Asphalt Sustainability

To put a slightly finer point on last weeks blog  What's So 'Green' About Longer-Lasting Asphalt?;  this weeks blog discusses lessening of CO2 emissions when using longer lasting or thinner pavements.  In 2009, Dr Kamil Kaloush, Associate Professor, Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering and Director of the National Center for Excellence SMART at Arizona State University developed the following formula:

Where,

T = thickness of pavement layer, meters

W = width of road, meters

Dn = density of pavement material, kg/m³

Pn = material production value, kg CO2 Eq. /kg 

Mn = material mixing value, kg CO2 Eq.  /kg 

Di = distance from material production site to application site, km

Tp = transport from production site to application site value, kg CO2 Eq.  /kg material-km

Y = road life, years

This equation quantifies the change in emitted CO2 when placing asphalt.  FORTA-FI® the revolutionary, high tensile strength, asphalt reinforcement fiber from FORTA Corporation is the perfect product to demonstrate the utility of this equation.  Tested time and again, FORTA-FI® has shown that this aramid based fiber can either increase the pavement life of a highway or airport by up to 50% (Y) or allow for the placement of the asphalt up to 35% thinner (Dn).  Both of these benefits of FORTA-FI® decrease CO2 emissions because of the lesser amount of product, manpower and energy required to build roads and airports.  Manipulating these two variables will allow us to see how much CO2 emission can be avoided by using FORTA-FI®. 

For more information, please visit: www.forta-fi.com

What's So 'Green' About Longer-Lasting Asphalt?

With the increase in sustainable building projects, more attention is being paid to the environmental impact of the materials being used for construction.  Steel, concrete, wood, and non-ferrous metals are all used to create intelligently designed and energy efficient homes, offices, schools and health care facilities.  'Green' building encompasses the entire project, so engineers and architects pay close attention to the built environment outside of the building shell too.   

When the right material for the job is asphalt, consider fiber-reinforcing it with FORTA-FI® high-tensile strength fiber.  Access roads, parking lots, walking/biking trails, and any asphalt installation at a building site can be three-dimensionally reinforced with FORTA-FI®.  Looking to use a porous asphalt or standard mix design for a parking lot? Think FORTA-FI®!  Want a rich, fibrous asphalt mix for an aggregate-base trail?  FORTA-FI® it!  If you want a strong roadway that will give you years of dependable service, consider FORTA-FI® fiber for each pavement section to help resist premature cracking.  It's easy to add FORTA-FI® at the production plant, and no modifications to standard paving practices are necessary at the installation site!  Best of all, only one pound of FORTA-FI® fiber is required to reinforce one ton of asphalt mix! Please visit: www.forta-fi.com for more information.   

So how is longer-lasting asphalt paving material ‘green’?  Think about the service life of an asphalt installation.  Maintaining quality asphalt with patching, crack sealing, and surface treatments are standard procedures for keeping pavements safe and looking good.  These maintenance techniques are still possible when you use a fiber-reinforced asphalt mix to extend the time period before a major milling and resurfacing effort is required.  Lengthening the service life of an asphalt construction project not only saves money for the owner, it is good for the environment in terms of replacement material and production requirements, as well as manpower and equipment needs.  Better performing asphalt needs less overall maintenance and can significantly extend the time period before resurfacing/replacement is needed!

For more about asphalt and the environment, check out the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (www.AsphaltRoads.org), which has information on their website about sustainable pavements and the carbon footprint of asphalt.   Also, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (www.asphaltpavement.org) is a great resource for the latest news on asphalt paving technology and education.

Warning: Pothole Season Ahead

Winter is just around the corner, and with the annual freeze-thaw cycle comes everybody's least favorite time of year…pothole season!  Your hometown newspaper will write about them, and the local television station will do 'on the scene' reports showing them, but why doesn't someone come up with a better way to fight these pesky potholes?  Is there anything that state and local governments can do to try to win this war against unsightly and possibly dangerous pavement blow-outs?

FORTA Corporation's high tensile strength fiber for asphalt three-dimensionally reinforces hot-mix, warm-mix, and patching pavement mixes.  If your roadway, parking lot, or driveway weren't fiber-reinforced during their initial construction, consider using FORTA-FI PAT® fibers for your pothole and utility patch repairs.  When used in properly cleaned and prepared repair sections, the polyolefin/aramid blend of fibers provides added strength and durability to help keep asphalt mix in the hole…where it belongs.  Repeatedly filling the same hole over and over again throughout the winter is frustrating and dangerous for road maintenance crews.  There are plenty of things on the "to do" list during snow season, so fix pop-outs right the first time! 

  

The PAT blend of FORTA-FI® is added to material at the asphalt production plant, at the rate of 1 pound of fiber per 1 ton of asphalt.  Producers can now offer their customers a better patching product.  FORTA-FI PAT® fibers can be used in either hot or cold patch mixes, providing a "Patch Plus Fiber" application to Old Man Winter's favorite calling card, the dreaded pothole!

Go Stronger…Go Longer with FORTA-FI® high-tensile strength fiber for asphalt!

For more information, please visit: www.forta-fi.com

Meet the Asphalt Team-Domestic Fiber Technician

Jarrod Russell is the Domestic Fiber Technician for the Asphalt Division.  Jarrod will help in setting up the fiber feeders for asphalt paving projects.  He also can provide assistance at the project site with trouble shooting and technical support on methods to add fibers to the asphalt mixture. Jarrod also provides training support on the fiber feeders.

Please check out our prior blog on fiber feeders:

 http://fortaforasphalt.blogspot.com/2015_04_01_archive.html

For more answers to your fiber feeder technical questions please call Jarrod at 1-800-245-0306 ext 146.