Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2019) 4:5

https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-018-0190-z

TECHNICAL PAPER

Waste materials and by‑products as mineral fillers in asphalt mixtures

Eman W. Tarbay1,2 · Abdelhalim M. Azam2,3   · Sherif M. El‑Badawy2

Received: 31 July 2018 / Accepted: 8 December 2018 / Published online: 15 December 2018
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018

Abstract
Mineral filler has a significant effect on the asphalt mixtures performance. This paper presents the use of waste materials
(marble and granite) and by-product material (steel slag) as alternative to the mineral conventional filler. A control mix with
the limestone filler was designed by Marshall method then, a replacement of limestone filler by the waste and by-products
materials was done. Two types of mastic asphalt samples were prepared (virgin and aged by the rolling thin-film oven) with
the ratio of 1:1 (mineral filler/asphalt). The samples were tested in penetration, softening point and Brookfield rotational
viscosity. Furthermore, the transition electron microscope for fillers and scanning electron microscopy for mastics tests were
performed. Both virgin and RTFO granite mastics improved the penetration value; however, the marble mastics showed the
highest softening point temperature and RV viscosity. Marshall results showed that mixtures containing waste marble yielded
the highest stability. Moreover, results showed the ability of marble to improve the moisture damage resistance in terms of
tensile strength ratio and loss of stability. Finally, the field performance was predicted using Quality-Related Specifications
Software which is a simplification of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide software. It was found that all
materials enhanced rutting resistance compared to the traditional limestone filler.

Keywords  Waste material · TSR · Asphalt mastic · QRSS · Rutting · Fatigue cracking

Introduction
The quantities of waste materials and by-products increase
with the increase of construction industries, population,
urbanization, development activities and changes in life-
style. Marble and granite resulting from industries, plastic
and ceramic wastes, cement dust and fly ash and by-products
which have no commercial value and are considered wastes.
The amounts of these wastes are huge and increasing daily.
* Abdelhalim M. Azam
Abdelhalim.azam@mans.edu.eg; amazam@ju.edu.sa
Eman W. Tarbay
eman.wagdy@yahoo.com
Sherif M. El‑Badawy
sbadawy@mans.edu.eg
1
Nile Institute for Engineering and Technology, Mansoura,
Egypt
2
Highway and Airport Engineering Laboratory, Public
Works Engineering Department, Mansoura University,
Mansoura 35116, Egypt
3
Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Jouf
University, Al Jawf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
For example, in India, more than 3000 metric ton of marble
and granite dust slurry are produced daily during manufac-
turing. The iron and steel factories in Egypt result in approx-
imately 600,000 and 200,000 tons of blast furnace and basic
oxygen furnace slag, respectively, per year [1].
The landfills are usually filled quickly with the continuous
disposal of waste materials requiring more expansion in the
dedicated landfills. Moreover, these wastes have detrimental
effects on both human health and plant life. Consequently,
most of the people working with these waste materials are
suffering from silicosis, which is considered one of the most
known industrials diseases, due to long period exposure to
calcium carbonate and silica particles [2]. The quantities of
toxic materials in these wastes can also increase the alkalin-
ity of water and affect soil fertility [3]. Even though many
published research studies regarding the use of waste mate-
rials as filler in HMA are available, only a few studies are
available that focuses on analytical methods for the predic-
tion of pavement performance.

