United States

Department of
Agriculture
Forest Services
Technology &
Development
Program
2400Forest
Management
September 1996
9624 1206SDTDC

THE PLASTIC ROAD

 INTRODUCTION
THEORY
HISTORY
CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION
Many forest activities require short term access for vehicles and equipment over
sensitive sites or soils with low bearing capacity. Likewise, many projects in the
forest benefit from work schedule extensions or seasonal adjustments that allow
increased sensitivity to wildlife. Temporary access over environmentally sensitive
sites is facilitated by effective crossing systems that are economical as well as
easily installed, moved within project, and removed. The plastic road is one such
system (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Plastic Road with transition mat.

This system is lightweight, portable, reusable, inexpensive, and easily constructed

of readily available materials. The plastic road was conceived with use on
temporary roads in mind.
This report describes site conditions and operational requirements under which the

plastic road may be used for short-term access into the forest. System limitations
are discussed, as are areas for improvement. Using, moving, disassembling, and
transporting are also described. Materials and tools required to fabricate the plastic
road are listed, and step-by-step instructions for assembly and installation of the
system are included.
THE PLASTIC ROAD FOR SHORT TERM ACCESS
The plastic road spreads wheel loads over an increased subgrade area, reducing
rutting and disturbance to soils and vegetation (see figure 2). This helps reduce
water concentrations, channeling, erosion, and the potential for damage to fish and
wildlife habitat. A geotextile underlayment (see figure 3) to the plastic road further
increases environmental sensitivity by separating the crossing from soil and allows
water to filter through. Geotextile helps spread load, may increase soil bearing
capacity, and facilitates removal of the crossing after use. Removal is quick and
easy compared to that of conventional techniques for crossing soft spots and can
aid in closure and obliteration of the temporary road.
The plastic road is lightweight, portable, reusable, and inexpensive when amortized
over system life. Its length is tailored to site conditions in 10 foot (3 meter)
increments. Plastic road panels and required accessories for 40 linear feet (12
linear meters) of crossing may be transported in a 3/4 ton pickup and assembled on
a typical site by a two-person crew (see figure 4) in approximately 1 hour. This
length of plastic road may be moved from site to site by chaining-to and towing
with a pickup truck or logging equipment. Worn or broken PVC pipe members are
easily replaced, facilitating maintenance and reuse of the system. Materials cost
including geotextile and transition mats (see figure 1) for this length of plastic road
is approximately $2000. Adding labor to fabricate increases the cost to
approximately $2500. Materials are readily available through major hardware
distributors.

Figure 2. 40 linear foot Plastic Road installation.

Figure 3. Geotextile underlayment to the Plastic Road.

Figure 4. Two-person crew installing the Plastic Road.

Transition Mats
Transition mats composed of successively larger pipe (2-inch to 3-inch up to the
4-inch standard panel pipe size) ease the transition of tires from the approach onto
the plastic road. Making the first 2-inch pipe in the mat to support wheel loads of
Schedule 80 increases mat durability. The transition mats increase environmental
sensitivity by eliminating the need for ramping up to the plastic road with soil,
which usually has to be borrowed from somewhere (see figure 5). Use of
transition mats also reduces the forces applied to the plastic road as tires roll onto
it. Longitudinal forces tend to displace the plastic road in the direction the vehicle
is moving, discouraging it from gaining a set in the soil. Absence of this set can
lead to soil kneading and increased rutting as the plastic road creeps and point
loads from individual pipe vary in location on the soil. Forces abruptly applied by
tires to the 4-inch pipe as in use of the plastic road without ramping or transition
mats can result in pipe shattering, especially in very cold environments.

Figure 5. Borrowed soil ramps to the Plastic Road.

