The road construction and maintenance plays a fundamental role in the country's infrastructure, with direct repercussions on road safety, the economy and the quality of life of its citizens. However, these elements are heavily subject to constant and repetitive traffic loadsThis highlights the need to ensure its durability and strength.
In recent years, the steady growth in traffic and the expansion of the road network has raised the need to address new challenges in the sector, including sustainability and adaptation to climate change. In this regard, MITMA has recently published Circular Order OC 2/2023 on Reuse of Bituminous Pavement Layers and Bituminous Pavements..
This paradigm shift in road design and management aims to promote the use of reuse techniques as opposed to conventional solutions in the manufacture of asphalt mixes (work in which CTCON has a great deal of experience with projects such as BIOPOS and HEATLAND, among others). This order also proposes the incorporation of new performance testing methodologies, including fatigue deformation at one million cycles (ε6), which will make it possible to determine the behaviour of the pavement throughout its service life.
At CTCON, aware of the priority strategies of the General Directorate of Roads, we are working to respond to the needs and challenges faced by the sector and, to this end, we have incorporated the Fatigue Resistance Test into our laboratory, in accordance with the UNE-EN 12697-24 standard. This test, included in Annex D (Four-point bending on prismatic specimens. 4PB-PR) consists of the application of a sinusoidal load, with the aim of creating a constant deformation on the sample analysed.
Following the prescriptions of OC 2/2023, fatigue strength is presented as a fundamental specification in the design of hot and semi-hot reused asphalt mixes, which will consequently make it possible to incorporate any type of reuse rate and in any traffic category.
