Mechanical Performance of Gilsonite Modified Asphalt Mixture Containing Recycled Concrete Aggregate

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Abstract:

All components are present but may need minor writing for readability

The subject matter is original and of general interest.

 

Introduction:

Minor rewriting is advisable to clarify the aim and hypothesis.

Maybe 1.1 & 1.2 could be more synthesised.

Current references that will be of interest to readers.

Line 152-154?

 

Materials and methods:

 

Adequately written, although writing could be polished; minor typos/grammar/ punctuation errors Description of procedures needs minor clarification (clearly remediable).

Figure 1: add a scale bar or reference unit.

Remark:

Columbia, avg. temperatures above 24°C rel. humidity 60%.

Test conditions?

Why testing at 10 & 20°C, please comment, what about the humidity?

Results and discussion:

• Statistical significance of findings not stated, makes it difficult to make conclusions.

Figures 5& 6 should be placed in one row, with marching scales.

 

Summary and conclusions:

Statements and conclusions are clearly supported by data and are linked to goals

• Study advances knowledge
• Study’s implications and limitations are completely and succinctly presented

 

Although I am missing a future perspective

 

Author Response

Dear reviewer and editor

"Please see the attachment"

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Manuscript title: Mechanical performance of a hot mix asphalt using asphalt binder modified with gilsonite and recycled concrete aggregate

Comments:

1. The paper title should be revised because it is confused and complicated. It is recommended as “Mechanical performance of gilsonite modified asphalt mixture containing recycled asphalt aggregate”.
2. The English editing should be further enhanced.
3. There are so many references, please select the important ones presented in your manuscript.
4. To further help you improve your paper discussion, here are some important and related references recommended.  Investigating the effects of SBR on the properties of gilsonite modified asphalt. Construction and Building Materials. 2018.  Utilization of wax residue as compatibilizer for asphalt with ground tire rubber/recycled polyethylene blends. Construction and Building Materials. 2020.  Rheological properties, compatibility, and storage stability of SBS latex-modified asphalt. Materials. 2019. Evaluation of high temperature performance of SBS+ Gilsonite modified binder. Fuel. 2011. Rutting resistance and fatigue behavior of gilsonite-modified asphalt binders. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. 2018.
5. The abstract and conclusion parts should be more concise.
6. In this paper, the high temperature and fatigue properties of asphalt mixture were measured. How about the low temperature performance of gilsonite modified asphalt mixture containing RAP aggregate? Both of them would deteriorate the low temperature cracking resistance of asphalt mixture.
7. The introduction should be re-written, and the clear research gap and objective should be shown concisely.
8. The error bar should be added in the curves.

Author Response

Dear reviewer and editor 

"Please see the attachment"

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

• Please write your abstract in a simple way, and also, don`t use acronyms. It should be easy to understand.
• For the paragraph (lines 50-67), please add more details and references such as doi.org/10.3390/su11133730 and doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2021.1908408
• Line 69: don`t use acronyms in titles
• Line 129: I like this section. You explained well what you want to achieve.
• Please provide mix design data for section 2.3
• For figures, if you use a, b, c explain in the title of the figure the meaning of a, b, c
• Section 3.3: It is hard to understand what you are trying to tell. Do you mean fatigue resistance will increase?

Overall, the manuscript requires polishing. Right now it looks more like some technical report rather than a scientific paper. You need to spend more time explaining your results and the mechanism behind them.

Author Response

Dear reviewer and editor 

"Please see the attachment"

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Thank you for addressing my comments.