AsphaltReview

Volume 30 Number 1 Feb/Mar 2011

From the AAPA Chairman 22

From the AAPA CEO 23
A road pavement for very rapid
construction – 25 to 35 years of success 26
Long term, full-depth asphalt pavement
performance in Australia 36
Rural roads nearly $3 billion per year
under-funded, unsafe and
under-productive 42
Port of Napier debuts highly modified
asphalt 44
 ASPHALT REVIEW
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
This is my first opportunity as the
incoming Chair of AAPA to present
my thoughts to AAPA members. But
before doing that, I would like to pass
on my thanks to Louis Nucifora for
his great contribution to AAPA over
many years, including the last three
years as Chair.
Many of you will know that Louis
was the Chief Executive of Pioneer
Road Services. He then moved to
Fulton Hogan when Pioneer was
taken over, and assisted with the
integration of Pioneer into that
company. However, not everyone is
aware of the key role he has played
in AAPA. This includes over 16 years
as a Board member, including several
years as the Board Chair. For his
services to AAPA and the industry
Louis was awarded Life Membership
of AAPA at our 40th anniversary
celebration in October 2009.
As the incoming Chair, I am
fortunate to follow in Louis’ footstep
as he and the Board have left a strong
and active Association that focuses
on addressing members’ needs. But
I also recognise that there are still
many opportunities and challenges
ahead.
Pavement quality, sustainability,
cost, health and safety are some of
the key issues that we face, and as
Chair, I will continue to promote
the best pavement solutions
through our National and State
technical committees, state industry/
government liaison groups and
through Austroads.
Those of us working in the industry
understand the importance of high
quality pavements. Without asphalt
and spray sealed roads across our
nation our society and economy
would not have developed as it has.
AAPA will continue to promote quality
pavements to grow our industry and
our society.
A key project for AAPA over the
next year, and beyond, will be to
review perpetual pavement designs
so that pavements can be designed to
22 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
Sergio Cinerari,
Chairman, AAPA
optimise the use of materials, provide
maximum life and be maintained
with minimal cost and disruption.
In today’s world, sustainability and
efficiency are keys to the success of
any business and AAPA will continue
to promote the many environmental
and economic advantages of asphalt
and bitumen. For example, AAPA
will continue to promote the low
greenhouse footprint of asphalt and
the increased use of recycled asphalt
pavement (RAP). The AAPA/Austroads
Warm mix asphalt validation project
is an example of the work AAPA is
currently undertaking to showcase
technologies with even lower energy
use and greenhouse emissions.
As funding of maintenance
programs becomes tighter and
government budgets are subject
to downward pressure, AAPA will
continue to pursue technological
solutions that highlight not only the
environmental benefits of our product
and services, but also promote the
fact that bituminous products and
bituminous surfacing make the
lowest cost pavements. These are the
cheapest to lay and cause minimal
traffic disruption. AAPA will continue
to provide its industry and government
members with factual and accurate
information to assist governments to
make appropriate funding decisions.
As Chair, I will strongly support
the promotion of flexible pavements
across the whole of Australia. I will
also promote national consistency in
technical standards, health and safety
and environmental issues. However, I
recognise that each state has its own
unique issues and, as Chair, I will
continue to support AAPA’s state-based
focus. To this end, I am pleased to
announce that AAPA has appointed a
West Australian AAPA Executive, Jim
Beesley. Jim will commence duties on
4 April and will work with members
to promote flexible pavements in that
state.
As the new Chair of AAPA, I am
looking forward to a very productive
future for AAPA and for our industry.
I cannot finish this note without
commenting on the recent floods and
cyclone.
Most notably the floods in
Queensland have caused an
enormous amount of damage to
the infrastructure in that state. But
there have also been floods in both
NSW and Victoria. These will put
a lot of pressure on our industry to
meet the urgent demands to repair
the many thousands of kilometres of
roads damaged. However, I am sure
that we can meet those challenges
and AAPA will play its part. This will
include providing a point of contact
between government and industry to
identify and address issues quickly
and effectively. AAPA will also offer
tailored training as required.
With the challenge of the floods and
cyclone, and the constant goal of our
industry to continuously improve,
the next year and beyond will pose
many challenges. But our industry,
with the help of AAPA, will meet
these challenges and I look forward
to leading AAPA to support all of our
members’ needs.
CEO’S REPORT
It seems like only a few days ago that I
was writing a report for the last Asphalt
Review, but it is now four months later
and we are well into 2011. And what an
amazing four months it has been with
floods in several states of Australia,
bushfires in others and then a cyclone in
Queensland.
The floods in particular are having a
massive impact on many Australians.
They are also having a significant
impact on our industry. This impact will
continue for at least the next two years
and possibly much longer.
But before discussing these impacts
I must firstly highlight an important
change for AAPA and that is that Louis
Nucifora has stepped down as AAPA
Chairman and Sergio Cinerari has taken
his place.
Many of you will know Louis and the
key role he has played in our industry.
This includes as an AAPA Board member
for many years, but also in various state
roles before he joined the National
Board. Over the last three years Louis
took on the role of Chair for the second
time.
This was a particularly important
time for AAPA as it was a period when
the Board determined it was necessary
John Lambert,
CEO, AAPA
to conduct a comprehensive review of
AAPA’s direction. For many years AAPA
had been one of the most successful
industry associations in Australia.
But, as with every organisation, there
comes a point when it is time to review
operations. As a result, AAPA developed
some new directions, including a greater
focus on state branches. Importantly for
me, it also resulted in my appointment to
the position of Chief Executive.
So for the last three years Louis
provided a great deal of support and
direction to me as we continued to grow
AAPA’s effectiveness in supporting and
representing our important industry.
During this time Louis also was the
Chief Executive of Pioneer Road Services
and continued in that role until Pioneer
was taken over by Fulton Hogan. Louis
then continued with that company,
assisting in the integration of Pioneer
into Fulton Hogan. He has now decided
to take a break and concentrate on other
priorities. I have heard that these include
fishing. I am sure we will all hear more
of Louis, but at the moment, I wish
him well for the future and express my
gratitude for his support over the last
three years.
The new Chair is Sergio Cinerari, Chief
Executive of Downer EDI Works. Sergio,
like Louis, also has a long history and
extensive knowledge of our industry. He
has a commitment to flexible pavements,
recognising that they are the best long
life, sustainable and cost effective
pavement.
Sergio has stated that over the next 12
months he will work with the Board and
members to effectively promote flexible
pavements. We in the industry know that
flexible pavements are the best, and we
will make sure that others know this as
well.
I am looking forward to working with
Sergio as we continue to increase the
influence AAPA has to support quality
 ASPHALT REVIEW
pavements, new pavements and well
maintained existing pavements.
Sergio has been on the Board for
several years, but there have also been
Asphalt Review reports on some other changes to the Board. These
the flexible pavements and include the resignation of Doug Tucker.
bituminous surfacing industry in Doug has represented Boral Asphalt on
the Board for several years. During this
Australia and New Zealand. It is
time he has been an important member
published by ROADS Magazine contributing his extensive knowledge
on behalf of Australian Asphalt and skills to help lead AAPA to support
Pavement Association Limited the industry. Doug has left Boral to
pursue other interests, and on behalf of
(ABN 31 000 770 123), a non-profit
the Board and myself, I wish him well.
organisation formed to promote In Doug’s place Boral nominated
the economic use of asphalt and Kevin McCullough, (GM Asphalt for
other bituminous bound products Boral Queensland). Kevin brings
based on sound technical and extensive knowledge of our industry
as well as knowledge of AAPA and its
commercial grounds for the
role. This includes having recently been
benefit of its members, their the Chairman of the AAPA Queensland
customers and the community. Branch and Chair of the AAPA/
Department of Transport and Main
Articles in Asphalt Review
Roads Strategic Alliance.
may be reprinted provided Mark Barraclough (Divisional
acknowledgement is given. Manager Asphalt Production and Laying,
Fulton Hogan) has also joined the Board
Contributions of a news or
replacing Louis. Like Kevin, Mark has
technical nature on all aspects of
extensive experience in our industry
asphalt and bituminous surfacing
and with AAPA. This includes as a key
are welcome. member of the AAPA Victorian Branch.
For your information, the other Board
members are Graeme Martin (Brisbane
City Council), Bruce Gidley (VicRoads),
Dan Ridgway (Shell Australia) and Bill
Paterson (BP).
So with a new Chair and Board
members AAPA is looking forward to an
exciting year, with the key focus being on
providing maximum benefit to members
by promoting flexible pavements. This
ADMINISTRATION
means supporting technical advances,
AAPA Head Office sustainability and emphasising the
need to maintain pavements as well as
Level 2, 5 Wellington Street
building new roads.
Kew, Vic 3101
The need to maintain roads has been
Tel: (03) 9853 3595 clearly demonstrated by the floods in
Queensland, NSW and Victoria where
Fax: (03) 9853 3484
the impact of road failures has shown the
Email: info@aapa.asn.au
dependence our community has on road
Website: www.aapa.asn.au transport. Industry and Government
AAPA members are therefore working
Asphalt Review together to meet the current challenges
Editor: Rex Pannell that the floods have presented.
In fact our industry was very active
Email: rex.pannell@halledit.com.au
right from the start in helping to clean
up and repair key infrastructure.
Advertising: Yuri Mamistvalov
The attached photo shows one of our
Email yuri@halledit.com.au
member companies, Allens Asphalt,
Tel: (03) 8534 5008 helping the community in Yeronga to
clean up. I have heard many stories of
24 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
members and their companies doing
similar work.
Now comes the task of repairing
the many thousands of kilometres of
roads that have been damaged. Already,
AAPA in Queensland has been working
with with the Natural Disaster Relief
Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA)
section of the Queensland Department
of Transport and Main Roads. This is
to help identify the scope of the works
and resources that will be required and
possible impediments. The Queensland
Branch has also met with Craig Wallace,
Minister for Main Roads in Queensland,
and discussed some of the issues that we
will all need to address.
This is an important role for AAPA;
to be the link between government
and industry members to identify and
address issues quickly and effectively.
One of the important issues identified
has been to ensure that there are
sufficient experienced workers to meet
the urgent demand, particularly in
Queensland where the government is
aiming to have all repairs completed
within two years. AAPA training courses
will play an important role in maintaining
appropriate levels of skills. We are
also developing a new training course
focussing on repair and maintenance at
the request of the NDRRA. This is to be
delivered throughout Queensland as a
matter of urgency and will also be made
available to areas in NSW and Victoria
as required.
To further support workers in our
industry, AAPA - as a Registered Training
Organisation (RTO) - is currently able
to award units of competency through
the Recognised Prior Learning (RPL)
approach. This includes two units
relating to asphalt placement and sprayed
sealing. They are: “Apply the principles
for asphalt paving and compaction” and
“Apply the principles for the application
of bituminous sprayed treatment”. These
units may be used as part of several
qualifications including the Certificate IV
Civil Construction Supervision. The RPL
process requires an experienced person
to provide evidence to an AAPA assessor
showing that they have the required
skills and knowledge. AAPA has recently
awarded the first 56 units of competency.
For further information about the RPL
process and a program for AAPA Training
courses, refer to the AAPA website under
training.
Avoiding

is easy with
 ASPHALT REVIEW
It is often said that we can learn from the past and that “the proof of the pie is in the eating”.

