This synthesis will be of interest to administrators and policy makers; pavement, material, geotechnical, and environmental engineers; and maintenance and construction professionals involved with highway design and construction issues. Information is provided on the technical, economic, and environmental aspects (including legislative and regulatory considerations) of recycling and using waste materials and by-products in highway construction. The quantities, characteristics, possible uses, current and past research activities, and actual highway construction use of each waste material or by-product is provided. This information, based on a review of nearly 1,000 references and on responses to a 1991 survey (updated in 1993), is classified into four broad categories based on source: agricultural, domestic, industrial, and mineral wastes. A Technical Appendix to this document containing an extensive bibliography, supporting information, and details regarding the use of selected waste materials and by-products is available separately from the Transportation Research Board.

This text considers the extent to which waste materials and industrial by-products can be used in road construction projects in place of the natural materials traditionally used. It brings together a listing of all the available waste material products, and explores their potential as both technical and economical alternatives to natural materials.

With the landfill tax and the introduction of a tax on the use of primary aggregates, increasing financial pressure is now being exerted on highway engineers to provide the most economic alternatives to naturally-occurring roadmaking materials. Alternative materials in road construction: Second edition, provides practical guidance in the selection of substitute materials, including the economic and technical considerations of their use and advice on the benefits and pitfalls of each material. This fully revised second edition includes: Extensively re-written and updated sections on classification and sources Specifications of road making materials and environmental and economic considerations Enlarged sections on construction and demolition wastes to take account of the increasing concern at the depletion of natural resources and the much greater emphasis on recycling A new chapter on Government and EC Policy with respect to environmental damage and recycling Alternative materials in road construction: Second edition is divided into three parts. Part 1 discusses the demand and requirements of road making materials and the specifications that they have to meet if they are to give sa