Performance study and application of porous ultra-thin wearing course for asphalt pavement maintenance

Abstract An ultra-thin layer wearing course with thickness between 15mm and 30mm are developed and applied for maintenance of asphalt pavement. The maximum size of the coarse aggregate is 10 mm. In this study, the high viscosity modified bitumen is used as binder for improving the anti-rutting and raveling performance of a porous mixture. Mixture designed study is carried out by combing the functional and structural performance measurements. The target air voids contents for those ultra-thin surfaces are between 15% and 20%. Important factors presenting the high temperature property, moisture feature, low temperature feature and anti-raveling performance are investigated in lab. Meanwhile, surface characteristic which reflect the sound absorption is also observed. A feasibility of using the ultra-thin wearing course mixture in China is proved. Trial sections are constructed in southeast part of China for studying the performance of ultra-thin waring course in maintenance engineering. The achievements from the study will provide technical support for the maintenance of asphalt pavement with moderate surface damage. It will also improve the skid resistance and the noise reducing function of the old pavement, which presents superior social and environmental benefits.