Development of Sulfur Modified Bituminous Paving Mixes Containing Sand as Aggregates

Abstract

Abstract Aggregates obtained from natural stone resources are the main source of infrastructure, including road-pavement construction. In keeping pace with economic development, rapid industrialization, and urbanization, natural stone resources are depleting at an alarming rate, which is a major concern for future construction activities. Keeping this issue in mind, the use of locally available materials as a substitute for aggregates, particularly in road construction, is a major research interest. Because sand is available abundantly in some places such as coastal deltaic plains and desert areas, it is necessary to evaluate the potential of sand as an alternative to the stone aggregates. But because of its low stability, sand-bituminous mixes were not found to be suitable for pavement construction. The advantageous effects of using sulfur with construction materials motivated the authors to develop sand-bitumen mixes modified by locally available commercial sulfur. This research addressed the procedure to develop the sulfur modified sand bituminous mixes. The influences of mixing parameters such as mixing sequences, mixing temperature, and mixing time on performance characteristics of the mix were evaluated. Marshall properties of the mixes with varying proportions of sand, sulfur, and bitumen at different levels of compaction were studied, and the results were analyzed for drawing conclusions.