Framework
Large amounts of asphalt are produced from maintenance operations of road pavements worldwide. Out of it, only a fraction is recycled to produce new asphalt while most part is either stored in asphalt production plants or disposed of in landfills. At the same time, the production of new concrete implies the consumption of natural resources that have been progressively depleted from the natural environment, including aggregates that are dredged from rivers or excavated from quarries. The milling of road pavements produces a granular material whose size and distribution make it suitable for use as aggregate in concrete. Hence, the use of milled asphalt as aggregate in concrete has potentially a twofold beneficial effect: reducing the amount of wasted asphalt and limiting the consumption of natural aggregates.
Aim and Overview
RAPCON is a project that aims at the evaluation of performances of concrete obtained with recycled asphaplt pavement (RAP) aggregates (RAP concrete or RAPCON).
The experimental laboratory activity aims at determining parameters that are related to concrete durability and that allow to predict the long-term behavior of RAP concrete in real exposure conditions. In particular, the microstructure of RAP concretes will be studied and durability will be estimated with particular attention to the corrosion of steel reinforcement. The main durability parameters will be assessed and this will allow to estimate the environmental and economic benefits related with the use of RAP in concrete industry. Finally, a further step will be aimed at successfully develop a harmonized technical specification for the future commercialization of RAP-CON on national and EU market.
Partners
RAPCON project relies on the expertise brought by three research units:
– Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi)
– Università di Bologna (UniBO)
– Istituto per le Tecnologie della Costruzione – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ITC-CNR)
And two industrial partners:
– Amplia Infrastructures
– CTI COOP
Funding
The project is funded by Fondazione Cariplo as part of the Call for Proposals for the Scientific Research Area “Circular Economy: Research for a Sustainable Future“.