Accepted Manuscript

Study on Water Permeability, Shear and Pull-Off Performance of Waterproof

Bonding Layer for Highway Bridge

Meng Guo, Yiqiu Tan, Linbing Wang, Zhoujing Ye, Yue Hou, Jiangfeng Wu,
Hailu Yang

PII: S1996-6814(17)30041-X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijprt.2017.09.013
Reference: IJPRT 129

To appear in: International Journal of Pavement Research and

Technology

Received Date: 1 March 2017

Revised Date: 29 August 2017
Accepted Date: 18 September 2017

Please cite this article as: M. Guo, Y. Tan, L. Wang, Z. Ye, Y. Hou, J. Wu, H. Yang, Study on Water Permeability,
Shear and Pull-Off Performance of Waterproof Bonding Layer for Highway Bridge, International Journal of
Pavement Research and Technology (2017), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijprt.2017.09.013

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Study on Water Permeability, Shear and Pull-Off Performance of
Waterproof Bonding Layer for Highway Bridge

Meng Guo1, Yiqiu Tan2, *, Linbing Wang3, Zhoujing Ye4, Yue Hou5, Jiangfeng Wu6, and
Hailu Yang7

1
Assistant Professor (Ph.D.), National Center for Materials Service Safety, University of
Science and Technology Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China; Ph (010)
62321017-613; email: mguo@ustb.edu.cn
2
Professor (Ph.D.), School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of
Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, China; email:
tanyiqiu@ustb.edu.cn
3
Professor (Ph.D.), Joint USTB-Virginia Tech Lab on Multifunctional Materials, USTB,
Beijing, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States; email: wangl@vt.edu
4
Graduate Research Assistant, National Center for Materials Service Safety, University of
Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China; email: 503497949@qq.com
5
Associate Professor (Ph.D.), National Center for Materials Service Safety, University of
Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; email: alladin@outlook.com
6
Graduate Research Assistant, National Center for Material Service Safety, University of
Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; email: wujiangfeng2008@163.com
7
Graduate Research Assistant, National Center for Materials Service Safety, University of
Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China; email: 727930305@qq.com

ABSTRACT

The performance of waterproof bonding layer directly effects the durability of the highway
bridge. Water permeability, shear strength and tension strength are three main indicators
evaluating the waterproof bonding layer. In this research, three waterproof bonding materials
including SBS modified asphalt, SBR modified asphalt emulsion and second order reaction
waterproof material were selected. The water permeability, shear strength and pull-off
strength were tested. The effect of different temperature and different contents were analyzed.
Results show that: the water permeability resistance of waterproof bonding layer ranked as
follows: SBS modified asphalt > Second order reaction waterproof material > SBR modified
asphalt emulsion. Compared to SBR modified asphalt emulsion and Second order reaction
waterproof material, SBS modified asphalt has a better shear resistance. Three waterproof

*
- Corresponding author
materials used in this research all have temperature sensitivity. Their shear strength and
tension strength decrease dramatically with temperature increasing.

