Modified bitumen is a critical material to ensure the durability of asphalt pavements. Traditional polymer-modified bitumen (PMB) has been widely researched and applied in the past two to three decades. Recently, a high-content SBS (Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene) polymer-modified bitumen (HSBSMB) with a higher SBS content of up to 7–9% by weight has started attracting interest from researchers. There are, however, still few specifications or technical guidelines for HSBSMB. To gain a better understanding of HSBSMB, the composition and structure of typical polymer SBS and base bitumen, the micromorphology and micromechanics of HSBSMB, its rheological and aging characteristics, as well as its asphalt mixture and field pavement performance were reviewed comprehensively in this paper. The content covered in this paper is primarily derived from 210 pertinent papers published between 1990 and 2023 in two databases, Web of Science and Google Scholar. It appears from our review that HSBSMB has a stronger internal polymer network than conventional SBSMB and thus exhibits better resistance to rutting, fatigue, and cracking as well as better aging resistance. Furthermore, findings from both laboratory scale and field pavement scale indicate that HSBSMB not only offers higher performance and durability but also leads to reduced pavement structural layer thicknesses in ensuring performance. However, many issues and challenges still remain before HSBSMB will become a viable option for large-scale application in road infrastructure, aspects such as the mechanism of its internal structural changes, the optimization of methods for evaluating its rheological properties, the life cycle assessment of its long-term benefits, as well as the storage stability and workability of HSBSMB. It is hoped that this review will contribute to a better understanding of HSBSMB and promote its application.

The primary objective of this investigation is to evaluate how the incorporation of lignin and high-viscosity modifiers impacts the performance of asphalt binders. Lignin-modified asphalt binder (LBA) and lignin-high viscosity modifier composite-modified asphalt binder (LHA) were created by blending 5 % and 15 % lignin, respectively. To understand the physicochemical interactions, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were employed to analyze functional groups, thermal properties, and phase changes. Additionally, the linear rheological behavior and nonlinear rheological behavior were evaluated through frequency sweep and multiple stress creep recovery tests. The findings suggest that lignin blends physically with the asphalt binder and high-viscosity modifier without a chemical reaction. Although the onset pyrolysis temperature of lignin is significantly lower than that of asphalt binders, due to its relatively low content, the thermal decomposition of lignin-modified asphalt binders is primarily controlled by the asphalt binder itself and still exceeds the construction temperature. However, lignin incorporation increases the asphalt binder's glass transition temperature, potentially affecting low-temperature performance. Lignin significantly enhances the modulus in the high-frequency region of both unmodified and high-viscosity modified asphalt binder. However, it has a negative effect on the modulus in the low-frequency region of high-viscosity modified asphalt binder. Furthermore, nonlinear creep recovery test results demonstrate that lignin positively contributes to the deformation resistance of unmodified asphalt binder in a content-dependent manner, whereas it reduces the elastic behavior and deformation resistance of high-viscosity modified asphalt binder. In addition, low levels of lignin increase the stress sensitivity of binders, while high levels of lignin decrease it. Despite these effects, the performance of lignin and high-viscosity additive composite-modified asphalt binder remains superior to that of unmodified asphalt binder. These findings offer valuable insights into the combined use of lignin and polymers in asphalt binder modification.

Navigating the complex pavement system to the circular economy is a multi-dimensional and time-consuming endeavour. Obstructed by lock-in mechanisms of the prevailing “take-make-dispose” linear mode, the current circular economy studies in pavement infrastructure often focus only on one certain type of practice, featured by fragmentation from a system perspective. This study presents the first systematic literature review on the historical development trend of the circular economy concept in the pavement sector based on the collected 59 studies from 2006 to 2022. This review also identifies the soft (regulatory, social/environmental) and hard (technical, market/economic) drivers of- and barriers to the paradigm shift, aiming to coordinate the existing fragmented findings and facilitate the future systemic implementation of the circular economy. The synthesis of the results indicates that the underdeveloped technical guidance and legal system are inhibiting the paradigm shift to the circular economy. Furthermore, the authors argue that the importance of transparent and standardized data along the whole supply chain should be highlighted. Ultimately, this paper suggests that a welcoming environment set by the road authorities is crucial for innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as for constructing a system where stakeholders can confidently take responsibility and initiative.

As a type of intermodal terminal, pure Ro-Ro terminals are one of the most important logistic hubs in the supply chain for rolling freight stored in containerized and wheeled steel boxes. These large-scale systems are highly complex, with nonlinear and hard-to-predict behavior evolving in a stochastic environment. Consequently, making decisions about any problem thereof is no mean feat, particularly for terminal planners. To assist them in decision-making, a pool of relevant models and tools have been developed over the years in the literature. Nevertheless, models that are oriented toward specific objectives dominate, and generic ones are rare. This paper tries to fill this gap and proposes a generic framework to be used as a factory to create specific decision support models based on simulation for pure Ro-Ro terminals. This framework is formulated following two artifacts: (1) the known classification of key performance indicators combined with the typical functional and physical organization of pure Ro-Ro terminals; (2) the three main arteries of harbor systems, namely flows, decisions and operations. Then a scalable way of making decisions based on a flexible form of the cost function weighted according to a set of coefficients is integrated. These designed coefficients allow decision-makers a wide flexibly in choosing how the best solutions are determined. An application of this framework is illustrated through a real case study, where the weights are estimated using an expert-profiling based approach then pushed into the OptQuest optimizer to be calibrated before analyzing the results. These results are aggregated, then expressed as scores on a scale of 0 to 1. This is to help terminal planners to easily identify the worst and best planning scenarios as well as the relationships and compatibilities between the involved handling rules to suggest different alternatives for managing operations.

