Evaluation of bituminous sub-ballast manufactured at low temperatures as an alternative for the construction of more sustainable railway structures

Abstract

Hot bituminous mixtures are becoming widely used in modern railway tracks in the sub-ballast layer. The reason is that these materials allow for both an increase in bearing capacity and greater protection of the substructure respect the traditional granular sub-ballast. Despite these advantages, the fact that these materials are manufactured at a temperature of 160°C means that their application can lead to an important increase in construction costs, pollution and energy consumption. This paper aims to study the possibility of using WMA manufactured at lower temperatures, as bituminous sub-ballast, in order to save energy and reduce emissions throughout the production process, as well as diminish the global costs of this layer. To this end, this study focuses on a comparison of the mechanical behaviour of warm and hot bituminous mixtures as sub-ballast under various loading conditions. The results indicate that WMA offers mechanical behaviour that is comparable to conventional HMA.