The development of vehicle transport, causing increased numbers of vehicles and road users as well as increased loads acting on the pavement, has a negative impact on its durability within the intended life cycle. A major part of Polish road network has severely deteriorated and requires that immediate measures be undertaken to improve the safety and comfort of users. Cold In-place Recycling with Foamed Bitumen (CIR-FB) technology uses 100% of reclaimed material by converting distressed layers into new materials for the stabilization of the subgrade and/or base courses without the need to demolish, haul and manage them. This paper presents a proposal of the reconstruction of the pavement of a road section localized in central Poland (świętokrzyskie province) using traditional and alternative materials. Cost effectiveness and ecological effectiveness of proposed technologies were compared taking into account variable load bearing capacity of the subgrade (frequent in linear construction projects), resulting from its non-uniformity. In the case analysed, due to the presence of various sands (including sand dust and same uniformly graded sand of poor compactibility), the pavement durability was estimated based on the assumption of 50MPa and 80MPa subgrade bearing capacity. It was demonstrated that, considering economy and ecology, the replacement of standard solutions based on new materials by the CIR-FB materials is the most effective way of road reconstruction with its long service life maintained

The paper presents the results of exploratory research on the use of reclaimed cement concrete in cold-recycled mixes with foamed bitumen. Because reclaimed cement concrete, unlike natural aggregates, is expected to have a residue of the non-hydrated cement covering the aggregate grains, which may result in a secondary cementation process after its application in a road base, this avenue was explored by tracking the time evolution of the compressive strength of the final material. The tests were performed using two mixtures, i.e., a reference mixture and a mixture containing 25% reclaimed cement concrete. The mixtures containing reclaimed cement concrete were characterized by increased uniaxial compressive strengths after each curing period (3, 4, 7, 14 and 28 days)—by 11.5 kPa on average and e.g., 498 kPa vs. 506 kPa after 28 days. The obtained differences between the mixtures were not found to be statistically significant. The small effects of the incorporation of reclaimed cement concrete were attributed to the time passed typically between the demolition and new pavement construction and to the presence of a second binding material—bitumen.

The present study investigates the effects of different compaction methods on the properties of roller-compacted concrete (RCC) used for road pavements. The study focuses on comparing the Proctor compaction method utilizing different compaction efforts and molds (2.5 kg rammer with three layers of 56 blows and 4.5 kg with three and five layers of 56 blows, cylindrical and cube molds) with a slab compactor in static and vibratory setting. The samples produced in a slab compactor were obtained by drilling from the prepared slab. The evaluated properties of the samples included compressive strength and bulk density. The study involved a C25/30 concrete with the intention to be used in low volume roads according to national standards. The study concluded that the utilization of Proctor compaction and slab compactor with vibratory setting provided similar levels of strength performance of the RCC mixture, regardless of the shape of the Proctor compacted samples. In terms of the bulk densities, the main differentiating factor in the case of Proctor compaction was the weight of the rammer. The compressive strength of the samples was also strongly related to their bulk densities.

The recycled crushed concrete (RCC) unlike the natural aggregates, has a residue of the unhydrated Portland cement (PC) covering the aggregate grains, which may result in a secondary cementation process after its application in a road base. The paper presents the results of exploratory research on the phenomenon of the secondary setting of Portland cement in recycled crushed concrete aggregates in cold-recycled mixes with foamed bitumen (FB). The tests were performed using two mixtures, i.e. Mix-FB_REF reference mixture without the addition of RCC, and Mix-FB_RCC research mix containing 25% of RCC. The composition of mineral mixtures with foamed bitumen was designed using typical recycled materials, used as a part of the road repair works of pavements, i.e. Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP), Reclaimed Aggregates (RA) and new aggregates (NA). All mineral materials used in the tests met the requirements in terms of suitability for the foamed bitumen cold-recycled mixtures, intended for basecourse. The total amount of the bituminous binder in the Mix-FB mix was 5.5%. To assess the phenomenon of the secondary setting of Portland cement contained in the recycled concrete, tests were conducted to evaluate the increase of the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) in time of the material. The strength of UCS samples of Mix-FB_REF and MixFB_RCC mixtures was determined after 3, 4, 7, 14 and 28 days of conditioning. The tests showed that the value of the analysed parameter in the reference mixture increased by about 180 kPa with time, whereas for the mixture containing the concrete recycled aggregate the difference was virtually unnoticeable (only by 6 kPa). The obtained test results were subjected to the statistical analysis, which showed that for each of the considered sample conditioning periods, no statistically significant differences between the strength values of unconfined compression of the tested mixtures were found. The presence of bituminous binder in basecourse cold-recycled mixtures, (old, with RAP and new, in foamed form) yields the bituminous binding dominant over the effects of PC binding, therefore minimizing the effects of the secondary Portland cement setting.

Modernizing municipal roads requires rehabilitation strategies that ensure adequate structural performance while reducing environmental and economic burdens. Although cold in-place recycling with foamed bitumen (CIR-FB) has been widely investigated, integrated assessments combining mechanistic–empirical modeling with LCA and LCCA remain limited—particularly for municipal roads in Central and Eastern Europe, where reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) quality, climatic conditions and budget constraints differ from commonly studied regions. This study compares two reconstruction variants for a 1 km road section: a conventional design using virgin materials (V₁-N) and a recycling-based alternative (V2-Rc) incorporating RAP from the existing wearing and binder layers and reclaimed aggregate (RA) from the existing base. CIR-FB mixture testing (stiffness ≈ 5.25 GPa; foamed bitumen = 2.5%, cement = 2.0%) was integrated into mechanistic–empirical fatigue analysis, material-flow quantification, LCA and LCCA. The V₂-Rc variant achieved a 3–21-fold increase in fatigue life compared to V₁-N at equal thickness. Material demand decreased by approximately 27%, demolition waste by approximately 39%, and approximately 92% of the existing pavement was reused in situ. Transport work was reduced five-fold (veh-km) and more than six-fold (t-km). LCA showed a 15.9% reduction in CO₂-eq emissions, while LCCA indicated approximately 19% lower construction cost, with advantages remaining robust under ±20% sensitivity. The results demonstrate that CIR-FB, when supported by proper RAP/RA characterization, can substantially improve structural, environmental and economic performance in municipal road rehabilitation.

Hot- and cold-applied joint sealants are materials commonly used for the surface repairs of the upper layers of asphalt or concrete road surfaces. Our investigations covered six hot-applied joint sealants, classified as the high-extension type N1 (elastic) or low-extension type N2 (normal), in accordance with the standard EN 14188-1; the sealants were obtained commercially from four European manufacturers. The present paper focuses on the characterization of the consistency of the joint sealants, the bituminous binders that contain them, and the characterization of their insoluble components. Additional testing methods included an FTIR analysis of the sealants and the extracted binders, as well as SEM, EDS, and sieving analyses of the insoluble material. Joint sealants are complex formulations and include a broad range of base asphalt binders and other components. Their compositions may vary widely, while still fulfilling the performance specifications. Through the extraction of the solvents and the separation of the crack sealants, it was found that radically different compositions of crack sealants resulted in the comparatively similar performance of the tested material. The EDS and FTIR analysis methods provided insights into the composition of the crack sealants and the types of mineral materials used.