Container terminals are complex systems where containerized cargo undergoes a set of processing and handling operations to be delivered to their outgoing modes. A pool of decision support methods and simulation models has been developed to assist planners and managers in making decisions about daily operations. Nevertheless, most are designed for a particular terminal and not generic types. Indeed, a generic model serves as a conceptual factory to create specific models which greatly reduces the time and efforts of development; however, building such a model is no mean feat. To this aim, the paper on hand discusses the complexity of applying genericity, flexibility, and modularity in system modeling and proposes a generic architecture to build modular and flexible simulation models for container terminals. This architecture is split into a set of smaller, manageable, well-connected, and generic modules that facilitate the creation of highly parametrized specific models. An illustrative example of the architecture usage is presented in a case study, the new container terminal of Stockholm, and the resulting models were validated by subject matter experts. Finally, to prove its efficiency, a numerical study fed with real data is conducted to investigate the handling capacity of the studied system under different handling and flow scenarios. The obtained results show that the terminal handling capacity can be increased by around 50% if three to four more straddle carriers are added to the existing fleet.

We consider the problem of sequential parameter estimation of a nonlinear function under the Bayesian setting. The designer can choose inputs for a sequence of experiments to obtain an accurate estimate of the system parameters based on observed outputs, while complying with a constraint on the expected outputs of the system. We quantify the accuracy of the obtained estimate in terms of the pound 2 norm. We propose to solve the problem by casting it as the problem of minimizing the Bayesian Mean Square Error (BMSE) of the parameter estimate subject to a constraint on the expected deviation of the output from the desired target value. We develop a greedy policy to solve the problem in the sequential setting, and we characterize the solution structure based on analytical results for the Gaussian case. For a computationally tractable update of the posterior, we propose the use of a surrogate model combined with approximate Bayesian computation. We evaluate the proposed approach on the use case of smart road compaction, where the goal is to estimate asphalt parameters while reaching the desired compaction level, by choosing the value of the loading pressure. Simulation results on a synthetic road compaction dataset show the efficacy of the proposed solution scheme in both parameter estimation and effective compaction of the road.

De-icing fluids are known to have a potential to negatively affect infrastructure materials such as asphalt. In order to evaluate the resistance of asphalt materials to de-icing fluids, the European standard method EN 12697-41 is commonly used. There are however a number of issues related to the method, such as a high variability of the results and poor correlation between test results and behavior in the field, which may be caused by some of the parameters of the test. This paper aims to identify and investigate some parameters that are of importance to the relevancy of the test. To do this, experimental tests of asphalt mastic and mixture are performed with two concentrations of a deicer and water. Additionally, to gain a better understanding of what occurs in the tested samples during the conditioning and loading, finite element simulations using a microscale model with a mesh based on an X-ray CT scan of a real sample, are performed. The results show that both the geometry and the set-up of the conditioning and mechanical testing can cause misleading results. Based on this, recommendations are made for areas for future studies to improve the test method.

During continuous and repeated loading, bituminous materials undergo damage. These materials also exhibit healing when enough rest periods are given between loadings. In this study, a new method is proposed to quantify the healing of bituminous materials based on the recovery of viscoplastic deformation. The method considers the damage in the material as a part of the viscoplastic deformation. Later, the method is applied to the data from the creep and recovery test to capture healing on both bitumen and bituminous mastic. Experiments are conducted at three stress levels using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). The strains accumulated during the creep and recovery period are segregated into the viscoelastic and viscoplastic strains. It is hypothesized that the recovery of viscoplastic strain in the material when subjected to prolonged rest period can be used to relate to healing.

In this paper, the spotlight is directed towards studying the handling capacity of pure Ro-Ro terminals, especially the new terminal of Norvik port. To this end, a simulation model based on a distributed architecture is built to assess the handling capacity under different flow scenarios with a particular focus on the trailer flow and export-lorry flow the terminal can handle in terms of resource availability, trailer-dwell times and management rules. This helped to determine the number of resources required to evacuate smoothly the incoming flows and to identify where potential bottlenecks happen the most inside the terminal. The established model is verified then validated by experts to conduct properly the experiment study where the model is fed with empirical data provided by terminal authorities. This experiment showed that the terminal can handle flows of which trailers do not exceed 17% and the export fraction of lorries is at most 42%.

Based on the publications from two databases during 1998–2020, this paper presents a systematic literature review on pavement maintenance effectiveness evaluation to summarize the current trend and identify the research gap that must be addressed for a sustainable maintenance management. This review has analyzed and synthesized maintenance thresholds and their mechanisms, the measurement methods of effectiveness in terms of performance, cost and environmental impacts. In particular, this paper has critically examined the state-of-art maintenance effectiveness optimization strategy that has included environmental concerns and sustainable goals, in comparison with the traditional cost-effectiveness evaluation method. The study has revealed the ambiguous definition of pavement maintenance effectiveness and data availability have caused inconsistencies in the evaluation process; moreover, the embryonic pavement life cycle assessment studies and limited study on pavement use phase have set obstacles in the expanding system boundary of sustainable maintenance effectiveness evaluation.