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Performance evaluation of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) containing bitumen

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Article  in  Construction and Building Materials · January 2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.11.069

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 Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Performance evaluation of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) containing bitumen

modified with Gilsonite
H.R. Jahanian a, Gh. Shafabakhsh a,⇑, H. Divandari b
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Islamic Azad University of Nowshahr, Iran

h i g h l i g h t s

Marshall Test results show that 4.6% Gilsonite increase Marshall Stability.

The indirect tensile test indicates the performance improvement of mixture made with Gilsonite.

Test result indicates that the addition of Gilsonite to mixtures reduces moisture sensitivity.

The specimens with Gilsonite have better performance to those made with pure bitumen 70–60.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Iran-produced bitumen under the circumstances of severe temperature fluctuation, heavy traffic load and
Received 17 August 2016 raining/freezing conditions show low efficiency; therefore, it is necessary to improve its properties
Received in revised form 11 November 2016 accordingly. Existence of weakness in produced bitumen result in failure occurrence in asphalt pave-
Accepted 14 November 2016
ments during service life of asphalt roads. Given the existence of considerable reserves of Gilsonite in
Iran, its low costs compared with other additives and its remarkable properties, we can study asphalts
modified by Gilsonite. At the present time, little research has been conducted on this modifier in the
Keywords:
world and Iran (which its properties are still not quite evident for researchers). The most important fail-
Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
Gilsonite
ure in flexible pavements is permanent deformations which are known as rutting. Rutting is longitudinal
Rutting depression in the wheel path in bituminous pavements. The rate and depth of rutting depend on the
Flow number internal factors such as bitumen properties, aggregate, mixture properties and thickness of pavement lay-
Resilent modulus ers. In this lab study, with regard to the technical and executive issues, common functional performance-
based tests of bitumen were performed on specimens through adding Gilsonite with 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 wt.%
of made bitumen specimens. Then, the optimum percentage was calculated using the AHP. The
specimens containing pure bitumen 60–70 and modified bitumen 60–70 with Gilsonite in two different
aggregations (4 and 5) were made and the effects of adding Gilsonite in Marshall Stability and flow,
indirect tensile strength and moisture sensitivity, as well as dynamic creep, and resilient modulus were
evaluated by the UTM device. The research showed that adding Gilsonite to bitumen in hot asphalt mix-
tures considerably increases Marshall Stability and resilient modulus parameter in asphalt specimens.
However, resilient modulus test indicated a significant reduction in flexibility property of asphalt mix-
tures made of modified bitumens. Moreover, increasing the flow number obtained from the dynamic
creep test indicate the increase of rutting resistance.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction rutting resistance increase, pavement quality and durability of

