Abstract:
New-age (Nano) Modified Emulsions (NME) for stabilising marginal materials used in the
upper-pavement layers of roads have been proven in laboratories, through accelerated pavement tests
(APT) in the field as well as in practice. In addition, materials design methods have been developed
based on the scientific analysis of granular material mineralogy and the chemical interaction with
the binder to design a material-compatible anionic NME stabilising agent for naturally available
(often marginal) materials. However, any new disruptive technology that is introduced into a
traditionally well-established industry, such as the road construction industry, is usually associated
with considerable resistance. This is especially relevant when the new technology enables the use
of granular materials traditionally considered to be of an unacceptable quality in combination with
relatively new concepts such as an anionic NME stabilising agent. In practice, few road construction
projects are without problems. New technologies are obviously easy targets to blame for any nonrelated
problems that may arise during construction. In this article, we aim to assist in pre-empting,
recognising, preventing, and resolving material or non-material related construction problems by
correctly identifying the cause of the problems and recommending the best, most cost-effective ways
to correct any deficiencies on site.
