Using Plastic in Pavements - Case Study Example

These concerns have made contemporary researchers ascertain the extent to which plastic wastes can be effective in road constructions. For instance, it has been established thrived polymer-coati aggregative have shown incredible strength and rut resistance. While the use of mix polymer coated aggregate in constructions of roads can help in the reduction of plastic waste, recent studies have focused on the use of plastic in pavements. This paper therefore critically develops techniques that use plastic waste for the c striction of flexible pavements (plastic roads).

The study will also review bitumen mashie be important when it comes to top layer coat other f flexible pavements. The waste plastic modified bitumen mix has better performance when it comes to stability, binding property, density and resistance to water. Key words: Bit Keywords Mechanical characteristics, plastic mix, non-biodegradable, flexible pavement The effect of industrial development has not only affected superpower countries, but the spillover has greatly affected disposal situate ion in Australia.

The country has been having problems disposing large of plastic wastes. Though recycling the waste has been seen as a prudent approach in tackling the problem, researchers now shown that the problem of plastics wastes can be a solution for another problem in road construction (Zbiciak, 2008). Firth stat tempt was made in India where groups of engineers attempted to assess whether plastics wastes could be useful in the construction of highways (Olard & Di Benedetto, 2005). The discussion attempted to explore whether plastics wastes if used in the construction of roads, could provide suitability, feasibility, and performance.

This was the first attempt to find adequate combination of the needfire economic disposal of waste materials as well as cost-effective construction materials. Further researches sought to ascertain whether addition of a given amount of polymer to elements such as asphalt binder could improve the durability, suitability and performance of road pavements (Coffin, 2007). The first experiment was conducted by Chandigarh administration. The administration through its engineers used plastic carry including carry bags (Spooner et al., 2004). 

They constructed a 1.2 km dual carriageway on a trial basis and found that when polymers are added they typically show greater resistance to problems such as thermal cracking and rutting. The study also found that the mixture had the ability to reduce damages related to fatigue, stripping and improvements temperature susceptibility. Still on the development that has been made regarding the use of plastic wastes for road pavements, experiments by Wang (2011) indicated that one critical feature of thin plastics is the Low Density Polyethylene and this is the reason they are preferred for packaging.

The experiment found that it is for this reason that thin plastics can be used as aggregate coat or binder modifiers. This finding was used by the first test done at Veerabhadhra Street road when thin plastics were used as elements which partially substituted portion of aggregates when it comes to asphalt mix. These experiments were encouraging and showed and improvement when it comes to performance and durability (Chen & Wang, 2007; Dahowski et al., 2003). 1.2. Current Situation There have been different technological and engineering improvements that have been made when it comes to waste plastics and constructions of pavements.

As a matter of fact, Brattebo & Booth (2003) report that presently, a complete ban on the use of plastics cannot be put because through its use in construction of pavements, there is just a need to develop sensible steps that can help in proper disposal of the waste. Taking a case of roads in India, the use of waste plastics in construction of roads are gaining popularity as it has been found that plastics perform better than the previously used materials. Recent situations have therefore concentrated in two areas, use of bituminous binders for flexible and rigid pavements.

A pavement has different layers and therefore roads such as Vilachery have used these binders for the construction of flexible pavements. Focusing this study on flexible pavement, a case study on Jambulingam Street has indicated that use of plastics have taken a different dimension since the first experiments on plastics wastes were conducted. The road took recommendations by Zhang & Ullidtz, (2002) to develop the surface of a course pavement using bitumen thus developing what Qadir & Imam (2005) term as ‘flexible pavement.

’ Currently, there are roads that have total pavement structures that can deflect as a result of traffic loads. These developments have been compared with rigid pavements made of cement concrete that cannot bend when there is traffic load. The agreement that has been made is that plastics waste are agreed to be modifiers of bitumen so as to improve bitumen property roads. The current situation is that researches agree that plastics increase melting point of bitumen thereby saving the cost of repair and maintenance per kilometer.

Additionally, the abrasion and slips are significantly reduced when there is flexible pavement compared with rigid pavements. 1.3. Problem Statement Australia has grappled with debate on plastic use and abuse with regard to environmental protection. This debate may go on without yielding substantive results until proper mechanisms are devised. As already established, plastic wastes are useful in the construction of roads. The issue under investigation is to attempt and develop plastic roads; particularly pavements in Australia.

The current rate of development and urbanization has led to increasing plastic wastes at landfills and shifting these wastes to pavements will help Australia clear the non-biodegradable pollutants. In addition, Australia is in need of a large network of roads for its smooth socio-economic developments and with the scarcity of bitumen suggestions that will be generated in this study will help fast and efficient construction of roads in all parts of Australia. 2.0. CHAPTER TWO 2.1. Literature Review 2.1.1.

Introduction Scholars have argued differently concerning road pavements and the use of waste plastics in the construction of roads (Collins et al. 2008).