Advanced High-Performance Materials for Highway Applications: A Report on the State of Technology
Chapter 9, Summary
As indicated at the beginning of this report, every year large amounts of aggregate materials and manufactured materials are used to support highway construction and rehabilitation in the United States. However, the poor availability of good quality aggregates in many parts of the country and the increasing financial and societal costs to produce the needed manufactured materials are creating a concern for the planners and engineers. It is, therefore, important that new and improved sources of highway construction materials be developed that will result in improved performance of the highway system, be cost effective, and incorporate sustainable technologies.
This white paper reviewed the availability of advanced construction materials for highway application to improve or replace conventionally used construction materials. These advanced construction materials can be categorized as follows:
- New/Innovative materials to replace currently used materials.
- New/Innovative materials that are less expensive.
- New/Innovative materials that result in longer service life.
- New/Innovative materials that result in sustainable solutions.
- New/Innovative materials that improve the properties of marginal materials.
- Waste and recycled materials that are optimized for use.
The criteria for inclusion of specific advanced construction materials in this white paper include the following:
- The selected materials have been recently introduced (less than 5 years in the marketplace) and not widely used.
- The selected materials are under development.
The characteristics of the advanced construction materials discussed in this report are summarized in Table 1. As indicated in this report, these materials encompass a broad range of developmental stages. The materials range from materials under development to recently commercialized materials. The commercialized materials have typically not been widely implemented and their performance histories have not been established yet.
It is hoped that this report will help establish the potential for considering the use of alternative materials discussed in this report or encourage agencies and industry to accelerate the development and implementation of products still under development.
It is recommended that FHWA review the information presented in this report with stakeholder groups to help prioritize the product development and implementation that meet States' needs and that can be supported at the national level.
TABLE 1 - Advanced Construction Materials
| Advanced Materials |
Replace Conventional Materials |
Less Expensive |
Longer Life |
Sustainable Solutions |
Improve Properties |
Recycled Materials |
Status |
| Cementitious Materials |
| Performance-specified cements |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Available |
| Next-generation sustainable cements |
Yes |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Under development |
| Eco-friendly cements |
Yes |
N/A |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Under development |
| Energetically modified cement |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Available |
| Concrete Materials |
| Engineered cement composites |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
N/A |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Titanium dioxide - modified concrete |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Available |
| Pervious concrete |
Yes |
No |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Self-consolidating concrete |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Sulfur concrete |
Yes |
NA |
NA |
Yes |
N/A |
NA |
Available |
| Autoclaved aerated concrete |
Yes |
NA |
NA |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Geopolymer concrete |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
Under development |
| Hydrophobic concrete |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Ductile concrete |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Asphalt Binder Materials |
| Sulfur-extended asphalt |
Yes |
N/A |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
Available |
| Bio-derived asphalt binders |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
Under development |
| High modified asphalt binders |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Available |
| Asphalt Concrete Materials |
| Warm asphalt mixtures |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Available |
| Perpetual asphalt pavements |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Available |
| Porous asphalt pavement |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Available |
| Recycled asphalt shingles |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Available |
| Metallic and Polymer Materials |
| Vitreous ceramic coatings for reinforcing steel |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
No |
Under development |
| Fiber-reinforced polymer bars for continuously reinforced concrete pavements |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
NA |
Possibly |
No |
Available |
| Fiber-reinforced polymer dowel bars |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
NA |
Possibly |
No |
Available |
| Zinc-clad dowel bars |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
No |
Available |
| Microcomposite steel for dowels and tie bars |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
No |
Available |
| Aggregate Materials |
| Synthetic aggregates |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Available |
| Manufactured aggregates using captured CO2 |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
Under development |
| Materials that allow internal concrete curing |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Other Materials |
| Ultra-thin bonded wearing course |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Advanced curing material |
Yes |
No |
NA |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Workability-retaining admixture |
No |
No |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
| Concrete surface sealers |
No |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Yes |
NA |
Available |
NA = information not available
