2023.12.

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Highway construction Materials

Bitumen
Dr. Jayalath Edirisinghe

Bituminous road construction

• The primary use (70%) of asphalt/bitumen is in road

construction, where it is used as the glue or binder
mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt
concrete.

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Use of Bitumen in Road Construction

• Used in pavements
• Binding material
• Used in
• wearing course
• Primer
• Patch works
• Surface dressing etc.,
• Bitumen, Tar are not same.

General properties of bituminous materials

▪ Durability
▪ Effect of sunlight
▪ Effect of heat
▪ Resistance to fire
▪ Appearance
▪ Noise
▪ Slipperiness
▪ Effect of physical loading
▪ Effects of acid
▪ Effects of fats and oils
▪ Relation to other materials

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Bituminous road construction

• Preparation of the existing base course layer

• The existing surface is prepared by removing the pot holes
or rust if any. The irregularities are filled in with premix
chippings at least a week before laying surface course.
• If the existing pavement is extremely way, a bituminous
leveling course of adequate thickness is provided to lay a
bituminous concrete surface course on a binder course
instead of directly laying it on a WBM.

Manufacture process

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Manufacture cont’d
• It is produced by fractional distillation of crude oil. It is
usually done in 2 stages known as first and second
distillation:
• First distillation: it is heated up to 300-350 and introduced
into an atmospheric distillation column. Lighter fractions are
then separated at different stages of the tank.
• Second distillation: the residue is heated at temperatures
between 350-400C and then introduced to a vacuum
distillation column. At reduced pressure lighter products are
the further distilled from the residue.
• Pressure is reduced because if heating continues at
temperatures higher than 400, there will be thermal
decomposition and cracking of the residue. The residue at
the bottom f the tank is then the feedstock for bitumen.

Bitumen and Tar

▪ Black or dark colored solid, viscous cementitious substance.

▪ Bitumen is petroleum product – obtained by distillation of
crude petroleum or naturally available in asphalt.
▪ Coal tar – by product in destructive
▪ distillation of coke

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Bitumen Adhesion Test

▪ Bitumen adheres well to all normal types of road aggregates
provided they are dry and free from dust. In the absence of water
there is practically no adhesion problem of bituminous construction.
▪ Adhesion problem occurs when the aggregate is wet and cold. This
problem can be dealt with by removing moisture from the aggregate
by drying and increasing the mixing temperature.
▪ Further, the presence of water causes stripping of binder from the
coated aggregates. This problem occurs when bitumen mixture is
permeable to water.
▪ Several laboratory tests are conducted to arbitrarily determine the
adhesion of bitumen binder to an aggregate in the presence of
water. Static immersion test is one specified by IRC and is quite
simple.
▪ The principle of the test is by immersing aggregate fully coated with
binder in water maintained at 400C temperature for 24 hours.

Tests on Bitumen

• Penetration test
• Ductility test
• Softening point test
• Specific gravity test
• Viscosity test
• Flash and Fire point test
• Water content test
• Loss on heating test

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Penetration test.
Significance
The penetration test measures the consistency of
bitumen binders so that they can be classified into
standard grades but on its own has no relation to binder
quality.
However, bitumens are known to reduce in penetration
with age and to develop cracking tendencies.
Penetration values below 20 have been associated with
bad cracking of road surfacing, while cracking rarely
occurs when penetration exceeds 30. Penetration tests
carried out at different temperatures, can also
determine the temperature susceptibility of a bitumen.
Where resistance to flow is important, e.g., when
bitumen is used to fill cracks in concrete road slabs, a
small change in temperature is desirable.

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Penetration test.
Procedure
The bitumen sample is softened to a pouring consistency
and is then poured into the cup to a depth at least 15 mm
in excess of the expected penetration. The sample is
placed in a temperature controlled water bath and
maintained for one hour at 25°C. The sample container is
taken out of bath and is placed on penetrometer table
under needle. The needle is kept touching the surface of
the bitumen with the dial set zero and the initial reading
is recorded. The needle is then released for 5 seconds. It
will penetrate into the bitumen. The needle, is locked and
the final reading is recorded. The needle is taken out from
bitumen, washed with benzene solution and the process is
repeated. Penetration value will be the average of the
three results.
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Penetration test
• It measures the hardness or
softness of bitumen by
measuring the depth in tenths of
a millimeter to which a standard
loaded needle will penetrate
vertically in 5 seconds
• It may be noted that penetration
value is largely influenced by any
inaccuracy with regards to
pouring temperature, size of the
needle, weight placed on the
needle and the test temperature.
• In hot climates, a lower
penetration grade preferred.

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Penetrometer

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Consistency test.

Viscometer Consistency test

Is conducted in Fural viscometer shown in Fig. It consists
of a cylindrical vessel with a standard orifice at the
bottom. The vessel is filled with the bitumen sample and
time taken, in seconds, for 50 ml of bitumen sample to
flow out through the standard orifice denotes its
viscosity.

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Ductility test continued.

Significance
This test indicates the cohesive property of the bitumen and its
ability to form a thin, continuous film around the aggregate. It
is also an indication of the binding strength and ability to
withstand shocks. In the flexible pavement construction
bitumen binders should form thin ductile film around the
aggregate. The binder material which does not possess
sufficient ductility would crack resulting in damping effect. The
ductility values of bitumen vary from 5 to over 100 cm. Often
minimum value of 50 cm is specified for bituminous pavement
construction.