Use of The Plastic Road

Vehicles negotiating the plastic road should travel at a constant 5 mph (8 kph);
sudden acceleration or deceleration may cause loss of traction, especially if the
plastic is wet. The system has successfully supported 18 wheel on-highway (
80,000 lbs GVW, or 36,400 kg) log trucks (and other forest traffic and logging
equipment) on straight alignments with grades up to 4 percent with no cross-slope.
Steeper grades or the existence of cross-slope or horizontal curvature may also
result in loss of traction. Traction loss may occur between tires and the PVC, or
slippage may occur between the PVC and the soil or geotextile, causing it to work
out of the soil ramp if so installed(see figure 6). In these latter cases a wave may
form in the crossing system which can lead to failure if the system folds over on
itself.
Experimentation with tractive surfaces applied to the PVC pipe was conducted in
an attempt to reduce the potential for traction problems. Epoxy and sand was tried,
as was attaching sheet grating with machine screws to individual pipe and to a
series of pipes. The epoxy/sand application did not exhibit required durability, as
the sand grains rolled out or were sheared out of the epoxy when subjected to
wheel loads. Attaching grating was labor and time intensive and did not appear to
greatly increase traction; the coefficient of friction between rubber and steel is low,
causing a reliance on interlock between tire tread and grating openings for any
traction increase.

Plastic Waste in Rural Roads Construction.

1.0

Background
Plastic in different forms is found to be almost 5% in municipal solid waste,
which is toxic in nature. It is a common sight in both urban and rural areas to
find empty plastic bags and other type of plastic packing material littering
the roads as well as drains. Due to its biodegradability it creates stagnation
of water and associated hygiene problems. In order to contain this problem
experiments have been carried out whether this waste plastic can be reused
productively in the construction of roads. The experimentation at several
institutes indicated that the waste plastic, when added to hot aggregate will
form a fine coat of plastic over the aggregate and such aggregate, when
mixed with the binder is found to give higher strength, higher resistance to
water and better performance over a period of time. Therefore, it is proposed
that we may use waste plastic in the construction of Rural Roads.

2.0

Past Experience.
Though approved specifications were not available in the beginning, with
the help of research carried by Prof. Vasudevan of TCE, Madurai, Prof.
Justo and Prof. Veeraragavan at Bangalore University and research carried
out by Scientist at CRRI, New Delhi, several trial roads were constructed
using waste plastic. Though detailed performance studies were not
systematically planned and done on all such roads, generally it has been
found that the roads constructed using waste plastic, popularly known as
Plastic Roads, are found to perform better compared to those constructed
with conventional bitumen. Further it has been found that such roads were
not subjected to stripping when come in contact with water. With the
experience gained over the years of construction of roads using waste
plastic, CRRI as well as TCE has firmed up the specifications for the use of
waste plastic and shared the specifications with organizations willing to
construct the roads with waste plastic.

3.0

Specifications for Waste Plastic.

The following types of waste plastic can be used in the construction of rural
roads:
n

Films ( Carry Bags, Cups) thickness up to 60micron (PE, PP and

PS)
n Hard foams (PS) any thickness
n Soft Foams (PE and PP) any thickness.
n
Laminated Plastics thickness up to 60 micron (Aluminum coated
also) packing materials used for biscuits, chocolates, etc.,
Please note that Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) sheets or Flux sheets should
not be used in any case.
Further, the waste plastic modifier should be free from dust and is to be
shredded, preferably to 2-3 mm particle size. While CRRI specified that the
shredded waste plastic should pass through 3 mm sieve, Dr. Vasudevan is of
the opinion that it has to pass through 4.75 mm sieve and retained on 1 mm.
This also indicates indirectly that the size of the shredded bitumen
should normally be 2-3 mm for better spread and coating the aggregate.
4.0

Method of Road Laying.

Dry process is recommended for isolated works. It is recommended that
the percentage of shredded waste plastic will be 8% by CRRI, while the
same is specified as 10% by Dr. Vasudevan. However we can adopt 8% as
the optimum plastic content for blending the bitumen in the construction of
plastic roads. The details of the process are given below. Bitumen of grades
60/70 or 80/100 can be used as binder as in case of conventional method.
With Mini Hot Mix Plant
The stone aggregate mix (as per specification) is transferred to the mix
cylinder where it is heated to 1650c (as per the IRC specification) and then it
is transferred to the mixing puddler(Temperature can be monitored using IR
thermometer), while transferring the hot aggregate into the puddler,
calculated quantity of shredded plastics is sprayed over the hot aggregate
within 30seconds. The sprayed plastic films melts and gets coated over the
aggregate, thus forming an oily coating.

