Prediction of pavement performance is important to pavement engineers. Pavement surface deterioration is a dynamic and complicated process. Moisture damage and fatigue are considered as two major causes of pavement deterioration. During a pavement’s service life, the presence of water can lead to loss of stiffness and strength of the asphalt pavement structure. Apart from that, the presence of water can accelerate the propagation and severity of already existing distress. High tensile strain at the bottom of an asphalt layer results fatigue cracking in a pavement. The goal of this research was to develop a series of computational models to predict pavement surface deterioration under the effects of moisture and traffic. The first task was to calculate the pavement surface water pressure under a moving tyre. The water is compressed underneath the tyres, generating a water pressure pulse. This pressure allows surface water to penetrate into the pavement structure. Then the asphalt pavement internal structure (voids distribution) was determined and the water pressure distribution inside the pavement structure was calculated for both fully saturated and partially saturated condition using the surface water pressure. The water pressure expands the voids inside the pavement. Consequently, stress and strain at the edge of the voids, due to frequent traffic passes can lead to failure of the pavement. A ravelling failure probability line was then predicted with the help of cavity expansion theory and asphalt crack propagation law. The case study for the performance of four different asphalt types (HRA, SMA, AC, DBM) using the failure probability calculation shows a good correspondence with their real performance which indicates that this process of predicting failure probability is generally acceptable.

Moisture damage is one of the major causes of premature failure of road pavements especially the pavements made using the flexible design concept. This failure occurs as a result of cohesion and adhesion loss between the binder and binder-aggregate interfaces respectively. One of the many ways of mitigating moisture damage effect is the use of anti-stripping agents like liquid polymers, Portland cement, hydrated lime, fly ash, flue dust, etc. Hydrated lime has been found to be one of the most efficient anti-stripping agents among all common additives to asphalt mixtures. Although the majority of research on the use of hydrated lime in asphalt mixtures has been carried out in the USA, the beneficial effects of hydrated lime have also been reported worldwide especially in Europe. In the UK, the use of hydrated lime only started in the early 2000’s and still needs a lot of research in terms of selection of aggregates which can be improved with the use of hydrated lime. Most of the aggregates used in the UK for asphalt mixtures are of good field performance and it is difficult to find aggregates with poor quality. That is the reason why for this research four aggregate types which are commonly used in the UK for flexible road payments are selected. One type of bitumen having penetration grade of 40/60 has been selected for the research. The four aggregate types include granite, limestone, basalt and greywacke. This research focuses on an in-depth investigation of hydrated lime performance against moisture damage in bitumen mastics and asphalts mixtures as a whole. The full project has been broken down into three parts. The first part is a component level study, the second is mixture level study and the third is the study of practical adhesion. In the component level study, the effect of hydrated lime is quantified in terms of adhesion properties between a range of aggregates and binder combinations. For the component level testing, the effect of hydrated lime is quantified by adding it to the bitumen to make a mastic. The test techniques which are used for the component level assessment includes rolling bottle test and surface energy measurement. The second part focuses on the performance of hydrated lime as a whole inside asphalt mixture as filler replacement. The idea behind this methodology is to evaluate the real effect of hydrated lime in the mixture because if hydrated lime is used as additional filler in the mixture it will alter the mixture volumetric rather than simply affecting the mechanical response of the mixture through the properties of the hydrated lime. SATS test has been used to quantify the effect of hydrated lime against moisture damage at mixture level. The third part of the research deals with the measurement of practical adhesion with and without moisture conditioning with the help of pull-off and peel-off test techniques called PATTI and Peel test. The effect of hydrated lime either in the mastic or in the mixture has been found to be aggregate type dependent. Granite aggregates showed a good improvement in the performance against moisture damage resistance with the use of hydrated lime. Limestone aggregate didn’t respond to the addition of hydrated lime in the light of most of the techniques considered in this research and the same applied to the basalt aggregates. Greywacke, on the other hand, responded well and showed an improved moisture damage performance with the use of hydrated lime. Another good thing observed in the results was the consistency between the results among the different test techniques. The results obtained in each technique are in line with each other and give the same conclusion for most of the combinations studied in this research. To conclude, the effect of hydrated lime highly depends on the type of aggregate, its origin and its mineral composition. The aggregates used in this study were either of moderate or good field performance. Although a good improvement in the moisture damage performance of some combinations was clearly observed, it is highly recommended to incorporate the aggregates having bad field performance to see how hydrated lime improves their performance. Keywords: Moisture Damage, Hydrated lime, Surface Energy, Adhesion, Asphalt Mixture, Rolling Bottles Test (RBT), Saturation Ageing Tensile Stiffness (SATS) Test, PATTI test, Peel test.

