Characterization of Silica Materials as Bedding or Bonding Layers in Construction Applications

Abstract

There is a growing demand in Senegal for road building materials. Moreover, in the face of a scarcity of materials satisfying the technical specifications and overexploitation of the basaltic material normally used, this article was intended to initiate studies on the possibility of using the existing silexite material as an alternative in order to anticipate the problem of exhaustion of basaltic deposits. Indeed, this article has referred to the possibility of using as a bedding or bonding layer of the limexite material from industrial waste from phosphate recovery at Mboro in association with the bituminous binder to form severe bitumen. 20 to determine its physical and mechanical performance and then note their limits in relation to the minimum requirements of the road technical specifications. For this purpose, the physical and mechanical identification of the silexite material is carried out initially. It turns out that the silexite material has good mechanical properties with Los Angeles and Micro Deval values in accordance with the requested requirements. Regarding the granularity, nonconformities are noted on the sieve D and d refusals and can be corrected during the crushing because of the manufacturing parameters. Then, the performances of the bituminous mixture, in particular the severe bitumen GB 0/20, are studied. At the end of this study, the results obtained are satisfactory in terms of stability, creep and Marshall compactness while the Duriez test denotes some nonconformities on the immersion compression ratio below the threshold value of 0.70 for certain values of binder content. .Nevertheless, the silexite material can be used as a bedding or bonding layer in the form of severe 0/20 bitumen, given the conclusive results obtained.