Laboratory Study to Assess Impact of Sulphur-Added Binder on Flexible Pavements: Case of Binder Course

Abstract

Incorporating abundant natural resources in highway construction, particularly in pavement manufacturing, is claimed to provide promising benefits. Correspondingly, the experimental study presented in this paper focused on the utilization of sulphur in one pavement layer, namely binder course. To this end, five series of laboratory investigations were undertaken to inspect the physical, rheological, morphological, mechanical, and volumetric impact of sulphur addition to pure bitumen and pavement mixtures. A decrease in both mixing and compaction temperature ranges for sulphur-added mixtures was considered favorable from an economic and environmental point of view, and also a remarkable improvement in their mechanical properties was detected.