For the first time, a highway in the State of Mato Grosso receives high performance pavement using recyclable material

As of Tuesday (11th), highway BR-364 test tracks with warm mixes and milled asphalt were implemented. 

An asphalt compound specifically designed to meet the characteristics of BR-163/364 in Mato Grosso is to be tested in the restoration process of BR-364 highway. The works begin this Tuesday (February 11th), and for the first time a State highway has a recycled product in the paving process. The stage is part of the research project “Utilization of Asphalt Pavement Waste (RAP) in regions of high temperature and heavy traffic”, carried out by Rota do Oeste in partnership with the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT).

The new aspect of the product being tested is the utilization of milled asphalt, a surface material removed from roads during the pavement recovery process, which was previously discarded. During Rota do Oeste’s and UFMT’s study, it was found that it is possible to include up to 30% of the material already used in new asphalt masses, ensuring economy of aggregate and binder materials, while maintaining the same quality, performance and durability of the highway.

The material was developed exclusively to meet the needs of BR-163/364 highway, which has intense heavy vehicle traffic throughout the year, with increased vehicle traffic during the harvest season (from January to March) and still suffers the impacts caused by the climatic characteristics of the Midwest region, with well-defined seasons divided between heat and heavy rainfall.

Now, the team starts the third stage of the research, which is validated by the Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres – ANTT (National Land Transport Agency). The study was carried out at the Concessionaire’s pavement technological control laboratory located at Rota do Oeste headquarters, and received students and professors from the UFMT’s Transport Engineering program. The final objective is to apply the technology in future implementation and restoration works on the entire stretch under the BR-163 concession, which runs from Itiquira (km 0) to Sinop (km 855).

“The Rota do Oeste project is very important, because we can implement the action in our State. We are going to work on the experimental sections to test in practice, what we have already verified in the laboratory. Up to this date, we did not have a noble destination for this waste, and this is the opportunity to change this scenario”, explains Luiz Miranda, professor of Transport Engineering at UFMT.

Rheno Tormin, the Concessionaire’s Engineering Coordinator, says that before being reused, the milled material goes through the processing and characterization processes. “The material removed comes in large blocks, goes through the process of drying, sieving, homogenization, and determination of granulometry, density and binder content,” he says.

“This research has three biases that add up. I feel fortunate for being part of it. For UFMT, this has been an opportunity for knowledge transmission, we observe a current reality and we have something that is passed on to the students. Their formation, after this partnership, is much superior to what we have been doing,” says Miranda.

Regis de Bel, professor of Transport Engineering at UFMT, also considers the action a gain: “This research, which is cutting-edge, is important for everyone, because we are talking about recycling asphalt paving. I believe it is extremely important for UFMT, as students can get involved through the internship program, generating knowledge, which is applied in the classroom, in the paving course”, he says.

João Paulo Vitoriano, person in charge for the industrial plant in MT Sul, company responsible for preparing the asphalt to be applied in the test, said that he has already worked with recycled material before outside Mato Grosso, but he states that “with such an amplified study, it is the first time”. He considers that the Concessionaire is a pioneer in the matter and he believes that the result can be satisfactory in all aspects. “I cannot classify the biggest gain, both are important. Every percentage of the process that ceases to use raw material to reuse something that would be discarded, is already a gain, both for the economy and the environment,” he says.

Click on the link to see more details about the agreement between Rota do Oeste and UFMT.