A systematic review on the strategies of reducing asphalt pavement temperature

Abstract

Under the action of repeated load of vehicles, asphalt pavement tends to suffer rutting and other failures at high temperatures, which shortens the service life of the pavement. Meanwhile, asphalt pavement aggravates the urban heat island (UHI) effect, reducing the livability of the city. Research shows that lower road temperatures can mitigate the UHI effect. For this reason, researchers have launched lots of studies to cool asphalt pavement under high temperatures, such as reflective pavement and phase change pavement, etc. Although these technologies are effective at reducing the temperature of asphalt pavement, there are still some limitations. This paper mainly discusses the latest development of asphalt pavement temperature reduction strategies, classifies them according to different action mechanisms, and discusses the advantages and limitations of each strategy in detail. Suggestions for future research are given to address the limitations of each strategy, such as passive radiation technology can provide new ideas for reflective pavement, planting trees should consider plant physiological parameters and spatial distribution of planting, and phase change materials can be encapsulated by high thermal conductivity materials, etc. This study can provide a guidance for further development of asphalt pavement cooling technologies.

Keywords

• Cool asphalt pavements
• Reflective technologies
• Phase change materials
• Evaporative cooling technologies