An immense problem affecting environmental pollution is the increase of waste tyre vehicles. In an attempt to decrease the magnitude of this issue, crumb rubber modifier (CRM) obtained from waste tyre rubber has gained interest in asphalt reinforcement. The use of crumb rubber in the reinforcement of asphalt is considered as a smart solution for sustainable development by reusing waste materials, and it is believed that crumb rubber modifier (CRM) could be an alternative polymer material in improving hot mix asphalt performance properties. In this paper, a critical review on the use of crumb rubber in reinforcement of asphalt pavement will be presented and discussed. It will also include a review on the effects of CRM on the stiffness, rutting, and fatigue resistance of road pavement construction.

Several road pavement distresses are related to rheological bitumen properties. Rutting and fatigue cracking are the major distresses that lead to permanent failures in pavement construction. Influence of crumb rubber modifier (CRM) on rheological properties of bitumen binder such as improvement of high and intermediate temperatures is investigated in the binder's fatigue and rutting resistance through physical-rheological changes in this research. The bitumen binders were aged by rolling thin film oven (RTFOT) to simulate short-term aging and pressure aging vessel (PAV) to simulate long-term aging. The effects of aging on the rheological and physical properties of bitumen binders were studied conducting dynamic shear rheometer test (DSR), Brookfield viscometer test, softening point test, and penetration test. The results showed that the use of rubberised bitumen binder reduces the aging effect on physical and rheological properties of the bitumen binder as illustrated through lower aging index of viscosity, lower aging index of * /sin , and an increase in Tan with crumb rubber modifier content increasing, indicating that the crumb rubber might improve the aging resistance of rubberised bitumen binder. In addition, the results showed that the softening point increment (Δ) and penetration aging ratio (PAR) of the rubberised bitumen binder decreased significantly due to crumb rubber modification. Furthermore, the higher crumb rubber content, the lower * sin after PAV aging, which led to higher resistance to fatigue cracking bitumen.

There is substantial evidence on the advantages of using crumb rubber in enhancing conventional bitumen properties, gaining environmental protection and boosting industrial-economical benefits. Thus, the use of this ingenious additive in bitumen modification through sustainable technology is highly advocated.The main objective of this research is to investigate the effects of different blending conditions (of time and temperature) and various crumb rubber contents on the properties of bitumen binders. Testing was conducted using the Dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) test and softening point test. The results showed that differing crumb rubber contents and blending temperature have significant effects on modified binder properties whereas the blending time showed an insignificant effect. Higher blending temperature and crumb rubber content were found to influence the interaction of bitumen-rubber blends and also increased the swelling rate of rubber particles, resulting in an increase in complex shear modulus (G*), storage modulus (G'), loss modulus (G") and softening point as well as a decrease in phase angle (δ). Thus, the modified bitumen became less susceptible to deformation after stress removals. The study also presented a considerable relationship between rheological parameters (G*, G', G' and δ) and softening point in terms of predicting physical-mechanical properties regardless of blending conditions. Thus, in terms of elasticity for the softening point data, the storage modulus and phase angle were found to be good indicators of binder elasticity. When softening point is made available, a prediction about binder ability to recover its original shape after stress removals can be done.

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To prevent pavement distresses there are various solutions such as adopting new mix designs or utilisation of asphalt additives. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effect of adding crumb tyre rubber as an additive to SMA mixture performance properties. This study investigated the essential aspects of modified asphalt mixtures in order to better understand the influence of CRM modifiers on volumetric, mechanical, and stiffness properties of SMA mixture. In this study, virgin bitumen 80/100 penetration grade was used, modified with crumb rubber (CRM) at five different modification levels, namely, 6%, 12%, 16%, and 20%, respectively, by weight of the bitumen. The appropriate amount of the added CRM was found to be 12% by weight of bitumen. This percentage results in the maximum level of stability. The resilient modulus (Mr) of modified SMA samples including different percentages of CRM was obviously higher in comparison with that of unmodified samples.

Crumb rubber modification has been proven to enhance the properties of pure bitumen. This paper looks at some of the international standards for producing crumb rubber modified bitumen (CRMB) and reviews the effect of crumb rubber to the rheology of crumb rubber modified bitumen. The review shows that the rheology of CRMB depends on internal factors such as crumb rubber quantity, particle size, and pure bitumen composition, and external factors such as the mixing time, temperature, and also the modification technique. These factors govern the swelling process of crumb rubber particles that lead to the increase of viscosity of the modified bitumen. However, the mixing temperature and duration can cause rubber particles to depolymerize and subsequently cause loss of viscosity. Crumb rubber modification also improves the properties of bitumen by increasing the storage and loss modulus and enhancing the high and low temperature susceptibility. The effect of crumb rubber to aging properties of CRMB is also discussed. Finally several techniques of chemical modification to terminal blends of CRMB and the subsequent improvement to the settling property of CRMB are explained.

Semi-flexible pavement surfacing is a composite pavement that utilizes the porous pavement structure of the flexible bituminous pavement, which is subsequently grouted with appropriate cementitious materials. This study aims to investigate the compressive strength, flexural strength, and workability performance of cementitious grout. The grout mixtures are designed to achieve high strength and maintain flow properties in order to allow the cement slurries to infiltrate easily through unfilled compacted skeletons. A paired-sample t-test was carried out to find out whether water/cement ratio, SP percentages, and use of silica fume influence the cementitious grout performance. The findings showed that the replacement of 5% silica fume with an adequate amount of superplasticizer and water/cement ratio was beneficial in improving the properties of the cementitious grout.

Commercial polymers have been used in pavement modification for decades; however, a major drawback of these polymers is their high cost. Waste plastic polymers could be used as a sustainable and cost-effective additive for improving asphalt properties, attaining combined environmental–economic benefits. Since 2019, in Australia, trial segments of roads have been built using waste materials, including plastic, requiring that laboratory evaluations first be carried out. This study aims to examine and evaluate the effect of using a domestic waste plastic, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), in modifying C320 bitumen. The assessment of several contents of PET-modified bitumen is carried out in two phases: modified bitumen binders and modified asphalt mixtures. Dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) and rolling thin film oven tests (RTFOT) were utilised to investigate the engineering properties and visco-elastic behaviour of plastic-modified bitumen binders. For evaluating the engineering properties of the plastic-modified asphalt mixtures, the Marshall stability, Marshall flow, Marshall quotient and rutting tests were conducted. The results demonstrated that 6–8% is the ideal percentage of waste plastic proposed to amend and enhance the stiffness and elasticity behaviour of asphalt binders. Furthermore, the 8% waste PET-modified asphalt mixture showed the most improvement in stability and rutting resistance, as indicated by increased Marshal stability, increased Marshall quotient and decreased rut depth. Future fatigue and modulus stiffness tests on waste plastic-modified asphalt mixtures are suggested to further investigate the mechanical properties.