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Volume 25, No. 44Journal 44, January - December 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.15517/bydmtf74

Published December 2, 2025

Scientific Papers

  1. Carlos Lucio Raffo Suclupe, Leyner Oswaldo Calva Herrera (Author)

    Physical-mechanical evaluation of asphalt mixtures through the addition of recycled motor oil

    This study was developed by an experimental design of a hot mix asphalt (HMA), seeking to mitigate the negative impact on the environment that generate the recycled motor oils (RMO) or commonly known as burned oil which, in general, is eliminated outdoors. Then, RMO was added in percentages to an asphalt mixture in different percentages according to the PEN 60/70 of the standard mixture, with the objective of determining the resulting physical-mechanical properties of the modified asphalt mixture and evaluating if they meet the standards. A total population of 135 briquettes of modified mixtures was evaluated by means of the Marshall methodology. The mixtures contained 0,5 %, 1,5 %, 2,5 % and 3,5 % of recycled oil. It was found that the optimal percentage of asphalt is 5,75 %, rehearsed at temperatures of 120 °C and 130 °C. It is concluded that after incorporating RMO in the asphalt mixture, its physical-mechanical properties (rigidity, flow, stability) were improved and comply with the minimum parameters of an HMA stated by standards

  2. Julio César Hernández Moreno, Juan Bosco Hernández Zaragoza, Jaime Moisés Horta Rangel, Ricardo Montoya Zamora, teresa López Lara (Author)

    Cold mix asphalt design with ternary cementitious fillers to reduce loss of stability due to moisture

    The use of cold asphalt mixtures has aroused interest in recent years because it is a technique that reduces the use of fuels and thus the carbon footprint in the construction and maintenance of pavements, however its use has been limited in patching applications and low-traffic pavements, however, these mixtures have low resistance at an early age and high amounts of voids. The objective of this research was the development of a cold mixture with replacement of the mineral filler with ternary cementitious fillers that together form hydration products and provide greater resistance in the presence of water. The ternary cementitious fillers are composed of granulated blast furnace slag (EGAH), fly ash (CV) and an alkaline activator, Portland cement (CP) or calcium hydroxide (lime), in order to compare which of these activators provides greater performance different mixtures were prepared with partial and total substitution, to evaluate in three curing conditions and observe the behavior of the mixtures in the presence of water. It was proven that replacement with both types of cementitious fillers significantly reduces the effects of moisture at an early age. For the curing condition of 3 days at 25 °C, the reference sample obtained a loss of stability of 30,78 %, the samples with CP of 7,61 and 7,56 %, and those of lime with 13,83 and 16,39 %, have a lower loss of stability in all cases, this same pattern is maintained over time.

  3. Iván Manuel Moreno Parra (Author)

    Megaprojects paradox and Ecuadorian road budget management 2002-2006

    Based on cost overruns of 80 % in the Chanel Tunnel
    between the United Kingdom and France, 220 % in the Big Dig in Boston, 1400 % in the Sydney Opera House and similar cases around the world, unlike the previous ones, this research analyzes how its scope affects a set of infrastructure projects instead of isolating each one to study it, answering the following question: Between 2002 and 2006, did an annual perspective budget regulation affect Ecuadorian road projects? Thus, cost overruns, delays in construction schedule and shortfall in estimated benefits were identified (in addition to those of previous studies) derived from budget management that did not establish the limit of resources available in the medium term, allowing politicians to seize resources required by road projects in execution to finance new ones.

  4. José Pablo Díaz-Arrieta, Josué Rivas Valverde, Jaime Allen (Author)

    Analysis of perspectives and public policies focused on electric public transportation - bus mode in Costa Rica (2018-2022)

    This work provides a general analysis of public policies focused on electric bus transportation in Costa Rica during the years 2018-2022. To achieve this, it includes a documentary analysis of Costa Rica’s legal framework that promotes electric mobility, decarbonization plans, and the reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG), as well as the laws that establish institutional competencies for the implementation of electric buses. Additionally, it incorporates an analysis of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from the Legislative Assembly, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), and the Directorate of the National Public Transportation Council (CTP). Based on the analysis, it is concluded that there are significant institutional barriers and economic limitations that hinder the implementation of electric buses, but there is evidence of opportunities to develop negotiation models with the bus sector in order to improve the public transportation system for the benefit of the public interest.

