The Performance of Asphalt Concrete Wearing Course Mix using De-οiled Bleaching Earth as Filler reviewed from Marshall Parameters

Road construction is essential to support connectivity, mobility, and economic growth. However, road construction can raise economic, social, and environmental issues. Many attempts have been made to develop the concept of sustainable road construction and to minimize environmental impacts by utilizing various materials. This work studies the incorporation of De-Oiled Bleaching Earth (DBE) as a filler into the Asphalt Concrete Wearing Course (AC-WC) mixture. The research objectives were first to analyze the characteristics of the ingredients that make up the AC-WC mixture and second to analyze the performance of AC-WC with DBE as a filler in terms of Marshall parameters. The results revealed that AC-WC with 10% DBE complied with the standard requirements. The highest stability was obtained with 10% DBE content, and the lowest was obtained with 90% DBE. The overall flow values of the specimens met the standards, except for the DBE content of 70% and 100%. The VIM values of the 0% and 10% DBE specimens were 4.76 and 4.87%, respectively, which met the specification standard of 3-5%. All samples exhibited VMA values ≥ 15% in accordance with the specifications. VFA values that met the specifications of ≥ 65% were obtained for DBE levels of 0, 10, 20, and 40%. MQ values that fulfilled the specification of ≥ 250 kg/mm were achieved for 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, and 90% DBE. Thus, DBE can be used as a filler material in AC-WC mixtures for environmentally friendly road construction. The optimum content of DBE in the AC-WC mixtures was found to be 10%.