Similarly, the bitumen is to be heated to a maximum of 160 0c in a separate

chamber and kept ready (The temperature should be monitored to have good
binding and to prevent weak bonding).
At the mixing puddler, the hot bitumen is added over the plastic coated
aggregate and the resulted mix is used for road construction. The road laying
temperature is between 1100c to 1200c. The roller used is normal 8-ton
capacity.
For intensive works Central Mixing Plant can also be used. The
operating Techniques for this are given below:
The aggregate materials will be transferred to the cylinder through the
conveyer belt.
o

The shredded plastics will be sprayed over the aggregate while it

is moving in the conveyer belt.
o
The spraying is done by manual labors standing up on both side
of the conveyer belt of the central mixing plant.
o
The addition of plastics should be done quantitatively.
The amount of binder to be added is calculated and monitored:
In the central mixing plant, at the control room the addition of bitumen
is monitored.
It is easy to know the amount of bitumen sprayed per minute inside the
cylinder.
Amount of plastic to be added is @8% of bitumen.
For example if the bitumen quantity per minute is 10Kg, the plastic need to
be added is 0.8 Kg. i.e. (A bucket can be used which can hold 0.8 Kg at a
time)
Now, as the aggregate moves in the conveyer belt, the shredded plastics,
taken in the bucket are sprayed with a speed of 0.8 Kg/1min with suitable
mechanical device or manually.
In manual method, one person will be adding the shredded plastic on to the
conveyer belt. In the mean time another person will keep ready another

bucket full of plastics so that the addition of plastics will be continuous.

Thus manual labor can also be so chosen that the addition is done
continuous. Two or three labors will be on this work of addition of plastics.
As the plastics is added over the aggregate, the mix (aggregate and plastics)
moves into the cylinder.
As the stone is heated the plastic films get melted over the heated stone and
get coated. Slowly the plastics coated aggregate moves forward where this
polymer coated aggregate is mixed with bitumen. The polymer coated
aggregate bitumen mix is then transferred to the dipper.
Advantages of Central Mixing Plant:
1.
2.

Mixing of the plastics over the aggregate is uniform

The coating is better and the mixing of bitumen is being carried out at
places like.
A. Inside the Cylinder
B. During loading in the dipper.
C. During transferring the mix in the paver
D. During the spreading of the mix by the paver

Hence better distribution takes place in the Central Mixing Plant Process
5.0

Salient feature of the process.

Characteristics of the process are:
Easy process without any new machinery
Simple process without any industry involvement
In situ process
Use of lesser percentage of bitumen and thus savings on bitumen
resource
Use of plastics waste for a safe and eco-friendly process
Both Mini Hot Mix Plant and Central Mixing Plant can be used
Only aggregate is polymer coated and bitumen is not modified
Use 60/70 and 80/100 bitumen is possible

5.1Advantages of Plastic Tar Road.

A well constructed Plastic Tar Road will result in the following advantages.
Strength of the road increased (Increased Marshall Stability Value)
Better resistance to water and water stagnation
No stripping and have no potholes.
Increased binding and better bonding of the mix.
Increased load withstanding property( Withstanding increased load
transport)
Overall consumption of bitumen decreases.
Reduction in pores in aggregate and hence less rutting and raveling.
Better soundness property.
Maintenance cost of the road is almost nil.
The Road life period is substantially increased.
No leaching of plastics.
No effect of radiation like UV.
Advantages of waste plastic in asphalt road surfaces
Reduced penetration and ductility, a higher softening point, less rutting and cold
cracking.
Marshall stability value is initially 25% better, later 200-300% better than
unmodified roads.
Test samples show 260% improved resistance to water-soaking, hence ideal for
sub-grade.
100% improvement in fatigue life of roads.
Greatly reduced road cracking after 1 year on Bangalore-Mysore Rd, vs
unmodified road.
Use higher percentage of plastic waste.
Reduce the need of bitumen by around 10%.
Increase the strength and performance of the road.
Reduce the cost to around Rs. 5000/Km. of single lane road.
Generate jobs for rag pickers.
Develop a technology, which is eco-friendly.

