Wear from studded tyres, which has caused much of the rutting on the high volume road network, has led to the development of new types of more abrasion resistant wearing courses, for example variants of stone-mastix asphalt, often using high quality mineral aggregate. For purchasers of asphalt, this has opened up a far wider choice than previously. However, an optimal choice of pavements requires better knowledge of their wear resistance. In consequence of this, a large number of wearing courses have been investigated in the VTI's road simulator, which is designed for accelerated tests of pavement resistance to wear from studded tyres. The simulator has earlier shown excellent correlation with tests on correlation with tests on actual roads. In addition to the road simulator investigation, descriptions are given of tests on the effect of mineral aggregate used on resistance and quality control of the asphalt mix. The pavement types included in the investigation are stone-mastix asphalts and drained asphalt. Dense asphalt concrete and cement concrete are included as controls. The mineral aggregate consists of quartzites and local material from south-west Sweden. The investigation shows the great importance of the quality of the coarse mineral aggregate and the proportion of coarse material for the wear resistance of the pavement.
Abstract