Comparison of strength, durability and cost changes of concrete and asphalt roads: Example of Trabzon

In this study, concrete roads in Trabzon province were compared in terms of strength, durability and cost compared to asphalt roads. While there are concrete roads that have been serving for 20-25 years in Trabzon, asphalt roads cannot maintain the same condition even for 3 years. This situation creates an additional burden in terms of operating expenses. As an example, a 36.2 km road line along the Tonya Merkez Kaleönü District-Çayıriçi-Kalınçam-Erikbeli-Kadırga Plateau was chosen. This line consists of the same terrain, climatic conditions, and concrete and asphalt roads under traffic load. Core samples were taken from the pavements along the way and experiments were carried out in the laboratory environment. While the test results of concrete samples meet the specification limits, asphalt samples could not meet. In addition, the cost changes of concrete and asphalt paved roads constructed in Trabzon are examined. For this, unit price of concrete and asphalt produced in Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality plant and unit prices of General Directorate of Highways (KGM) were used. The unit price of concrete is linear, and the asphalt (BSK) unit price has increased exponentially. It was observed that the average unit cost of asphalt was 13.4% higher than the concrete among the productions made and built by the municipality in the period covering 2014-2018. According to the asphalt and concrete road designs implemented in Trabzon, it has been demonstrated that the municipal plant unit prices and the first construction cost of the asphalt road are 37.65% and the annual costs of 160% are higher than the concrete road.