Establishing appropriate aggregate interlock which is carried
out by choosing gradation type, suitable type and percentage of
additives, bitumen and aggregates is the determining factor in
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: shafabakhsh@semnan.ac.ir (Gh. Shafabakhsh).
asphalt mixtures. At the present time, despite very low wt.% of
bitumen in asphalt mixtures, an important part of the researches
and studies on pavement is conducted on bitumen [1]. The basic
relationship between the properties and behavior of bitumen with
properties and behavior of asphalt mixtures has caused the
bitumen to be considered as one of the main factors in the optimal
performance of asphalt mixtures [1]. Today, due to the diversity of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.11.069
0950-0618/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164
heavy vehicles and increase of traffic loads, the growing amount of
asphalt failures are spreading. In low temperature, asphalt pave-
ment suffers many cracks under traffic load, and vice versa, with
increasing ambient temperature, deformation and rutting be
appeared. Major weaknesses of Iran-produced bitumen are high
sensitivity, low elasticity, the limited range of temperature-
Servicing. The modification of bitumen properties increase pave-
ment service-life and its quality; therefore, pavement repair and
maintenance costs be reduced significantly. In recent decades, in
order to achieve pavements with longer service-life and overcome
the problems of conventional pure bitumen and asphalts which do
not have sufficient adhesion to aggregates and suitable properties,
modifiers are used [2].
2. Literature review
The mineral now known as ‘‘Gilsonite” was discovered in the
early 1860’s, but it was not known until the mid-1880’s that
Samuel H. Gilson began to promote it as a waterproof coating for
wooden pilings and as insulation for wire cable. It was brittle
and can be easily turned into a dark brown powder. In 1888,
Samuel H. Gilson and a partner established the first company to
mine and market Gilsonite on a commercial-scale [3,4]. Gilsonite
resembles shiny black obsidian substance. Its color is dark brown
in micronized powder. Gilsonite is mined in underground shafts.
Since the early 1970s, Norway has used it as additive and modifier
of behavioral characteristics of bitumen and asphalt mixtures in
areas with heavy passing traffic and cold and wet weather condi-
tions that increase pavement failures such as stripping. Initially,
the bitumen penetration grade 40–50 was used in these and due
to the failure of this type of bitumen, Gilsonite was added into
mixture as a modifier additive. The remarkable point is that the
Gilsonite in the construction of the asphalt mix increased the
expected service-life of pavement up to two fold [5]. In New South
Wales of Australia, Gilsonite has been used as an additive and
modifier with 0.25% by weight of asphalt mix. Studies and investi-
gations conducted on performed surfacing after a period of 6, 12,
24 months have shown a significant reduction in failures of wheel
rutting and waving compared to previous performed surfacing
with no modification of Gilsonite and the positive performance of
Gilsonite in the asphalt mix caused that the Australian Asphalt
Pavement Association suggested Gilsonite for squares’ surfacing
[5].
In the Port of Seattle, located at the North East of the US,
Gilsonite was used with the amount of 8% by weight of bitumen,
as an additive and modifier of bitumen 60–70 on surfacing areas
affected by heavy traffic of trucks. The performed Asphalt after
one year use showed better resistance than previous ones without
Gilsonite modifier compared to rutting resistance and stripping. In
addition, Gilsonite has been utilized for more than 5 years ago in
New Jersey and the region in which trucks are included 20% of
daily passing traffic of 500,000 vehicles. First low penetration
bitumen was used for decreasing wheel rutting and waving, but
it failed. After performing asphalt made with Gilsonite, it was spec-
ified that the problem of rutting and waving has been solved [5]. In
2008, ‘‘Sou” and ‘‘Wong” concluded that repeated loads of vehicle
wheels be resulted in the accumulation and growth of micro and
macro cracks, deformation and wearing of aggregates in asphalt
pavements [6]. In 2004, Pretorius and colleagues in their paper
concluded that Gilsonite in addition to the technical benefits in
improving asphalt properties has many economic advantages in
the optimum design of asphalt surfacing [7].
In the research project carried out in Pennsylvania in 1999 by
Anderson et al., the results of sharp experiments on the base bitu-
men and modified bitumen indicated that Gilsonite has a positive
157
effect only on high operating temperatures of base bitumen and
has increased rutting resistance. However, Gilsonite failed to
increase bitumen resistance against fatigue cracking and low tem-
perature cracking. Furthermore, the conducted tests display that
Gilsonite increases the resilient modulus and indirect tensile
strength of the asphalt mixture [8].
American Gilsonite Company is one of the greatest Gilsonite
producers in the world, the results in 1998 showed that adding Gil-
sonite to the asphalt mixture greatly increases Marshall Stability.
Increasing 8% Gilsonite (relative to the weight of bitumen)
increases Marshall Stability rate of asphalt specimen up to
25–40%. This variation leads to turning standard surfacing into a
high-performance one. Another important advantage of using
Gilsonite in asphalt mixture is the decrease moisture sensitivity
of asphalt mixture. The results showed that specimens without
Gilsonite additives have no sufficient moisture resistance level,
while even adding 4% Gilsonite to the asphalt mixture considerably
increased moisture resistance level. The dynamic modulus tests
demonstrate that Gilsonite increases the resilient modulus of
asphalt specimens. This result in macroeconomic saving in the
road construction budget of countries. The results of Wheel Truck
experiment proved resistance against deformation and good per-
formance of the pavement. Results of Wheel Truck test indicated
that the best results are obtained from mixture with 8% Gilsonite
and, mixtures with 6% Gilsonite and 2% SBS and 4% SBS are located
in the second and third ranks [9].
In the same year, Swedish Transport research organization car-
ried out a field research on conventional pavement with Gilsonite
modifier and concluded that the use of Gilsonite is useful for
constructing asphalt mixture with harder bitumen in order to have
more rutting resistance and better load distribution within struc-
ture and as a result less stresses in pavement structure [10].
In 2010, Ameri and colleagues in their article concluded that
adding Gilsonite increases the operating temperature of bitumen
(up and down temp), this condition increases with increasing
Gilsonite. Meanwhile, the average temperature of the pavement
longevity increases with increasing Gilsonite which refers to the
higher fatigue factor at the same average temp [11]. Transportation
Research Institute of the Transportation Ministry of the Islamic
Republic of Iran in 2012 through a research project concluded that
Gilsonite increases the high operating temperature of pure bitu-
men. Therefore, the high operating temperature of pure bitumen
rise can increase the shear strength of pure bitumen, especially
in the warm seasons, which is a factor itself for increasing the
rutting resistance of asphalt mixture. Moreover, by adding
Gilsonite to pure bitumen, stiffness increases and the rate of bitu-
men stiffness (M value) decreases and, low operating temperature
of modified bitumen enhances [12].
3. Research methodology
Although the application of different materials as filler has
become increasingly popular in the recent few decades, most
studies in this field were concentrated on the experimental inves-
tigations and quantitative effect of filler on mechanical behavior
and volume ratio of asphalt concrete.
Filler is of the most important component of asphalt mixture
that by filling the voids due to softness and surface properties
and chemical composition plays the role of an active ingredient
and influences the adhesion between bitumen and aggregates.
Gilsonite as an active filler has been able to improve the mechan-
ical behavior of asphalt mixtures. Gilsonite is utilized as a preser-
vative agent in Hot Mix Asphalt mixtures of pavement.
The main objective of this study is to determine the perfor-
mance of HMA containing mineral bitumen powder (Gilsonite) in
158 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164

