Performance of pavements incorporating industrial byproducts: A state-of-the-art study

Pavements are one of the most energy-intensive infrastructure assets that depend on non-renewable natural resources. Against the background of restrictions on landfill disposal, the increased use of alternative materials such as industrial byproducts in pavement construction has gained great attention from academic and industrial sectors. However, comprehensive research covering various aspects of pavements incorporating different byproducts is lacking. The main purpose of this state-of-the-art study is to bridge this gap via the analysis of the performance of pavements incorporating two types of byproducts, blast furnace slag, and fly ash, from the perspectives of structural performance, energy saving potential, and greenhouse gas emission reduction at various phases of pavement life. Therefore, the contents of 150 published documents, including research papers, theses, and academic and industrial reports published over a span of 49 years (1968-201.7) were analyzed. The major findings indicated that incorporation of the byproducts may have positive or negative consequences in various phases of pavement life. However, the new pavements are advantageous from the viewpoint of raw material processing because of low consumption of raw materials and pertinent environmental footprints. In addition, several scenarios are proposed for ranking the alternative materials on the basis of the technical and environmental requirements for a paving project; these scenarios can be useful for the preliminary selection of alternative materials. Finally, some gaps are highlighted for future research. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.