Recent trends in surface paving solutions

Abstract

Road pavements are changing to cope with the novel needs of required functional characteristics and reduced impacts in terms of construction and service life externalities. In particular, new paving solutions are targeting, like other construction approaches, the fulfilment of one or more Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among them the Sustainable cities and communities one. The main trends of the post-COVID era are still made fluid by the uncertainties of the on-going geo-political crisis, but the focus on sustainability and recycling are still of main concern across Europe and beyond. In the light of the above, the proposed talk will identify some recent tested technologies and techniques that include the use of larger and larger quantities of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavements in new constructions and maintenance works and the construction of functional pavements contributing to the reduction of noise emissions and the mitigation of the impermeabilization of public surfaces that is typical of traditional road pavements. Examples of experimental applications and laboratory/in situ assessment of their effectiveness will be presented and discussed, showing the feasibility of solutions that have high Technological Readiness Level.