Abstract
Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) is a viable alternate to Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) for airport surfacing in Australia. Limited experience with this technology at Australian airports has prevented its acceptance by airport owners and their design engineers. WMA does have a significant track record in Europe and the USA, where it has been demonstrated to provide significant environmental, safety, quality and construction flexibility benefits. Differences in available binders and the Australian tendency for thinner asphalt layers and less capable materials, makes extrapolation of experience from Europe and the USA inappropriate.
The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the comparative performance of WMA (by foamed bitumen technology) to HMA as an airport surface layer. Comparison between HMA and WMA has been made during a number of projects at Australian airports since 2012. A formal trial was performed at RAAF Amberley, as part of a broader project, in 2013. A combination of production verification, quality assurance and a number of selected mix performance tests were used to make comparisons. Subject to ongoing monitoring and performance testing of the RAAF Amberley WMA trial section, WMA is now verified as a viable alternate surfacing material for Australian airport runways.