Table 1 Table 2
Gradations of the used aggregate mixture. The allowed value of Los Angeles Abrasion Tests.

Sieve Size Percent Passing Type of asphalt layer Maximum allowed value (%)
(mm)
Gradation Gradation Gradation Gradation Gradation Topka 30
1 2 3 4 5 Binder 40
25 – – – – –
19 – 100 100 100 100
12.5 100 90 92 92 92 Elongation index ¼ ðInitial weight of specimenÞ=
9.5 – – 82 85 82
4.75 74 44 58 66 51 ðWeight of elongated grainsÞ ð1Þ
2.36 58 28 41 50 32
1.18 – – 31 38 24 To conduct Flakiness test, selected grains is tried to be passed
0.6 – – 22 27 17 from flaky side through the Flakiness test screen rut. The weight
0.3 21 5 13 18 10 of the grains which passed the groove due to Flakiness is deter-
0.15 – – 8 12 7 mined and Flakiness index is calculated according to Eq. (2).
0.075 10 2 5 8 5
Flakiness index ¼ ðInitial weight of specimenÞ=ðWeight of flaky grainsÞ
ð2Þ

different tests such as Marshall Test, resilient modulus test,
dynamic creep test, and indirect tensile strength test (ITS).
To achieve these goals, First, Marshall’s specimens were
constructed by performing Marshall Tests to determine optimum
bitumen content. Then, asphalt mixtures were made for above dif-
ferent tests with the optimum bitumen content and Gilsonite per-
centage. In this step, different content of Gilsonite (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%,
8% and 10% of total used bitumen) were added to the mixtures and
be evaluated the effects of this different contents on behavior of
asphalt mixtures in tests.
3.1. Materials preparation
To perform fracture percentage test, we separate the grains
which are more fractured in a crusher and determine their weight.
Fracture percentage is calculated according to Eq. (3) [16].
fracture percentage ¼ ðInitial weight of specimenÞ=
ðweight of fractured grainsÞ ð3Þ
The aggregates tests results; Los Angeles abrasion test, fracture
percentage, Elongation and Flakiness, the sand value, specific grav-
ity, density and water absorption are show in Table 4.
The used bitumen properties (PG 64 (AC 60-70)) are presented
in Table 5. Also the physical and chemical properties of the used
Gilsonite are presented in Tables 6 and 7.