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Literature review
Although waste materials have negative effects on all sur-
rounding areas, various types are exclusively employed in
civil engineering applications and can be used as smart
alternative to the traditional materials which decreases the
dependence on natural resources.
Choundhary and Chandra [4] studied the feasibility of
using marble, granite powder, hydrated lime and quartzite
stone dust as control filler. The asphalt mastic was mixed
by different ratios of filler to asphalt. It was noted that
the softening point increased with the increase of filler
to asphalt ratio up to 1.6 for granite and 1.4 for marble.
Fatigue testing results proved that the fatigue life of the
mix with marble dust was 50–70% higher than that of the
conventional stone dust mix. Furthermore, moisture sus-
ceptibility results showed that the hydrated lime had an
antistripping property. In a similar study, Eisa et al. [5]
investigated the effect of using ceramic dust enhanced with
cement dust (1:1 ratio) and marble waste dust as filler in
HMA. The results recommended that the optimum ratio
of (1:1) ceramic to cement and marble dust which can
improve HMA properties was 35% and 15% (by weight
of the control filler), respectively. Othman [6] evaluated
the effect of white cement dust mixed with bitumen modi-
fied by crumb rubber. The findings show gradual increase
in Marshall stability, and the mix unit weight with the
increase of white cement dust content and more resistance
to fracture and tensile strength was reported.
Fatima et al. [7] studied the use of ceramic wastes as
filler in the HMA. It was found that the HMA including
ceramic wastes was more durable compared to the con-
ventional mixes which contained the limestone as filler.
It was also observed that Marshall stability of ceramic
waste mixes was greater than lime mixes. This study did
not discuss the effect of using ceramic filler on neither
moisture susceptibility nor any performance tests. In a
similar study, Muniandy et al. [8] investigated the use of
limestone, ceramic waste, fly ash, and steel slag as min-
eral filler. Three different proportions of filler gradation
were used through the percentage passing 75 μm/20 μm
sieves. Steel slag mixes yielded the highest stability and
the lowest flow.
Table 1  Mineral filler Marble
engineering properties
Liquid limit (%) 19.0
Plastic limit (%) 14.0
Plasticity index (%) 5.0
P#200 (%) 88
Bulk-specific gravity 2.728
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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2019) 4:5
Zulkati et al. [9] investigated the performance charac-
teristics of HMA mixtures using hydrated lime, kaolin and
granite as filler. The asphalt mix rutting was evaluated
using uniaxial repeated creep performance test. The results
showed that the hydrated lime and kaolin filler mixes had
better resistance to rutting than the granite filler mix.
The main objective of this study is to evaluate the charac-
teristics of HMA mixtures containing different waste mate-
rials (marble and granite) and by-products (steel slag) as
mineral filler compared to the conventional limestone filler.
The specific objectives of the research are to: (1) investigate
the effect of using the waste materials as filler on the mois-
ture damage. (2) Evaluate the rheological characteristics of
the mastic asphalts manufactured with these different filler
types. (3) Predict the field performance in terms of asphalt
concrete (AC) fatigue cracking and rutting of the conven-
tional mix and the mixtures containing waste fillers using the
Quality-Related Specifications Software (QRSS).
Materials
The coarse aggregate used in this study is crushed dolomite
stone which is the most common type of aggregate used for
road construction in Egypt. The bulk specific gravity of the
coarse aggregates is 2.46 and for the fine aggregates is 2.69.
The conventional asphalt binder utilized in this research
is 60–70 penetration grade and 43 °C softening point [10].
Even though the binder does not achieve the required speci-
fication limit according to Egyptian Code for Practice [11],
it is still used in road construction in Egypt and this is why
it is being investigated. This binder was recruited from Al-
Nasr Petroleum Company in Suez, Egypt.
Three industrial materials (marble, granite and steel slag)
were investigated as mineral fillers along with conventional
limestone which was used for comparison. Marble and gran-
ite are produced during mining and processing in “Shaq AL-
Thu’ban industrial cluster”, Cairo, Egypt. The steel slag is
a by-product material and was sourced from Helwan Steel
and Iron Factory, Egypt.
The basic engineering properties of these waste materi-
als are presented in Table 1. The particle size distribution
Granite Slag Limestone Standard
19.8 18.7 18.3 AASHTO T89-13
[12]
16.2 14.6 16 AASHTO T90-16
3.6 4.1 2.3 [13]
84 82 69 AASHTO T11 [14]
2.805 3.015 2.652 AASHTO T84-13
[15]
Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2019) 4:5 Page 3 of 13  5

