Development of Functional Rubber-Based Impact-Absorbing Pavements for Cyclist and Pedestrian Injury Reduction

Christina Makoundou,Viveca Wallqvist,Cesare Sangiorgi,Kenth Johansson

doi:10.3390/su132011283

Christina Makoundou, Viveca Wallqvist + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011283

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Abstract

Cyclists, pedestrians and elderly people’s specific needs in urban road infrastructures are often neglected. They rarely benefit from safety measures or innovations. Inspired by playgrounds and aiming to reduce vulnerable road users (VRUs) injuries, the development of the rubber-based impact-absorbing pavements (IAP) offers a possibility to rethink the design of urban pavements and address safety on roads, which constitutes a major challenge in terms of attaining more sustainable, resilient, and safe cities. Therefore, bituminous mixtures with four different crumb rubber contents, 0%, 14%, 28%, and 33% (in total weight), were produced by partial aggregates substitution using the dry process. After the assessment of the geometrical and volumetric properties, the mechanical performances were evaluated. Finally, the samples were tested to measure the abrasion and impact attenuation with the well-known head injury criterion (HIC), at different temperatures from −10 to 40 °C, to obtain a wide range of values referring to possible weather conditions. A significant effect of the rubber percentage and layer thickness on impact attenuation was observed. All observations and results confirm the feasibility of the IAP concept and its positive effect on future injury-prevention applications.

Highlights

In 2021, the World Health Organization specified that a critical number of people are forced to live with disabilities resulting from non-fatal-injuries caused by the design of roads, which is often unsafe and inadequate for pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists [1]
The severity of the tests the samples that could partially bounce inside the Los Angeles apparatus
Even if the binder seemed to be reduced with bouncy samples, the results of the rubber specimen were still significantly influenced the particle’s loss, the difference between impact-absorbing pavements (IAP) 2a (18% wt. binder) and IAP 2b (21% wt. binder) was negligible

Summary

Introduction

Road traffic injuries result in an alarming and non-negligible amount of death in the world. More than half of deaths occur among people classified as vulnerable road users (VRUs), including pedestrians and cyclists [1,2]. Several previous studies have shown that stiff surfaces are one of the main reasons for vulnerable users traffic injuries. To protect these users, research on innovative and sustainable impact-absorbing pavements (IAP). In 2021, the World Health Organization specified that a critical number of people (between 20 and 50 million) are forced to live with disabilities resulting from non-fatal-injuries caused by the design of roads, which is often unsafe and inadequate for pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists [1]

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