Use of Plastic Waste Along with Bitumen in Construction of Flexible Pavements

Abstract

The most common sources of waste products are from the growth of various industries and increase in population. The type of waste which is most hazardous to the nature is the Plastic Waste. The main concern about the plastic waste is its non-biodegradability. According to recent researches plastic waste when mixed with bitumen gives it desired mechanical properties. Bitumen is primarily used in the construction of flexible pavements and when it is mixed with plastic waste it improves the water resistivity, capacity and stability of the mix. Laboratory test have proved that it can be used as a binder material in the bitumen mix for construction of flexible pavements. Plastic waste percentage in bitumen has to be checked. Marshal stability test is the most commonly used method to relate with field conditions. The samples used are made up with bitumen concrete commonly called Asphalt in which plastic content and bitumen are kept at various percentages in each of the sample. The tests have shown positive results and gives a scope of further practical implementations. The basic objective of the test is to find out the optimum percentage of plastic waste which can overrule the bitumen content in the mix for the design of flexible pavements. The basic intention behind this study is to replace bitumen by a conventional and non-biodegradable material which is the plastic waste.