USE OF PLASTIC WASTE IN CONSTRUCTION OF

FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT
 What is bitumen?
 What is pavement ?
 Types of pavement :-
o Rigid pavement
o Flexible pavement
 Design of flexible pavement
 Construction Details
 Desirable properties
o Strength
o Hardness
o Toughness
o Shape of aggregates
o Adhesion with bitumen
o Durability
o Freedom from other harmful particles
 Plastic roads
 Construction
 Aggregate test
o Crushing test
o Abrasion test
o Impact test
o Shape test
o Bitumen adhesion test
 Specs for waste plastic
 Methodology
 Results & Conclusion
 Why should we use of plastic waste in
bituminous pavement ?

The waste plastic and its disposal is a major threat to the environment,
which results in pollution and global warming. The utilization of plastic
waste in bituminous mixes enhances its properties and also its strength1. In
addition it will also be a solution to plastic disposal & various defects in
pavement viz., pot holes, corrugation, ruts, etc. the waste plastic used are
poly-ethylene, poly-styrene, poly-propylene. The waste plastic is shredded
& coated over aggregate & mixed with hot bitumen and resulted mix is
used for pavement construction. This will not only strengthen the
pavement and also increases its durability. The titanium-dioxide is used as
a smoke absorbent material, which will absorb the smoke from the
vehicles. This innovative technology will be boon for Indian hot-humid
climate. It’s economical and eco-friendly. In this paper, we have discussed
about the soil properties to be considered in design of pavement,
pavement design, process of construction flexible and plastic-smoke
absorbent pavement.
INTRODUCTION
The major threat to the environment is the disposal of waste plastic. In a highway, the
potholes and corrugation is the major problem. Plastic pavement will be a better solution to
the above stated problems. A material that contain one or more organic polymer of large
molecular weight, solid in its finished state, can be shaped by its flow is called as “plastic”.
The durability of plastic is high and it degrades very slowly. And also plastic has high
resistant to degradation. Plastic can be divided into two major categories- thermoses &
thermoplastics. Thermosets have high durability and strength because it solidifies
irreversibly when heated, henceforth can be used primarily in construction application.
Plastic is a non-degradable waste, causes greenhouse effect and global warming. The various
experiments have been carried out whether the waste plastic can be reused productively. The
various literature indicated that the waste plastic when added to hot aggregates will form a
fine coat of plastic over the aggregate and such aggregates when mixed with binder is found
to have higher strength, higher resistance and better performance over a period of time. Along
with bitumen, use waste plastic increases its life and smoothness. It is economical and eco-
friendly. Addition of plastic waste in construction of pavements reduces the plastic shrinkage
and drying shrinkage. The use of waste plastic improves the abrasion & slip resistance of
asphalt pavement4. In India, because of hot and extremely humid climate, plastic pavements
of greatest advantage.

In order absorb the smoke from the vehicles; titanium di-oxide can be used. It also enhances
the mechanical properties of the plastic, resulting in higher strength and high resistance.

Objective

The objectives of this project are:

 To carry out the soil test

 To design the flexible pavement
 To design the asphalt pavement with aggregate- plastic- bitumen mix
 To coat the aggregate with plastic and incorporate titanium di-oxide
 To test the bitumen and modified bitumen

Scope of the project

 To eradicate potholes
 To minimize the global warming , greenhouse gases and pollution
 The lifespan of the roads can be increased
 Eco-friendly in nature
Plastic roads – General Introduction
Plastic use in road construction is not new. It is already in use as PVC or HDPE pipe mat
crossings built by cabling together PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or HDPE (high-density poly-
ethylene) pipes to form plastic mats. The plastic roads include transition mats to ease the
passage of tyres up to and down from the crossing. Both options help protect wetland haul
roads from rutting by distributing the load across the surface. But the use of plastic-waste has
been a concern for scientists and engineers for a quite long time. Recent studies in this
direction have shown some hope in terms of using plastic-waste in road construction i.e.,
Plastic roads. A Bangalore-based firm and a team of engineers from R. V. College of
Engineering, Bangalore, have developed a way of using plastic waste for road construction.
An initial study was conducted in 1997 by the team to test for strength and durability. Plastic
roads mainly use plastic carry-bags, disposable cups and PET bottles that are collected from
garbage dumps as an important ingredient of the construction material. When mixed with hot
bitumen, plastics melt to form an oily coat over the aggregate and the mixture is laid on the
road surface like a normal tar road.

Adavantages
 Reduce the need of bitumen by around 10%
 Develop a technology which is eco-friendly.
 Improvements in fatigue life of roads.
 Increase the strength and better performance of the road.
 Use higher percentage of plastic waste.
 The gases released during traffic conditions are absorbed by smoke absorbent.

