Why is Bitumen Used in Road Construction? Bitumen is used in road construction because of its unique features and benefits over other paving materials. Bitumen obtains certain qualities that are incorporated into it during the manufacturing process. Bitumen as a raw material in flexible road construction and bitumen as a mix (comprising additional materials such as aggregates/pozzolans) provide significant benefits, prompting its widespread usage in road construction.
Bitumen production is cost-effective and economical.
Bitumen is produced as a byproduct of the crude oil distillation process. Crude oil is a hydrocarbon-based substance. The most common products are petrol, diesel, high octane fuels, and gasoline. The bitumen is left behind after these fuels are processed from crude oil.
Bitumen’s Physical and Rheological Properties Provide Versatility
Bitumen’s physical and chemical characteristics are discovered to be dependent on load level, temperature, and loading time. It is both thermoplastic and viscoelastic. These dependencies require us to really access the traffic on the road so that the qualities of a bitumen mix may be adjusted based on the calculated stress levels.
Bitumen has a low point of melting.
It is much appreciated since bitumen has a favorable melting point, which aids in both surface dressing and wearing resistance. The bitumen’s melting point should not be so high that it melts readily while paving the pavement. Simultaneously, bitumen has a melting point, which prevents the already cast road pave from melting and deforming at high temperatures.
Bitumen may be recycled
Because bitumen has a low melting point, it may be remelted to its original state. This is known as the asphalt recycling process. Instead of being disposed of in landfills, the damaged asphalt fragments are sent to a recycling factory. This recovered mixture is reusable. If required, the old bitumen is combined with new bitumen and aggregates to bring the mixture back to life.
Adhesiveness of Bitumen
As previously stated, bitumen is devoid of hydrocarbons and hence non-toxic. The byproduct is processed to remove organic compounds and contaminants. Because bitumen is very adhesive, the components in the road mix are held together by strong bonds. When the mix is suitable for vehicle movement, these get stronger.
Bitumen comes in a variety of colors.
Bitumen is traditionally black in colour. This is due to the dark hue of the thick organic substance contained inside bitumen. When particular pigments are added to bitumen, we may now get the desired hue. These are bits of colored bitumen. It is more expensive than regular colored bitumen. Colored bitumen has the drawback of requiring additional chemical additions and resources.
Asphalt bitumen is a binding organic material made from the by-products of refined crude oil. It is used in road construction because it is easy to produce, reusable, non-toxic, and a strong binder.
Contents
Why bitumen is used in flexible road construction?
Why is Bitumen Used in Road Construction? – Bitumen is used in road construction due to various properties and advantages it has over other pavement construction materials. Bitumen gain certain unique properties that are inbuilt in it during its manufacture. 
What is asphalt bitumen?
Asphalt bitumen is a binding organic material made from the by-products of refined crude oil. It is used in road construction because it is easy to produce, reusable, non-toxic, and a strong binder.
What are the properties of bitumen?
ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION – Bitumen is characterized by a set of useful properties such as: resistance to weather, water proofing, binding capacity and ability to provide a flexible surface.
Highways Airport Runways Footways / Pedestrian Ways Car Parks, Race Tracks Tennis Courts, Roofing Damp Proofing Dams Reservoir and Pool Linings Sound Proofing Pipe Coatings Cable Coatings Paints, Building Water Proofing Tile underlying Water Proofing
: Uses of Bitumen / Bitumen Applications
What are the requirements of bitumen mixes for road construction?
Requirements of Bitumen Mixes for Road Construction 1 Structural Strength 2 Surface Drainage 3 Surface Friction More
Why bitumen is used in flexible road construction?
Why is Bitumen Used in Road Construction? – Bitumen is used in road construction due to various properties and advantages it has over other pavement construction materials. Bitumen gain certain unique properties that are inbuilt in it during its manufacture.
What is asphalt bitumen?
Asphalt bitumen is a binding organic material made from the by-products of refined crude oil. It is used in road construction because it is easy to produce, reusable, non-toxic, and a strong binder.
How is bitumen produced?
1. Production of Bitumen is economical – Bitumen is a by-product of crude oil distillation process. Crude oil itself is a composition of hydrocarbons. The primary products that are available are the petrol, diesel, high octane fuels and gasoline. When these fuels are refined from the crude oil, the bitumen is left behind.
What is the advantage of bitumen over granular base?
1. Structural Strength of Bituminous Pavements – The figure below shows a typical cross section of flexible pavement, that was developed in the USA. The structural bitumen layer composes of:
- Bituminous surface or wearing course
- Bituminous binder course
- Bituminous base course
The primary purpose of these bitumen mixes is structural strength provision. This involves even load dispersion throughout the layers of the pavement. The loads involved are dynamic or static loads, which is transferred to the base subgrade through the aggregate course.
A granular base with a bituminous surface course is only provided for roads of low traffic. It is just sufficient and economical. The rebounding effect of bitumen upper layers helps in having resistance against high dynamic effect due to the heavy traffic. Rebounding property is reflected by the stiffness and the flexibility characteristics of the bitumen top layers.
When looking from bottom to top, the flexibility characteristics should increase. Studies have shown that the above mentioned characteristics of aggregates are attained using densely graded bitumen mixes. This mix should make use of nominal maximum size aggregate (NMAS), that must decrease from the base course- binder course – surface course.
