USE OF WASTE PLASTIC BAGS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTSMANDEEP KAUR, HUMAIB NASIR AND INSHA WANIAbstract Bitumen is considered as one of the widely accepted binder for the construction of pavements apart from being available in various grades on the basis of its penetration values. Now a days due to increase in intensity of vehicles moving on roads apart from the varying temperature depending on everyday temperature or season wise, which require improvement in pavement properties, thereby concluding that improvement in properties of binder material is required. In todayâs scenario of rapid industrialization and production of goods on large scale, availability of plastics and plastic wastes have are gigantic as plastics have become important part of daily domestic life. Daily plastic wastes generated from various sources get either mixed with municipal solid waste or are thrown over large area. Thereby raising its need for recycling, if not recycled it is either dumped in landfills else burnt in incinerators which in turn deteriorate environment on large scale. Considering this fact, there is need to devise an alternative way for use of waste plastics to decrease their impact. Plastic wastes which consist of plastic bags and other used plastic such as pouches, tents can be used to coat aggregate and this stone which has been coated can be used for flexible pavement construction. The waste polymer blend can be prepared which when mixed with aggregates and used for pavement construction shows very high strength thereby not only improving binder properties but also decreasing the impact and quantity of plastic wastes on environment. This research work investigates how plastic waste bags can be used in bitumen mixes and used for construction of flexible pavements. An attempt is made to study the effect that plastic wastes can have on the properties of bitumen in which it is mixed by performing all required tests on bitumen and thereby devising a proper proportion in which plastic waste can be mixed with bitumen in an efficient and sustainable manner. |