Durability in abrasion terms of a full-scale porous bituminous mixture manufactured with ladle furnace slag

Abstract

A research experience on the construction of a pilot road section with a porous asphalt mixture incorporating Ladle Furnace Slag (LFS) as fine aggregate in its composition is reported. The pilot section consisted of overlaying this mixture on existing bituminous pavement and was intended to simulate a real application of this sustainable construction material. Along with the paving, quality control was conducted to ensure that this mixture complied with the requirements of the current regulations for its use. This quality control included a durabilityperformance study. Thus, water-sensitivity, accelerated-aging and frost-exposure tests from an abrasion-resistance approach were conducted on Marshall specimens compacted with 50 blows per face. The values obtained were compared with the abrasion resistance of unaged specimens. The results of the tests were generally in accordance with the applicable regulations, the full-scale porous asphalt mix with LFS exhibiting an adequate durability performance in terms of abrasion resistance.