These two thoughts apply to our industry and in the following paper Paul Ritchie shows that the
skills used in designing and constructing Full Depth Asphalt (FDA) pavements 25 to 35 years ago
in Blacktown NSW produced pavements that have lasted and will continue to provide excellent
service for many years to come.

AAPA promotes the use of FDA pavements for new major roads and the evidence highlighted
by Paul confirms their value. AAPA is also proposing to work with State Road Authorities and
Austroads to expand the use of FDA pavements based on the Perpetual Pavements concept of
the fatigue endurance limit. An example of a perpetual pavement is the 60 year old New Jersey
Turnpike in the US which was highlighted in the last Asphalt Review.

This paper highlights the benefits of FDA. A second paper Long Term Full Depth Asphalt Pavement
in Australia which is included in this edition of Asphalt Review further discusses the benefits of
FDA and the potential of perpetual pavement designs.

A ROAD PAVEMENT FOR VERY

RAPID CONSTRUCTION –
25 TO 35 YEARS OF SUCCESS
Paul Ritchie, MIE Aust CPEng, Australia

ABSTRACT
In the mid 1970 decade, Boral Asphalt
and Blacktown City Council (in western
Sydney) cooperated to construct the
first full depth asphalt (FDA) pavement
in New South Wales. Over the following
thirteen years, at least six road sections
were constructed using this method.
The simple construction method
included laying the base asphalt layers
by grader, directly on the subgrade.
The pavements were 225 to 350mm
thick with no intermediate layer. The
cost effectiveness taking all aspects into
consideration was excellent.
All of these road sections were heavily
trafficked (>20,000vpd) and/or were in
shopping areas that warranted rapid
Alpha Street
construction. All but one has performed
extremely well with no failures, and the The paper will also highlight the construction methods that were used, has
one with failures was due to a design benefits of using FDA as the foundation largely been lost to successive generations
error. for perpetual pavement construction. of engineers and contract staff. The last
The paper analyses the current of the engineers involved in six of those
pavement condition including subgrade
INTRODUCTION projects will all retire within the next 5
condition, asphalt materials used and Why This Paper years and hence it is very important to
remaining life. The paper also seeks to What was learnt from the early FDA pass on this knowledge. As a result, the
compare the design and construction pavement design and construction, author brought together the present
method used, to current methods. some 23 - 36 years ago, and the simple Director City Assets of Blacktown City

26 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011

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 ASPHALT REVIEW
Council (Mr G Morgan who personally
supervised the Newton Road project),
the NSW RTA (3 of the above roads are
now State Roads), and AAPA via Boral
Pty Ltd, to meet the substantial testing
costs for the FDAC pavements that were
constructed between 1974 and 1987.

History
In the late 1960 and early 1970 decades,
Bankstown City Council engineers,
in conjunction with Boral Pty Ltd
(asphalt division – Bitupave Ltd) trialled
different types of road pavement
construction to reduce costs and shorten
construction times. The subgrades were
predominantly clay with an average 4
day soaked Californian Bearing Ratio
(CBR) of 3% (in situ CBR approximately
5%).
A FDA pavement was suggested by
Bitupave Ltd but the Council engineers
were hesitant on this radical approach
and chose to have a 150 - 200mm layer
of road base (DGB20) placed over the
subgrade with a 100 - 150mm layer of
AC over the road base. These pavements
though quick to construct, did not
perform particularly well.
From this experience, Blacktown City
Council agreed with Bitupave Ltd to
reconstruct one of their main shopping
centre roads (Alpha Street) with FDA in
1974 comprising 225mm asphalt directly
on the clay subgrade. This project was
completed in one weekend, with only
praise from the community, within
budget, and post deflection testing proved
the pavement met its design criteria
(Design Traffic of 1.7x106 ESAs for a
20 year design period). Consequently,
Flushcombe Road in the same shopping
centre was reconstructed in 1976, in the
same manner, with the same successful
result. Interestingly, for the latter project,
at about 2.00am on the Sunday morning,
a 15m x 3m section of very poor subgrade
was encountered, bogging the tracked
excavator. With only asphalt available,
the Council engineer directed immediate
excavation of a further 150-200mm and
asphalt pushed into the excavation,
Table 2: ESA Loading
Flushcombe Road
Table 1: Tested Roads
compacted with a tracked excavator, and
left to cool, prior to construction of the
remainder of the pavement. Deflection
testing of the entire reconstructed
pavement was arranged after 3 months
and found the problem area with slightly
higher deflections. Deflection testing was
repeated approximately one year later
and no anomaly was found, ie the entire
pavement was sound.
A further event occurred approximately
10 years later, when a water main burst
in the reconstructed pavement, at the
intersection of the two above mentioned
roads (directly outside the author’s office
at that time). The water main failure
lifted the FDA approximately 15mm at
the lip of gutter and punched a 150mm
diameter hole through it. Deflection
testing indicated no structural problems
and hence after repair of the water main,
the ‘hole’ was repaired with FDA, the
uplifted area milled, and a 30mm AC10
laid over the affected area. To date, 23
years later, no failure or deterioration
has occurred.
From these successes, FDA construction
was then used at this Council in all road
pavement reconstruction on high traffic
and high profile locations. The design
and construction methodology is still
used today with little change.
Construction Method Used
The general method used in the early
days of FDA and in all the test sections
was as follows:
• Kerb & gutter reconstructed/
constructed on an AC base (usually
100mm thick of AC28) - 2 to 3 weeks
earlier than the weekend of the
pavement construction or on larger
projects in conjunction with the
FDAC pavement)
• Weather predictions considered and a
weekend selected where the weather
was likely to be mostly fine
• Ensure the plant and equipment
was in good order with back up for
breakdowns and mechanics available

28 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011

 ASPHALT REVIEW
• Road closed to all vehicular traffic or Table 3: Subgrade Test Results
at least in half widths
• Excavation with a tracked excavator
• Subsoil drainage laid where
considered necessary (rarely used and
often constructed with the kerb &
gutter)
• Clay subgrade trimmed and
compacted
• AC28 or AC40 base layer laid with a
grader in 1-2 layers (total thickness of
110mm to 260mm plus), compacted
with a two point steel vibratory
roller. The asphalt would be laid as
the pavement excavation progressed,
ie the entire excavation was not
completed before placement of
asphalt commenced. 700T of asphalt
placed in a 12 hour shift was not
unusual. Advice from the asphalt
industry indicates that 1,000 tonne
Table 4: Asphalt Test Results
would now be achievable.
With FDAC pavements laid directly
on the subgrade, grader placement is
important as trucks delivering into an
asphalt paver often damage the subgrade
due to the heavy and frequent loading
within the same wheel paths.
• AC20 or AC10 correction layer placed
with a paver (30-50mm thick) – in the
very first projects, two layers were
used, but it was later found that only
one was required
• On a weekend after all the base layer
of asphalt had been completed, the
final 30mm AC10 was placed with a
paver.
The quality assurance (QA) procedure
was as follows:
• Kerb and gutter laid to a surveyed line
and level
• All services and utilities marked
• Excavation depth checked with a tape
or marked rod
• Visual check of the subgrade and
deepening where appropriate, to
a depth judged by the Council
site engineer (rarely required). No
laboratory subgrade CBR or PI tests
were carried out. On some occasions
the subgrade CBR was ascertained by
Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP)
• AC depths checked with a marked
heavy wire probe whilst the asphalt
was hot
• Tonnage/area /depth relationship
checked
• AC temperature taken at adhoc
intervals and when a load seemed to
be standing for a long period

30 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011

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 ASPHALT REVIEW
• Crown level checked with string line Table 5: Deflection & Curvature
and tape from kerbs, and ‘ups’ painted
on the asphalt layers to control added
layers
• Compaction tests a few weeks after
completion (2-3/project)
• No work-as-executed levels were taken
on any layer as the kerb and gutter
existed, the latter had been checked for
level during construction, and was used Table 6: Estimated Pavement Life
to check the pavement excavation and
layer depths.
This QA approach was neither then,
nor seen today, as a ‘rough’ or short cut
procedure, but a practical, cost effective
one.
For lengths and areas of the above road
sections, see Table 3.

TEST METHODS
Deflection and Calculation of
Pavement Life
Each road section was tested by a highly
experienced consultant (Fugro PMS Pty
Ltd) in November 2009, using a Falling
Weight Deflectometer (FWD) with a 40 kN
load, in the following locations:
• Each lane at 50m centres but staggered Table 7: Visual Road Pavement Condition
between lanes
• Generally the outer wheel path in each
lane with some exceptions.
The traffic loading in ESAs was
determined from historical AADT
data, % Heavy Vehicles (HV), ESA/HV
relationship, and future traffic growth
rates (all provided by the respective road
authority), for a range of periods.
The estimated traffic loading in the
design lane in ESA’s for each road section
is detailed in Table 2.
Fugro PMS used the above traffic
loading data, the representative thickness
of AC from the site cores (see Table 5), Table 8: Work Done on Road Pavement Since Construction
and FWD test results (the 95th percentile
deflection and mean curvature for each
road section) to calculate the remaining
pavement life using the ELMOD program
(Evaluation of Layer Moduli and Overlay
Design, designed by Dynatest).

