SURVEY OF POROUS ASPHALT DAMAGE AND LIFE CYCLE COST ANALYSIS OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE SMA USE IN SNOWY COLD REGIONS

Abstract

 Hokkaido, a snowy cold region in Japan, has increasingly adopted porous asphalt roads since 2000. However, durability issues emerged shortly after their adoption, including localized damage and, more recently, potholes caused by melting snow. In this research, we first surveyed damage to porous asphalt on national highways in Hokkaido. The survey results indicated that porous asphalt may require repair within 10 years of public use, depending on environmental and traffic conditions associated with snowy cold regions. We also conducted a life cycle cost analysis to assess the benefits of using high-performance SMA(stone matrix asphalt), which has been used increasingly since 2017 as an alternative to porous asphalt. As a result, we estimated that the life cycle cost of using the high-performance SMA—assuming that it is adequately durable—is lower than that of using porous asphalt despite the higher initial cost of the high-performance SMA. These results indicate that using high-performance SMA on national highways would be beneficial in Hokkaido.