Utilization of Waste Plastic in Flexible Pavement with Marble Chips as Aggregate

Abstract— Solid waste management is the major threat to the environment in the current scenario. Of the various waste materials, plastic wastes are of great concern. Plastics are not eco-friendly as they are non-biodegradable. On the other side, the traffic intensity is increasing. The load bearing capacities of the road are to be increased. Marbles naturally possess high strength and resilience. This work presents partial replacement of bitumen by polypropylene reprocessed plastic waste in bituminous mixes with marble chips as aggregate and also to make a comparative study on the effect of plastic waste in bituminous layer of flexible pavement with the normal aggregates and also with the replacement of normal aggregates by marble chips. Various tests are performed on the aggregates, marble chips, bitumen and also on the bituminous mix to examine the strength of the materials and the pavement. The Marshall stability tests are conducted for the bituminous mix samples of various proportions of 5, 10 & 15 percentage plastic and is examined to determine various aspects such as the stability and voids content. The results obtained through these test give considerable stability in pavement.

Keywords—flexible pavement, resilience, polypropylene reprocessed plastic, Marshall Stability tests

I. INTRODUCTION

Bitumen is a useful binder for flexible pavement. Different grades of bitumen like 30/40, 60/70, 80/100 are available on the basis of their penetration values. The steady increase in traffic intensity in terms of vehicles, and the significant variation in daily and seasonal temperature, demand improved characteristics in flexible pavement. Any improvement in the property of the binder is needed in the present scenario. Bituminous mixes are modified in order to improve the performance of bituminous mixtures. Various waste materials, plastic waste and municipal solid waste are of great concern. Today the availability of waste plastics is enormous. They either get mixed with municipal solid waste or thrown away over land area. If not recycled, their present disposal is either by land filling or by incineration. Both the processes have certain impact on the environment. Under this circumstance, an alternate use for the waste plastics is also needed. The waste polymer bitumen blend can be prepared and can be used for road laying. Also a major problem in flexible pavement is its stability. Marble chips are also a constructional waste that is left unused. In order to use it effectively, it is made use as an alternative for aggregate in the bituminous mix in flexible pavement.
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