Coring and Testing of Pavement

Materials
In October 2009 and February 2010 the
RTA NSW extracted cores from five of
the pavement sections (except Alpha
St where coring & testing was done in
1997/1998 by Boral Asphalt). At the same
time DCP testing was undertaken to
ascertain the in-situ subgrade CBR. Note
that the coring locations were spread
well apart in a longitudinal direction and

32 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011

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 ASPHALT REVIEW
were in the centre of the lane. From the
sampled cores, the following tests were
undertaken by the RTA NSW Sydney
laboratory:
Subgrade
• Soil classification
• In situ moisture content
• Plasiticity Index (PI)
• 4 day soaked CBR
• 10 day soaked CBR.
Asphalt
• Layer thickness for each nominal size
mix
• Nominal aggregate size for each layer
• Density of each asphalt base layer
• Bitumen content of each asphalt base
layer
• Class of binder used for each asphalt
base layer (Penetration Test).
TEST RESULTS
Subgrade
The results from the testing and the
earlier testing on Alpha Street indicated
that the subgrades were a moist silty
brown, red & grey clay with high
plasticity, typical of most of the western
Sydney metropolitan area. The detailed
results are indicated in Table 3.
The DCP results were confined to the
upper clayey material and could not be
undertaken at lower levels due to the
presence of ironstone nodules in some
road sections. (The tests were carried out
in accordance with the following Test
Methods; PI – AS 1289.3.3.1, CBR – RTA
T117, DCP – RTA T161, and moisture –
RTA T120).
Asphalt
Test cores were 150mm diameter in
accordance with the following Test
Methods: Density – AS 2891.9.2, Bitumen
Penetration – RTA T522, and bitumen
content – AS/NZS 2891.3.1).
There was extremely little, if any,
segregation of the asphalt at the interface
with the subgrade, with no deterioration
of any consequence.
Visual Condition and Work
Done on Road Sections Since
Construction
The author inspected each road section
and the visual condition as assessed is
indicated in Table 7.
The large amount of heavy patching
in Wallpark Avenue was due to a design
error where insufficient thickness of AC
(50-90mm) was placed under the new
kerb & gutter (no road base was used
as the kerb & gutter was constructed
in conjunction with the FDAC road
pavement). This caused the kerb &
gutter to rotate and fail under the heavy
loading in the kerb side lane, leading to
failure of the adjoining road pavement.
The failures commenced within
approximately 5 years of construction.
CONCLUSIONS
From the test results and visual
inspection, there is no doubt that the
FDA pavements, as constructed between
1974 and 1987 are performing well.
At the time the six roads were
constructed, the construction was

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34 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011

