Description
This paper presents the design, construction and evaluation of the first field section of a flexible pavement using a Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) with asphalt-rubber and without fibers in the city of Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil. The segment was built on December, 2004. It is presented and discussed the procedures that were taken during the
execution to solve the difficulties that were found, related mainly to the lack of experience and the resistance of the technical personnel to work with new materials. The evaluation shows that the surface layer with asphalt-rubber has provided an increase in friction and superficial drainage, providing also a better visibility and the reduction of the potential to aquaplaning in rainy days, what turns the pavement considerably safer and more comfortable to the users. The air voids in specimens taken from the field were higher than the ones in the mixtures prepared in the lab. The high values of air voids and the low values of tension strength are due to problems during compaction, and they are clear evidence that special attention has to be given to the lay down and compaction procedures, mainly to control the temperatures. Even so, the results have showed the feasibility of the use of asphalt-rubber binders in paving works.