How Much Plastic? How Many roads?

Each 5-member familys use of 5 gm plastic bags a week, all-India = 52,000 tons a
year.
Assume 50% of this is available for roads.
1.5 tons plastic goes into avg 1 km road.
So resurfacing just 35,000 km of roads a year will absorb all this littered waste.
This is just
3.5 % of Indias 1 million km surfaced roads.
million km more roads are unsurfaced).
o
Waste Minimisation and Infrastructure Improvement
India spends Rs 35,000 crores a year on road construction and repair, including
Rs 100,000 crores a year just on maintenance.
Roads lasting 2-3 times longer, will save us Rs 33,000 crores a year in repairs, plus
reduced vehicle wear and tear.
8% by weight of plastic waste in bitumen = a saving of 0.4% of bitumen by weight
in roads.
DISADVANTAGES OF PLASTIC ROADS
1. Cleaning process
Toxics present in the co-mingled plastic waste would d start leaching.
2. During the road laying process
But the presence of chlorine will definitely release noxious HCL gas.

6.0

Evidence of Better Performance of the Plastic Tar Roads.

The performance studies carried out on the roads constructed in Tamil Nadu
indicated satisfactory performance with good skid resistance, good texture
value, stronger and less amount of progressive unevenness over a period of
time. The experimentation carried out by CRRI also indicated better stability
value, indicating higher strength, less flow and more air voids.

7.0

Economic considerations.
It has been found that modification of bitumen with shredded waste plastic
marginally increases the cost by about Rs. 2500 per tonne. However this
marginal increase in the cost is compensated by increase in the volume of
the total mix, thereby resulting in less overall bitumen content, better
performance and environmental conservation with usage of waste plastic.

HISTORY
(NEW DELHI, INDIA) -- In the 1990s, Ahmed Khans company in Bangalore,
India, churned out hundreds of thousands of plastic bags and other packaging
material each month that eventually ended up as garbage. Now, he is in the
business of scouring the citys landfills and trash cans to reclaim some of that
waste and pave the way to a more environmentally friendly enterprise.
Mr. Khans company, K.K. Plastic Waste Management, which he founded with his
brother, Rasool Khan, has built more than 1,200 kilometers, or 745 miles, of roads
using 3,500 tons of plastic waste, primarily in Bangalore, Indias technology and
outsourcing hub.
Mixing plastic with asphalt, Mr. Khan forms a compound called polymerized
bitumen. When used in roads, it withstands monsoons and everyday wear and tear
better than traditional pavement.
Typically, our roads have a life of three to four years under ideal conditions, but
the plastic has increased that by at least another year or two, said Sunil Bose, head
of the Flexible Pavement Division at the Indian Central Road Research Institute, a
government agency.
Building a road with a mix of plastic costs about 3 percent more than constructing
a conventional road, but Mr. Khan said that in the long run such roads cost less
because repair and repaving expenses are much lower.
Polymerized bitumen is not a new compound and has been used for paving in
places other than India. But typically the bitumen is mixed with new plastic,
making it an expensive venture that has no environmental benefits. Mr. Khans
innovation uses waste plastic, including bottles and food packaging.
India was not a big user of plastic until the mid-1980s, when the government
sanctioned increases in the national production of plastic to help industries become
globally competitive. The use of plastic was also stimulated by the movement of
more people to cities and importing of more foreign goods.

