Development and evaluation of asphalt technologies utilizing renewable resources and innovative pavement systems

As the cost of construction materials continues to rise and place financial constraints on transportation agencies, engineers are looking for innovative technologies that minimize construction costs and optimize the selection of materials used in asphalt pavements. This dissertation includes a selection of four papers that advance the development, application, and utilization of innovative asphalt pavement technologies. Among the four papers, three subject areas in asphalt materials are examined to cultivate the use of newly-developed technologies in the asphalt industry. These include: the robust evaluation of hot mix asphalt from multi-state sources that utilize recycled asphalt shingles (RAS), the application and evaluation of a crack-relief interlayer asphalt mix design using new polymer technology, and the development of a bio-based thermoplastic elastomeric block-copolymer as a modifier for asphalt binder. In the case of the bio-based polymer, polymerized triglycerides from soybean oil serve as the "rubbery" block to replace butadiene in butadiene-based styrenic block co-polymers, thereby creating a new thermoplastic elastomeric polymer that is more renewable and biodegradable than its petroleum based counterparts.;For each subject area, laboratory experiments were conducted on experimental asphalt materials to determine the performance characteristics for the development and/or evaluation of new technologies. The results of each study show the advantage of implementing the technologies in pavement applications. Asphalt formulations developed with the bio-based block-copolymer demonstrate the block-copolymer's effectiveness in improving the rheological properties of asphalt binder; crack-relief interlayer mixes utilizing an improved polymer modified binder formulation are effective in delaying reflective cracking in overlay pavement systems; and a variety of asphalt pavements that incorporate RAS alone or in combination with other cost saving technologies can be successfully produced and meet laboratory performance testing standards.