The aggregates gradation is one of the most important factors
affecting the strength and capacity of asphalt. The asphalt aggre-
gates grading are chosen considering several factors such as type
of pavement, type and location of the target layer in the surfacing
system, the asphalt layer thickness and the largest grain size avail-
able in aggregates. In this study, continuous gradation No. 4 and 5,
(for application of Topeka and binder layer) based on the Iran High-
way Asphalt Paving Code (No. 234) in the allowed range offered in
it has been used (according to Table 1) [13].
In the stage of compression and operation of asphalt mixtures,
due to loads induced by roller weight and passing vehicles, aggre-
gates are exposed to abrasion and fracture. For the prevention of
this type of damage or to reduce it, the used aggregates should
be hard, tough and durable and have sufficient strength. This test
method is described in the standard ASTM C131 [14]. The allowed
values are provided based on the layer type in Tables 2 and 3 [15].
To conduct Elongation test, a certain weight of sandy materials
(retained on the sieve No. 4 and 5) is tried to be passed from the
length side through the bars of Elongation test screen. The weight
of grains which cannot pass due to the Elongation is determined
and Elongation index is calculated according to Eq. (1).
3.2. Mixing bitumen and Gilsonite
According to the World Road Association (PIARC) suggestion,
Gilsonite powder used for the modification of bitumen should
completely pass through sieve No. 50. Gilsonite powder used in
the research is passed through sieve No.200 which is added with
different% amounts relative to bitumen weight to the bitumen
60–70 which is heated at the temperature of 140 °C. This mixture
be mixed for 150 min at 150 rpm. Then, it is heated to 180 °C, mix-
ing for 30 min, at 4500 rpm by high shear mixer. In this way, the
homogenous mixture of pure bitumen and Gilsonite is achieved.
It is in accordance with the suggestion of (PIARC) [18].
3.3. Construction of asphalt specimens
The mix design methods of asphalt concrete try to balance the
combination of aggregates and bitumen in order to achieve the
appropriate performance of mixture in long term (high durability)
in a pavement structure. It is evident that the main components of
asphalt mixtures are aggregates, bitumen and air. The main goal of
each mix design method is to produce mixtures with high

Table 3
Categorization of test specimens in Los Angeles abrasion test.

Sieve size Specimen weight (g)

Passed Retained A B C D
37.5 mm 25 mm 1250 ± 25 – – –
25 mm 19 mm 1250 ± 25 – – –
19 mm 12.5 mm 1250 ± 25 2500 ± 10 – –
12.5 mm 9.5 mm 1250 ± 25 2500 ± 10 – –
9.5 mm 6.25 mm – – 2500 ± 10 –
6.25 mm 4.75 mm – – 2500 ± 10 –
4.75 mm 2.36 mm 5000 + 10
SUM 5000 + 10 5000 + 10 5000 + 10 5000 + 10
 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164 159

Table 4 Table 7
Physical Specifications of the Materials used in research. Test Gilsonite physical properties [15].

Physical specifications Calcareous aggregate Test Result

3
Specific gravity of fine aggregates (g/cm ) 2.61 ASH (%) 2.4
Density and water absorption of aggregates (%) 0.7 Moisture (%) 0.9
Specific gravity of coarse aggregate (g/cm3) 2.63 (%) C 34
Los Angeles Abrasion rate (%) 23.5 Volatiles (%) 53.7
Fracture percentage in both side 94 Specific gravity at 25 °C (kg/m3) 1170
Aggregate color Black
Powder color Dark brown
Softening point (°C) 205
Table 5 Penetration grade at 25 °C (0.1 mm) 0
Used Bitumen properties [17]. Solubility in H2S (%) 95

