Abstract
"Sustainable Value Chain and Material Use in Road Construction" is a major ongoing research project in Norway, led by Nye Veier.
One of the main objectives of this project is to; pilot, document, and contribute to increased knowledge and more sustainable use of
materials in road construction. As part of this, testing has been conducted on two newly developed fiber types for use in asphalt
production. These fibers are produced from pure wood fiber, and a biogenic binder has been used in the production of pellets. The
main function of the fiber in asphalt mixtures is to prevent the drainage of bitumen. In this pilot study, operational observations were
conducted to evaluate the behavior of the pellets during feeding into the asphalt plant, and analyses have been conducted on asphalt
mixtures with the two alternative types and a reference. Polymer modified bitumen (PmB) is used in the asphalt mix, where parts of
the bitumen have been replaced with a biogenic component. Production at the plant was successful, and no problems were observed.
The quality of the paved asphalt is also equal to or better than the reference in the parameters that have been examined. Fiber type
TV12 shows a binder drainage of 0.11%, compared to 0.15% for the reference fiber, and after one year the rut depth is 5.4 mm for the
TV12 mix, whereas the reference mix reaches 6.0 mm. The environmental impact of the asphalt mixture with “green” binder (PmB
with a biogenic component), compared to a standard mixture, results in a significant reduction of CO2 emissions from asphalt production.