Development of paving performance index system for selection of modified asphalt binder

The objective is to establish a comprehensive paving performance index (PPI) for quantifying the cost-effectiveness of modified asphalt binders. Eight modified binders were characterized using a suite of mechanical tests for the rutting, fatigue, yield, and recovery properties. The current specification parameter for each test was evaluated to establish the individual performance index (IPI). The developed PPI considered contributions from all IPIs and was found to correlate reasonably well with cost via a linear function, except for the crumb rubber (CR) modified binder. By evaluating the binder performance per unit price, CR was identified as the most cost-effective modifier.