Moisture damage is a major problem for asphalt concrete pavements.
Water-induced damage of asphalt mixtures produces serious distress, reduces
performance and increases maintenance cost of pavements. Moisture-induced
damage produces several forms of distress, including localized bleeding,
rutting, shoving and ultimately complete failure as a result of permanent
deformations and cracking. This damage occurs because of stripping of
asphalt from aggregate. Stripping is primarily an aggregate problem, but the
type of asphalt is also important. Thus it is important to evaluate both asphalt
and aggregate to be used in the mixtures.
Many countries lie close to seashore. The roads ofthese countries
have a major problem because they are subjected to seawater and other
weathering conditions. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to
study the major effect of seawater on the mechanical properties of asphaltic
mixtures. Also, a comparison was made between the effect of tap water and
seawater on these properties. In this research Marshall -, indirect tensile
strength-, and vacuum saturation tests were used under different states of
curing.
The study and analysis of the tests results reveals that the seawater had
serious effects on the mechanical properties of dense - graded asphaltic
mixtures than tap water. Also, it can be concluded that roads subjected to the
seawater should receive more c6mpactive effort than others roads.