Description
The use of asphalt rubber aggregate membrane (ARAM) interlayers (ARAMI) in the rehabilitation of flexible and rigid pavement systems has been shown to improve the performance of these systems and extend their service life. This has been demonstrated in the laboratory, field, and using analytical tools such as finite element method (FEM). These interlayers are also widely known as stress absorbing membrane interlayers (SAMI-R) where “R” refers to rubberized.
In this paper, the benefits of using ARAMIs in combination with asphalt concrete overlays in the rehabilitation of flexible pavement systems are quantified using life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA). The use of both dense graded hot mix asphalt (HMA) and gap graded rubberized hot mix asphalt (RHMA) is also analyzed. It was found that the use of ARAMI with HMA would be a costeffective way of rehabilitating HMA surfaced flexible pavements. The analyses have also demonstrated that the use of gap graded rubberized hot mix asphalt (RHMA) reduces the life cycle cost of rehabilitating flexible pavements compared to using conventional dense graded asphalt concrete (HMA).
