HIGHWAY METERIALS AND QUALITY CONTROL

(ROADS AND BUILDINGS DEPARTMENT)

MYLAPILLI SIVANNARAYANA
REG NO: 20031A0134
Department of Civil Engineering
UCEN-JNTUK
 CONTENTS

 Geotechnical investigation on
site condition
a) Plastic limit
b) Liquid limit
c) Field density
d) Specific gravity  Rigid pavement investigation
e) CBR test
a. Flexure strength
f) Free swell index of soil
b. Compression strength

 Flexible pavement investigation

a. Viscosity of bitumen
b. Ductility of bitumen
c. Impact strength of aggregates
 Plastic limit of soil
Plastic limit is defined as the water moisture content at which a thread of soil with 3.2mm diameter
begins to crumble

The plastic limit is one of the measured parameters of the Atterberg limits test(ASTM, 2010),
Which is used for differentiating consistency states of finer particles in soil material.

The plastic limit of earthen soil should be maintained between 10% to 25% and 12% to 22% is
preferred.
 Liquid limit of soil
Liquid limit of soil is the water content at which the soil starts to behave as a liquid. It is
determined using casagrande apparatus.

The liquid limit of earthen soil should be maintained between 25% to 50% and 30% to 35% is
preferred.

If the natural moisture content of soil is higher than liquid limit, the soil can be considered as soft
and if the moisture content is lesser than liquid limit, the soil is brittle and stiffer. The value of
liquid limit is used in classification of the soil and it gives an idea about plasticity of the soil.

It gives the end point of soils plastic nature. So from this plastic limit we can determine the
plasticity index of soil.

Plasticity index = liquid limit – plastic limit

 Field density of the soil
(core cutter method)
Core cutter method is used for finding field density of cohesive or clayey soil placed as fill. It is
the rapid method it cannot be applied to coarse grained soil as penetration of core cutter becomes
difficult due to increased resistance at the tip of core cutter leading to damage to core cutter.

Soil density is the relation between the mass and the volume of a dry soil sample. Used for safe
design of roads.

The preferred dry density of the site for pavement construction is 2100 kg/m^3.
 Specific gravity of soil
The specific gravity of the soil particles lie with in the range of 2.65 to 2.85. Soils containing
organic matter and porous particles may have specific gravity values below 2.0. Soils having heavy
substances may have values above 3.0.

Knowing the specific gravity of soils helps engineers understand how porous the soil is or how
many voids it contains. It also indicates how saturated the soil is with water.

The soil of specific gravity 2.5 to 2.9 are preferrable for site works of road construction.

Organic soils are less used in site works.

 CBR ratio
The California Bearing Ratio is a measure of the strength of the subgrade of a road or other paved
area, and of the materials used in its construction. The ratio is measured using a standardized
penetration test first developed by the California Division of Highways for highway engineering.

The strength of material is compared with California lime.

CBR=(Ps%Pstd)*100

Where Ps=Stress carried by site soil

Pstd= Stress carried by standard soil

CBR value is taken at 2.5mm and 5mm penetration. In subgrade material CBR value should be
nearly 15-19%
 Free swell index of soil
Free swelling increase in volume of soil, without any external constraints on submergence of
water.

Swelling and shrinking of soil leads to distress in the substructure resulting in failure of
foundation. Swelling of soils exerts upward pressure on the foundation.

Free swell index (%) = (Vd – Vk/ Vk) x 100

Where,
Vd = The volume of soil specimen read from the graduated cylinder containing distilled water
Vk= The volume of soil specimen read from the graduated cylinder containing kerosene, ml
 Compressive strength
Compressive strength is the ability of material or structure to carry the loads on its surface without
any crack or deflection.

 A material under compression tends to reduce the size, while in tension, size elongates.

compressive strength test, mechanical test measuring the maximum amount of compressive load a
material can bear before fracturing.

The test piece, usually in the form of a cube, prism, or cylinder, is compressed between the
platens of a compression-testing machine by a gradually applied load.

