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In 1990, the Arizona Department of Transportation designed
and constructed a large scale Asphalt Rubber (AR) test project
in Flagstaff, Arizona on the very heavily traffiked Interstate
40. The purpose of the test project was to determine whether
a relatively thin overlay with AR could reduce reflective cracking.
Asphalt Rubber is a mixture of 80% hot paving grade asphalt and
20% ground tire rubber. This mixture is also commonly referred
to as the asphalt rubber wet process or McDonald process. The
overlay project was built on top of a very badly cracked concrete
pavement, which was in need of reconstruction. The asphalt rubber
overlay has performed beyond the original expectation. After
nine years of service the overlay is still virtually crack free,
with good ride, virtually no rutting or maintenance and good
skid resistance. The benefits of using asphalt rubber on this
project represents about $18 million dollars in construction
savings and four years less construction time. Strategic Highway
Research Program SPS-6 test sections built in conjunction with
the project further illustrate the very good performance of the
asphalt rubber. Results of this project have led to widespread
use of asphalt rubber hot mixes throughout Arizona. Based upon
this work over 3,333km (2,000 miles) of successfully performing
asphalt rubber pavements have built since 1990.
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