{"id":3968,"date":"2011-10-17T07:16:23","date_gmt":"2011-10-17T07:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/sites\/gsm\/?p=54"},"modified":"2014-06-02T14:55:12","modified_gmt":"2014-06-02T18:55:12","slug":"paving-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2011\/10\/17\/paving-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Paving the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"paving2\"<\/a>
\nEven though they\u2019re no longer rolling, scrap tires might still find their way to Georgia\u2019s roadways, depending on the results of a study by Georgia Southern civil engineering professor Junan Shen.<\/p>\n

Shen wants to find out if a relatively new type of paving mix \u2013 rubberized asphalt \u2013 will save the state money and landfill space. He has been selected by the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) to determine if the performance of the mix, derived from scrap tires and considered a \u201cgreen\u201d material, is a viable alternative for building roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith our study, we want to determine if crumb rubber is a practical, stable solution. The world is using more and more green materials \u2013 which crumb rubber is \u2013 made from scrap tires,\u201d Shen said.<\/p>\n

Part of the study will look at the permeability of the new materials\u2019 rubberized Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC). Also, said Shen, \u201cAs a driver, is your visibility improved? Is the pavement safer to drive on during the rain? Does the rain accumulate on the roadway, or does it drain off, making it safer for drivers?<\/p>\n

Another potential advantage of the new mix is that noise could also be reduced on the roadway, he said.<\/p>\n

The project, the first awarded by the DOT to the University, will determine how rub\u00adberized asphalt\u2019s performance compares to polymer-modified asphalt pavements. As part of the study, Jeremy Todd Earnest, a Georgia Southern senior civil engineering technology major from Marietta, Ga., will assist Shen on the nearly $75,000 project.<\/p>\n

\"paving\"<\/a>Test sections on I-75 near Perry and I-20 in Augusta were paved three years ago with OGFC and stone matrix asphalt, respec\u00adtively, using the \u201cdry\u201d process of modifying asphalt cement with crumb rubber. In the dry process, crumb rubber is concurrently blended with mix aggregates and asphalt cement at the plant, while in the \u201cwet\u201d pro\u00adcess, crumb rubber is blended with the as\u00adphalt cement before the blended cement is mixed with aggregates. So far, the perfor\u00admance of these test sections has not been formally evaluated, nor has research on the dry process generally been documented. The wet process has been successfully eval\u00aduated and implemented by other states.<\/p>\n

Shen\u2019s findings will be used in a second, more comprehensive phase of the overall project, which would include field evaluations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are going to be additional phases of the DOT research,\u201d said Shen. \u201cThe sec\u00adond phase will be a more comprehensive study on the test sections of the rubber\u00adized pavement to determine changes in the roadway, such as cracking and rutting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this study we will provide best-practice recommendations to the Georgia DOT for consideration as they look at road construction alternatives,\u201d said Shen. \u201cOur ultimate goal is to save money on road construction and this study is just the first phase of a much larger project that could have major benefits for Georgia taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am excited to work with Dr. Shen on this study for the Georgia DOT,\u201d said Earnest, who hopes to become a structural engineer. \u201cThe opportunity to do research while being an undergraduate is incredible. It will give me real-world experience, and help me compete in a very competitive job market. I would not necessarily have had this opportunity at another university.\u201d<\/p>\n

States actively using crumb rubber for their roadways are Arizona, California, Texas and Florida, said Shen. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to recycle and use green materials. The state of Georgia produces approximately 9 million scrap tires every year. What are we going to do with them? This is a smart alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Team Evaluating New Asphalt Material for State Roads<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-3968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-fall-2011"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}