Asphalt reinforcement

Asphalt paved roads are created for areas such as highways, access roads, airports, parking areas: essentially, areas with vehicular traffic with varied weights, and volume. Although the need for roads is universal, as part of human development, the soils in which they get constructed vary hugely. Each time a road is created, a company is required to conduct soil analysis which investigates the soil composition, the amount of load it bears, the effect of repetitive vehicular stresses, or soil compaction, soil drainage, i.e. the amount of water it can allow to pass without changing shape, or stagnating, soil swelling or shrinkage, i.e. the extent to which soil particles expand or shrink due to moisture. Each of these aspects then in turn determines the thickness of the pavement, its inherent capacity to carry a specified amount of vehicular load, and the factors which may cause the pavement or road to collapse internally; also called pavement failure, or soil erosion. Once these factors are understood through a number of lab based tests, civil engineers set about designing the number of layers needed to construct the road, materials for the layers, reinforcement layers, in-fill material, and other design choices to help build the best type of road, based on where and how it will be used. Asphalt reinforcement is therefore a preventive action undertaken to delay or defer the imminent crack road development over prolonged exposure to weight, temperature changes, and moisture changes from the surface. Each soil type comes with its own inherent load bearing capacity, shear strength, and Atterberg limits, among other measures of soil strength. Thus, the reinforcement helps address topographic deficiencies in the terrain before it causes problems, after iterative stresses. Cracks on pavement surfaces are a maintenance issue with a knock-on effect on pavement life, which further affects the cost of the project. The first consequence of surface cracking is that it allows water to enter pavement structure, leading to a weakened foundation. This, in turn, also causes travel at the edge of cracks, gives rise to overall surface roughness leading to an uncomfortable driving experience, and even more imbalanced vehicular loads, and generates vibrations and noise. Overall, while surface cracks cannot be avoided, they can be delayed by reinforcement of the asphalt at the time of installation and in factoring these needs at the design stage itself.