This research aims to evaluate the potential environmental impact of epoxy-modified asphalt used as a pavement material for roadways in the Netherlands and identify what determines the environmental performance of the epoxy asphalt technology through life cycle assessment. Results indicated that the incor-poration of epoxy binder in asphalt could lead to significantly lower environmental impact than the unmodi-fied asphalt. Such benefits are attributed by the minimal maintenance interventions of a pavement with epoxy and their remarkably higher service life over the analysis period. Finally, although the initial price of epoxy-modified asphalt production and construction was substantially higher than of standard asphalt mixtures, the overall score of epoxy-modified asphalt pavement in all weight scenarios was lower than that of the reference structures reflecting the sustainability benefits of using this technology for roadway pavements.@en

Epoxy asphalt attracted the attention of road authorities in many countries as a solution for du-rable open-graded porous asphalt (OGPA) surface layers with enhanced longevity. Nevertheless, the recycla-bility of aged epoxy asphalt materials has not been thoroughly studied yet. This research presents an experi-mental program conducted in the laboratory to assess the potential recyclability of epoxy-modified open-graded porous asphalt (EMOGPA) mixes. Results indicate that the aging increased the tensile strength of studied mixes, with the strength and strength development rate of aging EMOGPA mixes to be almost identi-cal to standard OGPA mixes. The EMOGPA mixes have shown higher resistance against water damage than the OGPA mixes supporting the claim that the stone-mastic adhesion is improved with the use of epoxy bind-er. It was also proven that the aged material containing the epoxy binder could be re-melted to produce new pavement materials. The new EMOGPA mixes with the recycled epoxy material exhibited similar durability characteristics with the recycled standard OGPA mixes.@en

The rejuvenation of epoxy modified bituminous binders is a topic of much debate because such binders may not be able to melt at high temperatures and restore their properties using recycling agents. This paper presents the results of an experimental program developed to evaluate the re-usability of an epoxy modified bitumen, or epoxy bitumen, by using three recycling agents: an aromatic-based agent, an aliphatic-based agent, and a soft binder. The impact of these agents on the response of aged binders was assessed by performing analyses in a Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy and a Dynamic Shear Rheometer. Results indicated that diluting the epoxy binder with a base bitumen can be a feasible method for producing aging resistant binders of long curing time lengths. The most severely oxidized samples were blended with the recycling agents, and the aromatic agent has been proved as the most effective to recover the rheology of aged binders. Significant potential to recover the relaxation characteristics of epoxy bitumen has been demonstrated by using the soft binder. As a result, the epoxy bitumen has shown a similar ‘rejuvenation’ attribute with that of a conventional bitumen, and thus, it might be re-utilized through the standard asphalt recycling processes.@en

The addition of epoxy modifier in bitumen is a relatively new modification technology (1-4) and the most critical epoxy polymerization-induced changes of the epoxy-bituminous materials are not fully understood. Different phenomena take place when epoxy modifiers are incorporated into bitumen and they are dependent on the material hardening conditions. Temperature is one of the most crucial parameters that influences to the development of physical, chemical and mechanical characteristics at the early life (curing or chemical hardening - CH) (5-7) and long-term service (oxidative hardening - OH) (4) of epoxy-modified binders. For this reason, in-depth exploration of epoxy chemistry in bitumen is needed to understand the evolution of the properties of these binders in time. Within this framework, the chemical compounds and their reaction products generated under various conditions were studied to reveal the time dependency of molecular microstructures of modified binders. Special attention was given to the evaluation of physiochemical characteristics and the mechanical properties of epoxy-bituminous binders, concluding that the degree of CH and OH was dependent on the level of epoxy modification in bitumen. It was observed that the sulfoxide compounds are the most representative index for assessing the age hardening of epoxy-modified bitumens. Finally, the enhanced resistance against environmental aging in combination with the superior mechanical characteristics (i.e., higher tensile strength, flexibility and enhanced longevity) when the epoxy modification is implemented in bitumen promises a very effective technology for developing long-lasting pavement materials. @en