Ask:
How could asphalt longevity be improved to prevent weathering? Could maintenance be done in a way that is more sustainable and reduces the need for future maintenance?
Imagine:
By creating different compositions of aggregates the longevity of the initial asphalt could be improved and by altering the time allotted for settling we will be able to improve the quality of the maintenance done so that less needs to be done in the future.
Plan:
We will visit an asphalt plant that contains a lab and the ability to create asphalt. We will test and create asphalt at the plant. Different types of metallic materials will be tested to discover which will make asphalt the strongest.
Create:
We acquired materials and aggregates from our visit to the industrial asphalt plant. We are making a theoretical asphalt mixture using the aggregate from the plant. This asphalt is a hybrid between a surface and intermediate road mixes. The mixture will be placed into a can and mixed. See what we created on the artifact construction page.
Improve:
To improve our project, we could have accessed the furnaces and rollers at the plant to physically make the completed theoretical asphalt with the binder to be tested on the road. We could have had exact measurements of each individual part of the aggregate using sieves.