Exploring Different Forms of Base Stabilization

Our nation’s roadways have experienced a growing demand over the past couple of decades. With decreasing funds and the need to provide the public with an efficient, safe, and cost effective roadway system, there has been a remarkable increase in the need to rehabilitate our existing pavements. When a flexible pavement has deteriorated to the point where rehabilitation or reconstruction is necessary, pavement engineers have traditionally used either the mill and overlay strategy or complete reconstruction. With the advances made on road construction equipment over the last two decades, there has been a growth in asphalt recycling and reclaiming as a technically and environmentally friendly way of rehabilitating the existing, failed pavements. An example of rehabilitation is base stabilization, or Full-Depth Reclamation. This research identified two mix designs for Portland cement base stabilization, three mix designs for asphalt emulsion base stabilization, and two mix designs for asphalt foam base stabilization. These mix designs are currently being synthesized to produce one final mix design for each technology. Preliminary testing indicated that the modified proctor and Superpave Gyratory Compactor can produce similar moisture density curves. In addition, increasing the water content and asphalt foam content of asphalt foam base stabilization mixture increased the compressive strength.