IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i13p6050-d1692946.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Durability of Recycled Concrete Aggregate as a Pavement Base Material Including Drainage: A Laboratory and Simulation Study

Author

Listed:
  • Syed Ashik Ali

    (School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, The University of Oklahoma, 202 West Boyd Street, Room 334, Norman, OK 73019, USA)

  • Paul Cancino Arevalo

    (School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, The University of Oklahoma, 202 West Boyd Street, Room 334, Norman, OK 73019, USA)

  • Musharraf Zaman

    (School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, The University of Oklahoma, 202 West Boyd Street, Room 334, Norman, OK 73019, USA
    Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, The University of Oklahoma, 202 West Boyd Street, Room 334, Norman, OK 73019, USA
    Southern Plains Transportation Center, The University of Oklahoma, 202 West Boyd Street, Room 334, Norman, OK 73019, USA)

  • Royce W. Floyd

    (School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, The University of Oklahoma, 202 West Boyd Street, Room 334, Norman, OK 73019, USA)

  • Zahid Hossain

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR 72467, USA)

  • Javier Rojas-Pochyla

    (Materials Division, Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Edmond, OK 73013, USA)

Abstract

Recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs) have the potential to be used as a sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly material in pavement base construction. However, there is a lack of information on the durability, strength, and hydraulic properties of RCA. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the properties and performances of commonly available RCAs in Oklahoma as pavement bases through laboratory testing and AASHTOWare Pavement ME simulations. For this purpose, three RCAs (RCA-1, RCA-2, and RCA-3) and a virgin limestone aggregate (VLA-1) were collected from local sources. RCA-1 and RCA-3 were produced in the field by crushing the existing concrete pavement of Interstate 40 and US 69 sections, respectively. RCA-2 was produced by crushing concrete and rubble collected in a local recycling plant. Laboratory testing for this study included particle size distribution, wash loss, optimum moisture content and maximum dry density (OMC-MDD), Los Angeles (LA) abrasion, durability indices ( D c and D f ), permeability (k), and resilient modulus ( M r ). The properties of aggregates were compared and the service life (performance) of aggregate bases was studied through mechanistic analysis using the AASHTOWare Pavement ME design software (version 2.6, AASHTO, USA). The results indicated that the properties of RCAs can differ greatly based on the origin of the source materials and the methods used in their processing. Recycled aggregates from concrete pavements of interstate and state highways exhibited similar or improved performance as virgin aggregates. RCA produced in a recycling plant was found to show durability and strength issues due to the presence of inferior quality materials and contaminants. Also, the results indicated that the fine aggregate durability test is a useful tool for screening recycled aggregates to ensure quality during production and construction. Bottom-up fatigue cracking was identified as the most affected performance criterion for flexible pavements when using RCA as the base layer. The findings will help increase the use of RCA as pavement base to promote environmental sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Syed Ashik Ali & Paul Cancino Arevalo & Musharraf Zaman & Royce W. Floyd & Zahid Hossain & Javier Rojas-Pochyla, 2025. "Durability of Recycled Concrete Aggregate as a Pavement Base Material Including Drainage: A Laboratory and Simulation Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:6050-:d:1692946
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/6050/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/6050/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yang Zhang & Bora Cetin & Tuncer B. Edil, 2021. "Seasonal Performance Evaluation of Pavement Base Using Recycled Materials," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      More about this item

      Keywords

      ;
      ;
      ;
      ;
      ;
      ;

      Statistics

      Access and download statistics

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:6050-:d:1692946. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.