Fig. 1  TEM images for the

mineral fillers

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of the investigated waste materials through Transmission
Electronic Microscopy (TEM) is provided in Fig. 1.
The TEM images demonstrate that most of limestone
particles range from 90 to 187 nm. However, some particles
range from 33 to 49 nm (Fig. 1a) and from 50 to 145 nm
for the slag (Fig. 1b) which indicates that their particle size
distribution varies from large sizes to the small ones. Mar-
ble and granite are finer than other fillers as the majority of
their particles range from 25 to 62 nm as shown in Fig. 1c, d
which indicate a uniform particle size distribution.
Experimental work
To achieve the objectives of the study, the experimental
work is divided into three major tasks. The first task includes
the design of a conventional asphalt mix by Marshall method
using limestone as mineral filler then it was replaced by
other filler types. The effect of the filler type on moisture
damage through loss of stability and indirect tensile strength
tests was investigated. The second task involves laboratory
tests on the mastic (asphalt + filler). Finally, the results of
the experimental work were used to predict pavement per-
formance at two levels of design speeds and three climate
conditions by using the Quality-Related Specifications Soft-
ware (QRSS), which is a closed form simplified solution
of the AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design
Guide (MEPDG) software [16].
Design and volumetric properties
of conventional and modified asphalt
mixtures
The aggregates were blended together to achieve the Egyp-
tian specifications [11] for 4C wearing surface as illustrated
in Fig. 2. The percentages of aggregate 1, aggregate 2, fine
aggregate and mineral filler by the total weight of the mix
were 32.5%, 23.5%, 38.5% and 5.5%, respectively. The con-
ventional asphalt mix was designed according to Marshall
method [17] with the limestone as mineral filler (MF). The
optimum asphalt content (OAC) of the control mix using
limestone was 5.8% by weight of the mix.
Then, three replicate Marshall specimens were prepared
at OAC replacing the limestone MF with the other types of
fillers with the same limestone ratio (the only variable is
the filler type). Marshall stability, flow, volumetric proper-
ties, maximum theoretical and bulk specific gravities were

Fig. 2  Aggregates blend grada- 100.0

tion and specification limits (4C
Wearing Course) 90.0 Blend U.L. L.L.
80.0
70.0
60.0
% Passing

50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
0.0 0.1 1.0 10.0 100.0
Sieve Size (mm)

Table 2  Marshall parameters for all mixes

Filler type OAC (%) Stability (kg) Flow (mm) Bulk SP. Gr. Theoretical Va (%) VMA (%) VFA (%) Vbe (%)
SP. Gr.

Control 5.8 1020 3.30 2.283 2.386 4.4 16.53 73.54 12.2
Marble 1240 2.82 2.307 2.398 3.5 16.14 77.64 11.8
Granite 1115 3.02 2.329 2.410 3.2 15.72 79.18 11.5
Slag 965 2.56 2.354 2.448 3.8 16.07 76.14 10.3
Specification limits 4–7.5 900 Min. 2–4 – – 3–5 15 Min. – –

Va air voids in total mix, VMA voids in mineral aggregate, VFA voids filled with asphalt and Vbe volume of effective asphalt binder.