Properties Bitumen 60/70

Specific gravity at 25 °C 1.24
Penetration grade at 25 °C 61
4. Tests results
Softening point (°C) 49
Ductility of Bitumen at 25 °C >100 4.1. Marshall Test results
Flash point 297
Combustion point 317
The results of Marshall Tests are show in Figs. 1–8. By adding
Weight loss 0.68
Viscosity 329 Gilsonite to the bitumen and hot asphalt mixture, Marshall Stabil-
ity and flow level increases and the specific gravity of the specimen
decreases.
The optimum bitumen content mean relevant to the highest
Table 6
Marshall Stability, highest specific gravity and void percentage is
Test Gilsonite Component [15].
4% which is calculated for different contents of Gilsonite and is
Component Result show in Table 8. As it is expected, increasing Gilsonite %, the
C 81 optimal bitumen content in mixture increases.
H2 6.7
N2 0.84
S 2.1 4.2. Moisture sensitivity test results
O2 2.3

Test was carried out by indirect tensile device on the basis of

resistance against permanent deformation. In addition, asphalt
surfaces that are exposed to considerable wear, due to traffic flow,
should have high abrasion resistance and suitable surface texture.
Properties of produced asphalt mixtures depend on the chemical
and physical properties of the components. Therefore, it is neces-
sary to carefully select and control each component to guarantee
achieving high quality mixtures and expected performance. In
order to prepare laboratory specimens, the used material selection
criteria determined in accordance with Iran Highway Asphalt
Paving Code (No. 234) [13].
ASTM D4867 standard [19]. Six cylindrical specimens were pre-
pared for each mixture. Three specimens were used for test under
dry conditions (unsaturated) and three specimens for test under
saturated conditions. The strength ratio of saturated specimens
to dry specimens (unsaturated) yields the TSR value. In accordance
with the standard, six specimens which have been made for water
penetration with voids of 7 ± 1 percent were tested. So that three
specimens are placed for 24 h in water at 60 °C and then placed
in 25 °C water for 1 h and evaluated under the indirect tensile test.
Three additional specimens are placed in dry state at ambient tem-
perature under the indirect tensile strength test as well. Finally, the

Fig. 1. Marshall Stability in HMA with gradation No. 4.

160 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164

Fig. 2. Marshall Stability in HMA with gradation No. 5.

Fig. 3. Marshall Flow in HMA with gradation No. 4.

Fig. 4. Marshall Flow in HMA with gradation No. 5.

 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164 161

Fig. 5. Specific gravity in HMA with gradation No. 4.

Fig. 6. Specific gravity in HMA with gradation No. 5.

Fig. 7. Voids (%) in HMA with gradation No. 4.

strength ratio of saturated specimens to dry specimens should not According to the results, the indirect tensile strength of asphalt
be less than 0.8. The results of this test are show in Figs. 9–13. mixtures with gradation No. 4 and 5 increases in the dry state by
162 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164

Fig. 8. Voids (%) in HMA with gradation No. 5.

Table 8
Percentage of optimum bitumen in HMA.

Gradation No. 5 5 4 4
Gilsonite % 4.6 0 4.6 0
Optimal bitumen % 5.7 4.9 5.5 4.6

Fig. 10. Indirect tensile strength of asphalt mixture with gradation No. 4 and
modified bitumen.

Fig. 9. Indirect tensile strength of asphalt mixture with gradation No. 4 and control
bitumen.

Gilsonite percentage increase, while increasing Gilsonite percent-

age in saturated specimens of asphalt mixtures, the indirect tensile
strength decreases. According to the test results it can be con-
cluded that the increase of Gilsonite increases moisture suscepti-
bility in asphalt mixtures (decrease of the TSR value).

4.3. Resilient modulus test results Fig. 11. Indirect tensile strength of asphalt mixture with gradation No. 5 and
control bitumen.