  5. Mauricio Carballo Rojas, María Gallardo Mejía, Minor Eduardo Murillo Chacón (Author)

    Analysis of a cement-treated base with the addition of recycled PET fibers

    Stabilization of granular materials for bases and subbases with hydraulic cement is a process widely used in pavement construction due to its great advantages and structural contributions. Currently, the need has arisen to develop novel construction methods that contribute to environmental sustainability and reduce the construction costs of the road network. In this research, two different granular materials were analyzed, one that complies with the characteristics required by Costa Rican standard (CR-2020) to be considered in the construction of stabilized base layers, and other that doesn't. Different percentages of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) synthetic fibers were added to these materials to determine whether the addition of PET can reduce the amount of cementitious material required in order to reduce costs in the construction process of stabilized bases, and, on the other hand, to analyze whether it is possible to obtain the minimum compressive strengths required by the standards by using another granular material that is not intended for that purpose.

    Using different percentages of cement type MM/C (C-P)-28 with the two granular materials, cylinders were manufactured for a standard sample (without PET), and for samples with various percentages of recycled PET fibers. From a mechanical evaluation, positive results were obtained in which it was possible to observe that, through this addition of fibers, the amount of cementitious material can be reduced even below the minimum allowed by current Costa Rican standard (3 %) without compromising the compressive strength. For example, during the investigation it was observed that by using 2,5% cement in the granular materials with the addition of synthetic PET fibers, an average compressive strength of 3,33 MPa was obtained, which is above the minimum allowed of 3,0 MPa.

  6. Griselda Mamani Gonzalo, Sleyther Arturo De La Cruz Vega, Ccori Siello Vega Neyra, Patricia Maribel Yllescas Rodriguez, Walter Manuel Rea Olivares (Author)

    Stabilization of the subgrade with quinoa ash and lime on the Lago Sagrado Highway, Puno, Peru

    The highways that connect the populated centers of the city of Puno in Peru, lack of paved roads, most of the connecting roads are carriageable trails. In addition, these roads make it difficult for vehicles to move continuously and safely due to the presence of holes and deformation caused by rain. Then, the purpose of this research was to determine the effect of the combination of quinoa ash and lime as soil stabilizers. The samples and data were processed using applied methodology, pure experimental design, and quantitative approach. The results showed an improvement in the characteristics of cohesive soils after adding quinoa ash and lime. With the addition of 9 % quinoa ash and 5 % lime, a small variation of the liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index was obtained in comparison with the foundation soil. Similarly, in terms of dry density and moisture content, a decrease in the optimum moisture content of 9 % was obtained, and an increase in the dry density of 1,902 g/cm3. The CBR increased reaching values of 32,0 % at 100 % dry density and at 95 % dry density showed a value of 25,6 %. It is concluded that there is an improvement in the mechanical properties of the soil with the addition of quinoa ash and lime.

  7. Alexandra Maylle Paima, Pedro Enrique Avila Tarma (Author)

    Elaboration of a mix design for the stabilization of soil with asphalt emulsion type CSS-1h and recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) based on the modified Marshall procedure

    The objective of this research was to develop a cold mix design for the stabilization of a recycled soil with slow breaking cationic asphalt emultion with low viscosity and higher degree of hardness (CSS-1h), based on the Modified Marshall design method. The work consisted in extracting soil samples from a deteriorated pavement for the elaboration of briquettes with emultion percentages between 3% and 6% varying in intervals of 0.5%, then these were tested for the calculation of the volumetric and mechanical properties, to finally determine the optimal percentage of emultion. The maximum resistance (stability) of the mixture was obtained with a dosage of 4.8% asphalt emultion and 2.88% asphalt residue, achieving a maximum value of 980 kg. In conclusion, the stabilization of the material with the proposed dosage led to good results, complying with the minimum stability of 227 kg (500 lb) required by the specifications of the Highway Manual EG-2013.

