FULL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF RUBBERIZED WEARING COURSES FOR SUSTAINABLE ROAD PAVEMENTS

This paper reports the results of an experimental study focused on the performance evaluation of rubberized bituminous mixtures for pavement wearing courses. The investigation aimed to identify materials which exhibit a satisfactory balance in terms of durability, skid resistance and noise reduction. Rubberized mixtures considered in the study were of the gap-graded and open-graded type, prepared by employing an asphalt rubber binder containing crumb rubber from end-of-life tires. Following a preliminary mix design phase, optimized mixtures were used for the construction of full-scale trial sections with the subsequent field and laboratory evaluation of their performance-based properties. Experimental results revealed that when compared to reference porous friction mixtures containing polymer-modified bitumen, rubberized mixtures may exhibit lower stiffness losses during freeze-thaw cycles and a better behaviour in terms of emission of rolling noise, while still guaranteeing satisfactory skid resistance levels.