Dis-advantages
 Toxic present in the co-mingled plastic wastes would start leaching.
 But the presence of chlorine will definitely release HCL gas.

Central Mixing Plant (CMP)

The dry process can also be carried out using central mixing plant. The shredded plastic is
added along with the aggregate in the conveyor belt. This is transferred into the hot cylinder.
There aggregate is coated with plastic first andthen with the bitumen. The mixer so prepared
is then loaded in the dipper lorry and transported for road laying. CMP helps to have better
control of temperature and better mixing of this material thus helping to have a uniform
coating. This is adopted in our project.

The comparative study is done by testing the normal aggregates & plastic coated aggregates,
and the bitumen and modified bitumen (10% of bitumen replaced by plastic). The various
tests that are carried out for the comparative study are as follows :-
  Test on aggregates

i. Aggregate crushing test

ii. Los Angeles abrasion test
iii. Impact test

 Test on bitumen

i. Penetration test
ii. Softening point test
iii. Viscosity test
iv. Marshall Stability test
Asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen is a sticky, black, and highly viscous liquid or
semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a
refined product, and is classed as a pitch. The primary use (70%) of asphalt is
in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed
with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are
for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for
sealing flat roofs.

Pavement
Pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such
as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, cobblestone and granite setts were extensively used, but
these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete laid on a compacted base course. Road
surfaces are frequently marked to guide traffic. Today, permeable paving methods are beginning to be used for
low-impact roadways and walkways.

Types of Pavements

Rigid Pavements
A rigid pavement is constructed from cement concrete or reinforced concrete slabs. Grouted
concrete roads are in the category of semi-rigid pavements.

The design of rigid pavement is based on providing a structural cement concrete slab of sufficient
strength to resists the loads from traffic. The rigid pavement has rigidity and high modulus of
elasticity to distribute the load over a relatively wide area of soil. Minor variations in subgrade
strength have little influence on the structural capacity of a rigid pavement. In the design of a
rigid pavement, the flexural strength of concrete is the major factor and not the strength of
subgrade. Due to this property of pavement, when the subgrade deflects beneath the rigid
pavement, the concrete slab is able to bridge over the localized failures and areas of inadequate
support from subgrade because of slab action.

Flexible Pavements
Flexible pavement can be defined as the one consisting of a mixture of asphaltic or bituminous
material and aggregates placed on a bed of compacted granular material of appropriate quality in
layers over the subgrade. Water bound macadam roads and stabilized soil roads with or without
asphaltic toppings are examples of flexible pavements.

The design of flexible pavement is based on the principle that for a load of any magnitude, the
intensity of a load diminishes as the load is transmitted downwards from the surface by virtue of
spreading over an increasingly larger area, by carrying it deep enough into the ground through
successive layers of granular material. Thus for flexible pavement, there can be grading in the
quality of materials used, the materials with high degree of strength is used at or near the surface.
Thus the strength of subgrade primarily influences the thickness of the flexible pavement.
Construction Details
 Sub-base Course

The Sub-base course is provided beneath the base course and it also functions as same as base
course. If the sub-grade soil is strong and stiff, then there is no need to sub-base course. Granular
aggregates are used to construct sub-base course. If sub-grade is weak minimum 100 mm thick
sub-base course should be provided.

 Base Course

The base course is important layer of pavement structure and it distributes the loads from top
layers to the underneath Subbase and sub-grade layers. It provides structural support for the
pavement surface. It is constructed with hard and durable aggregates which may either stabilized
or granular or both. The thickness of base course must be great enough to reduce the load
capacity on sub-grade and Subbase courses. The minimum base course thickness recommended is
100 mm. sub surface drainage system can be provided with in the base course.

 Surface Course

Surface course or wearing course is the top most layer of flexible pavement which has direct
contact with the vehicular loads. Since it is directly in contact with traffic, good quality
aggregates and high dense bitumen or asphalt is recommended for the construction of surface
course. The main function of surface course is to provide skid-resistance surface, friction and
drainage for the pavement. It should be water tight against surface water infiltration. The
thickness of surface course generally provided is 25 to 50 mm.

Plastic Roads
Plastic roads are made entirely of plastic or of composites of plastic with other materials. Plastic
roads are different from standard roads in the respect that standard roads are made from asphalt
concrete, which consists of mineral aggregates and asphalt. Currently, there are no records of
regular roads made purely of plastic. Plastic composite roads, however, have existed and
demonstrate characteristics superior to regular asphalt concrete roads; specifically, they show
better wear resistance.