Construction and demolition waste recycling: an application for road construction

One of the applications of recycled aggregates from construction and demolition processes is the construction of embankments, subbases and foundations for roads where unbound materials are used in replacement for natural aggregates. This work focuses on studying the development of the stiffness of recycled materials during construction, as well as how it modifies over time. The study assessed also the correlation between testing systems. A purpose-built experimental embankment with four sections of different recycled materials was built and tested. Fields were made from two structural layers, forming a homogenous thickness of about 80cm. The compaction and testing took place using the Continuous Compaction Control technique, obtaining bearing capacity records during the embankment construction phases. The structural performance of the embankment was also determined using different types of light-weight deflectometers. The results show that recycled aggregates perform well when properly compacted and may show some positive self-cementing properties.