CAPTER 2

HIGHWAY MAREIALS

1-Bituminous Materials
The bituminous materials are
hydrocarbons, which are combinations of
hydrogen and carbon. The heavier
combinations of these hydrocarbons
include paving materials.
The bituminous materials include asphalt
and tars, varying from liquids to solids in
consistency according to the heating
grade. Asphalts produced from the
refining of petroleum or may occur in
nature in a pure state or associated with

DEFINITIONS

Bitumen : Bitumen is hydrocarbon

material of either natural or pyrogenous
origin, gaseous, liquid, semisolid or solid,
which is completely soluble in carbon
disulfide (ASTM).the greatest part of
bitumen produced from petroleum.
Asphalt : Asphalt is a black to dark brown
cementitious material, semisolid to solid
consisting principally of bitumen that
gradually liquefy when heated.

Tar: Tar is a black or dark brown

bituminous material, which obtain as
a condense in the destructive
distillation of organic materials such
as bituminous coal, petroleum and
wood. Tar is principally bitumen of
liquid to semisolid in consistency.

SOURCES OF BITUMINOUS
MATERIALS

Some of bituminous binders used in paving

purposes occur naturally, but most of them are
products from the manufacture of gas, liquid
fuels and lubricants, or coal gas and coke. The
principal sources of these materials are as
follows:
Native asphalt: Native asphalt come from
Trinidad island off the northeast coast of
Venezuela, Bremudez, Maracaibo and Cuba.
This asphalt is softened with viscous petroleum
fluxes.
Rock asphalt: Rock asphalt is natural deposits of
limestone or sandstone impregnated with
bituminous material.
Petroleum asphalt materials : In recent years

ASPHALT CLASSIFICATION

1-Asphalt Cement : Asphalt cement is

semisolid hydrocarbons remaining after
lubricating oils as well as fuel oils have
been removed from petroleum. The
consistencies of asphalt cements are
given according to its penetration, the
distance that a standard needle
penetrates a sample under known
conditions of loading, time and
temperature. There are five asphalt
cements varying in consistency from a

The asphalt cement is classified

according to its penetration as (200300), (120-150), (85-100), (60-70) and
(40-50). The most commonly used
asphalt in highways at present is AC
85-100 and AC 60-70 . The selection of
asphalt cement grade to be used for
the pavement construction depends
upon the following three factors:
1.Type of construction;
2.Degree of temperature of exposure;
3.Traffic volume.

2-Slow Curing Liquid Asphalts or Road Oils (SC)

Road oils or slow curing liquid asphalts are
liquid petroleum products that harden or set
very slowly. Road oils may range from a liquid
road oil to a very viscous material.
Slow curing asphalts may be produced by :
-as a product remaining after distillation ;
-combining asphalt cement AC 200-300 with
gas oil fluxes.
Slow curing asphalts are more fluid than asphalt
cements AC 200-300, but are more viscous than
the very high grades of lubricating oils. They
ranging from light liquid SC-70 to semisolid SC3000 consistencies.

3-Cut-Back Asphalts
Cutback asphalts are asphalt cements fluxed or
cut back to greater fluidity by mixing with
distillates of the kerosene
a-Medium-curing liquid asphalts (MC)
Medium curing asphalts are produced by
dissolving a relatively soft asphalt cement (120150) or (85-100) in a kerosene solvent. These
solvents evaporate slowly when exposed to
heat or air. This type of asphalt is workable at
relatively low temperatures.
Medium curing asphalts range from light liquid
MC-70 to almost semi solid MC-3000. Fluidity of
the various grades is controlled by the amount
of solvent, MC-70 may contain as much as 40%
solvent (Vol.-%), and MC-3000 as much as 18%.

b-Rapid-curing liquid asphalts (RC)

Rapid curing asphalts are produced by
dissolving asphalt cement, generally AC
85-100, in a gasoline. These types of
solvents are more volatile than kerosene
and diesel oil, and since the distillation
evaporate more rapidly than kerosene.
Rapid curing asphalts range from RC-70
to RC-3000 consistencies. The higher the
number, the higher is the quantity of
asphalt cement.

