Rubberized Asphalt Benefits
Modified asphalt binders can be a challenge to use in your plant and in the field. They require special delivery and storage, mixes are harder to produce and place, and you have to pay a healthy premium for the terminal-modified binders. Over the past two decades, extensive lab and field work has created a new binder modification option for asphalt producers. Rubberized asphalt benefits allows you to produce rubber-modified mixes that perform like polymer-modified mixes without the use of terminal blending.
Here is how the process works: A chemically Engineered Crumb Rubber product called Elastiko ECR is fed into your plant during mix production, just like a fine aggregate. The heated binder reacts with the ECR during mixing, storage and transport. The delivered mix lays and performs like a polymer-modified pavement, but at a fraction of the cost. This is not experimental. Millions of tons of mix have been successfully placed on thousands of miles of roads over the past two decades, including interstate and heavy use highways in many US states and climates.
If the idea of asphalt modification at your plant and serious cost reductions sound appealing, there are more rubberized asphalt benefits to explore with this technology. Here are a few:
• ECR reduces the cost of a twograde bump: by $2-$4 per mix ton
• ECR makes your plant run faster compared to polymer modified mixes: lower mix viscosities permit 10-15% faster plant throughput
• ECR generates less waste: mixes leave the truck with almost no residue in the bed, reducing truck cleanout waste
• Rubberized asphalt benefits can extend your paving season: ECR mixes can allow paving and compaction in colder temperatures
• ECR allows more efficient compaction: ECR mixes typically require 10-20% fewer roller passes to achieve compliant compaction
• ECR pavements work well in thinlay applications: Compared to standard unmodified hot mix asphalt, ECR pavements can achieve greater durability with thinner lifts.
When you add up rubberized asphalt benefits, Elastiko ECR has the ability to significantly reduce asphalt paving costs. Elastiko ECR permits modification at the mix plant instead of the terminal and produces a high quality pavement at a substantially reduced cost.