India, which traditionally recycled a lot of its garbage, was not prepared to handle
the increase in plastic waste, including discarded bags, which some experts say can
take as long as 1,000 years to decompose.
In 2005, after monsoon rains flooded Mumbai, plastic bags were blamed for
clogging the underground drainage system and intensifying the effect of the floods.
In areas frequented by tourists, like Goa, heavy consumption of bottled water has
resulted in trash on beaches, creating eyesores and endangering marine life.
Even Indias cows, considered sacred, have not been spared. After 3,000 cows died
in Lucknow in 2000, the city investigated and found plastic bags in their stomachs.
Apparently the bags had been ingested as the animals grazed at dump sites.
Mr. Khan said he had never set out to be an environmental entrepreneur, but after
an anti-plastics movement gained strength in the mid-1990s, he decided that
environmentalists had a valid argument and started to worry about his business.
From 1998 to 2000, he and his brother developed their technology, testing it on
more than 600 potholes in Jayanagar, an upscale neighborhood in Bangalore.
Convinced that they had made a breakthrough, they approached Bangalore
University and later the road institute for research and support. Several years and
many more road tests later, they were given their first contract by the Bangalore
municipal government to pave 40 kilometers of roads.
The Khans business spread to other cities and states, and although they patented
the plasticized pavement in India, other companies are copying the technology.
The Khans said they had decided not to object.
With a ban on plastic bags being enforced in the Indian capital and the Indian High
Court asking the government to explore new ways of using plastics, the New Delhi
municipal government is showing interest as well. The road institute is working
with the Public Works Department in New Delhi to start a project in the city using
the technology.

The plastic in Mr. Khans roads is collected by garbage collectors, who form the
backbone of the Indian recycling industry. These workers collect trash from homes
and offices and sort through it for material that can be sold to specialized
middlemen, who sell it to recycling companies. Typically, an average garbage
collector is paid less than a dollar a day, making as much as 8 rupees, or 17 cents, a
kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, depending on the quality of the plastic. But Mr. Khan
offers them 8 to 10 rupees a kilogram, ensuring a steady supply. With the help of
the Bangalore government, he is also setting up collection points in residential
areas.
Of the 35 tons of plastic waste generated by Bangalore each day, Mr. Khan said he
was already using three to five tons daily on the roads.
The plastic waste is churned into flakes, then combined at a ratio of eight tons of
plastic to every 100 tons of bitumen. For every kilometer of single-lane road, about
two tons of plastic is needed.
Five years after the laying of Mr. Khans first plastic-mix pavement, the roads
seem to be surviving. Mr. Khan attributes this to the plastics tendency to act as a
binding agent, thereby increasing the ability of bitumen to hold together at higher
temperatures. And since plastic is water-resistant, the roads do not get
waterlogged, have fewer potholes and need repairs less frequently than
conventional roads.
Not everyone is enthusiastic. Despite interest from Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of
Delhi, only two kilometers of such pavement have been laid in the Indian capital,
and that was five years ago. Local news reports suggest that senior officials have
not allowed proposals to go further because contracts for regular maintenance of
roads are a big business in India, worth 350 billion rupees a year. Not only would
some businesses lose money, but government officials who take kickbacks could
also lose, the reports have said.
The information officer for the chief ministers office, who goes by a single name,
Satpal, said, Were always going to say theres no corruption.
BANGALORES KK PROCESS FOR ASPHALTED HIGHWAYS

The Indian Roads Congress in 1999 issued Special Publication 53 titled : Tentative
Guidelines on Use of Polymer and Rubber Modified Bitumen in Road
Construction. It documented the excellent advantages of adding an optimum 6% by