Service life of asphalt roads could be extended by enhancing the natural self-healing ability of asphalt mixtures with encapsulated rejuvenators. When crack damage appears, the capsules release healing agents, which dissolve bitumen to flow into cracks. In this research, a new type of capsules was developed. These capsules contain sunflower oil as a rejuvenating agent. The size, morphology, mechanical strength and thermal stability of these capsules were investigated. The composition of the capsules, which nominally divides these capsules into different types based on their oil content, epoxy-cement shell and polymer amount, and its effect on capsule characteristics were also studied. In addition, the effect of the capsules on the chemical composition of bitumen with time of exposure to broken capsules was evaluated by the FTIR test. Results show that the characteristics of the capsules and their effect on chemical composition allow them to be incorporated in asphalt mixtures for further investigations for their effect on asphalt mechanical performance and self-healing. The mechanical performance of aged asphalt mixtures is investigated by using three nominally different types of capsules. Two of these were protected with a hard shell made of epoxy-cement composite; two coats with 1.0 o/w (oil-to-water), three coats with 1.0 o/w and without the hard shell with 0.5 o/w. The optimum amount of capsules used in all mixtures was 0.5% of total mass of asphalt mixture. Tests started by investigating the effect of mixing and compaction processes on these capsules. Results show that the hard shell (epoxy-cement) was not necessary for the capsules to survive mixing and compaction processes. Capsules deformed and broke with cyclic loading, releasing oil that diffused in the bitumen in less than 24h. Healing of cracks in aged asphalt mixtures led to an increase of stiffness under cyclic loading. However, asphalt specimens with capsules had lower deformation resistance. Computer tomography scanning of specimens showed large reductions in cracks around the capsules, after resting 4 days (96h) at 20oC. The mechanical properties of asphalt mixture containing capsules have been evaluated. Including water sensitivity, particle loss, stiffness and permanent deformation. One type of capsule (0.1 o/w) with three different capsule contents by mass of asphalt mixture were used, 0.1%, 0.25% and 0.5% with oil-to-bitumen ratio 1.1, 2.8 and 5.5, respectively. Capsules were strongly bonded to the asphalt mixture and results showed improved or at least similar mechanical properties to that of asphalt mixtures without capsules. This shows that capsules for asphalt self-healing can be safely used in the road, without affecting its quality. Asphalt containing capsules had slightly lower stiffness (no rest period), which can be easily solved by reducing the size of the capsules in the future. Furthermore, a new method for testing asphalt self-healing by the action of capsules was designed and tested. This method was based on a 3-point bending test (3PB) to beak samples and measure their flexural strength. The test was implemented by comparing the strength recovery of the broken beams after healing to their original flexural strength. The test was first applied to asphalt mastic beams, which are asphalt mixtures with higher bitumen content and fine aggregate and filler. Five different types of capsules used, based on their o/w ratios. These were 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 o/w ratios with different amounts depending on their oil content so that they can provide a 7.2% of rejuvenator (sunflower oil) to the asphalt mastic beams. The effect of capsule content on self-healing was investigated by the 3PB on samples containing all those five capsule types (different contents) at one healing temperature, namely 20oC and different healing times. Effect of temperature on healing was investigated as well by 3PB test applied to mastic beams containing one type of capsules with 0.5 o/w ratio at four different temperatures, namely 5oC, 10oC, 15oC and 20oC. The main results showed that the capsules can break inside the asphalt mastic releasing the encapsulated oil to bitumen. Healing levels in the asphalt mastic samples with capsules were greater than samples without capsules, and the healing level of asphalt samples with, and without, capsules increased with the healing time. Additionally, the healing level given by the capsules inside the cracked asphalt mastic depended on the oil/water content of the capsule and on the temperature at which the healing process occurs. Finally, a correlation factor was developed between the healing level of asphalt mastic with and without capsules, independent of the temperature and time evaluated. Self-healing of real asphalt mixture was also investigated by same method of 3PB at different healing times and different temperatures. One type of capsules, namely 0.1 o/w with three different capsule contents, 0.10%, 0.25% and 0.50% by total weight of the mixture, were mixed with the asphalt. Eight different healing temperatures were used in this test, namely -5oC, 5oC, 10oC, 15oC, 20oC, 30oC, 40oC and 50oC. It was proven that the capsules can resist the mixing and compaction processes and break inside the asphalt mixture as a result of applying external mechanical loads, releasing the encapsulated oil. The capsules content in asphalt mixture has a significant influence on the healing level, where a higher capsule content led to higher healing levels. It was found that cracked asphalt mixture with capsules recovered 52.9% of initial strength at 20oC versus 14.0% of asphalt mixture without capsules. Likewise, asphalt with, and without, capsules presents an increase of the healing level when the temperature increases. Finally, it was proved that healing temperature over 40oC has significant influence on the healing levels of the asphalt beams.

