Marginal Materials: Characterization and Application in Transport Infrastructure Construction
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2022) | Viewed by 5103
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The reduced availability of natural resources and the necessity for more cogent protection of the environment are directing the research and applications in the transport infrastructure construction sector to alternative materials, such as artificial or recycled aggregates. These are usually by-products, secondary, and waste materials, which were, in the past, mainly destined for landfill, sometimes after thermal and/or mechanical treatment. Recent research revealed that, on the contrary, “marginal materials” possess previously unknown potentialities and can be considered equivalent to natural aggregates. Their use in unbound, hydraulically-bound, and bituminous mixtures have been investigated in the last decades, initially in the laboratory and later in the field and step by step new applications have been planned, even if the construction sector has proved not always to be ready to accept innovative solutions.
This was due, first of all, to environmental issues related to the possible impacts of “marginal materials” on the aquifer, soil, and ecosystem; their improper utilization has sometimes caused pollution and damage and, subsequently, strong penal and administrative implications, which determined a breakdown of works where they were used. Moreover, road or transport infrastructure agencies and contractors were not always able to manage materials differing from the conventional ones, and, despite economic advantages deriving from their use, were hindered by the need for sometimes specific procedures and technologies required for correct utilization. In this context, the Special Issue will investigate the state of the art of present applications of marginal materials in the transport infrastructure construction sector, to assess the present level of research on the topic, as well as potentialities, advantages, problems, and criticalities related to the use of artificial and recycled aggregates.
The topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:
- Mechanical, physical, and chemical characterization of marginal materials;
- Laboratory testing of by-products and secondary materials in unbound and bound mixes;
- Use of leaching and eco-toxicological tests in the characterization of marginal materials to be used in transport infrastructure;
- Legal implications related to the use of marginal materials in the construction sector;
- Field testing and comparison of performance between natural and alternative materials;
- Road applications, results, and pros and cons;
- Railway applications and related issues;
- Airport applications, constraints, and critical issues.
Prof. Marco Pasetto
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- marginal material
- by-product
- secondary material
- transport infrastructure