weight of virgin polymer into tar roads. The high cost of virgin polymer (about Rs
50/kg) for getting this added value has prevented its adoption in India until now.
Research began in 1997 by KK Polyflex for value-added disposal of shredded
waste plastic litter into bitumen roads at an affordable cost to make the process
viable. The approach was scientific, with exhaustive comparison of different
proportions of different types of plastic done by a Ph D student. By now the
technology and results are well-established. Marshall Stability values and even
wet penetration values improve by addition of 8% shredded plastic by weight of
bitumen used. Lab tests show 2-3 times superior performance. In practice, such a
plastic road laid in Bangalore (at the busy Rajarajeshwari Junction) in March
2001 as a technology demonstration for the Chief Minister, showed superior
smoothness and uniformity and less rutting as compared to a plastics-free road laid
at the same time, which has begun to develop crocodile cracks. As a result, by
now 25 km of plastic roads have been laid in Bangalore, unfortunately without
another same-day plastics-free normal road. All these 25 km are performing well.
The process was also approved in 2003 by the CRRI=Central Road Research
Institute Delhi, and has thereafter been included in the Govt of Karnatakas PWD
Schedule of Rates. News reports say that Bangalore intends to lay a further 800
km of such plastic roads and the work order for this is expected shortly. Road life
improves through improved tackiness and viscosity of the bituminous mix, thereby
binding the stones more firmly together and improving the water-resistance of the
mix to rain etc. For the same reason, the temperature of the mix both at the plant
and at the point of laying, needs to be 20oC higher than normal.
The proprietary KK Process consists of procuring (by collection from roads,
garbage trucks, dumpsites or compost plants, or from school collection programs,
or by purchase from rag-pickers or waste-buyers at Rs 5-6 per kg) waste plastic
litter in the form of thin-film carry-bags, use-and-throw cups, PET bottles, etc.
These are sorted, de-dusted, washed if necessary, and finely shredded after
treatment as required. Yield of useful material is poor, the rest being dust, rags and
some unusables. This shredded material is added into the bitumen stream of
Centralised Hot-Mix Plants in a proprietary manner, using KKs own equipment
(under patent) as an add-on to the plant and under their supervision. 1 km of
single-lane road uses about 1 ton of plastic.

In Uttaranchal, the added 6% cost of high-quality roads will also be more than
offset by savings in the cost of plastic waste management. For example, the Nanda

Devi Sanctuary authorities did a fantastic job of cleaning the Hemkund area of 52
tons of plastic, but at a cost of Rs 52 per kg to bring it down and transport it to
Dehradun for eventual purchase by a Delhi buyer. If instead this plastic is used for
asphalted roads as close to the collection point as possible, the cost savings will be
huge. As there is a plan for similar plastic cleanup of the Char Dhams, wastepolymer-modified bitumen roads can be specified in and near these areas.
What is required from cities desiring this option are :
1, Use of sufficient land on the outskirts for processing of waste plastic litter into
shredded additive, both of which are very bulky. For Bangalores 60 lac
population, generating 200 tons a month of plastic waste, an area of 10 acres would
be required.
2, Electricity connection of 100 HP at citys cost, with power consumption paid
for by KK.
3, orders for a minimum quantity of plastic-additive roads to be laid per quarter,
with the additive to be procured from and added by KK. Escalation clause for
increased cost of power, which should preferably be supplied at preferential rates
for this pollution-abatement activity.
4, prompt payment of bills for shredded plastic supplied, preferably through bank
against presentation of bills, and payment of 2% interest per month for delayed
payment, as that is the cost of finance for industrialists.
5, an MoU for a 3-year period covering the above aspects.

CONCLUSIONS
The plastic road is available to aid short term access for vehicles and equipment
into the forest. This system is lightweight, portable, reusable, inexpensive, and
constructed of readily available materials. The plastic road reduces rut depth these
constraints and further development effort to optimize performance is warranted.
and has provided satisfactory service over sensitive sites and soils of low bearing
capacity on relatively flat road grades free of cross slope and horizontal curvature.
Testing usage outside
Disclaimer: The information regarding the facilitation is given based on the

information available at NRRDA and is shared here. However, this should not be
construed as a recommendation of NRRDA about the two firms mentioned above.
The states are at liberty to find out appropriate method of cleaning, shredding and
mixing of suitable waste plastic to get the best results for the Waste Plastic
Blended Bitumen for Rural Road construction.
Acknowledgements: The above guidelines are prepared with help from Dr. V.
Vasudevan, TEC, Madurai, and CRRI, New Delhi. Help received from both is
gratefully acknowledged.