Several benefits are gained from using cold mix asphalt (CMA) instead of hot mix asphalt (HMA). The benefits include conservation of materials and reducing energy consumption, preservation of the environment and reduction in cost. One of the common types of CMA is cold bitumen emulsion mixture (CBEM) which is the mixture produced by mixing mineral aggregate with bitumen emulsion. Despite the efforts applied in the last few decades in order to improve and develop CBEM utilization, certain deficiencies remain that make it inferior to HMA, resulting in restricting or minimizing of its use. However, the development of CBEM for road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance is steadily gaining interest in both pavement engineering industrial and research sectors. The present study was primarily aimed at evaluating the effect of using different cementitious materials on the performance of CBEM. The idea of the research is to provide a sustainable filler from supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to be used as fillers to provide enhanced properties of CBEMs. By achieving this aim it is expected that the utilization of CBEM would increase, allowing them to be used as structural pavement materials with some confidence. Research was first undertaken to optimize the mix design of CBEM using a statistical approach known as response surface methodology (RSM), as an alternative approach to achieve acceptable engineering properties. The optimization of CBEM was investigated, to determine optimum proportions to gain suitable levels of both mechanical and volumetric properties. This optimization focussed on the mix design parameters, namely bitumen emulsion content (BEC), pre-wetting water content (PWC) and curing temperature (CT). This work also aimed to investigate the effect of the interaction between these parameters on the mechanical and volumetric properties of CBEMs. The results indicate that the interaction of BEC, PWC and CT influences the mechanical properties of CBEM. However, PWC tends to influence the volumetric properties more significantly than BEC. The individual effects of BEC and PWC are important, rather than simply the TFC which is used in conventional mix design of CBEM. Furthermore, the experimental results for the optimum mix design corresponded well with model predictions. It was concluded that optimization using RSM is an effective approach for mix design of CBEMs. The study also investigated in-depth the performance characteristics of CBEMs using different filler treatments. The study was extended to understand the performance enhancement through mineralogical and microstructural investigations. The research was designed to use cement, binary and ternary blended fillers (BBF and TBF). Fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) were used as BBF while silica fume (SF) was added to the BBF to obtain TBF. A significant improvement was achieved in mechanical and durability properties of CBEMs due to incorporation of both cement and blended fillers. Also, the results indicated that TBF was more suitable than BBF for the production of CBEMs. The microstructural assessment indicated that the effect of BBF on the internal microstructure of CBEMs was slightly negative and more noticeable in CBEMs containing FA. Mineralogical and microstructural assessments also suggested that the presence of bitumen emulsion might not affect the hydration of the silicates in treated CBEMs. The formation of additional CSH was observed due to the replacement of conventional limestone filler by cement, BBF and TBF. However, it seems that this can cause a delay in the formation of other hydration products (Ettringite) resulting from the hydration of aluminates in cement. Furthermore, it is proposed that the addition of SF to BBF mixtures can eliminate the delay in formation of hydration products caused by the bitumen emulsion. The present work was also aimed at better understanding the curing mechanism of CBEMs and to bridge the gap between laboratory curing and field evolution of these mixtures. This was achieved by evaluating the effect of the curing process on CBEM performance and developing a prediction model to assess in-situ CBEM performance using maturity relationships. Different contributory factors affecting the curing process were investigated such as curing temperature and relative humidity (RH) in addition to the impact of curing time and the presence of cement/active fillers. The results indicated that high curing temperature is responsible for additional stiffness gain by increasing the binder stiffness due to ageing and by increasing the moisture loss by evaporation during the curing process. However, at high curing temperature the moisture loss by evaporation may hinder the hydration of cement/active fillers. Moreover, the results also indicated that the high RH level influences the stiffness modulus of CBEMs negatively. The laboratory results were then used to develop a tool to assess in-situ curing of CBEMs using the maturity approach, which is widely used to estimate in-situ concrete properties. A strong correlation was found between maturity and the stiffness values obtained from the laboratory tests, which resulted in development of maturity-stiffness relationship. The application of this relationship to assess the in-situ stiffness of CBEMs is presented using three hypothetical pavement sections in the United Kingdom, Italy and Qatar; to simulate different curing regimes. A pavement analysis and design study was conducted to evaluate the incorporation of treated CBEMs into a pavement structure. CBEMs are suggested to be used in two scenarios: the first is as a surface course and the second is as a base course. The scope of the study is limited here to design based on the fatigue criterion only. Although, the structural design was based on practical hypothetical layer thicknesses, the results provided useful insight into the structural capabilities of CBEMs.

