Use of Mixtures of Shredded Face Masks and Fine Soils in Layers of Flexible Pavements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24203/nka73h16Keywords:
road engineering; road soils; subgrade; subbases; waste; single-use face mask; light blue face mask; environmental threat; COVID-19Abstract
In recent years, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a disproportionate increase in the use of face masks by the general population, which generates that a residue that was previously almost exclusively pathogenic, starts to present a predominant component in terms of the residential area. The latter leads to the generation of an environmental threat if solutions are not adopted regarding their recycling. One of these solutions may be to dispose of this residue in pavement structures, given the potential structural contribution that the textile that constitutes them may present.
Given this, the LEMaC Centro de Investigaciones Viales UTN FRLP-CIC PBA (Argentina) analyzes the existing antecedents, concluding that the field of application in fine soils has not yet been explored. To cover this, a pre-feasibility study for the use of these shredded wastes mixed with fine soils in subbase layers and improved subgrade is being developed.
The study allows obtaining good preliminary results from the mechanical point of view, mainly with the California Bearing Ratio test, which are complemented with an analysis regarding the environmental implications, the available shredding forms, and the materialization on site. All these aspects are covered in this article.
As conclusions, it can be pointed out that the optimal content can be between 1.5% and 2.0% of face masks in weight above 100% of dry soil weight, which would translate into more than 1,000,000 face masks per lane for every 100 m of a treated layer.
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