迹。

The need to construct and maintain large road networks with limited resources and under extreme temperatures is a challenge to Canadian transportation agencies, especially in the prairie region. Expansive soils and depletion of high quality aggregates are additional challenges to constructing low-maintenance pavement structures. Soil/aggregate stabilization techniques can be used to increase stability and stiffness of expansive soil and poor aggregates. However, durability of stabilized soil/aggregate layers is a concern in cold climates. The large uncertainty associated with the long-term performance of stabilized layers is a limitation to their use in cold regions. In addition to the above challenges, management of plastic waste has been an environmental challenge for municipalities because it does not degrade with time. While plastic waste can be diverted from landfills through recycling, some plastic waste materials cannot be recycled in domestically used products. To address this problem, several studies have investigated the use of plastic waste in production of asphalt mixtures. While it has shown some promise, only a limited number of studies have investigated the performance of asphalt mixtures containing plastic waste in cold regions. The long-term objective of this research program is to identify economic and sustainable solutions for pavement design and construction in cold climates. This long-term objective can be achieved by reducing uncertainty associated with innovative construction techniques, optimizing the use of limited resources, and using recycled materials in pavement construction. The specific short-term objectives of the proposed research program are as follows: a. Evaluate the suitability of different stabilization techniques for the available soils, aggregate materials, and climatic conditions in the study region. b. Characterize the durability and long-term performance of stabilized soil and aggregate layers using performance-based accelerated laboratory testing. c. Investigate the feasibility of using plastic waste in asphalt concrete mixtures in cold regions. d. Utilize imaging techniques to characterize the properties and freeze-thaw durability of asphalt concrete mixtures containing plastic waste. e. Provide guidelines for using plastic waste in asphalt mixtures and stabilization of soil and aggregate layers in cold regions based on the findings of this research program. f. Improve knowledge and skills of students related to advanced testing of pavement materials and design methods for pavement structures. The research program will have a significant impact on improving the sustainability and durability of pavement structures in cold regions. As a result, transportation agencies and municipalities will optimize the utilization of limited budgets, which is a challenge for agencies in cold regions and Canadian Prairies, and reduce the carbon footprint of pavement construction.