Aubrey Berrangé, a South African roads engineer, invented the impact compactor in 1949 with the intention of achieving improved compaction to greater depths than possible with conventional equipment available at the time. The aim of this dissertation is to present a simple prediction model for the profile of improvement in the ground, using surface settlement as the main input parameter. The model is based on the information reviewed, observation of field data and a static numerical analysis. For simplicity sake, no attempt is made to predict the energy requirement to achieve the input value of settlement. The model is then verified on fifteen impact compaction profiles at six different sites. A 2 ton-meter dropping mass compactor was also used in the verification process with reasonable success. In addition, the model was tested against comprehensive testing performed at a dynamic compaction site with very promising results. The method is also shown to give acceptable results for prediction of density increase during a vibratory compaction trial. It is concluded that the improvement in the ground can be estimated with reasonable success if the surface settlement is monitored, providing strains are taken into account. / Dissertation (MEng (Geotechnical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Civil Engineering / unrestricted

Highway alignment development is recognised as a non-linear constrained optimisation problem. It is affected by many economical, social, and environmental factors subject to many design constraints. The highway alignment development process is therefore considered complex but very important. Highway alignment development is about finding an optimum alignment solution between two termini points in a 3D space, subject to several constraints. The development process using the current method is considered complex because of the number of the design elements involved, their interactions, and the formulations required to relate them to a realistic highway alignment. Moreover, it is considered that an alignment, generated using the existing method, results in a sub-optimal solution. This is due to the fact that the two alignments (horizontal and vertical alignments) are found in two independent stages and from only a handful number of alternative evaluations. This research reports on a new approach for improving the process of highway alignment development by utilising modern technologies. It proposes a novel design approach, as an alternative to the existing method, for highway alignment development in a three-dimensional space (considering the horizontal and vertical alignments simultaneously). It describes a method for highway alignment development through station points. Station points, as points along the centre line of alignment which are defined by their X, Y, and Z coordinates, are used to define the alignment configuration. The research also considers the implications of access provision (in term of junctions) and their locations on highway alignment. The environmental factors (noise and air pollution in terms of proximity distance) and accessibility (user and link construction costs in terms of access costs) are embedded in the formulations required to represent junctions in the model. The proposed approach was tested through the development of a genetic algorithms based optimisation model. To achieve this, several algorithms were developed to perform the search. The evaluation of the solutions was handled by a fitness function that includes construction (length), location (land acquisition, environmentally sensitive areas, and soil condition), and earthwork (fill and cut material) dependent costs. Other forms of costs that are quantifiable can also be incorporated within the fitness function. The critical constraints, believed important for realistic alignments (horizontal curvature, vertical curvature, and maximum gradient) are also dealt with within the model formulation. The experimental results show that the problem of highway alignment can be better represented using the concept of station points, by which better alignment solutions (global or near global solutions) were achieved. It was also shown that the alignment development process could be simplified through the use of station points, resulting in the efficient evaluation of more alternatives. Furthermore, the results conclude that a highway alignment cannot be optimum unless it is simultaneously optimised with junctions. Further investigations and development are also recommended for future studies.

