Development and Use of Salt-Storage Additives in Asphalt Pavement for Anti-Icing: Literature Review

Abstract

Anti-icing asphalt pavement (AIAP) with salt-storage additive (SSA) has been developed and researched for decades with the aim to provide support for winter road maintenance in cold regions. This paper presents a comprehensive review of literature and synthesizes the state of the art research and technological developments of SSA incorporated into AIAP. The focus is placed on recent advances in anti-icing fundamentals of asphalt pavement with SSA, the classification and anti-icing characterization of SSA, and the effects of SSA on the anti-icing performance and engineering properties of asphalt pavement. This pavement apparently improves driving conditions on roads by facilitating the removal of snow and ice, but the addition of SSA may compromise the engineering properties of asphalt pavement. Other limitations of AIAP with SSA include difficulty in controlling the release rate of salt chemicals, extending the anti-icing service life, and making anti-icing effective at low temperatures; these merit in-depth studies in future work. One can envision that the pavement can be engineered to achieve balanced performances in anti-icing, mechanical properties, and durability, through better design and control of the microstructures and interfaces in the composite matrix.