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determined. Table 2 summarizes Marshall parameters and
volumetric properties of all mixes. It can be noted that the
asphalt mix containing marble yielded the highest stability
value which is about 20% higher compared to the limestone
conventional mix, followed by granite and steel slag fillers.
The mixes containing marble and granite fillers showed
bulk specific gravities higher than the limestone mix. This
may be attributed to the finer particles as shown from the
TEM results. All mixes had air voids within the specification
limits (3% to 5%).
Loss of stability
The loss of stability test which expresses the resistance
of the asphalt mix to moisture damage was performed in
accordance with [18]. The samples were compacted and
soaked in 60 °C water bath for 24 h (conditioned samples)
then tested in Marshall apparatus. The loss of stability is
the ratio between stability of conditioned samples and dry
samples.
Figure 3 presents the loss of stability results for the dif-
ferent asphalt mixes. All mixes showed loss of stability
values less than the maximum allowable value which is
25% according to the Egyptian Code for Practice [11]. The
asphalt mixture containing granite as filler recorded the low-
est loss of stability.
Indirect tensile strength
The indirect tensile strength test was also carried out to
evaluate the moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixtures
according to [19]. Several trials were made to determine the
number of blows for achieving air void in range from 6% to
8% for the compaction process.
Two groups of samples were prepared; 3 samples were
tested in dry condition at 25 °C, and 3 conditioned samples
were subjected to vacuum to achieve 55–80% saturation
Fig. 3  Loss of stability values
for different asphalt mixes
then placed in a 60 °C distilled water bath for 24 h and then
soaked in water bath at 25 °C for 1 h at least before testing.
After that, the samples were tested using a compression test-
ing machine.
Figure 4 presents the tensile strength ratio (TSR) values
for the different mixes which represent the water sensitiv-
ity of mixture and equal to the ratio of tensile strength of
conditioned samples to unconditioned samples. The TSR
for all mixes fulfilled the specification requirements of 80%
as specified by the Egyptian Code for Practice. The asphalt
mixture containing steel slag barely achieved the minimum
limit. It can be seen from the figure that the marble mix
exhibited higher TSR values compared to the control HMA.
Asphalt mastic properties
In order to understand the role of the mineral filler in the
mix, asphalt mastic samples were prepared with ratio of 1:1
(filler to asphalt) by weight as designed ratios. These mastic
samples were evaluated with the following tests:
Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM)
The scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was performed
to investigate the asphalt mastic properties. The prepared
samples were placed on the SEM testing beam. The beam
was placed in a vacuum chamber and the binder was coated
with gold which interacts chemically with the asphalt binder
and the color changed to gray.
Figure 5 demonstrates the SEM images for the different
asphalt mastic samples for each type of filler. It can be noted
that some particles tend to agglomerate and form masses in
granite and marble (refer to Fig. 5a, b). Conversely, better
dispersion of limestone and slag in the binder was evident
as the agglomeration was rarely present in these samples
(refer to Fig. 5c, d). The reason for that is probably due to
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Fig. 4  TSR for different asphalt

mixes

Fig. 5  SEM Images for asphalt

mastic with different waste
materials

the clay content in each type of the filler as reported by other
literature studies [4] (Muniandy et al. [8]).
Rheological properties of asphalt cement mastics
Two types of samples were prepared (virgin and aged by the
rolling thin-film oven, RTFO aged samples) with ratio of 1:1
(mineral filler/asphalt). The RTFO samples were heated at
163 °C and were poured in eight glass bottles then rotated
to coat all the bottle sides and placed in the rotational oven
according to [20]. After that, the penetration, softening point
and Brookfield viscosity tests were conducted.
The effect of adding the waste filler to the asphalt cement
on the rheological properties is presented in Fig. 6. The

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Fig. 6  Penetration and softening 60

point values against filler types
Mastic RTFO Aged Mastic
49

Penetration (0.1mm)
50 48

42
40 37
35.5 35
31
30
25

20
Limestone Marble Granite Slag
MasticType

(a) Penetration for Virgin and Aged Mastic

65
Mastic RTFO Aged Mastic
Softening Point Temperature

60
59.7
57.5
56
55 53.1
53
( C)

49 49.6 49.2
50

45

40
Limestone Marble Granite Slag
Mastic Type

(b) Softening Point for Virgin and Aged Mastic

penetration decreased while the softening point tempera- of temperature. As the temperature increases, the viscosity
ture increased after the addition of filler to asphalt especially decreases gradually. There were some changes in the viscos-
for aged asphalt. The penetration of the granite mastic was ity–temperature susceptibility (VTSi) values which represent
lower than the other types which decreased significantly the slope of the regression line between log (log(viscosity))
from 63 (0.1 mm) down to 35.5 and for aged samples from and log(temperature) for marble, granite and limestone aged
39.7 (0.1 mm) to 25. mastics. However, a significant improvement in the viscosity
The marble filler recorded a penetration value of 42 was observed for the marble aged mastic at all temperatures.
(0.1 mm) and 31 for virgin and aged asphalt, respectively. This resulted in good adhesion between asphalt and marble.
The agglomeration in limestone and slag mastics was less The Ai and VTSi values for virgin and aged mastics are
compared to the other filler types leading to better distribu- shown in Table 3.
tion and more homogenous mastic. In general, the softening As the results clearly show, relative improvements are
point values increased with the addition of waste materials evident in the mastic as well as the mixture properties due
as filler for both cases virgin or aged samples. The marble to the use of the different waste materials as mineral filler.
filler which is considered the finest filler yielded the highest The relative improvement was different from filler to filler.
value of softening point (the stiffest mastic) compared to the This is probably due to the different physical properties of
other types of filler. the fillers which include grain size distribution, surface area,
The asphalt viscosity for virgin and aged samples is pro- rigden voids and grain morphology (sphericity and round-
vided in Fig. 7. It is noticeable that an increase in the viscos- ness of fillers) as reported in many literature studies [21–23].
ity occurs with the use of waste materials as filler at all levels Chemical composition of the filler also plays significant