Eco-friendliness, energy efficiency and cost effectiveness are major drivers responsible for cold recycled asphalt mixtures being considered as alternatives to hot mixtures. Although such mixtures are still regarded in some quarters as second class asphalt, results from field trials on such materials under temperate climates have been reported to be highly impressive and encouraging. Some developed countries with temperate climates have since developed guidelines for the production and use of cold mixtures in road building. However, evidence from the literature shows that little or nothing has been done to ascertain the performance and suitability of such sustainable materials in developing countries located in hot tropical climates. Ascertaining the performances of such will, among other things enable the formulation of guidelines required for producing and using these alternative sustainable materials and methods in developing countries with hot tropical climates, where available funds for road building are increasingly inadequate to meet demand. The work reported in this thesis attempts to simulate what should be expected in terms of the performance of flexible pavements containing cold mixes of bitumen emulsion stabilized RAP as road base in hot climates. Cold recycling in-plant was deemed appropriate for the obvious reason that it enables control of the quality of mixtures produced. The challenge of sourcing severely aged RAPs required for this study afforded the opportunity of developing a laboratory ageing protocol for producing RAPs with controlled properties, typical of those found in hot tropical belts (with residual binders of very low penetration). The result of the physico-chemical and rheological studies showed that ageing hot mix asphalt at 125⁰C does not degrade the binder when compared to that aged at 85⁰C, which is the conventional protocol (for temperate climates). A target mix design based on Overseas Road Notes (ORN) 19 and 31 for 20mm DBM, which the literature suggests is suitable for road base layers of road pavements, yielded an aggregate gradation containing RAP (with residual bitumen of 20dmm penetration), 5mm granite dust and granite mineral filler in the proportion 65:30:5 respectively. Further investigations patterned after Marshall and Hveem mix design methods, indicated that a cationic bitumen emulsion content of 6.5% and pre-wetting water content of 1.5% were suitable. Unlike hot mixtures, cold mixtures due to their peculiarity i.e. intermediate nature (close to unbound granular materials in early life and close to fully bound materials when fully cured), require curing before being assessed for mechanical properties such as stiffness, strength etc. Performances of the five cold bituminous emulsions mixtures (CBEMs), one with 100% virgin aggregate, the others including RAP with binder penetrations 5, 10, 15 and 20dmm, manufactured at 20⁰C and 32⁰C (to reflect average minimum and maximum temperatures in hot tropical climates) showed that: • Properties of CBEM are dependent on the state of curing or maturation attained i.e. early life, intermediate life and fully cured or stable condition; • High air void content in CBEMs appears to be inevitable; • Mixing and compaction temperature is very important for achieving relatively low air void contents in CBEMs. For example, mixing and compacting CBEMs at 32⁰C gave better results than at 20⁰C; • Indirect Tensile Stiffness Modulus is useful for quickly ranking the CBEMs; • The RAP CBEMs performed better than the virgin aggregate CBEM in terms of water susceptibility; • An increase in stiffness modulus up the range from 10dmmCBEM to 15dmmCBEM and to 20dmmCBEM, with higher values than the virgin aggregate CBEM as observed in this work gives the impression that the residual binder in the studied RAPs is active as a result of possible softening or rejuvenation. Alternatively, the stiffness enhancements could possibly have been caused by the alteration of the volumetrics of such RAP CBEMs which consequently enhanced their compactability; • Overall, RAP CBEMs are better than virgin aggregate CBEM in mechanical performance and durability; • Fatigue lives of the CBEMs are generally lower than those for hot mix asphalt (HMA); • The CBEMs are stress-dependent as they all fitted the k-Θ model. The results of the analytical pavement design showed the importance of using tools such as KENLAYER which account for the non linearity of CBEMs. Although the structural design was a hypothetical case, the results confirmed that the virgin aggregate CBEM was inferior in terms of axle loads to failure compared to the RAP CBEMs, and the RAP CBEMs were inferior to HMA. The findings of this limited investigation suggest that the studied RAP CBEMs are suitable for low volume traffic roads, an indication of the great potential of these sustainable materials when properly harnessed. In the light of this, a short and concise set of guidelines for mix design of RAP CBEMs and structural design of pavements containing such non linear materials was proposed in the thesis.

