Utilization of sugarcane bagasse ash with fly ash as alternative fillers in bituminous concrete

Abstract

Most of the roads in India are paved with bituminous concrete due to its low cost initial investment with respect to cement concrete pavement. Bituminous concrete is a dense mixture of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, fillers and bitumen as binder. It requires frequently maintenance work. Performance of bituminous concrete depends upon its density and gradation. Its density and stability can be increased by filling its very fine voids. These voids are generally filled with filler materials, like stone dust or silica fume. Fillers are very effective in stability and rut resistance properties in bituminous concrete. Sugarcane bagasse ash is waste material, which is generally disposed in open land after burning sugarcane bagasse in Sugar mills. It is a locally available material and can be utilized as a filler material. In this paper, three different bitumen concrete grade II mixes with Sugarcane bagasse ash as filler (BCSBA), with Fly ash as filler (BCFA) and with both Fly ash and Sugarcane bagasse ash (BCSBFA) were prepared at 5%, 5.5%, 6%, 6.5% and 7% bitumen content. Content of fly ash and sugarcane bagasse ash were decided as per blending requirement of bituminous concrete grade II. Performance of bituminous concrete with fly ash and sugarcane bagasse ash were tested by Marshall stability Test. The laboratory result showed that sugarcane bagasse ash can be used as filler with fly ash without significant reduction of stability of bituminous concrete. It was also found that excess addition of sugarcane bagasse ash can increase flow value. This type of study can be a solution of sugarcane bagasse ash disposal problem.