Today paving fabrics are being used in new asphalt overlay systems as an accepted solution for the dual purpose of reducing and/or delaying the occurrence of reflective cracking and to act as a waterproofing membrane, thus protecting the subbase from surface water penetrating and softening the underlaying soil layers with loss of bearing capacity as a result.
The concept of bonding the new asphalt to the old asphalt through a membrane system consists of a bitumenous tack coat spread in sufficient quantity to bond the paving fabric to the existing road surface. The tack coat saturates and penetrates the paving fabric, making a bond to the new asphalt overlay and at the same time creating a stress absorbing waterproofing membrane in between.
It is extremely important that paving fabrics are installed properly. Improperly placed fabrics will reduce the long-term benefit of the membrane system. This paper describes how a proper installation work of an effective nonwoven paving fabric should to be carried out.
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