BITUMINOUS

ROAD
CONSTRUCTION

OBJECTIVES OF BITUMINOUS
MIX DESIGN
Sufficient bitumen to ensure a durable pavement.
Sufficient strength to resist shear deformation under traffic at
higher temperature.
Sufficient air voids in the compacted bitumen to allow for
additional compaction by
traffic.
Sufficient workability to permit easy placement without
segregation.
Sufficient resistance to avoid premature cracking due to
repeated bending by traffic.
Sufficient resistance at low temperature to prevent shrinkage
cracks.

Requirements of
Bituminous mixes
Stability
Durability
Flexibility
Skid
resistance
Workability
Desirable
properties

CONSTITUENTS OF
BITUMEN MIX
Coarse aggregate (retained on 2.36mm
sieve)
Fine aggregate (passing 2.36mm sieve
but
retained on 75m)
Filler (passing 75m), may be cement.
Binder: Bitumen etc.

DEFINITIONS

Binder: A material used to hold solid particles

together,
i.e. bitumen or tar.
Bitumen:
A heavy fraction from oil distillation (also occurs as
part of natural
asphalt).
Tar: A viscous liquid obtained from distillation of
coal or wood.Rarely used in construction currently
in the UK.
Asphalt:
A mixture of bitumen and mineral
filler.Note that Hot Rolled Asphalt is a road surfacing
material.
Mastic:
An adhering asphalt which is placed
with
trowelling.
Macadam: A road construction material with binder
and coarse aggregate. Tarmacadam was the first

Bituminous concrete
Asphaltic/Bituminous concrete consists of a mixture
of aggregates continuously graded from maximum
size , typically less than 25 mm, through the fine filler
that is smaller than 0.075 mm. Sufficient bitumen is
added to the mix so that the compacted mix is
effectively impervious and will have acceptable
dissipative and elastic properties.