Road Construction Using Plastic Waste

Road Construction Using Plastic Waste 1
ROAD CONSTRUCTION USING PLASTIC WASTE
A Research Paper on Construction By
Student’s Name
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Institutional Affiliation
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................2
Aim and Objectives..................................................................................................................................3
Definition of Key Concepts......................................................................................................................3
Background..............................................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.........................................................................................................................5
Primary Research.....................................................................................................................................6
Case Study...........................................................................................................................................6
Basic process.......................................................................................................................................6
Wet Process.........................................................................................................................................7
Dry Process..........................................................................................................................................9
Interviews............................................................................................................................................9
Secondary Research...........................................................................................................................10
LITERATURE REVIEW..................................................................................................................................10
PROJECT ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................................12
PROJECT REFLECTION................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................16
BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................................................17
APPENDIX..................................................................................................................................................19

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INTRODUCTION
This research paper is a project proposal for the road construction using plastic waste
which is made entirely by the composites of plastics or plastic wastes. The growth in population,
technological, consumerism, and industrialization development have resulted in the uncontrolled
plastic waste accumulation. Proper disposal of waste is of great significance in both urban and
rural regions. This paper proposes the suitability of the plastic waste materials for the
construction of roads. The rate of plastic waste production has tremendously increased in
numerous countries globally in the past few decades. The amount of accumulating waste have
led to the problems with the disposal. The conventional methods of waste disposal have been
proved to be inefficient and hence there is a need of coming up with better ways of handling
these wastes.
The application of plastic wastes in the construction of roads is not something new in the
construction industries. Recent researches have proved that there are some hopes in terms of the
application of plastic waste in the construction of roads which are commonly referred to as
plastic roads. The plastic roads are expected to use the PET bottles, disposable cups, and carry
bags which are collected from disposal sites such as garbage sites and used as ingredients of the
construction materials. When the plastic wastes are mixed with bitumen, the plastics melt and
form an oily coat on top of the aggregate and the mixture is then placed on the surface of the
road like an ordinary tar during road construction.
Aim and Objectives
The main aim of this research paper is to propose the use of the plastic waste in the construction
of roads to replace the commonly used conventional bitumen so as to improve the mechanical
characteristics of the road and also reduce the disposal of waste plastics in the environment. The
research also seeks to review how the waste plastics can be modified together with bitumen so as

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to attain a more water resistant road surface, high density, stability, and better binding property.
The paper also seeks to develop the techniques that can be used during the application of plastic
wastes in the roads constriction (Aalbers, 2009).
Definition of Key Concepts
The key concepts involved in the proposal of the application of plastic waste in the
construction of roads include the plastic wastes, bitumen, plastic roads, aggregates, mechanical
characteristics, and bitumen-plastic-aggregates mixture. The plastic roads are roads that are made
entirely of plastic composites or plastic materials and are much different from the ordinary roads
which are normally made of asphalt and mineral aggregates. Bitumen is a composite material
and acts as a binding agent for the aggregates in the bituminous mixtures. Plastic wastes are non-
biodegradable materials which form the greatest percentage of the disposed of plastic wastes.
Plastics are materials with a single or more organic polymer of huge molecular weights and can
be categorized into thermoplastics, elastomers, and thermosets (Ahmed, 2009).
Background
More than 7.2 million tonnes of waste materials are generated and then disposed into the
environment yearly making the disposal of waste to be a major problem since approximately one
kilometre of the load is needed for the purposes of waste disposal yearly. Industries also dispose
of more than 150 million tonnes of waste materials that are hazardous yearly which are majorly
disposed of in an open section of the environment. Plastic wastes are one of the major
components of the solid waste which are disposed and available abundantly without proper
treatment. There has been an exponential increase in the municipal plastic wastes especially in
urban sectors which have been to the deterioration of the landscape beauty of these regions
(CHAKROBORTY, 2017).

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Majority of the current roads have the bituminous base and granular base. The large-scale
production of plastics seems to be the cheapest and effective raw materials in the road
construction due to the industrial revolution. Currently, all the vital sectors in the economy
beginning with communication, building construction, electrical, electronics, automobile,
packaging, and agriculture have revolutionized through the application of plastic materials.
Plastic is a material that is non-biodegradable and has been proved to have the ability to remain
on the surface of the ground for over 4500 years without being degraded. The plastic materials
also cause health hazards when improperly disposed into the environment after being used
(Chandra, 2012).
There have been numerous researches which seek to investigate the application of waste
plastics in the road construction since the plastic roads have been proved to be better compared
to the ordinary bitumen. The researches have proved that when the waste plastics are used in
coating the aggregates of the bituminous mixture, their results show better performance
characteristics. The application of plastic waste helps in the improvement of the slip resistance
and abrasion of the road surface substantially and also enables satisfaction in the slipping tensile
strength of the mixture (Davim, 2014).
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This section explains the research methods of the proposed plastic waste in the road
construction. The methodology is the collected system within which the theories upon which the
research is conducted or research is conducted. The chapter in addition to evaluating the
strategies of the research also clarifies the selection of the researchers to progress his studies by
descriptive case study. It is also to find out among others by interviewing and observing the
application of plastic waste in the road construction. Further, the research seeks to explain the

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circumstances why the conventional road construction methods are still common despite the
availability of plastic raw materials and also the costly nature of bituminous substances (Davim,
2014).
By this, the researchers strive to unravel evidence as a supplement to theory-based
practice. The case study is expected to illuminate the real-life circumstances which in itself can
offer leads to further theories. The chapter further summaries the techniques of data collection,
research approach, method, and strategies. There are three methodologies that can be used in this
research on the application of plastic waste in the road construction experimentally, these
methodologies include the dry process, basic process, and wet process (Development, 2013).
Primary Research
Case Study
There have been numerous experiments conducted to investigate the possibilities of using
the plastic waste materials in the construction of roads. According to the researchers who
performed these experiments, the waste plastics are the major problems facing any economy and
also the deterioration of road quality was noted to be of great concern. The increased number of
road users and the poor quality of construction materials can also be the reason for them to
conduct the research. In the investigations, the autoclaved plastic waste in the form of shredded
syringes was used and then prepared with the traditional mixture of bitumen. Better performance
was noted for the case of asphalt concrete after conducting the loss of stability test and stability
test and the conclusion made was that the waste plastics can be used as binder materials
effectively in the construction of roads (Dhir, 2010). The following are some of the processes
that can be adopted during the experimental setup to investigate the application of plastic waste
in road construction: