Experiences with Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA)

Sant Kumar Sehgal and Bernd Abele
Review
In the sixties and early seventies, studded tires were used in Germany during wintertime. The wear of asphalt surface courses under the spikes was extreme. Research and investigations on the performance of surface courses of asphalt concrete (AC) and gußasphalt verified that wear and rutting by studded tires was increased by:- high air void content of the surface course,
- low bitumen content,
- inadequate quality and quantity of aggregates.