Porous Asphalt: A New Pavement Technology in Palestine

Abstract

Porous Asphalt (PA) is researched and produced in Europe and the United States of America to in-crease the skid resistance of the asphalt surface. This can be caused when storm water infiltrate directly in the ground through the porous surface layer. So far, in Palestine this type of pavement has not been used. If PA is used in Palestine, it may contribute to solving many of the local problems especially groundwater deficit. There-fore, this research deals with studying the possibility of producing Porous Asphalt as new pavement technology in Palestine. Based on several international researches, a proposal for the limits of aggregate gradation was deter-mined. To investigate the applicability of using local material and the proposed gradation limits, several tests were conducted, including sieve analysis, specific gravity, absorption, abrasion, impact and crushing value. Bitumen tests were also conducted such as, penetration test, softening point, ductility and specific gravity. Also, asphalt mixtures were prepared in accordance with the proposed gradation curves, followed by testing of 24 PA- speci-mens to determine the mechanical properties, especially stability, flow, and bulk density. The results showed that any aggregate blending curve lie between the limits of proposed gradation can be used to produce PA. Marshall test results showed that the optimal bitumen content was approximately 4% by the weight of total mixture, and the void ratio obtained was approximately 21% for the produced asphalt.