Asphalt is one of the major construction materials. Within the european road network there are around 6.1 million km of paved roads, linking major urban centers as well as small communities. Surface layers of asphalt pavements are most directly exposed to traffic and climate loads. They have to undertake and transfer different forces that are generated by vehicles driving on the surface and at the same time protect the pavement from the weather effects. Such loads require continuously monitoring of professional development in the field of asphalts and ensuring the quality of asphalt mixtures and pavements with minimizing the cost of production, laying, maintenance and recycling. Intensive construction of motorways and associated infrastructure between 1995 and 2010 in Slovenia had a positive impact on the asphalt industry, which was constantly developing. After 2008 the production of asphalt mixtures drastically reduced, thereby affecting the asphalt plants.
The Master’s thesis presents how asphalt plants determine the price of asphalt mixtures for surface layers. Due to the fact that the asphalt mixtures for surface layers with use of polymer modified bitumen are significantly more expensive than asphalt mixtures using a conventional bitumen, the cost analysis carried out show whether the higher cost is entitled, because in practice often happens, due to these price differences, that cheaper asphalt mixtures are used, regardless of negative consequences.
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