The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has the largest amount of foamed bitumen stabilised pavements in Australia. Since 1997, nearly 1000km of existing pavements from state-controlled roads in Queensland have been rehabilitated using this technique which can be performed using two methods; insitu – using existing material or exsitu – manufactured through a pugmill and transported to site.
Since 2012, TMR has been developing the Plant-Mixed Foamed Bitumen (PMFB) stabilisation technique for pavement base materials, in consultation with the Australian stabilisation industry. In recent years PMFB has been used in the construction of new pavements and rehabilitating a growing number of council roads and airports across the country. The technique has provided a more flexible and fatigue resistant stabilisation treatment suitable for Queensland conditions. Several projects have been constructed using this PMFB technique. Performance of this treatment to date has been encouraging.
Provided that proper investigations, optimum mix designs and quality control in construction is carried out, superior long-term performance and lower maintenance cost are possible using the foamed bitumen stabilisation technique, as compared to other more conventional stabilisation treatments. The aim of this presentation is to highlight the benefits of the PMFB treatment and to showcase some of the recent foamed bitumen projects across Queensland.
