Laboratory Measurements of Particulate Matter Concentrations from Asphalt Pavement Abrasion

The issue of emissions from road traffic is compounded by the fact that the number of vehicles and driven kilometres increase each year. Road traffic is one of the main sources of particulate matter and traffic volume is still increasing and has unpleasant impact on longevity of the pavements and the environment. Vehicle motions cause mechanical wearing of the asphalt pavement surface - wearing course by vehicle tyres. The contribution deals with abrasion of bituminous wearing courses of pavements. The asphalt mixtures of wearing courses are compared in terms of mechanically separated particulate matter. The samples of asphalt mixtures were rutted in wheel tracking machine. The particulate matter measurements were performed in laboratory conditions. The experimental laboratory measurements make it possible to sample particulates without contamination from exhaust emissions, abraded particles from vehicles, resuspension of road dust and climate affects. The contribution offers partial results of measurements on six trial samples of asphalt mixtures with different composition. It presents particulate matter morphology and the comparison of rutted asphalt samples in terms of PM mass concentrations and chemical composition.