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Ductility test

• Ductility is the property of bitumen that permits it to

undergo great deformation or elongation.
• Ductility is defined as the distance in cm, to which a
standard sample or briquette of the material will be
elongated without breaking.
• Dimension of the briquette thus formed is exactly 1 cm
square.
• The bitumen sample is heated and poured in the mould
assembly placed on a plate.
• These samples with moulds are cooled in the air and then in
water bath at 270C temperature.

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Ductility test cont.,

➢The excess bitumen is cut and the surface is leveled using a

hot knife. Then the mould with assembly containing sample
is kept in water bath of the ductility machine for about 90
minutes.
➢The sides of the moulds are removed, the clips are hooked
on the machine and the machine is operated. The distance
up to the point of breaking of thread is the ductility value
which is reported in cm.
➢The ductility value gets affected by factors such as pouring
temperature, test temperature, rate of pulling etc.
➢A minimum ductility value of 75 cm has been specified by
the BIS..

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Ductility test cont.,

Ductility Mould

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Softening point test

• Softening point denotes the temperature at which the

bitumen attains a particular degree of softening under the
specified condition of test.
• The test is conducted by using Ring and Ball apparatus. A
brass ring containing test sample of bitumen is suspended in
liquid like water or glycerin at a given temperature.
• A steel ball is placed upon the bitumen sample and the
liquid medium is heated at a rate of 50C per minute.
Temperature is noted when the softened bitumen touches
the metal plate which is at a specified distance below.
• Generally, higher softening point indicates lower
temperature susceptibility and is preferred in hot climates.

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Softening point test contd.,

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Specific gravity test

• The specific gravity of bitumen is defined as the ratio of
mass of given volume of bitumen of known content to the
mass of equal volume of water at 270C.
• The specific gravity can be measured using either
pycnometer or preparing a cube specimen of bitumen in
semi solid or solid state.
• In paving jobs, to classify a binder, density property is of
great use. In most cases bitumen is weighed, but when used
with aggregates, the bitumen is converted to volume using
density values.
• The density of bitumen is greatly influenced by its chemical
composition. Increase in aromatic type mineral impurities
cause an increase in specific gravity.
• The specific gravity of bitumen varies from 0.97 to 1.02.

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Water content test

• It is desirable that the bitumen contains minimum water

content to prevent foaming of the bitumen when it is heated
above the boiling point of water.
• The water in bitumen is determined by mixing known weight
of specimen in a pure petroleum distillate free from water,
heating and distilling of the water.
• The weight of the water condensed and collected is
expressed as percentage by weight of the original sample.
• The allowable maximum water content should not be more
than 0.2% by weight.

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Loss on heating test

• When the bitumen is heated it loses the volatility and gets

hardened. About 50gm of the sample is weighed and heated
to a temperature of 1630C for 5 hours in a specified oven
designed for this test.
• The sample specimen is weighed again after the heating
period and loss in weight is expressed as percentage by
weight of the original sample.
• Bitumen used in pavement mixes should not indicate more
than 1% loss in weight, but for bitumen having penetration
values 150-200 up to 2% loss in weight is allowed

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Flash and Fire point test

▪ High temperatures – Bitumen leaves volatiles

▪ These are inflammable
▪ Important to know at where it catches fire
▪ According to BIS, flash point is the temperature at which the
vapour of the bitumen momentarily catches fire in the form
of flash.
▪ Fire point is the temperature at which the material gets
ignited and burns Flash point should be min 175C

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Flash and Fire Point Test

Flash point is the lowest temperature at which the vapor

of a substance can be ignited in air by a flame under
specified conditions of test. The substance itself does not
continue to burn. The sample is filled in an open metal cup
suspended in air as shown in Fig. 18.5. It is heated at a
uniform rate and an open flame is passed over its surface
to determine the temperature at which the volatile vapors
are given off and catch fire. The significance of the test is
that in practice the bitumen should be heated 10°C below
the flash point from safety point of view. Fire point is the
lowest temperature at which the material gets ignited and
burns under specified conditions. The name of the test is
Pesky-Marten test

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Flash and fire test.

Pensky-matten test
Flash point test

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Water content test

▪ Bitumen distilled in petroleum

▪ Heated
▪ Wait of water condensed and collected is expressed as the
percentage by weight of original sample
▪ Allowable maximum water content should not be more than
0.2% by weight

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Loss on Heating Test

▪ Bitumen loses volatility upon heating and gets hardened

▪ 50gms of sample is weighed and heated to 163C for 5 hours
▪ Sample weighed after heating
▪ Loss in weight is expressed as the percentage by weight of the
original sample.
▪ For paving mixes not more than 1% is allowed
▪ How ever, if the bitumen has penetration values of 150 -200mm
2% is allowed.

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Differences between bitumens and tar

PROPERTY BITUMEN TAR

Colour Brownish- black Brownish- black
Viscosity viscous viscous
Specific gravity 0.92-1.02 1.08-1.24
Manufacture Fractional distillation ofFractional distillation of organic
crude petroleum materials
Affinity to water Does not weather well in Greater surface tension and the
presence of water tar coatings remains intact even
in presence of water
Temperature Has a wider range of More susceptible to
changes and temperature for hardening temperature changes
softening
Durability High Loses volatile matter very fast
Hardening Slow Quicker
Toxicity Not Toxic and used as preservative
Solubility Soluble in CS2 Insoluble in CS2

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Applications of bitumen in construction.

▪ Bitumen emulsions.
▪ Mastics.
▪ Impregnated roll materials.
▪ Roofing felt.
▪ Asphalt reinforced mats.
▪ Water proofing asphalt slabs.
▪ Water proofing stones.
▪ Prefabricated waterproofing reinforced concrete items.

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