Asphalt rubber involves the use of rubber crumb from recycled tires in various hot-mix pavement and seal applications. The use of asphalt rubber has been around for over 50 years, yet its supported use in North America tends to be concentrated in a small number of U.S. states. The use of asphalt-rubber in Canada has typically been trial sections, which have not performed adequately to provide the needed incentive to make asphalt rubber a mainstream product. This paper provides a brief overview of the various methods used to incorporate recycled tire rubber into asphalt concrete pavements and seals and a short synopsis of the experience of agencies with the asphalt rubber wet process in pavement applications. Processes which used crumb-rubber as a part of the aggregate are described. Additionally, a summary of the current methods considered the most successful and a review of current Alberta work is presented.
Abstract