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Fig. 7  Viscosity temperature
susceptibility for virgin and
aged mastic

Table 3  Ai–VTSi for control Mastic Virgin mastic Aged mastic

and aged mastic
2
Ai VTSi R Ai VTSi R2

Control binder 10.13 − 3.3917 0.998 9.45 − 3.14 0.999

Limestone 9.85 − 3.2885 0.992 7.69 − 2.51 0.996
Marble 8.09 − 2.6596 0.998 8.93 − 2.93 0.999
Granite 9.03 − 2.9924 0.995 9.02 − 2.97 0.999
Slag 8.91 − 2.957 0.998 9.66 − 3.20 0.991

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role in stiffening the mastic and, hence, the mix. Therefore,
silica and calcium oxide content in the fillers can enhance
the chemical interaction with asphalt [24]. In this research,
the TEM images show that the marble and granite powder
were finer than the other fillers. Thus, their surface area is
greater which increase the cohesiveness with binder beyond
the purely physical micro filling action. Moreover, the angu-
lar, irregular shape and the rough surface of the steel slag
particles compared to the flaky limestone particles provide
high internal friction and good interlocking mechanism so
excellent bond with asphalt binder which was reported by
Muniandy et al. [8].
Predicted field performance
Quality‑Related Specifications Software (QRSS)
The Quality-Related Specifications Software (QRSS) is
a simplification of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement
Design Guide (MEPDG) which can predict pavement per-
formance in terms of AC rutting, thermal cracking and
fatigue cracking at the end of the pavement design life
by three input different levels depending on the available
data. No laboratory measurements were collected at the
time of research so the inputs were mainly level two. The
program inputs are traffic, pavement structure, climate
and performance criteria. Climate data for three differ-
ent cities in Egypt (Alexandria, Aswan and Cairo) were
used in this analysis [25]. Alexandria climate represents
coastal climate, Cairo climate represents moderately hot
climate, while the climate of Aswan is extremely hot cli-
mate. Two traffic speeds were selected, a slow speed rep-
resenting traffic speed at intersections and toll gates and
a fast speed. These two speeds were selected in order to
study the effect of loading rate on the performance of the
investigated mixes. The program input data is presented
in Table 4.
The prediction of HMA rutting and fatigue crack-
ing depends mainly on traffic load, speed and climatic

Table 4  QRSS inputs
Group Input Value

Traffic Design speed, mph (km/h) 10 (16 km/h, 50 (80 km/h)

Annual growth rate (%) 5
Daily design lane ESALs 250
Design life (years) 20
Total ESALs 3,092,087
Structure Asphalt layer thickness, in. (cm) 4 (10 cm)
HMA properties
Design volumetric, air voids (%) As illustrated in Table 2
Binder characteristics
A & VTS (RTFO) Illustrated in Table 3
Gb 1.010
Target In-situ volumetric properties
Air voids (%) 7
Gsb 2.537, 2.540, 2.544, 2.553, for limestone,
marble, granite and slag
Gmm Shown in Table 2
Mix gradation Illustrated in Fig. 2
Base thickness, in. (cm) 10 (25 cm)
Resilient modulus (Mr) for base layer (psi) 50,000
Mr for subgrade (psi) 14,500
Climate data Alexandria Cairo Aswan
Mean annual air temperature, MAAT (°F) 71.34 74.42 76.06
Standard deviation of the mean monthly air 8.33 11.6 12.39
temperature (σMMAT)
Mean annual wind speed (mph) 10.68 6.39 5.36
Mean annual sunshine (%) 88.89 90.09 96.08
Annual cumulative rain fall depth (in) 9.5 2.75 0.38
Limits of distresses (performance criteria) Asphalt pavement rutting (in.) 0.25
Fatigue cracking (%) 25

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conditions which affect the HMA dynamic modulus (E*).

