Event Title
An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Bitumen Additives on the Performance of Pavement Surface Dressings
Location
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
Event Website
https://event.ceri2020.exordo.com/
Start Date
27-8-2020 10:30 AM
End Date
27-8-2020 11:45 AM
Description
Surface dressing is a maintenance technique that uses thin layers of bitumen emulsion and single sized aggregates. The surface dressing process seals and binds the surface of a road to protect its substructure from water ingress. It also provides increased skid resistance, which improves safety for road users. Early life chip-loss can occur if there is an insufficient degree of adhesion between the emulsion and aggregate used. The range of additives used in bitumen can have an effect on their adhesion properties. The focus of this research project was to investigate if the use of these additives in surface dressing bitumen emulsions would improve their degree of adhesion to aggregates. In Ireland, the surface dressing process is a suitable low cost maintenance technique that can be used on 80 % of the Irish road network. There is approximately 95,000 km of regional and local roads in Ireland and it is recommended that a minimum of 5 % (i.e. 4,700 km) of these roads are surface dressed each year. For this research project, a commonly used surface dressing emulsion known as cationic 70 % (C69B3) was used. The various additives were added to the bitumen before being emulsified. The first step in the laboratory analysis was to ensure that each emulsion produced fully met the Irish specification for a C69B3 emulsion. The successful emulsions where then tested for their adhesion properties with aggregate using the vialit plate shock test, the determination of immediate adhesivity test and the abrasion cohesion test. A large scale field trial was then performed to further assess the emulsion performance. The laboratory scale testing found that the additives had a number of different effects on the emulsion properties. Where possible, adjustments were made to the emulsions to correspond with the reference emulsion. If the adjustment where unsuccessful the additive was then discounted from the study. Initial laboratory results demonstrated that a number of the additives improved the adhesion properties of the emulsion, compared to the reference Cationic 70% emulsion. Early indications from the field study have shown increased chip retention for the section laid with bitumen emulsion and chemical adhesion agent compared to the reference section.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Alan; Casserly, John; Kavanagh, Alan; and Campbell, Jim, "An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Bitumen Additives on the Performance of Pavement Surface Dressings" (2020). Civil Engineering Research in Ireland 2020. 4.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/16/4
Included in
Civil Engineering Commons, Construction Engineering and Management Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, Geotechnical Engineering Commons, Hydraulic Engineering Commons, Structural Engineering Commons, Transportation Engineering Commons
An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Bitumen Additives on the Performance of Pavement Surface Dressings
Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland
Surface dressing is a maintenance technique that uses thin layers of bitumen emulsion and single sized aggregates. The surface dressing process seals and binds the surface of a road to protect its substructure from water ingress. It also provides increased skid resistance, which improves safety for road users. Early life chip-loss can occur if there is an insufficient degree of adhesion between the emulsion and aggregate used. The range of additives used in bitumen can have an effect on their adhesion properties. The focus of this research project was to investigate if the use of these additives in surface dressing bitumen emulsions would improve their degree of adhesion to aggregates. In Ireland, the surface dressing process is a suitable low cost maintenance technique that can be used on 80 % of the Irish road network. There is approximately 95,000 km of regional and local roads in Ireland and it is recommended that a minimum of 5 % (i.e. 4,700 km) of these roads are surface dressed each year. For this research project, a commonly used surface dressing emulsion known as cationic 70 % (C69B3) was used. The various additives were added to the bitumen before being emulsified. The first step in the laboratory analysis was to ensure that each emulsion produced fully met the Irish specification for a C69B3 emulsion. The successful emulsions where then tested for their adhesion properties with aggregate using the vialit plate shock test, the determination of immediate adhesivity test and the abrasion cohesion test. A large scale field trial was then performed to further assess the emulsion performance. The laboratory scale testing found that the additives had a number of different effects on the emulsion properties. Where possible, adjustments were made to the emulsions to correspond with the reference emulsion. If the adjustment where unsuccessful the additive was then discounted from the study. Initial laboratory results demonstrated that a number of the additives improved the adhesion properties of the emulsion, compared to the reference Cationic 70% emulsion. Early indications from the field study have shown increased chip retention for the section laid with bitumen emulsion and chemical adhesion agent compared to the reference section.
https://sword.cit.ie/ceri/2020/16/4
