In france, after 10 years of scattered experiments, porous asphalt concrete mixes are expected to solve the problems of aquaplaning, water projection, noise reduction, and the mirror effect at night. There was some apprehension regarding the adaptability of the material to winter maintenance and the gradual reduction in draining properties with time on heavy traffic roads or turnpikes. In 1982, a french contractor specializing in road and turnpike construction carriedout laboratory studies of a new modified binder composed of an asphalt-ground-rubber mix. This binder has remarkable rheological properties (viscosity at 200 deg c 10 times more than that of pure asphaltand elastomer properties with high elongation, even at low temperature) and good resistance to aging. The first use of asphalt rubber binder (arb) was the stressed absorbing membrane and the stressed absorbing membrane interlayer. But arb qualities led the engineers to formulate porous asphalt rubber concrete (parc) and then compare it with other formulas using sophisticated laboratory tests. At the sametime, on-site experiments have been conducted since 1983, particularly on the a26 turnpike in the north of france. The french roads andbridges laboratory made rolling noise tests and completely assessedparc characteristics (roughness, draining, and evenness properties)after 3 years of traffic. Laboratory test data indicate the advantages of arb in porous mixes compared with those of pure asphalt and polymer modified asphalt. Moreover, all the work site tests made on parc during the last 5 years on heavy traffic turnpikes confirm its excellent durability. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1265, Porous asphalt pavements: an international perspective 1990.
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