Recycled Asphalt Pavement Case Study: Effect of Asphalt Binder PG and RAP on Field Performance over Nine Years

St. Louis County performed two HMA reconstructions on portions of County State Aid Highways during 2004 and 2005; CSAH 4 south of Biwabik, and CSAH 16 east of US Highway 53. The county saw differences in initial cracking performance and identified the two roads as potential research sections in 2005. Both projects were HMA reconstructions consisting of two 12-ft driving lanes with 6-ft shoulders. 24 in. of select granular modified (less than 7 percent passing the #200 sieve) was placed above the natural soil, followed by 6 in. of class 5 base material, and 5.5 in. of bituminous pavement. The bituminous pavement was constructed as 2.5 in. base lift, 1.5 in. binder lift, and 1.5 in. wear course lift. The recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) for the two projects all came from CSAH 16 millings. Bituminous mixtures were designed using Marshall MV criteria.

This study is a continuation of Report 2009-15, "Best Practices for RAP Use Based on Field Performance."