Recycled Aggregate Applications in Pavement Engineering
Summary
Pavement engineering is increasingly embracing recycled aggregates as sustainable alternatives to virgin materials. Recycled concrete aggregate and reclaimed asphalt pavement are recovered from demolition and resurfacing, then processed to meet engineering specifications. These materials have been incorporated in unbound layers—such as subgrade, capping, sub-base and base—and in bound layers following cement or lime stabilisation. Innovations include full-depth reclamation, where existing pavement is crushed, blended with binders and re-laid in situ. Beyond demolition waste, other secondary resources such as waste glass, brick fragments and dredged sediments are being treated and mixed to enhance stiffness, bearing capacity and resistance to permanent deformation. This shift supports circular economy goals, reduces landfill demand, conserves natural quarries and lowers carbon emissions, while maintaining or improving pavement performance under varied traffic and climatic conditions across urban and rural networks worldwide.
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Recycled Aggregate Applications in Pavement Engineering publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in recycled aggregate applications in pavement engineering across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA): Crushed concrete from demolition used as a pavement aggregate replacement.
Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP): Removed asphalt layers milled and reused in new pavement mixtures.
Unbound layer: Pavement layer without cementitious binder, providing structural support through aggregate interlock.
Cement stabilisation: Addition of cement to improve strength and stiffness of recycled or in situ materials.
California bearing ratio (CBR): Test measuring load-bearing capacity of subgrade and base materials.
References
- Wheel-tracking performance of recycled concrete aggregate with recycled glass and brick in unbound pavements under elevated loads. Smart Construction and Sustainable Cities (2023).
- Sustainable re-use of waste glass, cement and lime treated dredged material as pavement material. Case Studies in Construction Materials (2023).
- Current Applications of Recycled Aggregates from Construction and Demolition: A Review. Materials (2021).
- Advances in the Study of the Behavior of Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) with Cement. Applied Sciences (2019).
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