Construction workers and Empa researchers laying asphalt. Image: Empa
Brooding heat, hot fumes and noisy machines - asphalting roads is hard work. Empa researchers have analysed whether and how much harmful emissions are produced when regular "hot asphalt" or so-called warm asphalt is laid. The result: the more ecological warm asphalt also outperforms the conventional method in terms of emissions. Asphalt is a hot thing: it is normally mixed at 160°C, transported and then laid by the road builders at around 150°C. This is not only a burden for the workers; the ecological footprint of asphalt is also immense due to the high energy consumption and the resulting CO2 emissions. One solution is the so-called warm asphalt. It is only heated to 140°C and laid at even lower temperatures.
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