This thesis is concerned with producing a simple method to design low volume roads (LVR) by means of a rationale which accounts for permanent deformation development in granular layers. Rutting is regarded as the main distress mode in unsealed and thinly sealed pavements. Hence, it is desirable that it be analytically approached rather than empirically, as in most design methods. The overall aim of this PhD thesis was to look into the behaviour of in-service roads and from a newly developed process, to advance, in a systematic manner, the elements required to produce a simple mechanistic design procedure. The study took as its basis an assessment of the proximity of the stress distribution in the pavement to the material’s failure envelope. After a literature review on unbound granular materials mechanical behaviour and on low volume roads pavement design methods, Chapters 4 and 5 discuss full scale trials carried out in Scotland on typical forest roads. The overall goal of the trials carried out within the Roads Under Timber Transport project was to establish the effect of weather and seasonal effects on the rutting of forest roads and to improve their performance while enabling the roads to be economically constructed and maintained. It appears that most of the rutting occurring in the sites surveyed came shortly after their construction/resurfacing, leading to the assumption that workmanship may be a highly important variable. Lack of compaction of the layer could be one of the likely reasons for the high initial rutting rates. Establishing the effect of weather on rutting further to the existing knowledge was, however, difficult to achieve; this was mainly due to the difficulties faced in monitoring traffic conditions. A newly developed method was needed to quantify permanent deformation development due to wandering traffic on a non-level pavement; this was achieved by the use of wheel path areas, and seemed to be a way forward in the analysis of rutting in unsealed roads. Accelerated pavement trials are reported that aimed to evaluate the performance of aggregate under soaked conditions and the relative pavement deformation caused by different timber haulage vehicles. A road segment simulating a standard forest road section was constructed in a purpose-built facility located at the Ringour Quarry facility. Ten different trials were carried out combining three different aggregate materials and five types of vehicles. Tyre fitment, axle configuration and tyre pressure were assessed and demonstrated to play an important role on the study of rutting development. Conclusions drawn from the results suggest that management of the tyre inflation pressure and axle overload may be one of the most economic means of managing pavement deterioration in the forest road network. A mechanistic analysis of a variety of unsealed pavements was carried out in Chapter 6; and the newly proposed methodology is described in Chapter 7. With changing loading conditions – e.g. as a consequence of the introduction of Tyre Pressure Control Systems and super single tyres – more detailed analyses are required, so that their effect can be analytically assessed. Then an analytical method is introduced for evaluating the stress-strain condition in thinly surfaced or unsurfaced pavements as typically used in LVR structures. It aims to improve the understanding of the effect of tyre pressure and contact area in regard to permanent deformation. To achieve this, several scenarios were modelled using Kenlayer software varying aggregate material, thickness, stiffness, tyre pressure & arrangement. The results usually show a fairly well defined locus of maximum stresses. By comparing this stress envelope with failure envelope, conclusions could be established about the more damaging effect of super singles over twin tyres and, likewise, the greater damage inflicted by high tyre pressures compared to that incurred by lower tyre pressures. Finally, the framework of the proposed method contributes to LVR pavement design procedures mainly due to its simplicity. It still treats the pavement analytically, permitting a more fundamental description of the behaviour of granular layers than in simple linear elastic analysis, but by simplifying the elasto-plastic analysis for routine use it thereby reduces demands of material characterization and computational skills, thus increasing its utility in practical application.

