Strength and Durability Characteristics of Reclaimed Pavement Material Using Full Depth Reclamation (FDR) Technique

The flexible pavements in the lateritic terrain of Kerala, India, are often affected by the heavy monsoon rains, leading to the deterioration of roads. For such vulnerable low-volume roads, the application of the full depth reclamation (FDR) technique was noticed to be a cost-effective and environment-friendly technique that can improve the bearing capacity and reduce cracking in pavements. This technique stabilizes the deteriorated pavement with cement and chemical admixtures by reusing the existing pavement section material. In the current experimental study, an attempt was made to adopt FDR utilizing the Lateritic Reclaimed Pavement Material (RPM) collected from rural roads in Kerala to create a cement-treated base layer along with suitable accelerating admixture to acquire the target strength parameters and durability properties of the flexible pavement. The percentage of the admixture was fixed at 4% of cement, and the cement percentage was varied from 4 to 5% by weight of the RPM. The gradation, Atterberg limits, maximum dry density, and optimal moisture content of RPM were determined as per IS Codal provisions. Further, the RPM was mixed with varying cement percentages and admixtures to understand the improvement in strength and durability characteristics. The stabilized RPM was subjected to unconfined compressive strength, flexural strength, and durability test procedures under 7- and 28-day curing times. The results showed an improvement in compressive and flexural strength with curing time and were found to be highly durable with merely ~ 5% material loss at the end of the test.