approximately 15% more expensive than
a ‘standard’ flexible pavement, based on
unit rates, with no allowance for wet
weather. However, the benefits to the road
user and community, due to the vastly
reduced construction time, more than
compensated for this additional cost.
The cost difference is not evident today THE LEADING JOB WEBSITE FOR
and in fact the situation is now reversed
with the ‘standard’ flexible pavement AUSTRALIA’S ROADS INDUSTRY
being 5% - 54% more expensive to The #1 Google search for “road jobs”
construct (see the full paper for further
details of relative costs). www.roadjobs.com.au
www roadjobs com au
It is clear from these pavements that
Full Depth Asphalt Pavements can be Morgan, Boral Asphalt – Mr Russell MIE Aust CPEng, Fellow IPWEA. 39
perpetual pavements, pavements that Crabb, Fugro PMS – Mr Khai Wong, and years employed in senior engineering
will last for many years with minimal NSW RTA – Messrs Zahid Hoque & Mr positions in three large Sydney
maintenance. They are pavements that
Anthony Bretreger. Councils. Since 2003, has operated as a
provide optimum performance, low cost,
A great deal of thanks is due to AAPA, consultant for various Sydney Councils
minimal disruption during construction
and maintenance and significantly reduce the NSW RTA, and Blacktown City and as an agent for a Private Certifier
the environmental impacts during both Council, and the officers involved, as (subdivisions). Experienced in all
construction and maintenance. without these organisations meeting aspects of suburban civil engineering
the substantial testing costs, this Paper and management, with emphasis on
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS would not have progressed. road pavement design, non destructive
Australian Asphalt Pavement Association testing, pavement condition evaluation,
(AAPA) – Mr Dougall Broadfoot, AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY road construction & maintenance, and
Blacktown City Council – Mr Greg Paul Ritchie – BSc Tech–Civil Eng, LGE, asset management.
 ASPHALT REVIEW
LONG TERM, FULL-DEPTH ASPHALT
PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE IN
AUSTRALIA
By Ian Rickards and Peter Armstrong, Australian Asphalt Pavement Association, Australia
ABSTRACT
The Australian asphalt industry in
conjunction with the Australian Asphalt
Pavement Association (AAPA), has
conducted extensive Long Term Pavement
Performance (LTPP) studies of asphalt
and composite pavements to assist the
validation and calibration of laboratory
performance related tests, to enhance
Full Depth Asphalt (FDA) pavement
thickness design reliability, and to check
the achievement of perpetual pavement
conditions. All the LTPP sites were found
to be in good to excellent condition after
varying service to 40 years.
The enormity of the work required for
successful LTPP studies and a critical
shortage of resources is a key finding.
Considerable overseas LTPP efforts
and research into the endurance limit
of asphalt materials underpinning the
Perpetual Pavement concept is discussed.
It is the authors’ view that we must
actively participate in and contribute
to the overseas research effort if we are
to realise the benefits in a reasonable
timeframe.
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
The Australian asphalt industry has a
long and proud history of contribution
to the development and implementation
of new and innovative asphalt pavement
technologies. It initiated and sponsored
the asphalt research program which
led to the implementation of tests to
enable the laboratory measurement of
the performance related characteristics
of its product e.g. modulus, fatigue
and deformation resistance. However,
industry has constantly stressed that
without validation and calibration of the
test outputs against field performance,
the laboratory performance measures
cannot be implemented into asphalt
mix and pavement design methods.
Accordingly, their conduct of a series
of Long Term Pavement Performance
(LTPP) studies was initiated.
In addition industries believed that
the LTPP study and the evaluation of the
36 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
asphalt material properties would
also enhance the validation of asphalt
pavement thickness design methods
and, it was thought, demonstrate
the conservatism in current design
assumptions. The concept of the Long
Life or Perpetual Pavement is now
accepted by international researchers
because it is based on the endurance (or
fatigue) limit which is a fundamental
engineering property. The LTPP study
further sought to determine whether
the pavements investigated achieved
Perpetual Pavement status, and so
provide guidance on pavement thickness
design parameters and models.
The paper states the need for
considerably more LTPP research effort
aimed at the validation and calibration of
laboratory tests that assist the prediction
of field performance – ARRB TR will
continue to play a vital role calibrating
overseas results to local conditions.
Only by capitalising on the lead held
by overseas agencies will we be able
to implement reliable FDA Perpetual
Pavement design and construction (and
reap the associated benefits) within a
reasonable timeframe.
OBJECTIVES OF LTPP
Validation and calibration of
performance related laboratory
tests
The asphalt industry research program
was initiated in 1987. Over the following
decade considerable industry effort was
expended in the application of laboratory
testing to measure performance related
characteristics of its product in the
laboratory e.g. modulus, fatigue and
deformation resistance.
The measurement of the performance
related characteristics of asphalt was
made possible by the considerable
effort, intellectual vigour and substantial
risk capital invested by the Australian
company Industrial Process Controls
(now IPC Global). This effort delivered
affordable precision testing equipment
to the asphalt industry laboratories.
IPC Global’s ongoing contribution to
international pavement research is a
matter of record and pride.
Industry recognised however that
without validation and calibration
against field performance the laboratory
performance measures cannot be
effectively implemented into asphalt mix
and pavement design methods.
The LTPP sites are evaluated to
determine the effect of the asphalt
mix constituents, ageing and loading
on the following fundamental asphalt
performance related characteristics:
• Asphalt modulus (load spreading
ability) and the effect of moisture
sensitivity
• Asphalt fatigue resistance – resistance
to cracking under repeated deflection
• Asphalt deformation resistance
Evaluation of thickness design
models
Industry experience with Full Depth
Asphalt (FDA) in Australia extends over
40 years. All these pavements are still
in operation and rehabilitation has
been confined to cyclical resurfacing
treatments. In the FDA pavement the
asphalt layers provide the predominant
structural contribution. The foundation
comprises the subgrade, and sufficient
unbound granular materials to ensure
that when combined, it provides
adequate bearing capacity to support
construction traffic and an anvil for
asphalt compaction. This structure is
depicted in Figure 1 which is taken from
the UK LTPP study (Nunn et al 1997). In
FDA thickness design the tensile strain
at the bottom of the asphalt and the
compressive strain at subgrade level are
the classical critical design parameters
(respectively to limit asphalt fatigue
and subgrade deformation). Most of the
heavy duty pavements in the Australian
LTPP studies are more accurately
described as composite pavements i.e.
the structural capacity of the pavement
is provided by both asphalt and cement
bound materials. This adds considerably
to the complexity of the structural
evaluation. In the composite pavement
thickness design the tensile strain at
the bottom of both the asphalt and the
cement treated layer are the critical
design parameters (respectively to limit
fatigue in the asphalt and cement treated
layer). In FDA and composite pavement
design subgrade, strain is rarely, if ever, a
control parameter.
The functional condition of the
pavement at each LTPP site was
rated using visual survey to define the
Pavement Condition Index PCI (Porter
and Armstrong 1980) and roughness
measurement.
The structural condition of the
pavement was assessed using deflection
measurements using either Falling
Weight Deflectometer (FWD)
Benkelman Beam. The study sought
to determine the strength of the
existing pavement components using a
combination of material sampling and
modulus testing, and estimation by back
calculation from deflection testing. Using
these strength data and the observed
layer thicknesses in the thickness design
analyses the estimated life (Equivalent
Standard Axle ESA’s) of the subject
pavement was calculated (using the
Austroads design method and CIRCLY
elastic layer modelling). This estimate
of life is compared with the actual traffic
estimates from which the theoretical
remaining life of the pavement can be
calculated.
Figure 1: Profile of fully flexible
pavements in TRL’s study of the UK
motorway network
By the comparison of the theoretical
and actual traffic loading it is feasible
that the accuracy of the design models
may be determined e.g. if the actual
traffic exceeded the design number it
could be concluded the design method
and models were conservative. A number
of factors complicate this determination
on the LTPP project; none of the sites
were near failure; only a few sections
had been trafficked in excess of design
albeit those that had remained in good
condition indicating conservatism in the
design process.
Improvement of FDA Perpetual
Pavement design reliability
In 1995 the UK Highways Agency
commissioned the Transport Research
Laboratory to investigate much of
or
Figure 1: Profile of fully flexible pavements in TRL’s study of the UK motorway network
the motorway network which was at
its 25 year design life. Nunn (1997)
concludes that despite exceeding the
design traffic the flexible pavements
on the motorways still had a long and
indeterminate life, and so coined the
phrase the Perpetual Pavement. Figure 1
was presented by Nunn and depicts the
UK fully flexible pavements which are
FDA by our definition. The capping layer
is required only where the subgrade
CBR < 5% and if so it comprises select
material and at thicknesses up to
225mm depending on the actual design
CBR. The subbase comprises 150mm of
crushed unbound granular material. The
remaining layers are bitumen bound
materials. Universally the roadbase
asphalt comprised Dense Bituminous
Macadam (DBM) which is identical to
our dense graded asphalt. The authors
(and industry) have been hesitant to
adopt the FDA Perpetual Pavement label
because of the perceived “marketing”
connotations in a professional technical
arena. It is now evident that the FDA
Perpetual Pavement is now accepted
as a legitimate technology, based on
the endurance limit principle, a basic
engineering property that applies to load
bearing materials such as concrete and
steel. The following opening statement
in the forward to NCHRP Report 646
gives perspective:
Many well-constructed flexible
pavements with a thick HMA structure
have been in service for 40 or more
years without any evidence of bottom-
ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
up fatigue cracking. This field experience
suggests that an endurance limit, that
is, a level of strain below which fatigue
damage does not occur for any number
of load repetitions, is a valid concept for
HMA mixtures.
Because the concept has been accepted
by leading research agencies, for the
reasons discussed in the paper and in the
referenced literature, the authors now
believe the FDA Perpetual Pavement
label is appropriate.
The LTPP study further sought to
determine whether the pavements
investigated achieved Perpetual
Pavement status, and so provide
guidance on pavement thickness design
parameters and models.
The TRL findings provide a rational
measure of the achievement of
the “Perpetual Pavement” status.
Conventional pavement engineering
practice uses pavement deflection
to determine the rate of structural
deterioration. It is assumed that
deflection increases as the pavement
weakens due to the onset of fatigue
cracking and intervention limits are
prescribed in rehabilitation manuals. On
the UK network study this assumption
was confounded by the observation
that, over time, the deflections in a FDA
Perpetual Pavement remained constant
or indeed reduced despite heavy traffic
loading. Consequently deflections were
monitored over successive visits to a
number of the Australian LTPP sites to
37
 ASPHALT REVIEW
determine whether or not the pavement
complied with the Perpetual Pavement
definition.
TRL state the observed deflection
reduction is primarily the result of the
“curing” and stiffening of the asphalt
layers (and to a lesser extent the
foundation layers). The asphalt stiffening
phenomenon is well known and results
from asphalt densification by traffic,
and by the stiffening of the binder due
to oxidation and the selective absorption
of the lighter bitumen fractions into the
aggregates.
Hence the Australian study compared
the modulus of the LTPP cores samples
with the typical design modulus values
adopted for newly placed asphalt
materials based on their volumetric
and bitumen properties. The research
revealed that the enduring stiffness of
the asphalt materials are consistently
underestimated in the Australian
pavement thickness design models and,
potentially, the thickness of asphalt
may be reduced without damage to
the Perpetual Pavement status with
routine maintenance confined to cyclical
resurfacing. This offers significant
community benefit by the reduction of
life cycle and traffic disruption costs.
DETAIL OF AAPA LTPP
INVESTIGATIONS
In all, 34 sites ranging in age from 10 to
38 years have been evaluated, many with
repeated observations. The pavement
functional performance characteristics
have been recorded on all sites; the
structural performance characteristics
have been recorded on 21 sites; and a
complete suite of tests completed on
materials sampled on 6 sites. More detail
of the sites and the testing regime is
given in the reports in the following three
studies.
The LTPP studies and site
investigations have occurred through
three phases of work. The performance
of the Australian LTPP sites has been
analysed and a number of detailed reports
presented as recorded in the following
sections. Consistent with the principles
for Perpetual Pavements the only
rehabilitation noted on the test sites has
been confined to resurfacing treatments
and no structural rehabilitation is
apparent.
The performance of all the LTPP
sites, measured in terms of both
functional and structural pavement
condition, has been described as
38 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
good to excellent. Considerable
effort went into the evaluation of the
laboratory characteristics of the asphalt
samples extracted from the sites and
their relationship to the structural
performance of the pavements. The
laboratory test results were found to be
extremely variable and allowed for only
generalised conclusions e.g. the asphalt
modulus was consistently higher than
the value used in pavement design; the
fatigue life of the asphalt under standard
laboratory conditions was low albeit
there is no evidence of fatigue cracking
in the field. The variability in the
laboratory data is not unexpected and
results from different mix design and
construction achievement. To correlate
the laboratory values (at standard
conditions of loading and temperature)
with the design values, adjustment
factors are applied to normalise the
effect of temperature, load frequency
and mix volumetric properties. There is
significant uncertainty in the accuracy
of the adjustment factors e.g. load
duration and Youdale (2004) concludes
the methods suggested by Butcher and
van Loon (2003) are more appropriate
and will result in higher asphalt design
modulus values. The AAPA LTPP study
sites have been augmented by additional
test sites provided by VicRoads (Victoria),
Road and Traffic Authority (New South
Wales) and Main Roads, Queensland.
Each phase of the study has been the
subject of detailed analysis as reported
in the following references.
AAPA LTPP pilot study - 1998 to
2000
The pilot study and the findings are
presented in the very detailed and
comprehensive ARRB TR contract report
by Sharp and Tepper (2001).
The works under the pilot study
extended over the period 1998 to 2000.
In the study the functional performance
was measured and deflection testing
completed on the 19 LTPP sites on the
Eastern seaboard states (Victoria, New
South Wales and Queensland). Extensive
field sampling was conducted on 5 sites
and substantial quantities of cores and
slabs retained for detailed laboratory
characterisation. A vast amount of
testing by the industry laboratories and
analysis was concluded over this period.
As reported by the authors the main
outputs of the Pilot Study were:
• a database incorporating the
structural condition and material
properties of a range of heavy duty
flexible pavements;
• guidelines for the selection of future
test sites and the most appropriate
data that should be collected;
• comparisons of observed performance
with predicted performance; and
• indications regarding the key
parameters which could be refined in
order that improvements could be
made to materials specifications and
pavement design models, as discussed
in the following, which would assist in
the optimisation of design reliability.
AAPA LTPP study phase 2 – 2004
The details of the phase 2 study and
the findings of the data analyses are
presented in the comprehensive report
by Youdale (2004).
In phase 2 of the work, 20 sites were
examined over the period 2002-2003
including the repeat analysis on 6 pilot
study sites. The study benefited by
the inclusion of 4 VicRoads sites that
are part of the Austroads/ARRB TR
LTPP study; 5 sites that are part of the
VicRoads Strategic phase 2 study of the
Pacific Hwy.
The main perceived outputs of the phase
2 study were consistent with the pilot
study.
Update study – 2008
The details of the phase 3 study and
the findings of the data analyses are
presented in the comprehensive report
by Foley (2008).
In phase 3 of the work 6 sites were
examined including the repeat analysis
on 5 phase 2 sites. A trial section in
Queensland, which has 3 pavement
configurations, was added to the
analyses.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS LTPP
AUSTRALIA
General
The findings, extracted from the
previous reports, are summarised under
the headings of the key performance
parameters. Where appropriate the
findings are augmented by commentary
on recent scientific research of relevance.
As described previously most of
the sites evaluated in the LTPP study
comprised composite pavements. This
simply reflects the fact that this was the
most common type of structure built
by Australian agencies over the period.
It occurred initially because engineers
believed they were getting the best of analysis over many sites if we are to have performance issues to considerably
both worlds; the stiffness of cement sufficient data to achieve our goals i.e. the enhance the design reliability of FDA
bound materials and the flexibility of validation and calibration of laboratory Perpetual Pavements. The authors
asphalt. In latter times the pavement tests that assist the prediction of field conclude Australia must actively liaise
thickness design models incorporated performance, and the enhanced FDA and work with overseas agencies if we
in the Austroads Pavement Design Perpetual Pavement design reliability.
are to implement reliable FDA Perpetual
Guide (APDG 2004) and the optimistic It is the authors’ view that we simply
Pavement design and construction,
performance properties assigned to do not, in Australia, have the resources
and reap the associated benefits within
cement treated materials, based on to do it alone – certainly not within a
South African research (These 1996), reasonable timeframe! reasonable timeframe.
sustained the economic benefit of the To increase research resources industry It is the authors’ view that the economic
composite pavement structure. has established alliances with academia benefits that accrue to the community
As is often the case, practical in Australia. This on its own will not be with the realisation of truly “perpetual
construction implications have sufficient. In addition then, recognising pavements” justify radical initiatives.
hindered the reliable achievement of the the limited resources available for LTPP It is evident that the demands of US
theoretical performance projections for studies in Australia, alliances have been and European highway networks has
the composite pavement. In composite formed with US and European agencies sustained substantial and continuous
pavement theory the asphalt is subject to who have vastly greater resources funding for research that has put them
small or zero tensile strain thus asphalt and have, because of the demands on
well in advance of us in the design and
fatigue cracking is unlikely. In practice their highway network, commissioned
specification of FDA Perpetual Pavement
all cement bound materials suffer drying extensive LTPP and Accelerated Load
shrinkage cracking and the stress at the construction. It is our opinion that the
Facility (ALF) studies. In the authors’
crack tip inevitably initiates cracking commentary on the findings from the establishment of alliances and active
in the asphalt. In theory all pavement detailed Australian LTPP materials participation with overseas agencies
layers are assumed to be bonded and characterisation, international is imperative if we wish to expedite
act monolithically. In practice it is laboratory research findings are the implementation of FDA Perpetual
impossible to guarantee the uniform discussed. This has significant promise Pavements and realise the community
bond of cement treated base and to resolve flexible pavement design and benefits.
asphalt as a consequence of differential
movement at cracks, the ingress of water
and development of pore pressure, and
the potential to crush and weaken the
surface of the cement bound layers
so adversely affecting the bond at the
interface. The difference between theory
and practice was illustrated in a study
of composite pavement sections on the
UK highway network conducted at the
same time as the fully flexible sections
as reported by Parry et al (1997). He
reported the majority (6 out of 7) of the
composite pavement section examined
required structural enhancement varying
from considerable depth of asphalt
overlay to full reconstruction. This is in
contrast to the structural performance
of the fully flexible pavement sections
that required no structural enhancement
(Nunn 1997).
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its relatively low stiffness.
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ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011 39

