MELBOURNE, FLA—The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has
granted a $250,000 research contract to Paul Cosentino, professor of
civil engineering at Florida Institute of Technology.
The two-year
contract calls for Cosentino’s research team to determine
how ground tire rubber (GTR), which is manufactured from recycled
tires, can be blended with roadbed soils from around Florida to
determine how to improve its engineering properties.
For use in roadbeds, GTR is blended with the asphalt used in hot mix
asphalt pavement to improve performance and quality. A recent innovation
is to blend various asphalt emulsion additives to produce pavements
that are better suited for high volume roads
such as interstates. These new products will help increase GTR
stockpiles and offer more opportunity to explore new uses.
“The objective of our research is to determine the key pavement
engineering properties for blends of GTR and highway sub-grade soils.
With these findings we will develop recommendations detailing how the
acceptable blends should be used in FDOT’s highways,”
said Cosentino.
To fulfill the contract Cosentino’s team will perform a series of
tasks, including literature reviews, developing GTR sources and sizing,
and determining optimum engineering blend proportions. The two-part
testing will involve an initial screening followed
by a more thorough testing evaluation. The team will evaluate three
different sub-grade soils, which are commonly used in Florida highways,
to determine the optimum blend of GTR.
Participating in the effort are David Horhota, FDOT project manager,
and Albert Bleakley, associate professor in Florida Tech’s Construction
Management Program, co-principal investigator with Cosentino. The
graduate research team includes Amir Mohammad Sajjadi,
Thaddeus J Misilo III and Alex Armstrong.
PHOTO CREDIT: F.I.T.
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