Abstract
The practice of the motor roads operation in the Republic of Kazakhstan shows that the durability of asphalt concrete pavements on them is much lower than the standard terms. Therefore, maintaining roads in a condition, whichmeets the requirements of traffic flows is impossible without the use of new, progressive materials and technologies. The main factor influencing a sharp decrease in the service life of the road surfaces is the use of low-quality bitumen as a binder in asphalt concrete mixtures, since microcracks develop mainly in its film.The goal of the work. In this paper, the physical and mechanical properties of bitumen of the grade ORB(oil road bitumen) 70/110 of the Aktau bitumen plant have beenstudied. Methods.To improve the operational characteristics of bitumen, modification with polyethylene and polystyrene waste has beencarried out.Results and discussion.It has beenshown that after the addition of the modifying additives, the main indicators of bitumen have improved. For polyethylene: the depth of needle penetration has decreased from 70 down to 61 mm, the extensibilityof bitumenhas decreased by 52 cm, which indicates an improvement in the plasticity and elasticity, the softening temperature along the ring and ball has increased from 49 up to 59 °C, which leads to reducingthe tendency of bitumen deformation, and the brittleness temperature has beenwithin the normal range -not less than -20 °C. In case of using polystyrene, the penetration characterizing the bitumen hardness decreases from 70 mm down to 61 mm; the extensibilityof bitumen increases by 10 cm, which indicates an improvement in the elasticity and strength, due to the presence of the resulting structural network. Conclusion. The softening temperature of bitumen increases, which leads to an improvement in the heat resistance and viscosity.