 ASPHALT REVIEW
Deflection testing
As stated previously deflection testing
has the greatest potential to define the
achievement of FDA Perpetual Pavement
status i.e. deflection values remain static
or reduce with time and traffic loading.
It is unfortunate that only one site
has repeat testing on a fully flexible
pavement (i.e. Alternative 2 pavement,
Pacific Motorway, Qld. As would be
expected the sites with a composite
pavement (alternative 1 and 2) had lower
maximum deflection relative to the fully
flexible pavement albeit still extremely
low (247 micron under 80kN FWD
loading i.e. twice standard axle dual tyre
load). On the 3 sections of this trial it is
observed that the deflection curvature
reduced by about 30% over the period
2004 to 2006 indicating a stiffening of the
asphalt structure. Over the longer term
1997 to 2006 the reduction in deflection
curvature was about 40%.
In his report Foley (2008) summarises
the findings from repeated deflection
tests. He concludes the results are
inconclusive and that from site to site
both increased and reduced deflection
measurements are observed. Common
to all sites; however, is the fact that the
deflection magnitude is consistently low
indicating excellent structural properties.
The data is sufficient to conclude that the
FDA Perpetual Pavement status is not
consistently achieved in the composite
pavements with some Victorian sites
exhibiting >20% increased deflection
in the period 2002 to 2006. Repeat
deflection tests confined to truly flexible
pavement sites is recommended.
Commentary
The work highlights a number of
issues that complicate the rational
evaluation of deflection test results.
Unless successive deflection testing of an
asphalt pavement is taken at a constant
temperature (ideally weighted Mean
Annual Pavement Temperature wMAPT)
and with similar apparatus (FWD or
Benkelman Beam) the deflection data
must be adjusted. Commonly deflection
testing must be carried out at night
because of traffic control issues at a
pavement temperature much lower than
wMAPT. The adjustment factors used in
the normalisation process are not well
proven for thick asphalt pavements,
particularly at high design pavement
temperatures where the aggregate
component in the asphalt takes on
a more significant structural role, as
40 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
discussed in the following section on
asphalt modulus.
The need for repeat deflection testing
over the long term is essential for valid
conclusions. It is observed that the
composite pavement generally has low
deflection due to the stiffness of the
cement bound layer. The deflection will
commonly reduce in early life due to the
curing in both the asphalt and cement
bound materials. However it is evident
that as the drying shrinkage cracking
in the cement bound layers increases,
illustrated by the appearance of reflection
cracks, the load bearing capacity of the
pavement diminishes evidenced by the
increasing levels of deflection.
The deflection test data can assist
the estimation of the insitu stiffness
of the existing pavement layers using
software such as EFromD 3 for the
back analysis. The program requires
the input of layer thicknesses and user-
defined seed modulus and limiting
stiffness values as inputs. The program
then follows a systematic iterative
process, progressively adjusting the
layer modulus values until the calculated
deflection bowl best matches the
measured deflection bowl. The National
Centre for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) in
the US has a full scale asphalt pavement
test track with numerous pavement test
sections. As reported in the document
Phase III NCAT Test Track Findings
(NCAT Report 09-08) repeated deflection
testing has been conducted on many
test sections. Using sophisticated back
analysis procedures the deflection data
has been used to estimate the pavement
material properties (asphalt and
granular materials). While the deflection
data have not been published in a format
to allow direct comparison of change
in deflection with time/traffic the data
exists and should be mined.
Asphalt modulus and fatigue
In a number of design and construct
contracts the asphalt modulus is often
the focus of attention with pressure for
higher values. Unfortunately this has
a commercial driver as consultants to
the contractors seek higher modulus
values to minimise design thickness
to gain a theoretical competitive edge.
Unfortunate also is the lack of attention
given to the asphalt fatigue function as
affected by asphalt stiffness and other
properties such as moisture sensitivity.
The complex interaction of asphalt
components and properties as relates
to design assumptions is discussed in
Rickards (2009).
Considerable effort was made in the
LTPP project to obtain and test asphalt
samples for the comparison of laboratory
modulus values of the aged asphalt with
the design modulus values. Five sites
were evaluated in detail and asphalt
materials sampled within and between
wheelpaths. The sampling and testing
plan, and the test results and analyses
are detailed in Sharp and Tepper
(2001). The further repeat test data and
detailed analyses are presented in the
comprehensive Youdale (2004) report.
The resilient modulus of the field
samples was measured in the laboratory
using the Indirect Tensile Test (ITT)
method (AS 2891.13.1—1995). The
laboratory asphalt modulus is measured
at standard test conditions 25°C and 40
millisecond load rise time. A procedure
is included in the Austroads Pavement
Design Guide (APDG Part 6.5) to adjust
the laboratory to design modulus at
design conditions of temperature and
load frequency (Austroads AP G17 – 04).
Using the Austroads method Youdale
estimated the design modulus at the
various sites and concluded that while
there is evidence of the asphalt stiffening
with time the data was scattered i.e. the
ratio between the adjusted laboratory
modulus data and the design modulus
indicated some samples exhibited no
stiffening, while other samples exhibited
3 – 4 fold stiffening. This did not, in
Youdale’s opinion, align well with field
observations i.e. the relatively low ratio
of the measured (ITT) modulus and
design modulus values “seemed to be
somewhat anomalous when viewed
in the light of the very low measured
deflections at the test sites”. From his
analyses Youdale concludes that the
modulus adjustment procedure in APDG
is questionable and he opines that the
procedure presented by Butcher and van
Loon (2003) produce higher and more
realistic design modulus values.
The authors record that the ITT
modulus test was adopted by the asphalt
industry primarily to provide some
comfort to agency pavement design
personnel that the Shell predictive
modulus (still used in the Austroads
Pavement Design Guide) gave reasonable
values. It was also shown to be useful to
evaluate the relative modulus of different
asphalt materials, understanding the
limitations of the test in respect of
loading configuration, temperature and
frequency. It remains a useful tool if used
with an understanding of its limitations.
At this stage of the research it is
concluded that the adjusted modulus
values in APDG are conservative, and
the adoption of values toward the high
end of the range stated in APDG table
6.11 is warranted.
Many fatigue tests were undertaken
on asphalt beams cut from field slabs.
Sharp et al report a large scatter in
the fatigue data, both in terms of the
initial flexural stiffness of the beam and
cycles to failure. As a consequence of
the large scatter in the fatigue data, and
the substantial cost to obtain results, it
was decided to abandon fatigue testing
in subsequent analyses. The authors
believe that the international research
into the “endurance limit” of asphalt,
discussed in following sections, will
limit the need for asphalt fatigue testing
to a ranking test only. In the interim our
design analyses indicate that the tensile
strain in the asphalt component of the
composite pavements examined is, in
theory, well below the endurance limit
i.e. the asphalt should be a perpetual
base. However heed should be taken of
our previous comments regarding the
realization of the theory in practice.
Commentary
At an international level the asphalt
research has moved on and the use of
the ITT has reduced as a consequence
of its limitations (i.e. an unconfined test
at a limited range of temperature and
frequency). In the US, under the NCHRP
Project 9 – 19 Witczak (NCHRP Report
465) compared the results of all the
asphalt test methods in AASHTO with
the field performance of three major
field trials, Westrack, Minroads and
the FHWA ALF (Accelerated Loading
Facility). From this extremely large
study he demonstrated that the Dynamic
modulus (E*) test, and the creep flow
tests gave the best correlation with field
performance. This research led to the
development of the Asphalt Mixture
Performance Tester (AMPT).
There are a number of advantages
with the dynamic modulus test
conducted in the AMPT. The test
configuration is a reasonable replication
of field conditions i.e. cyclical axial
compression loading with or without
confining stress. Cylindrical asphalt
samples are subjected to loading at a
range of load frequency (in typically
6 steps between 0.1 and 25 Hz) and 4
temperature conditions (in Australia
typically 5; 20; 35 and 50°C). From this
data a master curve is developed from
which the asphalt design modulus at
any temperature and load frequency is
determined, thus avoiding the need for
adjustment procedures.
The dynamic modulus E* is
considerably higher than the ITT
modulus at the typical wMAPT
conditions in Australia because of
the loading configuration. At asphalt
temperature approximately 35°C and
above when confining stress is applied
the aggregate structure in the asphalt
begins to dominate the response to
load resulting in higher stiffness and
more elastic (less viscous) response. In
the confined dynamic modulus test the
modulus of the asphalt material tends
toward an asymptote as the confining
stress increases. This concept is
supported by the field observation (e.g.
Marchionna et al. 1987) that the asphalt
pavement deflection asymptotes at high
pavement temperature as the strength
of the aggregate skeleton dominates
because of confining stress. In the
authors’ opinion the confined stress
state more accurately replicates the
condition in structural layers of asphalt
in FDA structures.
In a following section the design of
perpetual pavements and the research
into the asphalt endurance limit is
detailed. The asphalt modulus is a key
parameter in the determination of the
tensile strain induced in the layer under
loading. Historically we have applied
a normalisation process to determine
the design modulus at a representative
asphalt temperature, the weighted
Mean Annual Pavement Temperature
(wMAPT). The application of the
dynamic modulus master curve renders
this simplifying assumption unnecessary
and the range of tensile strain induced
under load can be estimated using
measured data.
In addition to the potential
improvements in the design procedure
it provides a vehicle for Australia’s
involvement in overseas LTPP studies. It
(E*) is a common asphalt performance
measure which will be validated and
calibrated by the effort of researchers
with a level of resources that we could
never achieve.
Functional performance measures
Road roughness measurement was
undertaken on 16 sites. In his summary
Youdale (2004) reports on sites with
traffic in excess of 15 Million Standard
Axles (MSA) where with one exception
the average roughness was less than
40 and as low as 25 counts per km.
Wheelpath rutting was less than 10mm
after traffic to 70 MSA.
Surface texture (sand patch) at all
sites exceeded the Austroads indicative
investigation level of 0.4mm.
Visual rating was conducted on all
sites and the Pavement Condition Index
(PCI) between 80 and 100 (where 100 is
perfect). The PCI does include a cracking
parameter and it is noted a number of
sites were down scored because they
exhibited transverse cracks that in a
few locations had deteriorated to block
cracks, a common condition with
composite pavements as observed by
the authors and described in literature.
Other cracking observed was found to
be top-down in common with the TRL
findings. Cores taken over the cracks
were found to penetrate the surface
layers only and terminate at the asphalt
base. The top-down cracking is believed
to be initiated by localised tensile stress
at the tyre interface with the oxidised
surface. Clearly however the main
structural component in the pavement
remains intact and it continues to
provide a perpetual foundation.
Commentary
The functional condition indicates the
structural condition of the LTPP sites
remains sound. The rideability of the
sites is excellent indicating the absence
of shape loss in the foundations i.e. the
pavement structure is performing its role
to protect the foundation. Deformation
is essentially confined to the wearing
surface asphalt and is commonly related
to ravelling which is the classic form of
deterioration in open graded asphalt.
The surface texture measures indicate
the fundamental mix design method,
most commonly the Marshall method,
has provided adequate resistance to
overfilling and flushing under the typical
non-saturated traffic flow conditions.
The second instalment of this paper
will be featured in the next Asphalt
Review and will feature the findings
and conclusions reached by the
authors.
ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011 41
 ASPHALT REVIEW
A group of over 100 rural local governments have formed the Australian Rural Roads Group
(ARRG). This Group has recently released a report highlighting its concerns over the challenge
associated with developing and maintaining rural roads. The report raises issues concerning the
condition of rural roads and the impact this may have on the economic potential of Australia.

