Construction of Kazakhstan roads may become cheaper by times - experts

Using foreign additives when building and repairing roads has become a widespread phenomenon. In the absence of their innovations, contractors use chemical developments from the CIS and neighboring countries.

Since 2017, specialists of the Kazakhstan Road Construction Scientific Institute have been working on creating an alternative to foreign polymers. Scientists crushed waste coal powder to nanoparticles using a rotating electromagnetic flow, and obtained a nanopowder additive that will improve the performance characteristics of bitumen and asphalt concrete.

"The main advantage of nanopowder is its ability to improve asphalt pavement rutting resistance. This allows it to withstand heavy loads and retain its shape longer, which is especially important for roads with high vehicular traffic. Preparation of asphalt concrete mixture on the basis of nanopowders also reduces the low-temperature cracking", - says the vice-president of "KazdorNII" JSC Yerik Amirbaev.

The nanopowder additive is currently being tested on pilot sites in Astana and Almaty. According to specialists' forecasts, mass production and introduction of this additive will make road-building works in Kazakhstan cheaper.

Moreover, KazdorNII specialists have already created a laboratory prototype of a unit for grinding coal to nanoscale, for which a patent has already been obtained. The results of the research have been published in such international scientific journals as Colloids and Surfaces, News of NAS RK, and Case Studies in Construction Materials.