Evaluation of the quality of reclaimed asphalt originating from SMA mixtures containing neat and polymer-modified bitumens

Piotr Jaskuła; Jacek Alenowicz; Bohdan Dołżycki; Mariusz Jaczewski; Marek Pszczoła; Dawid Ryś; Marcin Stienss; Cezary Szydłowski

doi:10.7409/rabdim.025.035

Published: 2025-12-16

Vol. 24 No. 4 (2025)

Evaluation of the quality of reclaimed asphalt originating from SMA mixtures containing neat and polymer-modified bitumens

Piotr Jaskuła

, Jacek Alenowicz

, Bohdan Dołżycki

, Mariusz Jaczewski

, Marek Pszczoła

, Dawid Ryś

, Marcin Stienss

, Cezary Szydłowski

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.7409/rabdim.025.035

Abstract

Hot recycling of asphalt mixtures in mixing plants belongs to methods that enable sustainable production of new hot-mix paving mixtures incorporating material reclaimed through milling of existing pavement layers. Whereas hot recycling of base and binder courses has become a typical solution, application of this technology to wearing courses has not yet been fully explored. Polish motorways and expressways constructed in 2010-2012, whose wearing courses generally comprise stone mastic asphalt (SMA) mixtures with polymer-modified bitumens, are currently nearing the stage of wearing course replacement. Primary issues related to hot recycling of asphalt mixtures include evaluation of reclaimed asphalt (RA) in terms of its quality and suitability for production of new hot-mix SMA mixtures for wearing courses. This pertains both to the composition of the RA material itself and to the quality of the aged binder it contains. The article presents the results of investigations performed under the RID II rSMA2 research project, whose aims included, among others, quality evaluation of 6 different RA materials originating from milling of SMA8 and SMA11 wearing courses. In five cases RA material contained polymer-modified bitumens; in one case RA contained neat paving-grade (unmodified) bitumen. Quality evaluation encompassed determination of RA composition and particle size distribution, as well as assessment of the extracted bitumen and recovered fine asphalt mixture material (FAM – a mixture of bitumen, filler and sand). The obtained results are analyzed in the article. Extracted bitumens were evaluated based on European and American procedures; recovered mineral mixtures were assessed using both “black” and “white” gradation curves. For the first time in Polish literature, FAMs were separated from RA and evaluated.

Keywords:

fine asphalt mixture (FAM), hot recycling, reclaimed asphalt, relaxation, stone mastic asphalt (SMA)

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Jaskuła, P., Alenowicz, J., Dołżycki, B., Jaczewski, M., Pszczoła, M., Ryś, D., … Szydłowski, C. (2025). Evaluation of the quality of reclaimed asphalt originating from SMA mixtures containing neat and polymer-modified bitumens. Roads and Bridges – Drogi I Mosty, 24(4), 537–547. https://doi.org/10.7409/rabdim.025.035

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