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 Why is Bitumen Used in Road
Construction?
• Bitumen gain certain unique properties that are inbuilt in it
during its manufacture. The bitumen as a raw material in
flexible road construction and bitumen as a mix (composing
other materials i.e. aggregates/ pozzolans) serves certain
advantages, that prompt to use bitumen widely in road
construction.

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 VISCOSITY TEST
• Viscosity is the inverse of fluidity. Viscosity thus defines the fluid
property of bituminous material. The degree of fluidity at the
application temperature greatly influences the ability of bituminous
material to spread, penetrate into the voids and also coat the
aggregates and hence affects the strength characteristics of the
resulting paving mixes

• AIM: To determine the viscosity of bitumen by Tar Viscometer.

• Apparatus: Tar Viscometer with 4mm and 10 mm orifices-the
apparatus consists of main parts like cup, valve, water bath, sleeves,
stirrer, receiver and thermometer etc
 Procedure
• The Tar cup is properly levelled and water in the bath is heated to the
temperature specified for the test and is maintained throughout the test.
Stirring is also continued. the sample material is heated at the temperature
20°C above the specified test temperature, and the material is allowed to
cool during this the material is continuously stirred. When material reaches
slightly above test temperature, the same is poured in the Tar cup, until the
levelling peg on the valve rod is just immersed. In the graduated receiver
(cylinder), 25 ml of mineral oil or one percent by weight solution of soft soap
is pored. The receiver is placed under the orifice. When the sample material
reaches the specified testing temperature within +/-0.1 °C and is
maintained for 5 minutes, the valve is opened. The stop watch is started,
when cylinder records 25 ml. the time is recorded for flow up to a mark of
75ml(i.e 50ml of test sample to flow through the orifice)
Result: the time in seconds for 50ml of the test sample to flow
through the orifice is defined as the viscosity at a given test
temperature.
 Flash and Fire point test
Bituminous material drive off volatile substances at specified high
temperature depending upon their grades. These volatiles catch fire and
cause hazards. Therefore it is essential to qualify this temperature for
each grade. This test gives an idea of the critical temperature at and
above which suitable precautions should be taken to eliminate the fire
hazards during heating of bitumen.

Flash point: The flash point of a substance is the lowest temperature at

which the vapours of the substance momentarily catch fire in the form
of a flash under specified conditions of the test.
 FIRE POINT
• The point is the lowest temperature at which the material gets
ignited and burns under specified conditions of test.

• Apparatus: Pensky-Marten’s closed cup apparatus

• Procedure:
i. The material to be tested is filled in the cup upto a definite mark
called filling mark and the lid is laced to close the cup in closed cup
apparatus.
ii. Thermometer of specified range and other accessories are suitably
fixed.
iii. The bitumen specimen is heated at the rate of 5°C per minute and
stirred well during the heating period.

iv. The test flame is brought near the heated specimen at intervals
depending upon the expected flash and fire points. First application of
flame is made at least 17°C below the flash point and then at every 1 to 3 °C
rise in temperature.
v. The temperature at which the application of flame causes a bright flash
inside the cup in the closed cup system is taken as the flash point.
vi. For open cup system, the instance when flash appears first at any point
on the surface of the material is called flash point
vii. On further heating, the temperature at which the material gets ignited
and continues to burn for 5 seconds, is called the fire point. The
minimum specified flash point for bitumen in closed cup type system is
175 °C
 TYPES

Following are the various types of bituminous materials used in the road construction:
1. TAR 2. ASPHALT
2. EMULSION 3. CUTBACKS

TAR:
• Tar is a by-product of the destructive distillation of coal.
• Road Tar is a viscous liquid, black in colour and contains 72 to 95% of bituminous
contents.
• Road Tars are manufactured in five grades i.e RT-1,RT-2,RT-3, RT-4 and RT-5. The
viscosity and other properties are different for different grades.
1
3
 TAR
SL.NO. Grade of Tar Uses

1. RT-1 Can be used for surfacing painting under exceptionally cold weather

2. RT-2 For surface painting under normal climatic condition

3 RT-3 For surface painting, renewal coats and premix top courses

4 RT-4 For Tar macadam in base course

5 RT-5 For grouting purpose.

 ASPHALT
• Asphalt is a substance containing a high percentage of bitumen and
some mineral substances.
• When crude petroleum is fractionally distilled in nature, the residual
product is called asphalt.
• It is blackish brown in colour in colour, non-inflammable but burns
with a smoky flame at a temperature of 250°C.
• Asphalt can be classified as
1. Rock Asphalt 2. Lake-Asphalt

ROCK ASPHALT: It a bituminous limestone.

• It is a compound containing 30 to 90 parts of limestone and 20 to 10
parts of bitumen.
• It is used for pavements
 Lake Asphalt
• It is a natural asphalt found in lakes and contains 40 to
70 per cent of bitumen and about 30 per cent of
water, lime, clay and sand.
• Lake asphalt is refined by boiling it in a tank when
water evaporates and the impurities float on the
surface and are removed.
• Refine lake asphalt is the best material for road
making
 EMULSION
• An emulsion is a mixture of two unmix able liquids. The two liquids
are heated bitumen and water.
• The mixing is done in the presence of an emulsifying agent such as
soap or resin.
• Depending upon the stability of the protective coating of emulsifying
agent, the emulsion maybe classified as:
I. Rapid setting (RS)
II. Medium setting (MS)
III. Slow setting (SS)
A bitumen emulsion contains 30 to 60%, by weight of bitumen, 0.5
to 1% of emulsifying agent and the rest is water.
 ADVANTAGES
• It can be used when the aggregates are wet
• Heating of aggregates and binders is not required and thus conserve
energy
• It can be used in cold weather
• Emulsion is most ideal for patching and repair work
• Due to viscosity it can penetrate fine cracks and hence useful for
sealing cracks

USES: Emulsions can be used in soil stabilization. They are particularly

used for patching and repairing work under cold weather conditions
 CUT-BACKS
• The cut-back is a liquid binder, obtained by bending a bituminous
material with a volatile solvent in the ratio of 80 and 20 %
respectively
• The bituminous material may be bitumen or Tar and volatile solvent
commonly used are flux oils, gasoline, kerosene etc.
• The important features of the cut-back are its low temperature
viscosity and also the rate at which it sets. The rate of setting of cut-
back depends upon the rate at which its solvent evaporates.
• The behaviour of a cut-back in any particular situations depends
upon the characteristics and quality of solvent present.
 GRADES OF CUT-BACKS
• As per IS 217 cut-backs are divided into three grades according to
their use in different bituminous pavements:
I. Grade A: it is recommended for use as a primer being light
II. Grade B: It is medium quality and is recommended for surface
dressing and resurfacing
III. Grade C: It is of heavy quality and is used for premix type road
construction.

USES: It is used for road construction like surface dressing, for

bituminous macadam and in soil stabilization.
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 Advantages of
Bitumen
• A smooth Ride
Surface
• Quick Repair
• Staged Construction
• Life Cost is Less
• Temperature
Resistant
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 Disadvantages of
Bitumen

• Bituminous pavements are less durable

• Low tensile strength compared to concrete pavement
• Cost of construction high during extreme conditions of temperature
• Bitumen with impurities can cause pollution to soil

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THANK U…

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