Unfortunately for our highways, freeways, and other roads used for long-haul transportation, most of them are paved with asphalt. Asphalt is a highly flawed material that easily breaks down over time, requiring constant repairs to keep it serviceable.
Thankfully, we’ve been able to come up with a few different options for paving roads that are superior to basic asphalt and can help improve our transportation. In case you’re wondering about new paving options for roads, let’s take a look at a few new innovative solutions to road paving and how they can improve transportation.
Roads take a ton of abuse throughout their lifetimes. Often under-funded and left to fall into disrepair for some time before they’re finally fixed, the roads we drive on could be serving us much better.
Plastic-Based Asphalt
Regular asphalt uses bitumen or petroleum as a base that holds crushed gravel together. This is strong enough to drive on but tends to break down quickly over time.
Traffic and weather can eat away at asphalt, penetrating into subsurface layers and creating ever-widening gaps. Especially in places with freeze/thaw cycles, this can quickly lead to huge crevices, sinkholes, and potholes in an asphalt road.
Plastic-based asphalt takes a different approach, though. It uses pellets derived from recycled plastic as the binding agent. These pellets melt and fuse together crushed gravel to create a stable, durable driving surface.
The best part about this is that when the plastic-based asphalt breaks down, the turnaround time for recycling and reuse is next to nothing. The broken-down road can be torn up and remelted right on the job site, used to build a fresh version of itself with the addition of some more plastic pellets.
Compared to regular asphalt which has to go through a bit more of a process before it’s finally recycled back into use, this makes plastic-based asphalt one of the most efficient and eco-friendly materials for building roads that support building supplies delivery, retail delivery, grocery delivery, and all other types of long-haul delivery.
Permeable Pavement
If we want to improve transportation in a meaningful way, implementing permeable pavement wherever possible is one of the most effective ways to do so. Especially for gravel roads that struggle with dust control, permeable pavers can be the perfect way to turn loose gravel into a stable, level, durable road that lasts much longer than asphalt does.
Permeable pavers come in a few different varieties, but for building tough roads that last decades, permeable plastic pavers filled with gravel are the best option. Made from 100% recycled plastic, certain permeable pavers on the market are vastly more durable than asphalt. They’re naturally UV-resistant, unaffected by temperature fluctuations, and far more resistant to wear and tear from traffic than asphalt is.
These pavers are quick to install and require almost no maintenance to keep them serviceable. Compared to asphalt which needs to be resealed every so often, permeable paver roads are much more cost-effective over the long term.
They don’t develop potholes and act as a natural drainage system, allowing stormwater to pass right through them. Because of their cost-effectiveness, quick install time, durability, and versatility, installing permeable paver roads would be a big upgrade from our traditional asphalt roads.
Modern Transportation Requires Innovative Solutions
Our roads are buckling under the weight of our use. If we want to revamp our transportation and make life easier for long-haul drivers and everyone who drives, the two innovative paving solutions we laid out here are a great place to start.
Whether we use plastic-based asphalt or permeable plastic pavement, recycled plastic products could be just the things we need to take our primary transportation system to the next level.
Max Shafer is a contributor to the Innovative Building Materials blog. He is a content writer for the construction and home improvement industries with an interest in landscaping, outdoor remodeling, and interior design. Max is focused on educating homeowners, contractors, and architects on innovative materials and methods of construction that increase property value, improve sustainability, and create a warm and welcoming ambiance.