RESEARCH ON ROAD BITUMEN

THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF BITUMEN IN ROAD CONCTRUCTION IS TO ACT AS A DURABLE, WATERPROOF BINDER FOR THE MINERAL AGGREGATE. THE BEHAVIOR OF A ROAD SURFACING AT ANY STAGE WILL BE INFLUENCED BY THE PARTICULAR MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE BITUMEN AT THAT TIME. THE PROPERTIES REQUIRED IN PAVING GRADE BITUMENS ARE BRIEFLY OUTLINED, AND A DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN OF HOW THESE PROPERTIES ARE CONTROLLED BY THE BROAD CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE BITUMEN . DURABILITY STUDIES ARE CARRIED OUT ON BITUMENS TO ASSESS HOW THEY WILL CHANGE DURING THE MIXING/LAYING PROCESS AND TO FORECAST THE CHANGES EXPECTED TO OCCUR DURING THE LIFE OF THE ROAD MIX. IN ORDER TO VERIFY THESE LABORATORY ASSESSMENT OF BITUMENS MADE FROM A VARIETY OF CRUDE OILS AND BY DIFFERENT PROCESSING ROUTES, LARGE-SCALE ROAD TRIALS HAVE BEEN LAID. A DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN OF THESE FULL-SCALE EXPERIMENTS AND THE CHANGES WHICH HAVE OCCURRED DURING THE MIXING/LAYING PROCESS AND ALSO AFTER FOUR YEARS IN SERVICE. THESE FIELD AND LABORATORY STUDIES ARE AIMED TO ASSIST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED SPECIFICATIONS FOR PAVING GRADE BITUMENS. /A/RRL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 95, No7, PP 216-220, 5FIG, 2 TAB, 8REF
• Authors:
  • Chipperfield, E H
  • Duthig, J L
  • Girdler, R B
• Publication Date: 1968-7

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Chartered Municipal Engineer /UK/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bitumen; Bituminous pavements; Chemical composition; Crude oil; Durability; Laboratory tests; Mechanical properties; Pavement performance; Performance based specifications; Road construction; Road tests; Specifications; Surface phenomena
• Uncontrolled Terms: Change
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00211234
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Road Research Laboratory /UK
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 3 1970 12:00AM