4-Emulsified Asphalts
Asphalt emulsion is a mixture in which
minute globules of asphalt are dispersed
in water by means of an emulsifier. The
emulsifying agent, such as soap of fatty
and resinous acids, helps in the mixing
of the two materials, resulting in a liquid
end product. Emulsified asphalts can be
mixed with damp or wet aggregates
without heating, thus leading to
reduction in energy requirements and
air pollution. Figure 45 appears a flow
diagram for manufacture of asphalt

Asphalt emulsions are divided into three

categories: anionic, cationic and
nonionic. The anionic and cationic
classes refer to electrical charges
surrounding the asphalt particles.
Asphalt emulsions are classified as rapid
setting (RS), medium setting (MS) and
slow setting (SS),with one or more
subheads under each to designate the
viscosity of the emulsion or the
penetration of the suspended asphalt.
These products having fast medium and
slow breaking times. They are suitable
for a variety of purposes. Asphalt
cement is approximately 55 to 70% by
weight. Generally, asphalt cement of

5-Road Tars
Tars are a by-products obtained by the
destructive distillation of coal. The
American society for testing materials
makes the following designations to
produce the road tars;
-gas-haus coal tar: produced in gashause
retort in the manufacture of gas from
bitumen coal.
-Coke-oven tar: produced in the
manufacture of coke from bituminous coal.
-Water-gas tar: produced in the
manufacture of carbonated water-gas by
cracking oil vapors at high temperatures.

The AASHO classify road tars into 14

grades, from RT-1 to RT-12 and RTCB5 and RTCB-6. RT-1 is a light oil
suitable for application at normal
temperatures. As the number of
designation is larger, the tar is more
viscous. RTCB-5 and RTCB-6 are tars
cut backs with a quick evaporating
solvents for application at low
temperature and quick setting.

-TESTING OF BITUMINOUS
MATERIALS

Tests on bituminous materials may be

divided into the following groups:
1-Consistency Tests
a.Saybolt furol viscosity test;
b.Engler's viscosity test;
c. Float test;
d.Penetration test;
e. Softening point test.
2-Ductility test
3-Solubility test (bitumen content)
4-Distillation test
5-Special tests for asphalt emulsions

1-Consistency Tests
The consistency of the bituminous material
ranges from a very liquid, to a semisolid and
relatively solid materials.
Brief descriptions of consistency tests are as
follows:
a.Saybolt furol viscosity test:
This test is the present control of consistency
for liquid asphalts (RC ,MC,SC), and emulsified
asphalts.
The saybolt viscometer is a special cylindrical
vessel approximately 1.2 in. in diameter and 5
in. height, enclosed in an oil bath. The standard
outlet tube is closed with cork stopper. The
viscosity is defined as the time in seconds
required for 60 ml of the oil to flow by gravity

b.Engler's viscosity test:

The engler viscosity test is the control for the
consistency of liquid products, RT-1 to RT-6 and
RTCB-5 and RTCB-6.
Engler viscometer is a shallow cylindrical vessel
of about 4 in. in diameter equipped with a
slightly tapered outlet tube about 0.11 in. in
diameter and 0.8 in. long.
The viscometer is calibrated at a temperature
of 25 C (77 F) by filling it with water and
measuring the time in seconds needed for the
passage of 50 cm3 under gravity. Bituminous
materials are tested in a like manner at a
specified temperature.
Engler specific viscosity, a dimensionless
number, is the ratio of time required for 50 ml
of bituminous material to flow through the tube
at the time for the same volume of the water to

c.Float test
The float test is performed on the heavier tars,
RT-7 to RT-12,.
The test specimen is a small tapered plug of
bitumen about 0.9 in. long, the diameter is
about 0.4 in. at the top tapered to a diameter of
0.5 in. at the bottom. This plug is molded into a
brass collar, which is threaded to fit into the
bottom of a small aluminum dish .
The testing materials is powered into the brass
collar and after fitting it in the aluminum dish is
allowed to float in ice-water for 15 minutes at a
temperature of 5 C, then the assembly is
placed in a water bath kept at the specified test
temperature until the water breaks through the
plug and into the dish.
The consistency of the material by this test is
the time in seconds, measured from the placing
of the assembly in the bath until the water

d-Penetration test
The penetration test is made to determine the
consistency of asphalt cement, the residues
after distillation of medium- and rapid-curing
asphalt oils and emulsions. Under specified
conditions of loading, temperature and time, a
standard needle penetrates vertically into the
sample .
The test is normally conducted at a
temperature of 25 C (77 F) by loading the
needle for 5 seconds with a weight of 100 gm.
Asphalt cement are classified, by means of
penetration limits, into grades on the basis of
hardness as 40-50, 60-70, 85-100, 120-150 and
200-300. The asphalt cement 85-100 means
that the penetration ranges from 8.5 mm to 10

e.Softening point test (Ring and Ball)

