Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications

About the research

As aggregate resources are depleted, there is a need to turn to more sustainable resources and alternatives to virgin aggregate for pavement preservation treatments. A recent NAPA survey (Williams et al. 2019) shows more RAP is stockpiled in Ohio than any other state, with a total of 11.2 million tons of RAP in 2018. Given the large quantities of RAP in Ohio, and the use of chip seal and microsurfacing for pavement preservation of local roadways, there is a need to determine if RAP can provide a cost-effective alternative to virgin aggregate in pavement preservation treatments for local roadways in Ohio. This study was aimed at assessing the availability of RAP in Ohio for this application, as well as the potential cost savings associated with using RAP as an alternative to virgin aggregate in chip seal and microsurfacing treatments. Additionally, as part of this study, a laboratory evaluation of RAP selected for field study was conducted to characterize material properties in the context of chip seal and microsurfacing designs using RAP. Based on these results, chip seal and microsurfacing mix designs were developed using RAP stockpiled by two local agencies in Ohio.