Technical papers

  1. Jose María Sequeira Arguedas (Author)

    Slope instability context in the National Route 613 in 2020, Coto Brus, Costa Rica

    At this investigation, it is characterized the slope unstability along the 613 national road located in Coto Brus county, Costa Rica, triggered by intense precipitation between November the 1st and the 6th related to Eta’s hurricane pathway. By stablishing the geological, geomorphological and hydroclimatic context, besides field annotations, landslide inventory and geospatial inputs, it is proposed a road zonation in stable and landslide prone sections of the mountain corridor. The integration of all these methods allows to determine that, at least 24 % of the road is prone to slope unstability with a clear influence of geological tectonic features. In addition, there are hydroclimatic and hydrometeorological features (long and short period modulators, respectively) that could trigger hillslope unstability along the road corridor in the near future, by the development of extreme precipitation events every rainy season on Costa Rica’s southern Pacific, without excluding possible superficial seismic rupture scenarios at one of the five active fault traces that crosses the road corridor.

Case of Study

  1. Pablo Girardi Mancini, Oscar Víctor Cordo (Author)

    Debris control proposals on National Route 40. Lake Guillelmo-Bariloche

    This paper presents problems of mass removal caused by excessive rains on National Road 40, San Carlos de Bariloche-El Bolsón section, in the southwest of the province of Río Negro, in Patagonia, Argentina, bordering Guillelmo Lake. The zone in question presents copious precipitations that affect hills, whose slopes have suffered forest fires, that have left them without vegetation and susceptible to erosion.

    The aforementioned problems obliged Vialidad Nacional to make an order to the School of Mountain Roads Engineering to solve this problem that is becoming chronic and whose severity increases with each climatic event. In effect, after each rain, large volumes of debris accumulate on the road cutting the route, and cutting off the link between the cities of San Carlos de Bariloche and El Bolsón, generating a great amount of difficulties to the region.

    Firstly, measures tending to alleviate this problem in the short term are proposed, and further works in order to achieve a fundamental solution to solve this serious problem definitely.

  2. Daniel Alexis Ramírez Medina, Luis Segundo Valenzuela Robles (Author)

    Periodic maintenance plan for the pavement in the busstop Las Retamas – Los Angeles bridge section

    The general objective of this study was to design a periodic maintenance plan for Paradero Las Retamas - Puente Los Angeles section of the Central highway, developed in 2021. For this purpose, a quantitative, descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional approach methodology was applied to a sample population of 1,9 km distributed in 13 sampling units of 230,42 m2, to which the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) was determined according to its own methodology. A traffic study was also conducted to determine the composition and classification of vehicles, and the drainage system was inspected
    to identify the current pavement conditions. In addition, physical properties were analysed through laboratory tests to determine the International Regularity Index (IRI) and the Present Serviceability Index (PSI), considering the stipulations of
    the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC). Finally, the information was processed using HDM-4 software to determine the most appropriate periodic maintenance strategies. In this way, an overall PCI of 62 was obtained, qualified as “good”, and an Average Daily Annual Index (IMDA) of 31 236 vehicles/day, which classifies the road as a first-class highway. On the other hand, the most viable maintenance alternative was a simple surface treatment, accompanied by the uniform application of a layer of bituminous binder on the granular pavement, combined with an optimal routine maintenance. The evaluation criteria show the profitability of the project, showing a Net Present Value (NPV) of 3,20 million soles (844 804 USD) and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 20 %. Finally, a positive impact on the PSI is obtained as a result of the implementation of the alternative.