Compression test can be calculated by using

Compressive Strength = Load / Cross-sectional Area

 Flexural strength of concrete
Flexural strength is one measure of the tensile strength of concrete. It is a measure of an unreinforced concrete
beam or slab to resist failure in bending.

Flexural strength can be calculated by using given formula,

fb = Pl/bd2 (when a > 13.3 cm)
fb = 3Pa/bd2 (when a < 13.3 cm)
Where,
a = the distance between the line of fracture and the nearest support, measured on the center line of the tensile
side of the specimen (cm)
b = width of specimen (cm)
d = failure point depth (cm)
l = supported length (cm)
P = Maximum Load taken by the specimen (kg)

M40 grade concrete mix with minimum flexural strength 45kg/cm^2 is to be used for pavement construction.
 Viscosity of bitumen
viscosity test is used to determine viscosity of liquid bitumen.

There are 3 types that affect viscosity,

Fluid Temperature: Usually the viscosity of liquids decreases with an increase in temperature.

Flow Conditions: For laminar flow the viscosity of liquid remains constant while for turbulent flow
viscosity changes.

Pressure: With an increase in pressure, the viscosity of gases usually increase.

Viscosity is a good property to show the ability of bitumen in coating and adhesion. 

Low viscosity bitumen tends to flow and behave like a lubricant and not a binder, so it cannot adhere to
aggregates well. 
 Ductility of bitumen

Ductility is the ability of a material to be drawn or plastically deformed without fracture.

Ductility allows structures to bend and deform to some extent without rupturing.

Ductility testing offers a practical and useful way to measure specimen ability to undergo plastic
deformation prior to breaking.

Ductility can be measured by the amount of permanent deformation indicated by the stress-
strain curve. 

The acceptable ductility range of bitumen should be more than 50 cm.

 IMPACT LOAD TESTING ON AGGREGATE
The aggregate impact value is a measure of resistance to sudden impact or shock, which may
differ from its resistance to gradually applied compressive load.

Impact testing is used to measure the impact toughness of the material used.
 
Formula: IMPACT VALUE = (w/W) X 100

where, w = weight of residue obtained

W = original weight of aggregates.

The impact value should not exceed 30%.

 GRADE OF BITUMEN
Viscosity grade bitumen in four different types including VG10, VG20, VG30, and VG40 is the
most widely used bitumen in India, which has been replaced by bitumen penetration grade
according to the Indian Standard (IS:73).

VG-20 is used for paving in cold climate & high altitude regions.

VG-30 is especially used to construct extra heavy duty Bitumen pavements that need to
tolerate significant traffic loads. It can be used instead of 60/70 penetration bitumen grade.

VG-40 is used in highly stressed areas such as intersections, near toll booths and truck
parking lots instead of 30/40 penetration grade.

Because of higher viscosity, stiffer Bitumen mixes can be produced to amend resistance to
shoving and other problems related to higher temperature and heavy traffic loads.
 AGGREGATE CRUSHER
An aggregate crusher is a machine designed to grind or pulverize various types of rock into small,
relatively uniform pieces.

Aggregate crushers are used in mining, quarrying and recycling operations.

An aggregate crusher can be relatively small, like the mobile units used for reclaiming recycled
asphalt, or huge machines that can process thousands of tons of material a day.
 BITUMEN MIXING PLANT
These are either permanent plant installations or small mobile units. They perform a complete sequence
of operations, from drying, to aggregate heating and mixing, to coating them with binder, to delivering them
ready to be laid.

Batch mix plant means a source or affected facility that produces hot mix asphalt by heating and drying
the aggregate in a dryer before separating and mixing it with asphalt cement in separate batches.

Steps in bitumen mixing:

◦ Aggregate selection.
◦ Asphalt binder selection.
◦ Sample preparation (including compaction)
◦ Stability determination using the Hveem Stabilometer.
◦ Density and voids calculations.
◦ Optimum asphalt binder content selection.