Additionally, for HMA fatigue cracking the quality of the
layers underneath the HMA also affects the fatigue crack-
ing distress. In QRSS, the performance of the pavement
structure is mainly affected by the effective E*. Effec-
tive E* is a single dynamic modulus value representing
the modulus of the HMA layer(s) which yields similar
performance at the end of the pavement service life as if
variable values of E* over the service life were used [26].
The effective E* is a function of the effective tempera-
ture which is the critical temperature for the estimation
of the anticipated rutting and fatigue cracking [26, 27].
Equations 1 and 2 show the models used for the effective
temperature computation for rutting and fatigue cracking,
respectively.

Teff-rutting = 14.620 − 3.361 ln (f ) − 10.940(z)

(1)
( )
+ 1.121(MAAT) + 1.718 𝜎MMAT
− 0.431(Wind) + 0.333(Sunshine) + 0.080

Teff-fatigue = −13.9551 − 2.3316(f )0.5 + 1.0056(MAAT)

(2)
( )
+ 0.8755 𝜎MMAT − 1.1861(Wind)
+ 0.5489(Sunshine) + 0.0706(Rain)

where T eff = modified Witczak effective temperature,

°F; Z = critical depth, in.; f = loading frequency, HZ;
MAAT = mean annual air temperature, °F; σMMAT = standard
deviation of the mean monthly air temperature; Rain = annual Fig. 8  Rutting prediction for all mixes at different speeds and climatic
cumulative rainfall depth, in.; Sunshine = mean annual sun- conditions
shine percentage, %; Wind = mean annual wind speed, mph.
The effective dynamic modulus is then estimated as a QRSS predicted performance
function of the HMA mix volumetric properties, binder
characteristics, frequency, effective temperature and The predicted rutting of the different asphalt mixes using
aggregate gradations as shown in Eq. 3 [28]. two different levels of speed is provided in Fig. 8. It can be

)2
log E∗ = −1.249937 + 0.029232P200 − 0.001767 P200 − 0.002841P4 − 0.058097Va
(
( )2
Vbeff 3.871977 − 0.0021P4 + 0.003958P38 − 0.000017 P38 + 0.00547P34
− 0.802208 ( )+ (3)
Vbeff + Va 1 + e−0.603313−(0.31335 log f )−(0.393532 log 𝜂)

where E* = asphalt mix dynamic modulus, 1­ 0 5 psi;
η = binder viscosity, in 1­ 06 poise.; f = loading frequency,
HZ; Va = air voids of the mix by volume, %; Vbeff = effective
bitumen content by volume, %; P34 = cumulative % retained
on the 3/4 in. sieve; P38 = cumulative % retained on the 3/8
in. sieve; P4 = cumulative % retained on No. 4 sieve; P200 = %
passing the No. 200 sieve.
seen from the figure that the mixes containing waste materi-
als as mineral filler especially the slag exhibited better rut-
ting resistance compared to the traditional limestone filler.
The HMA performance in terms of AC rutting was almost
the same for the different mixes containing other fillers. The
effect of the climatic conditions and speed on the predicted
AC rutting is shown clearly in the figure which increases as