AAPA recognises the importance of high quality bituminous sealed roads to provide effective
transport corridors across the vast area of Australia. Therefore although all the views expressed
in the report may not necessarily be those of AAPA the report is recommended to those in our
industry to assist in better understanding the importance of rural roads and to stimulate discussion
into the most effective way that these roads can be managed and preserved.

The following article has been taken from the press release issued by the ARRG and is published
with the consent of that body.

RURAL ROADS NEARLY $3 BILLION PER

YEAR UNDER-FUNDED, UNSAFE AND
UNDER-PRODUCTIVE
A nationwide lobby made up of one fifth
of all the local governments in Australia
– all rurally-based and each producing
in excess of $100 million in agricultural
products each year – has launched a
report on the funding and planning crisis
facing rural local road infrastructure and
is now pursuing national reforms and
seeking additional funds in the coming
Federal budget to address the crisis head
on.
Going Nowhere: the Rural Local Road
Crisis, Its National Significance and
Proposed Reforms is the inaugural report
of the Australian Rural Roads Group, a
body made up of 115 productive rural
local governments nationwide. The
group was founded early in 2010 by a
group of rural shire councils fed up with
poor funding outcomes for country road
networks and concerned at the long-
term effects on productivity and road
safety that this ‘silent’ infrastructure
crisis will have.
John Coulton, the inaugural chair of
the group and Mayor of Gwydir Shire in
NSW, said he has been overwhelmed by
the support received from rural councils
and rural communities across the
country for the group’s report:
“Everyone we speak to responds the
same way: finally someone has explained
the problem and the solution clearly –
we’re 100% behind you”.
“I don’t think in the past we in the bush
have explained our road infrastructure
crisis very well to higher governments
and mainstream Australia. This report
should fix that. It is a ‘plain English’
but also comprehensive public policy
assessment of the importance of rural
local roads for rural productivity and
road safety. It lifts the lid on how poor
asset management and underfunding
have crippled this infrastructure over
many decades”.
Mr Coulton said the report laid out “in
raw detail” key facts about the rural local
road crisis:
• Each year, local governments
nationwide are together falling up
to $2.8 billion short of the funds
needed simply to maintain the current
local road network roads in a safe
condition;
• This estimate, built on detailed NSW
engineering assessments of 89%
of NSW councils, is nearly 7 times
bigger than the Federal Government’s
own assessment of the size of the
problem, and reveals how poorly
understood local road infrastructure
is at a national level;
• Higher government grant funding
processes are too small and not
targeted at rural productivity:
between 2001-2008, Australia
produced over $250 billion in gross
agricultural production, and at the
same time the mining boom has relied
heavily on rural road infrastructure,
yet over the same 7-year period all
local roads - urban, regional, rural
and remote combined - received only
$3.3 billion in Commonwealth road
grants.
• Nobody in Canberra or elsewhere
keeps or requires any accurate
nationwide picture of local
government asset management data
so as to build and maintain a picture
of the state of Australia’s local roads,
despite the fact that measured by
kilometres local roads make up
almost 80% of all roads in Australia –
Local governments are left to manage
their local roads as best they can
and nobody has any national picture
of the exact shape and size of the
problem;

42 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011


• The relatively lower incomes and
lack of fines and parking revenue
in rural councils compared with
urban councils means rural local
governments cannot raise enough
revenue from their ratepayers to fund
their roads, yet the heavy vehicles and
car fuel excise that they generate on
their roads disappears to Canberra
and rarely returns as rural road
spending;
• The current road funding system does
not give local rural governments and
their businesses and communities any
say in strategic upgrades to roads to
meet future road challenges like the
challenge of dying rail branch lines
for grain movement;
• One state road regulation in NSW
that limited the amount of livestock
transported per vehicle to Fletcher’s
meat processing plant in Dubbo was
estimated via Econtech modelling to
be costing that meat processor 12% in
lost export sales;
• Poor rural roads are threatening rural
community safety as severe funding
shortages mean that life-saving road
improvements just aren’t being made
Monash University Accident Research
shows that roundabouts at country
intersections can reduce casualty
crash risks by 70-80% but these
aren’t being rolled out due to funding
shortages;
• In 1983 Moree Plains Shire Council
in NSW spent over 50% of its total
budget on local roads. In 2010
it is only spending 19% on this
network due to a growing range of
other services expected by modern
communities. The value of this
council’s higher government grants
fell by over 10% over the same period;
• Poor valuation and depreciation
approaches to local roads are
masking a much bigger problem than
previously imagined - much more
funding will be required in the future
to maintain the current rural road
network.
In launching the report, Mr Coulton
said the group had already begun
working with the Federal Transport
and Regional Australia Ministers
(Albanese and Crean). Mr Coulton said
he was impressed by their willingness
to consider the problem and the group’s
proposed solutions.
“We were clear with the Federal
Ministers – we advised them this would
take more money to solve. But we also
said the first thing you need to do is
to mandate some asset management
reporting nationally - that we can all
have a clear picture of the size and shape
of this infrastructure crisis.
“Understanding the size and shape of
the problem is the first step to fixing it.
But of course we are also looking at the
next few Federal budgets for improved
funds for rural roads.
“There is a lot being said in the
media about the importance of regional
Australia and regional infrastructure.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREW ROBERTS WWW.BITETHEDUST.COM.AU
But I don’t know many regional
Australians who won’t tell you that the
state of their roads needs fixing first. It
underpins everything we do in the bush.
Our products move around on it, our
children go to school on it, our tourism
relies on it. We must understand this
infrastructure problem and then tackle
it head-on.”
Further details
PDF copies of Going Nowhere: the
Rural Local Road Crisis, Its National
Significance and Proposed Reforms
are available on the Australian
Rural Roads Group website: http://
austwideruralroadsgroup.com/
The report was authored by Luke Fraser,
Director of Juturna Consulting: www.
juturna.com.au
Further enquiries about the membership
and platform of the Australian Rural
Roads Group:
John Coulton Mayor Gwydir Shire NSW –
ARRG Chair 0427 297 482
Sue Price Deputy Mayor Moree Plains
Shire NSW – ARRG Deputy Chair 0427
169 676
Lyn Russell Mayor Colac Otway Shire
Council VIC – ARRG executive 0419 326
624
Tom Gilmore Mayor of Tablelands
Regional Council QLD – ARRG executive
0488 418 214
David Hood Deputy Mayor, Naracoorte-
Lucindale Council SA – ARRG executive
0429 933 749.
ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011 43
 ASPHALT REVIEW

PORT OF NAPIER DEBUTS

HIGHLY MODIFIED ASPHALT
Authority replaces container wharf pavement damaged by forklift loads
in world’s first commercial use of high-performance asphalt base course.

