IJIRST –International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology| Volume 2 | Issue 12 | May 2016 ISSN (online): 2349-6010 All rights reserved by www.ijirst.org 376 Use of Modified Bitumen in Highway Construction Minakshi Singhal Yudhvir Yadav M. Tech Scholar Head of Department Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering CBS Group of Institutions, Jhajjar- Haryana (India) CBS Group of Institutions, Jhajjar- Haryana (India) Ranadip Mandal Assistant Professor Department of Civil Engineering CBS Group of Institutions, Jhajjar- Haryana (India) Abstract In India, flexible pavements with bituminous surfaces are widely used. Due to increased traffic intensity of roads, overloading of commercial vehicles and temperature variation of pavements due to climatic changes leads to formation of various distresses like rutting, shoving, bleeding, cracking and potholing of bituminous surfacing. Due to high temperature, bitumen becomes very soft in summer and brittle in winter. Also, in a developing country like India, roadway construction is taking place at a very high pace which require large demand of construction material that too eco-friendly and economical. Several Studies have revealed that properties of bitumen and bituminous mixes can be improved/ modified with addition of certain additives and the bitumen premixed with these additives/modifiers is known as “modified bitumen”. The present study aims for use of modified bitumen by using plastic waste for road construction. The paper includes details of literature and methodology of using modifiers in bitumen and aims to provide highway construction in a eco-friendly and economical way. The modified bitumen mix shows better binding property, stability, density and more resistant to water. Keywords: Modified Bitumen, Marshall Stability Test, SDBC, CRMB _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I. INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction India is having second largest road network of over 4.6 lakh KM in the world. Due to extreme climatic conditions, growth of traffic and increasing maintenance expenditure on roads in India there is a necessity to develop sustainable technologies and economical road construction. In recent years cost of bitumen in India has raised very rapidly due to hike in the crude oil price. As highway construction involves huge sum of money, appropriate engineering design and use of waste material in construction of highways may save considerable cost. It should be noted that major portion of highway in India is flexible. Several studies have shown that permanent deformation within flexible pavement is usually confined to the top 100 to 150 mm of the pavement also known as surface course. In the construction of flexible pavements, bitumen plays the role of binding the aggregate together by coating over the aggregate. It also helps to improve the strength of the road. But its resistance towards water is poor. Anti-stripping agents are being used. Road surface with neat bitumen can cause bleeding in hot climate, may develop cracks in cold climate, possess fewer loads bearing capacity and can cause serious damages because of higher axle load in present conditions due to rapid infrastructure development. A common method to improve the quality of bitumen is by modifying the rheological properties of bitumen by blending with organic synthetic polymers like rubber and plastics. Plastics are user friendly but not eco-friendly as they are non-biodegradable generally, it is disposed by way of land filling or incineration of materials which are hazardous. Also, Use of plastic bags in road help in many ways like Easy disposal of waste, better road and prevention of pollution and so on. The better binding property of plastics in its molten state has helped in finding out a method of safe disposal of waste plastics. Polymer bitumen blend is a better binder compared to plain bitumen. Blend has increased Softening point and decreased Penetration value with a suitable ductility. When it used for road construction it can withstand higher temperature and load. The coating of plastics reduces the porosity, absorption of moisture and improves soundness. The polymer coated aggregate bitumen mix forms better material for flexible pavement construction as the mix shows higher Marshall Stability value and suitable Marshall Coefficient. Studies on this subject are going on both at national and international level. This Concept of Utilization of Waste Plastic in Bituminous Mixes for Road Construction has been done since 2000 in India. India has to raise transportation system to a higher level both in terms of length and quality. This study presents the use of waste in hot bituminous mixes to enhance pavement performance, protect environment and provide low cost roads.