The present paper presents the rutting evaluation of different asphalt mixtures in use in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost-region, through the uniaxial repeated load test and the monitoring of mixtures performance in field, culminating in a criteria proposal for the parameter Flow Number depending on traffic. For this, five distinct asphalt binders were studied, five grain size distributions, three warm mixtures and 21 hot mixes, with different mineralogical types of aggregates, and 15 monitored test sites distributed geographically throughout the state. The results indicated that the binder modifications were the most influential characteristics in the asphalt mixtures rutting. Also, it was verified that the Flow Number criteria proposed so far in the country present significant differences. In this way, a new criterion was suggested, and it is possible to infer a good applicability for asphalt concretes, except for warm mixes and those with rubber binder.

Asphalt pavement failure is directly related to the traffic and climate effects. Temperature and moisture severely impact pavement service life. It is known that moisture changes the stiffness and stress–strain distribution and all the mechanical behaviors of the mixture/structure. There is a huge interest in studying the impact of water on the behavior of flexible pavements, mainly on freeze–thaw regions under tropical climates with high rainfall levels. The scope of the present paper was to check the susceptibility to moisture-induced damage of dense asphalt mixes produced and applied on highways in Brazil’s southernmost region using different laboratory tests: visual adhesion of coarse aggregate; tensile strength ratio (TSR), and dynamic modulus ratio (DMR). Thus, this study evaluated the morphological, chemical, and mineralogical properties of aggregates from 11 quarries, as well as the interaction between aggregates and the respective bituminous binders. Rocks with high Si contents performed worse in visual adhesiveness tests; chemical ratios such as Fe/Si above 1 and Ca/K above 5, as well as the rougher texture of aggregates, considerably improved the coating, reducing the failures in adhesion. Results of TSR and DMR, after applying the induced moisture damage cycle, indicated greater susceptibility to conventional binders than mixtures containing modified binders in their composition. The action of moisture damage for most mixtures caused a reduction in strength and stiffness, warning of a decrease in the binder’s ability within the mixture, completely changing the distribution of efforts within the structure. Therefore, from this study, it is possible to suggest using DMR instead of TSR to assess susceptibility to moisture damage.

This study aims to evaluate the fatigue phenomenon in recycled hot asphalt mixture for an asphalt surface layer. Eight mixtures were evaluated in the laboratory, and the samples were divided into two major groups: four mixtures containing neat binder and RAP from source 1 (RAP with neat binder) and four mixtures containing SBS-modified binder and RAP from source 2 (RAP with SBS-modified binder). The levels of RAP incorporation were 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% in relation to the total weight of the mixtures. The mixtures followed the Marshall mix design methodology. The results indicate that mixtures with polymer-modified binder presented better performance, whereas the addition of RAP slightly decreased the resistance to fatigue cracking. In terms of economic analysis, the use of RAP, for all cases, leads to a reduction in production costs due to the reduction of the binder and aggregate added, with savings of up to 14.1% in the case of 30% of RAP for the SBS binder. When evaluating the economic impact of inserting RAP and its relationship with fatigue performance in the long term, it can be observed that the type of binder added impacts the results: mixtures with SBS binder present economic gains within acceptable quality parameters up to 30% RAP insertion; for mixtures with neat binder, the percentage of up to 10% RAP is advantageous.

For the consideration of climate in paving projects, climate data with adequate quality and availability are required. In the Brazilian context, the current practice is to use data measured at the surface meteorological stations of the National Institute of Meteorology (INMET). Another possibility is to use data from reanalyses such as NASA POWER, which has an extensive database and excellent spatial coverage. Thus, this study aims to perform statistical comparisons between NASA POWER climate data and those measured by INMET in different locations in Brazil, to understand and quantify their respective differences and support future analyses regarding the use of NASA POWER reanalysis in projects related to the paving area. For this analysis, hourly climate data of air temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, precipitation, and humidity were considered and evaluated using statistical indices. Based on the analysis of 476 locations in Brazil, in general, the findings indicated that the air temperature, humidity, and solar radiation data from the NASA POWER reanalysis revealed good agreement with the data measured by INMET. However, hourly wind speed and precipitation data from NASA POWER did not show good agreement with the data measured by INMET. The climate data from the NASA POWER reanalysis have great potential for use in future paving projects in the country, mainly in regions with few ground meteorological stations (e.g., the North region). However, it is important to validate its use through pavement performance simulations, especially due to discrepancies in hourly wind speed data.