By Paul Fournier

New Zealand’s Port of Napier recently repaired a heavily

deformed section of pavement in their Container Terminal by
replacing the failed pavement with high-performance asphalt
mix incorporating technology never before used in a base
course anywhere in the world.
Local contractor, Higgins Contractors Limited (HB), of
Napier removed the deformed pavement from a section of H8-
K1 and re-paved the area using Highly Modified Asphalt (HiMA)
technology developed by Kraton Polymers LLC. The technology
employs hard bitumen modified with styrene-butadiene-styrene
(SBS) polymer, Kraton™ D0243, and is designed to improve
pavement resistance to permanent deformation and fatigue
from repetitive loading.
Such pavement qualities are essential at the section near the
edge of Kirkpatrick Wharf (Wharf No. 5) where forklifts loading
and unloading shipping containers have imposed extraordinary
repeated loads that caused premature failure of the pavement.
The section of the pavement was originally built as an access
road, and the pavement, built in 2001 and 2002, was never
designed to accommodate channelised container-handling
As mix cooled rapidly in the raw weather, the crew operated the
wheel loads with typical front-axle loads of 110 tonnes. Sakai pneumatic-roller in vibratory mode to expedite compaction.

Damage from rising container traffic

Adding to the problem is the fact that the number of containers
passing through the Port of Napier, which is owned by the
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, has substantially increased in
recent years due to its favourable east coast location near the
main New Zealand shipping lane. Operating 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, Napier is the primary export seaport for
central New Zealand.
The increasing number of container throughputs at Port of Napier
exacerbated pavement damage, requiring the use of more robust
asphalt mix.
Commenting on the pace of container operations at Napier,
Clarke Curtis, Senior Engineering Technician for the Port
of Napier, estimated that over the past 10 years container
throughputs at the port have approximately doubled. Mr Curtis
pointed out that shortly after the road was built, forklifts began
using the area as a dogging station where container twist locks
are either removed from import containers or placed on export
containers. He said this operation requires the forklifts to
repetitively arrive at very low speeds with hot tyres, grind to
a halt and then slowly accelerate and turn on the spot.
Within a few years, pavement damage from this activity
became visible with the appearance of deep ruts. Depressions
up to 85mm deep were measured in the wheel paths, with
deformation in the basecourse alone exceeding 40mm.
Furthermore, ruts were causing forklifts to shake, requiring
the Port of Napier to spend more money on maintaining them,
Curtis said.
Port officials decided to have the pavement reconstructed, but
they wanted a pavement that could stand up to the punishment
imposed by high forklift axle loads over a pavement design life
of 20 years.

Officials agree to HiMA trial

At a meeting with Higgins Group, which has a long history of
performing construction in Napier, port officials were asked to
approve the trial of HiMA for the H8-K1 project. Sean Bearsley,
 ASPHALT REVIEW
Product Development Manager for Higgins Laboratory,
viewed the small, 400-square-metre project as an opportunity
for Higgins Group to demonstrate the capability of HiMA
technology. Additionally, he said the trial would provide
Higgins Group valuable experience with promising technology
that could have major ramifications for pavements subjected
to heavy loads or pavements with asphalt layer thickness
limitations.
Port officials agreed to try out the technology for the H8-K1
pavement replacement, using a pavement design created by
Robert Patience, Higgins Group Technical Manager. According
to Mr Curtis, one of the reasons they agreed to the design tryout
by Higgins is that it meant they did not have to dig as deep and
get into the water table compared to the original design.
And they also have good access to bitumen and stone with a
quarry nearby. He said many ports do not have this advantage.
Improving pavement design
First, Higgins tried out the new asphalt mix on its own
property to acquaint the paving crew and technical personnel
with handling and other properties of the new product. In
September, Higgins executed the H8-K1 project. They removed
the deformed section and re-paved the area, applying HiMA
technology in the base course and standard SBS-modified mix
for the surface layer.
The original pavement structure consisted of 250 mm of
0/65-mm river gravel subbase over a marine gravel subgrade,
500 mm of crushed 0/40-mm aggregate stabilised with 2%
Portland cement, and 100 mm of Mix 20 asphalt surfacing
made with unmodified 80/100 bitumen.
This was replaced by a new pavement structure designed by
Patience calling for 750 mm of 4.5% Portland cement stabilised
0/40 crushed aggregate subbase, 100 mm of SP28 high modulus
base course made using Kraton™ D0243 modified bitumen
40/50, and a 50-mm SP14 surface course made using 5% SBS
modified 80/100 bitumen.
Patience pointed out the base course design is essentially
identical to a Superpave 25 with the exception that a slightly
larger aggregate was used – a 26.5-mm nominal maximum
sieve instead of 25.0-mm. All of the aggregate was greywacke.
The design was a continuous well-graded mix using six single-
sized crushed coarse aggregate components, and one fine
aggregate comprised of crusher fines or dust. No natural sand
was used.
More polymer made possible
The content of the 40/50 penetration grade bitumen for the
base course was formulated to be 4.3% of the mix mass, with
Kraton D0243 polymer comprising 7.5% of the bitumen. Until
the development of the low-viscosity D0243, such an elevated
polymer content would not have been practical.
While adding polymer to bitumen provides desirable
benefits, traditionally the modification level has been limited
by workability and compatibility. Generally, as polymer
content in bitumen binder exceeds 3% the viscosity of the
binder begins to increase, making asphalt mix gradually more
difficult to produce in the plant and increasingly unworkable
at the job site. The level of mix stiffness that plant operators
and paving crews are willing to tolerate depends on historical
local preferences. In New Zealand, general practice has been
to use between 2.5 and 5.0% SBS when polymer is specified.
46 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
Also constraining modification levels is the tendency of
highly modified hard binders to segregate in unstirred storage,
making the binder unusable. In addition, while standard
modified binders are typically based on 80/100 bitumen, the
use of the harder 40/50 base bitumen would affect workability
and compatibility, further limiting the maximum polymer
concentration.
However, through changes in polymer design, Kraton™
D0243 polymer content can be raised well beyond 6% – even
in harder bitumens. At the selected 7.5%, no adjustments were
needed at the plant or in the field to accommodate the blend
for the H8-K1 project. The new polymer minimises viscosity
increase, yet substantially improves resistance against
permanent deformation and resistance against fatigue from
repetitive loading compared to standard high-performance
binders, according to Kraton researchers. These benefits
afford pavement designers a choice – they may opt for longer
pavement service or reduce pavement thickness and save costs.
Installing high-performance mix
On the day that Higgins paved H8-K1, the weather was damp
and chilly, with ambient temperatures hovering about 8°C and
winds of approximately 30 kilometres per hour exacerbating
conditions. Since Higgins’ asphalt plant is located just six
kilometres from the job site, there was no discernible drop in
mix temperature as trucks delivered the material to the job site.
At the wharf, the trucks deposited the 160°C asphalt directly
into the hopper of Higgins’ Vogele paver. The relatively small
amount of asphalt needed for the trial project did not justify
the use of a shuttle buggy.
According to Higgins’ Patience and Bearsley, mixing, paving
and compaction went smoothly. They indicated that the asphalt
mix team observed an unusually clean operation compared to
standard SBS modified binders with no strings hanging from
the belts.
Furthermore, they did not notice much difference in
handling the high-performance base course mix in comparison
to asphalt employing standard SBS modified bitumen.
However, they observed that as the mix cooled rather quickly
due to raw weather – from 160°C in the paver to 100°C in
the pavement in just 30 minutes -- hand work became more
difficult. Compaction was accomplished by two 2X7-tonne
double drum steel rollers and a pneumatic rubber-tyred roller.
The latter, a Sakai GTW-750, was operated in vibrating mode
to improve consolidation of the mix and achieve the specified
4% air voids. The crew commented on the resilience of the mix
when the rollers went over it, saying it rebounded like rubber.
The proof of performance
A few months later, an opportunity arose for Higgins Group to
pave another, larger, area of pavement – this one covering an
area of approximately 2700 square metres at Loading Zone 1.
The same type of mix was placed here as at H8-K1.
Bearsley said the proof of performance of the two re-paved
sections would be simple –the absence of pavement wheel path
deformations over time. He is confident the debut of HiMA
technology in New Zealand will prove this high-performance
asphalt mix to be the solution to the problem of pavement
damage caused by very heavy loading, such as that experienced
at ports, industrial areas, mining roads and motorway sections.
More information www.kraton.com
WARM MIX ASPHALT ACHIEVES A NEW MILESTONE asphalt thickness. The asphalt is being paved and compacted
at lower than hot mix asphalt temperatures to achieve similar
densities. A further advantage of warm mix asphalt is that there
are also less odours and fumes during the application than in
comparison to hot mix asphalt making it more pleasant for the
crew and surround community. The freshly placed layer also
remains workable for a longer period allowing you more time
to compact and easier to achieve the required density,” Mr
MacBeth says.
“Through our investment in this technology Boral are
committed to providing sustainable asphalt solutions to
achieve superior pavement performance. We would like to
acknowledge the clients’ foresight for supporting this initiative
in our endeavours to reduce our industry’s carbon foot print.
In particular, the SA Department for Transport, Energy
and Infrastructure, the Port Adelaide Enfield Council and its
Manager of Infrastructure, Robert Tiggerman; and Bardavcol
and its Project Manager for the South Road Early Works
Boral Asphalt has been awarded a contract to supply and Project, Daniel Kranixfeld.
pave 3000 tonnes of warm mix asphalt for the construction of It is estimated that this quantity of warm mix asphalt will
DTEI’s South Road Superway project. The warm mix asphalt offset the carbon footprint of 3.4 (based on 34 kg COx/t HMA,
work forms part of the $30 million which has been awarded to 30% reduction with WMA and 8000 kg COx/yr/house) average
Bardavcol to upgrade local roads to provide alternative access Australia house holds in one year (5, 6).
during construction of the Superway. According to Boral’s Technology Manager, Trevor Distin
The $812 million South Road Superway project is the biggest “This is Boral’s largest warm mix asphalt project since we
single investment in a South Australian road project and the started placing the product in the various states since 2006. We
state’s most complex engineering road construction project to are really excited about the prospects for warm mix asphalt
date. given the acceptance and performance of warm mix asphalt
The South Road Superway is stage two of the north-south and RAP in the USA.
corridor upgrade and will deliver a 4.8 kilometre non-stop Following a recent study tour to the USA, it was revealed that
corridor, comprising of a 2.8 kilometre elevated roadway, from about 50 million tons of warm mix asphalt(7) has been placed
the Port River Expressway to Regency Road. without any major problems or concerns about performance.
Boral’s warm mix asphalt product has been developed This equates to five times (based on 10 million tonnes pa, 2010)
to reduce the carbon footprint of asphalt roads. This has Australia’s annual consumption of hot mix asphalt.”
been achieved largely by reducing the manufacturing and For further information visit www.boral.com.au/asphalt
application temperatures of hot mix asphalt and optimising the
use of recycled asphalt.
By reducing the mixing temperature the green house gas
emissions and energy consumption can be reduced by up to
30% (Deer Park Trial CO mg/m3, 240 for HMA to 170 for WMA)
compared to hot mix (1,2,3,4) during manufacture of the asphalt.
To achieve this reduction in temperature during mixing, Boral
has installed an Astec Green Pac foaming unit onto their Gepps
Cross asphalt batch plant.
The unit injects a small amount of atomised water into the
hot bitumen line prior to mixing with the heated aggregates.
The foaming of the bitumen reduces the viscosity of the binder
allowing the aggregates to be coated at a lower temperature.
This enables the mixing temperature of the aggregate to be
reduced from 160 to 135 ° without affecting the workability of
the asphalt during its placement.
According to Boral Asphalt’s General Manager, Rod Macbeth:
“the lowering of the mixing temperature renders improved
durability to the asphalt because the binder is less hardened.
We also add 15% RAP to the mix to increase the stiffness
and improve the rut resistance of the asphalt. Boral’s warm
mix asphalt is a win-a-win for the environment and the road
authority because we use less raw materials and energy in
the production process without comprising the end product
performance.”
“For this project the warm mix asphalt is being placed in multi
layers in the pavement which will comprise 240mm in total

ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011 47

 ASPHALT REVIEW
References
1 4
Moen, O, “Warm-Mix Asphalt (WMA) International Scanning Tour.”
Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Norway, Presentation to
WMA Scan Team, May 2007.
2
Brosseaud, Y. “Warm Asphalt – Overview in France.” LCPC, France,
Presentation to WMA Scan Team, May 2007.
3
Andersen, E.O. “WAM-Foam – An Environmentally Friendly Alternative
to Hot-Mix Asphalt.” Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Oslo,
Norway, Presentation to WMA Scan Team, May 2007.
Boral Deer Park By-Pass Trial Report 2010 Jim Chehovits, Larry
Galehouse,
5
“Energy Usage and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Pavement
Preservation Processes for Asphalt Concrete Pavements” Compendium
of Papers from the First International Conference on Pavement
Preservation
6
Boral Report – Hunters Hill Trial 2010
7
AAPA Study Tour 2010 Report – Trevor Distin

EXTENDING/RESTORING THE SERVICE LIFE OF

ASPHALT PAVEMENTS
Asphaltic pavements suffer from the effects of environmental
and other exposure from ultraviolet light, water, aggressive
chemical spills and abrasion. Water and UV exposure strips
the pavement of its asphaltic binder, which causes fading,
hardening and brittleness (oxidation).
This condition leads to cracking, subsequent crack wall
erosion, and aggregate being freed from its binder, causing
deterioration of the pavement surface. The pavement
accordingly suffers reduced service life, requiring overlays.
Jack Wilson, president and chief executive of Polycon
Manufacturing, Madison USA., first developed E-Krete 15
years ago. The 3mm thick overlay is a light coloured, reflective,
water based polymer composite with cement and aggregate. It
acts like a slurry when applied to asphalt pavement, filling in
cracks and creating a non-bituminous seal that may preserve
the existing pavement for up to 20 years with minimal
maintenance.
“Years ago I was pouring post-tensioned slabs,” Mr Wilson “We tried it on three roads about four years ago,” he says.
says. “I used a thin coat of polymer cement, but it wouldn’t “It’s disappointing that asphalt is not lasting as long as it
stay bonded to asphalt.” used to. You can’t put it down and not worry about it any
Typical asphalt binders deteriorate as the asphalt absorbs more.” But the E-Krete application alleviates that problem. If
water. Mr Wilson hired a chemist and spent the next year you have a good base, it works great.”
searching for the perfect blend. The result, he believed, could In addition to providing extended pavement life, Polycon
save the road agencies millions of dollars in maintenance costs products, through the integration of properly graded
and carbon footprints. aggregates into the surface material, can also provide a long
Polycon entered into a cooperative research and development lasting friction and wearing course micro-overlay that can
agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to fully test restore old pavements to new friction standards, or provide
E-Krete’s ability to preserve asphaltic pavements by protecting new asphaltic surfaces with a friction and wearing surface.
them from damaging environmental exposure and abrasion.
SkidPro is a newly formulated high friction, high wear
E-Krete was installed at the USA Army Corp of Engineers surface that combines all the characteristics and attributes of
Experimental Waterways Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi,
E-Krete, with properly graded aggregates to meet any friction
and was the subject of laboratory and other in-situ tests. The
coefficient required for a particular application.
subsequent report stated: “Overall, E-Krete would appear to be
an excellent alternative to conventional coal tar fuel-resistant E-Krete has been further refined and reformulated to
sealer.” The results of these studies and tests indicated provide a long lasting, coloured pavement marking product
exceptional performance in all categories, leading to the marketed under the trademark Permastripe. This revolutionary
installation of this pavement protection system on all types of pavement marking product yields the same durability as
PCC and asphaltic pavements. E-Krete, but also exhibits the additional attributes necessary
Reid Daws, operations manager for Tupelo Mississippi for a high performance pavement marking including retro-
Regional Airport, agreed to try E-Krete 11 years ago on a reflectivity, and high chromaticity retention. Colours currently
damaged taxiway. “We did a test patch and liked what we saw”, available include yellow, white, black, handicap blue, red and
he says, so much that the airport won federal approval to use it green.
on the entire length of the 2,000 metre long taxiway. Further information on the benefits and uses are available
Rod Woullard, a member of Forrest County Board of through the NRS website at www.nationalroadsealing.com or
Supervisors in Mississippi, saw the Corps of Engineers report. contact Jason Williams on 0488 789 696.

48 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011

A PRE-MIXED SOLUTION TO POTHOLES – IN A BAG
“It’s in a bag, permanent and not afraid of water.” That’s the
message from Jackie Thew, owner of Sales Agency Australia
and distributor of Asphalt in a Bag. Ready to use in all
conditions, Asphalt in a Bag provides a pre-mixed product that
offers a permanent repair solution for potholes, cracks, utility
cuts, driveways, cycle ways, and car parks.
Sales Agency Australia has been supplying many Queensland
Councils and Roadtek depots for a couple of years now. Due
to recent changes to the company’s internal structure and the
addition of a 10 gauge mix on top of the already successful
7 gauge mix, it is now in a position to expand supply across
Queensland and the rest of Australia.
“Asphalt in a Bag is not designed to replace traditional hot For more information, consult the website at www.asphaltinabag.
mix for road building purposes, but to provide a quick and com.au or give Jackie a call on 0411 591 001 for price and
reliable means of effecting permanent repairs,” says Jackie availability.
who’s based in south east Queensland. The mixture works
so well that many of the asphalt
contractors and local councils now
use it for repairs and maintenance
all around the country.”
Manufactured from selective
aggregates, bitumen and polymers,
the bagged mixture is designed
to suit the harshest of weather
conditions. With an indefinite
shelf life, the ready-mix is ideal for
maintaining paths, driveways and
THE LEADING JOB WEBSITE FOR
roads, and can be safely stockpiled
awaiting future use.
AUSTRALIA’S ROADS INDUSTRY
“Asphalt in a Bag expands and The #1 Google search for “road jobs”
contracts with the surface and will
bond to concrete, steel, asphalt www.roadjobs.com.au
and even wood,” explains Jackie.
“The application of the product is
five times faster than the average RoadJobs (www.roadjobs.com.au) is a weekly email and online service that lists employment positions available within
Australasia’s road construction, engineering, maintenance and design sectors.
solution and can be exposed to
traffic immediately, providing The producer of RoadJobs, Hallmark Editions, has extensive links with Australia’s roads industry through which it is able to
promote RoadJobs and the positions that are advertised.
minimal disruption to traffic.”
With a lifetime performance Hallmark Editions produces national magazines and major conferences for Australia’s roads industry, including Australia’s
guarantee, when applied according national magazine for the road construction and engineering industry - ROADS magazine, the national Local Road Safety
& Traffic Engineering Conference, and the Australian Road Engineering & Maintenance Conference.
to the manufacturer’s specifications,
Asphalt in a Bag will permanently The placement of job advertisements in RoadJobs optimises your recruitment process by ensuring your
ad is targeted towards thousands of professionals in Australia’s roads industry.
adhere to the area which is being
repaired. To maximise the exposure of your employment vacancy, relevant positions will also be advertised
With the kind of wet weather free of charge in a number of our other employment websites:

endured in the past few months,

demand for the product has
increased and Sales Agency
Australia has a number of stockist’s
throughout the country who can
supply one or more bags. For For further information please contact:
quantities in the pallet load (50
bags), contact one of the company’s
Ben Hutchison
stockist’s/resellers or Jackie directly.
National Sales Manager
The company is looking for more
Ph: (03) 8534 5025
stockists/ resellers in QLD, NSW
Fax: (03) 8534 5125
and ACT, Asphalt in a Bag is a
Email: benh@halledit.com.au
perfect and quick solution in the wet
or dry for repair of those dangerous
potholes.

ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011 49

 AAPA LEADS WAY IN IMPROVING INDUSTRY SKILLS
AND KNOWLEDGE
In 2011, AAPA will again present a training program for all
people involved in the flexible pavements industry.
These courses incorporated in the program are relevant to
asset supervisors and operator crews. They are also relevant
to engineers, managers and any person associated with the
placement of flexible pavements.
Courses such as the Safe Handling of Bitumen courses
are particularly relevant to new entrants, as well as to
experienced hands who require refreshers.
50 ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
A key feature of AAPA courses is that they are designed and
delivered by experts in our industry; people with many years
of experience in asphalt and sprayed seal. They are delivered
in a range of locations around Australia.
AAPA also offers the flexibility to provide training to
organisations in their own premises or at a time and place
to suit their needs.
If you wish to inquire about AAPA training or to discuss a
customised course for your company, please contact AAPA
(see the details at the bottom of the current course calendar).
ROADS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011 51