Trial section A73: fibre reinforced porous asphalt on the Dutch motorway
Near Roermond, a demonstration garden for sustainable asphalt has run for years, where fibre reinforcement is also tested. A look at the results.
Near Roermond, a remarkable stretch of motorway has existed for several years: a demonstration garden for sustainable asphalt, where fibre reinforcement is also being tested in practice.
A demonstration garden on the A73
BAM Infra Nederland constructed a demonstration garden for sustainable asphalt on a two-kilometre trial section on the A73 near Roermond. This construction was the outcome of the Sustainable Asphalt competition launched by Rijkswaterstaat.
Two sustainable mixtures in the base layer
On the trial section, BAM Infra applied two types of sustainable asphalt in the base layer of two-layer porous asphalt, with recycling percentages of eighty and ninety-five per cent and production temperatures of one hundred and fifteen and one hundred and five degrees Celsius respectively.
Fibres in the surface layer
In addition to these sustainable mixtures in the base layer, Rijkswaterstaat and BAM Infra also tested fibres added to the asphalt for the surface layer of the two-layer porous asphalt. These fibres are intended to extend the service life of the asphalt and thereby contribute to less maintenance.
Part of a larger research programme
The fibre reinforced demonstration sections on the A73 formed part of the wider, European FIBRA project, led by the University of Cantabria. The purpose of these sections was to provide greater insight into the service life extension that can be achieved with fibre reinforced asphalt.
Results from practice
Research on the Dutch trial section shows that the top layer of the two-layer porous asphalt can be reinforced with both polyacrylonitrile and aramid fibres instead of polymer modification, and that this can make a positive contribution to the strength and stiffness of the mortar.
Conclusion
The trial sections on the A73 show how scientific research, such as the FIBRA project, is translated directly into practical applications on the Dutch motorway. This combination of sustainable base layers and fibre reinforced surface layers offers a concrete picture of what the road construction of the future could look like.