The softening point test determines the
temperature susceptibility of asphalts.
The test specimen is molded in a brass ring 5/8
in. diameter and 1/4 in. thick. the ring is filled
with a melted sample of the materials to be
tested and is suspended in a glass beaker with
its base 1.0 in. above the bottom of the beaker.
The beaker is filled with water at 5 C(41 F),
after the water temperature is maintained at
the same level for 15 minutes, a solid steel ball
3/8 in. in diameter is placed on the center of
the upper surface of the bitumen in the ring .
The water is then heated at the rate of 5 C per
minute. The temperature at which the steel ball
after passing through the sample touches the
bottom of the beaker, gives the softening point

2-Ductility Test
Ductility of a material is its property to elongate
when subjected to tension, before breaking. The
bituminous materials must have some specified
ductility, so that the pavement surface will
distort rather than crack and fail by fatigue
under the effects of repeated loads.
The materials which be tested are original
material for asphalt cement and the residue
after distillation for liquid and semiliquid
asphalts. The tested material is heated and
poured into a brass mold which produces a
specimen with a thickness of about 0.4 in. and
total length of about 3.0 in. This specimen is
pulled horizontally at designated speed in a
special machine. The test is conducted under

MINERAL AGGREGATE FOR BITUMINOUS PAVEMENTS

Asphalt pavements contain between 90

to 95% by weight mineral aggregates,
or between 80 to 85% by volume. The
most common materials are crushed
stone, gravels, slag, sand and mineral
filler.
The choice of an aggregate for
bituminous construction depends upon
the aggregates available, their cost, and
the type of construction, which may be a
low-cost surface treatment or a high-

-PROPERTIES OF MINERAL AGGREGATES:

1.Particle shape
The workability and the compactive effort which
required to produce a given density, and also
the stability influenced by the particle shape of
the mineral aggregate. The classification
according to the shape of particles is as follows:
a.angular;
b.subangular;
c.subraunded;
d.raunded.
The angularity of the particles depends on their
sharpness.
.

2.Particle strength
Base course aggregate must have
enough strength and toughness to resist
repeated loads without breakdown.
Aggregates degraded or broken as a
result of loads imposed upon them,
during construction or later by the traffic
action. Degradation of the aggregates
led to increasing the surface area to the
point where insufficient bituminous
material is present for proper coating.
The aggregate which be used should
have a greater crushing resistance to
prevent excessive gradation. Los Angeles

3.Surface texture
The surface texture is the degree of
roughness of particles. It is important
for mixture stability. A rough surface
makes it quite difficult to displace
one particle relative to another, and
thus lead to increasing the stability
of the mixture. the surface texture
can be classified as:
a.very rough;
b . rough;
c .smooth;
d. polished.

4-.Gradation
The stability and workability of asphaltic
mixture mainly influenced by the aggregate
gradation. The aggregates may be classified on
the basis of gradation as:
a.dense graded
This materials include appropriate amounts of
all sizes from coarse to fine, and also fillers,
which passing sieve No.200. They used in hotmix and other dense-graded types.
b.open graded :
The open graded materials may have an
incomplete grading, or may differ from dense
graded materials in that they contain much less
material passing No.200 sieve. Drain asphalt is
an example for open graded materials.

c.one size materials :

These materials are essentially one size, they
are generally used in macadam base courses,
surface treatments and seal coats.
Logically, the best method of attaining high
stability in a bituminous mixture would be to
use the densest aggregate gradation possible.
But this concept is does not provide sufficient
space for the bitumen necessary for durability
of the mixture. One of the best curves known
for the maximum density is Fuller's curve.
The equation for Fuller's maximum density
curve is:

P = 100 d/D

where P: total percentage passing

d: size of sieve opening considered

5. Porosity
The porosity of an aggregate is
generally reflected by its percentage
absorption, when immersed in water.
A certain degree of porosity is
required in an aggregate since it
permits the bituminous material to
penetrate into the aggregate.
Highly porous aggregates is a
disadvantage because its low unit
weight and also needs more
bituminous material to fill the surface
voids. Blast-furnace slag is an

Mineral Aggregate Tests

There are some tests to determine the different
characteristic of mineral aggregates, which be
used for highway purposes, as example:
Los Angeles Test
This test is used to evaluate the a abrasion due
to traffic action (AASHO -96). The stone is
placed in a metal drum 28 in. diameter and 20
in. long with a charge of steel balls 1/8 in. in
diameter, and the drum is rotated 500 times at
about 32 rpm. The inside of the drum is
equipped with an angle iron, which run
longitudinally. After the end of the test the
stone is shaken over a 12 mesh sieve.
Percentage of passing to the total charge is the