Road construction is intensively developing in Russia and is a priority for the development of the economy of the country. National programs of the Government of the Russian Federation set tasks to improve the quality of construction, repair, and reconstruction of roads. The solution to one of these problems is the production of road bituminous binders that meet modern requirements. Innovative binders are bitumen modified with polymers. Polymer-containing bituminous materials have the necessary properties to ensure the long-term operation of asphalt concrete pavements. Polymer-bitumen binders are produced on the basis of an expensive and scarce polymer (styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer), which affects the cost of road construction. Therefore, the research aimed to develop a polymeric modifier and to study its effect on the properties of a road binder obtained due to the technology “oxidation of tar – compounding of deeply oxidized bitumen with tar modified with a polymer additive.” In the paper, we examined the following two processes: (1) obtaining polymer additives based on the copolymerization reaction of low molecular weight polyethylene and styrene obtained by distillation of the styrene distillation residue, and (2) obtaining polymer-modified bituminous binders based on deeply oxidized bitumen with tar modified with the obtained additives. The analysis of the research results showed the possibility of obtaining road binders according to the requirements of the EU countries and the requirements of the GOST 33133-2014 standard for the BND 70/100 bitumen grade. The effectiveness of using the obtained polymer additives was confirmed by the physicochemical properties of the obtained bituminous binders, which were characterized by low brittleness temperatures, stability to aging processes, and an increased range of plasticity. The cost of the polymer additive was 24.2 thou rub/t, which is significantly lower than the cost of known block copolymers. The cost of finished bitumen products will increase by 3% and will slightly affect the profit of the enterprise; nevertheless, it will allow expanding the range of products and improving the quality of the resulting bituminous binders

doi.org/10.32737/0005-2531-2025-2-88-94