Final Scope

Recycled materials and industrial byproducts are being used in transportation applications with increasing frequency.  While there is a growing body of experience showing that these materials work well in highway applications, the related information and experience are not synthesized in a coherent body.  This study will gather the experiences of transportation agencies, both foreign and domestic in determining the relevant properties of recycled materials and industrial byproducts and the beneficial use for highway applications.  The study will include strengths and weaknesses of material applications.

The synthesis should serve as a guide to states revising the provisions of their materials specifications to incorporate the use of recycled materials and industrial byproducts, and should, thereby, assist producers and users in ‘leveling the playing field’ for a wide range of dissimilar materials.  Current, dynamic economic, engineering, and environmental drivers shall be considered in this study.  

Information to be gathered for the synthesis will include:

·    A comprehensive list of current candidate materials that are readably available or stockpiled for common usage,  and their uses, in a matrix format

·    Identify and review available test procedures for assessing physical and chemical characterization, compaction, geomechanical properties, long-term durability, and environmental performance, including suitability and risks

·    Summarize best material preparation and quality control techniques (including stockpiling)

·    Review possible modifications to transform marginal materials into suitable materials.  This includes mechanical, chemical or environmental strategies.

·    Address material handling issues associated with the use of recycled  materials

·    Explain design adaptations that may be required for successful use

·    Identify site construction practices that have proven effective

• Identify failures, causes, and lessons learned

·    Identify the major scientific, contractual and perceptual barriers to adoption of suitable alternative materials by states and steps used to overcome these barriers.

• Cost savings from use of recycling, including energy and materials,  

• Gaps in knowledge and a research road map to address these

In each case, less satisfactory use and failures may be included to demonstrate the limits of applicability.  Limits may include suitability in one environment, but not another.  The study will not include recycling of asphalt pavement using in-place methods, as this is being addressed by another study.  

Information will be gathered by literature review including international experience, a survey of U.S. and Canadian transportation agencies, and selected interviews.   AASHTO Highway SC on Materials will be the focus of the survey.  (Cecil Jones will assist with this.)   

Information Sources:

Green Highway Partnership- Mid-Atlantic states

Industrial Resource Council  

FHWA Recovery and Effective Reuse of Discarded Mtls and byproducts for construction of highway facilities ( pd-94-025)

FHWA Recycled Materials Resource Center (UNH & U Wisconsin-Madison)

WASCON conferences

Materials suppliers

NCHRP Project 4-21, Appropriate use of Waste and Recycled Materials in the Transportation Industry (available on CRP CD-5)

NCHRP Syntheses 198 and 199

TRB Committee AFN10. Guidelines for Using Environmentally-Friendly Concrete (EFC) in Transportation Infrastructure. TRB Research Needs Statements Database. Accessed on Jan. 31, 2008.

Stevens, M. Materials Recycling and Reuse – Finding Opportunities in Colorado Highways. CDOT-2007-12. October 2007. 180p.

Schimmoller, V.E., et al. Recycled Materials in European Highway Environments: Uses, Technologies, and Policies. FHWA-PL-00-025. October 2000. 132p.

Tam, V.W.Y. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Article in press. 2008.

Park, C. and Sim, J. Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting CD-ROM 2006. 13p.

Li, X. and Gress, D.L. Transportation Research Record 1979, pp. 30-35, 2006.

Blankenagel, B.J. and Guthrie, W.S. Transportation Research Record 1952, pp. 21-27, 2006.

Yrjanson, W.A. National Seminar on PCC Pavement Recycling and Rehabilitation. Sponsored by TRB and FHWA. p.128-133. 1981.

Topic Panel

Sheila Beshears, Illinois DOT

Robert A. Burnett, New York State DOT

Rebecca Dietrich, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Robert Edstrom, Minnesota DOT

Cecil L. Jones, North Carolina DOT

Don Saylak, Texas A&M University

Jeffrey Withee, Maryland State Highway Administration

Ernest Bastian, Federal Highway Administration

Audrey Copeland, Federal Highway Administration

Frederick Hejl, Transportation Research Board

Consultant

Mary Stroup-Gardiner, California State University

Tanya Wattenburg-Komas, Concrete Industry Management Program

TRB Staff

Jon M. Williams

phone               202/334-3245

fax                    202/334-2081

email                jwilliams@nas.edu