A significant growth has been shown in recycling of the old asphalt pavement as a technically and environmentally preferred way of rehabilitating the existing pavements during the three decades. However, savings acquired by using this technology may be lost through excessive maintenance processes if the recycled pavement exhibits too much deterioration. The current design methods for recycled HMA hypothesize a state of complete blending between the recycling agent and RAP binder. In practice, the complete blending does not occur as the recycling agent does not penetrate the whole layer of the aged binder around RAP particles (Carpenter and Wolosick, 1980). As a result of this, the resultant binder within the recycled mix differs from the desired binder, leading to dissimilarity in properties of the recycled and virgin mixes. Consequently, if the recycled mix was subjected to ageing and recycling for second time, the respond of its resultant binder will not the same as if it was the desire binder. This in turn may make the performance of recycled mix of second cycle differs from that of first cycle. Therefore studying the effect of repeated recycling on performance of the recycled HMA was the aim of this research. First, three types of RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement) were manufactured in the laboratory and were utilized to produce three types of recycled HMA. After testing the recycled mixes, they were aged again to the same ageing time and temperature, then were crushed to be used as RAP for next generation of recycling. This process was repeated three times. Bitumen 40/60 pen and 70/100 pen were used for the virgin and recycled mixes respectively. All virgin and recycled mixes were designed to have identical aggregate grading, bitumen content, air voids, and binder viscosity. Stiffness and fatigue characteristics were measured after each cycle by the Indirect Tensile Stiffness Modulus test (ITSM) and Indirect Tensile Fatigue Test (ITFT). The results showed that, in spite of, presence deterioration in stiffness or fatigue resistance after the first cycle, the repeated recycling had no further significant effect on deterioration of these properties. Because there was considerable degradation in performance of recycled mixes after the first cycle, certain factors that were believed to improve the efficiency of mixing of these types of mixtures were investigated. These factors included size of RAP agglomeration, mixing temperature, dry mixing time between superheated aggregate and RAP, warming of RAP, and mixing mechanism. The results showed the importance of all factors in improving the mechanical properties of recycled mixes. However, the most influential factors were mixing temperature and warming of RAP. Durability of recycled mixes to resist moisture damage was assessed by the water sensitivity test. The results demonstrated that the recycled mixes were not susceptible to moisture damage and can resist the harmful action of water better than the virgin mix. An interesting element in this research was the possibility of using the Hirsch model to estimate the rheological properties of effective binder within recycled mixes without applying recovery process.

The aim of this thesis is to provide a framework for a decision making system to operate a highway network, to evaluate the impacts of maintenance activities, and to allocate limited budgets and resources in the highway network. This integrated model is composed of a network level traffic flow model (NTFM), a pavement deterioration model, and an optimisation framework. NTFM is applicable for both motorway and urban road networks. It forecasts the traffic flow rates during the day, queue propagation at junctions, and travel delays throughout the network. It uses sub-models associated with different road and junction types which typically comprise the highway. To cope with the two-way traffic flow in the network, an iterative algorithm is utilised to generate the evolution of dependent traffic flows and queues. By introducing a reduced flow rate on links of the network, the effects of strategies employed to carry out roadworks can be mimicked. In addition, a traffic rerouting strategy is proposed to model the driver behaviour, i.e. adjusting original journey plans to reduce journey time when traffic congestion occurs in the road network. A pavement age gain model was chosen as the pavement deterioration model, which is used to evaluate the current pavement condition and predict the rate of pavement deterioration during the planning period. It deploys pavement age gain as the pavement improvement indicator which is simple and easy to apply. Moreover, the deterministic pavement age gain model can be transformed to a probabilistic one, using the normal distribution to describe the stochastic nature of pavement deterioration. A multi-objective and multi-constraint optimisation model was constructed to achieve the best pavement maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) strategy at the network level. The improved non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) is applied to perform system optimisation. Furthermore, the traffic operations on worksites, i.e. lane closure options, start time of the maintenance, and traffic controls, are investigated so as to prevent, or at least to reduce, the congestion that resulted from maintenance and reconstruction works. The case studies indicated that NTFM is capable of identifying the relationship between traffic flows in the network and capturing traffic phenomenon such as queue dynamics. The maintenance cost is reduced significantly using the developed optimisation framework. Also, the cost to the road users is minimised by varying the worksite arrangements. Consequently, the integrated decision making system provides highways agencies with the capability to better manage traffic and pavements in a highway network.