In July this year, we participated in a project where a test section was created on voivodeship road No. 314 to check the durability of the road and its resistance to rutting depending on the materials used. The project included sections with a foam concrete road base and a traditional base – both variants with the addition of different types of mineral-asphalt mixtures. Four test fields were created, including a mineral-asphalt mixture with a newly developed additive from recycled plastic waste.
Road Base with Foam Concrete
Green Park, a company specializing in the research and implementation of modern technologies for processing plastic waste into chemical components, began research on the possibility of producing asphalt additives from waste. As a result, a new additive for MMA (mineral-asphalt mixtures) was developed to increase road durability and resistance to rutting. We were invited to collaborate with Green Park, the Road and Bridge Research Institute, and the Poznań University of Technology as a foam concrete producer – a material that, as practice shows, works perfectly in road construction. We proposed the construction of a test section with both a foam concrete road base and a traditional base.
Test Fields on Voivodeship Road 314
As a result, the project planned to create four test fields:
- A section of the road with a traditional base and traditional MMA;
- A section of the road with a traditional base and MMA enriched with the new additive;
- A section of the road with a foam concrete base and traditional MMA;
- A section of the road with a foam concrete base and MMA enriched with the additive.
The project was so interesting that the Greater Poland Voivodeship Road Administration also got involved and found another partner – the Lubusz Voivodeship Road Administration. Thanks to this, instead of the planned 100-meter section, funds were ultimately allocated for an additional 200 meters. As a result, a 300-meter test section was created on the border of the two voivodeships (Greater Poland and Lubusz), near the town of Wilcza. On the test sections with a traditional base and a foam concrete base on voivodeship road No. 314, a PB1200 foam concrete layer with a minimum thickness of 20 cm was used with two variants of mineral-asphalt mixtures.
The test section will be regularly tested over the next three years. In addition to the assessment by specialists from the Road and Bridge Research Institute, the Poznań University of Technology will also conduct studies using a mobile laboratory called ZiSPON: Integrated System for Precise Pavement Assessment. Additionally, the test section will be evaluated daily by drivers who use voivodeship road No. 314. We are confident that the tests will confirm the excellent properties and the validity of using foam concrete as a road base.