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Innovative Infrastructure Solutions (2019) 4:5 Page 11 of 13  5
Fig. 9  Fatigue cracking prediction for all mixes
the temperature increases (Aswan vs. Alexandria climate).
The figure also shows that as speed decreases the AC rutting
increases due to the viscous nature of the asphalt. The better
rutting resistance is due to the higher stiffness (E*) because
of the filler type. Moreover, the small particles of marble
and granite acted as bitumen extender which made the mixes
stiffer. The figure clearly shows that the QRSS distress pre-
(3)
dictive models failed to capture the effect of the filler type
on the predicted rutting which is clear in Fig. 8. This is due
to the limitation of the E* predictive model which character-
izes the filler only by the %P# 200 which was kept almost
constant for all mixes. Besides the mastic and Marshal test-
ing one other way to assess the effect of the filler type on the
mixture is to perform laboratory E* testing on the different
mixes which the authors intend to do in the near future for
better prediction of the asphalt performance.
The predicted fatigue cracking for the different types of
filler is illustrated in Fig. 9. The conventional asphalt mix has
low-fatigue cracking compared to other mixes. The climate
6.0
5.8
O.A.C. %
5.6
5.4
5.2
5.0
Limestone Marble Granite Slag
Filler Type
Fig. 10  Optimum asphalt content for different asphalt mixes
conditions have no significant effect on fatigue cracks as this
type of distress is influenced by cold climate and the weather
in the selected regions is moderate to hot rather than cold.
The predicted fatigue cracking is low compared to the failure
criteria limits. Furthermore, the difference in the predicted
fatigue values because of the change in the rate of loading
(traffic speed) is not significant.
Economic study
The economic analysis of HMA using waste and by-prod-
uct materials as fillers was studied after designing HMA
mixtures (using each individual filler). Figure 10 presents
the OAC of all mixes which ranged from 5.2 to 5.4%. The
cost of one cubic meter of HMA was estimated according to
Dakahlia, Directorate for Roads (based on material prices as
of January 2018). Table 5 presents the cost of each compo-
nent as well as the total cost per ­m3 for each mix. This analy-
sis shows reasonable saving of about 6% to 10% as compared
to the conventional limestone filleras shown in (Fig. 11).
This cost is very conservative as the cost of dumping these
waste materials into landfills is not taken into consideration.
Conclusions
This study investigated the feasibility of using different
waste and by-product materials as an alternative to the tra-
ditional filler in the production of hot mix asphalt in Egypt.
The following conclusions are drawn based on the analysis
of the testing results:
• The waste marble filler was the finest among the inves-
tigated materials and showed higher Marshall stability
compared to the limestone mix.
• Mixes with waste granite filler yielded the minimum
value of loss of stability and marble waste yielded the
highest indirect tensile strength ratio. On the other hand,
the steel slag powder did not improve the moisture dam-
age resistance.
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Table 5  Cost analysis for Item Item cost Cost of asphalt mixes/m3

different asphalt mixes, (LE/unit)
Dakahlia, January 2018 Limestone Marble Granite Slag

Bitumen, ton 7500 935.7 839.2 876.3 842.1

Coarse aggregate (1) (­ m3) 144 37.6 38.0 38.3 37.6
Coarse aggregate (2) (­ m3) 145 28.8 29.1 29.3 28.9
Fine aggregate (­ m3) 100 32.6 33.1 33.3 32.9
Limestone filler ­(m3) 100 4.3 – – –
Raw materials cost (mixer costs), LE LE/m3 1039.0 939.4 977.2 941.5
Total cost, LE LE/m3 1300 1174.3 1221 1176.9

References
Fig. 11  % Saving ratio for different mixes
• The agglomeration of particles was less in case of lime-
stone and slag mastics so better dispersion occurred.
• Both virgin and RTFO granite mastics improved the
penetration value. The marble mastics had the highest
softening point temperature and RV viscosity.
• In addition to the ecological benefits, the use of waste
materials and by-products as filler in the HMA can
reduce the total cost by 6–10% compared with the lime-
stone filler.
• Prediction of the pavement performance by the QRSS
software revealed that all mixes containing waste filler
exhibited better rutting resistance compared to the tradi-
tional limestone filler mix. The effect of traffic speed and
climatic condition is significant on the rutting resistance.
• The HMA dynamic modulus predictive model in the
QRSS failed to quantify the effect of the filler type on
the predicted E*.
Acknowledgements  The authors are grateful to Dr. Mohamed
Elshabrawy, Professor Emeritus of Highway, Traffic, and Transporta-
tion, Faculty of Engineering, Mansoura University for his support and
guidance.
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