More than 90% of paved roads in the U.S. are made of asphalt, which is constructed with nonrenewable materials such as petroleum. One way to make paving more sustainable is to recycle old pavement. When roads break down and need repaving, transportation agencies can recycle their old pavement into a reusable material called reclaimed asphalt pavement, or RAP. This method reduces carbon emissions and conserves natural resources.
Nearly 95% of new asphalt pavement projects in the U.S. incorporate RAP.
However, researchers don’t know as much about the long-term safety and durability of RAP as they do about new pavement.
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Baoshan Huang and graduate student Jongtao Zhong are working with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to see if engineers can make roads more sustainable without compromising safety. Read more about their research at The Conversation.
UT is a member of The Conversation, an independent source for news articles and informed analysis written by the academic community and edited by journalists for the general public. Through this partnership, we seek to provide a better understanding of the important work of our researchers. Read more of our articles published by The Conversation on the UT news site.
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Cindi King (865-974-0937, cking126@utk.edu)