Resilient modulus has been performed using the indirect tensile

test frame in UTM5 device, in accordance with the standard ASTM
D4123 [20]. The resilient modulus has direct effect on the thick-
ness of the asphalt layer. Increasing resilient modulus in the spec-
imens containing Gilsonite is show in Fig. 14 and reflects the
positive impact of Gilsonite modifier. However, excessive resilient
modulus cause pavement to be brittle [16,21].
4.4. Dynamic creep test results
The objective of this test is to study the performance of asphalt
mixtures against rutting. The most significant result obtained from
the creep test is the diagram of permanent deformation which
somehow depends on rutting resistance of asphalt mixture
(Fig. 15). A noteworthy point of this test is that cumulative defor-
mation values cannot be cited as rutting depth. In fact, this test is
applied for comparison between different types of asphalt speci-
mens. One of the methods of measuring permanent deformations
of asphalt mixtures is applying several thousand of repeated load
and recording cumulative permanent deformation as a function
of load cycle number. During the test time, a square shaped load
is applied on the asphalt specimen with diameter of 100–
150 mm for 0.1 s with the rest time of 9.0 s for mixtures with the
largest grain size of aggregate (37.5 mm). The results of this exper-
iment are presented in the cumulative permanent strain curve ver-
sus the number of loading cycles. The following figure illustrates
the total cumulative strain curve versus the loading cycle. The
cumulative strain curve is divided into three areas: the first area,
 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164 163

Fig. 15. Diagram of permanent cumulative strain areas vs. the cycle.
Fig. 12. Indirect tensile strength of asphalt mixture with gradation No. 5 and
modified bitumen.

Fig. 16. Diagram of flow different asphalt mixtures.

Fig. 13. Moisture sensitivity in different asphalt mixtures.

5. Conclusion

This study encompassed the performance of asphalt mixture

with gradation No. 4 and 5 that with pure bitumen 60–70 and
modified bitumen with Gilsonite (4.6% relative to the total weight
of bitumen) has been modified. Furthermore, the asphalt mixtures
were also investigated under Marshall and flow tests, indirect ten-
sile strength and moisture sensitivity. Specimens were studied
under dynamic creep tests and resilient modulus by UTM5 device
in order to determine the rutting potential and flexibility of asphalt
mixtures. Important results obtained with this research are listed
below:

Marshall Test results show that 4.6% Gilsonite increase Marshall

Fig. 14. Diagram of resilient modulus in different asphalt mixtures.
the second area and the third area. Number of cycles at the begin-
ning of the third area is known as flow number. In the first area,
permanent deformations suddenly take place, then, in the second
area, permanent deformation slope increment decreases to reach
a constant rate. In the third area, permanent deformation slope
increases again and permanent deformation value extremely is
accumulated [16]. The results of this test is show in Fig. 16.
After performing dynamic creep tests on specimens, flow num-
ber of each was determined and the results were analyzed. As
expected, increasing Gilsonite%, rutting resistance of specimens
increase and specimens were able to withstand more cycles of
loading. Flow number of specimens containing 4.6% Gilsonite
was about 2 times of the flow number of hot asphalt mixtures
without Gilsonite.
Stability.

The indirect tensile test indicates the performance improve-
ment of mixture made with Gilsonite. Increasing asphalt mix-
ture resistance against tensile stresses induced in it due to
traffic load would eventually increase the service life of pave-
ment and reduce repair and maintenance costs.

The results obtained from moisture sensitivity test indicate that
the addition of Gilsonite to asphalt mixtures reduces moisture
sensitivity so that TSR index of the mixture made with pure
bitumen 70–60 goes down from 99% to 92% (by adding 4.6% Gil-
sonite to pure bitumen 70–60).

In resilient modulus test, asphalt specimens containing Gil-
sonite showed better performance relative to asphalt mixtures
made with pure bitumen 70–60. This matter could have great
importance in the economic design of roads due to the depen-
dence of asphalt pavements to the resilient modulus.

Results show that the specimens made with Gilsonite indicated
better conditions for withstanding applied forces and resistance
against rutting; therefore, they show more deformations
164 H.R. Jahanian et al. / Construction and Building Materials 131 (2017) 156–164
against applied forces. This matter is more seen in mixtures that
their load bearing is from aggregate resistance on aggregate.
However, it can be concluded that adding Gilsonite can increase
resistance against rutting of mixture.

Gilsonite is cheaper than other modifiers such as SBS or EVA.
The increase of traffic load bearing potential, lower costs of
Gilsonite compared to other modifiers and the above described
cases are the advantages of using these modifiers in asphalt
mixtures.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank the personnel of Bitumen and
Asphalt Laboratory in Semnan University Iran and Asphalt
and Bitumen Research Center (ABRC) in University of Science and
Technology for their cooperation and support in conducting
experiments.
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