KEY WORDS
Waterproof Bonding Layer, Highway Bridge, Water Permeability, Shear Performance,
Pull-Off Performance
1. INTRODUCTION
The performance of waterproof bonding layer in highway bridge directly influence the
durability of the bridge structure. In recent years, how to choose the proper materials and
design the waterproof bonding layer with excellent performance has attracted more and more
attention. Existing studies show that the performance of waterproof bonding layer has a close
relationship with the early distresses of bridge made of asphalt mixture. The damage of
bridge paving has two types: one is the adhesion force between paving layer and bridge is too
weak so that its easy for slippage or delaminating to happen between different layers. The
other damage type is due to the weak water permeability of adhesion layer. The rain
permeates through gaps and cracks into bridge, flushes the concrete, corrodes steel bar to
decrease the service life of concrete bridge. So it is necessary to set a waterproof bonding
layer to prevent these damages.
In 1920, Danish first began to use concrete bridge deck waterproofing layer. With the
development of highway and the study of researcher from various countries, bridge
waterproofing bonding layer has been recognized around the world and attracted widespread
attention. In 1970s, the waterproofing bonding layer was widely used in European and
American countries. In July of 1972, fourteen countries from International Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) jointly issued a research report on
concrete bridge deck waterproofing. This report summarized each country's bridge deck
waterproofing situation and the used methods, and systematically studied the bridge deck
waterproofing membrane material used in each country. It also proposed a detailed
specification about how to test the waterproofing bonding materials [1-5].
In 1976, United States Highway Cooperative Research Organization (National
Cooperative Highway Research Program) published a bridge deck waterproofing report,
which stated in detail the evaluation method of indoor waterproofing membrane performance.
In 1995, based on the long-term testing and research of the concrete bridge deck
waterproofing materials, a new construction, renovation, maintenance view point of bridge
deck waterproofing system was proposed. In the early of 1950s, British TRRL (Transport and
Road Research Laboratory) did a lot of research on bridge paving, especially for the water
permeability, interlayer shear Performance of Waterproof Bonding Layer for Highway
Bridge [6-9]. Guo et al. studied the interfacial adhesion property between asphalt binder and
aggregate by conducting multiscale tests. They found the properties of materials and curing
condition have a significant impact on the interfacial performance between asphalt binder and
aggregate [10-16]. Though the interfacial behavior has been studied by multiscale test and
numerical simulation, the real macro situation still has a distance to the theoretical model
[17-18]. Some relevant tests are necessary to be conducted.
In this research, the water permeability, shear performance and pull-off performance of
three waterproof bonding materials are studied, and the effect factors are analyzed.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Water Permeability

The test device for water permeability used in this research was permeameter for structure
layer material (Figure 1). This device consists of gas-pressure meter, fixed base, upper and
lower clamping bolt and pressure plates with a pressurized cylinder. In order to prevent
leaking, seal rings were used at the upper and lower pressurized plates, and bolts were used to
fasten the pressurized plates.

Figure 1. Permeameter for structure layer material

The pressurized tube inner diameter of Material Permeability Tester was 100mm, the
maximum water pressure is 0.7MPa. The specimen was "cement concrete + asphalt concrete"
composite rolled using wheel tracking apparatus. The specification and number of mineral
aggregates met the specification "Highway Engineering asphalt and asphalt testing
procedures" (JTJ052-2000) in T0703-1993. Three different waterproof bonding materials
between two layers were tested. The test methods and procedure were as follows:
(1) Brush the waterproof bonding material on 30cm 30cm sample surface twice to the
optimum amount. Within 5 hours after first layer is completely dry, brush the second layer
and treat the surface smooth by adjusting the brush force. Keep them at room temperature for
48 hours.
(2) Put the waterproof bonding material into rutting sample mould with size
30cm30cm5cm. Use the rolling compaction method to mold the specimen, which consists
of two layers cement concrete + asphalt concrete. One day later, demould it.
(3) Placed the penetration instrument on a solid flat surface. Clean the specimen and put
it in the middle of the base with the face of the waterproof layer upward.
(4) Smear the butter around the pressing plate. Put the pressurized plate on the specimen
and ensure the pressure plate and the base alignment.
(5) Link the base and the pressing plate closely together by using the lower clamping
bolt.
(6) Use a bolt to link the pressurized plate and pressurized cylinder tightly.
(7) Pour water into the pressurized cylinder until 2/3 volume.
(8) Drop a few drops of red ink into the water, and then start the machine. Add air
pressure into the pressurized cylinder to the regulations, and then keep them for 30 mins.
(9) Observe the water permeability status of specimen, and record the time of water
seepage.

(10) When the test was done, open the pressurizes the valve to release the pressure to
zero. Discharge the water in the pressurized cylinder, and then remove the specimen. Clean
the machine for the further text.
2.2 Shear Performance

The rut plate was used to mold test specimens. The cement concrete plate with size
30cm30cm5cm was obtained first, and then the surface was roughed, followed by seven
days curing. Polish off the floating pulp on the surface of complete dried cement concrete,
brush waterproofing bonding layer, and then pave asphalt concrete layer with thickness 5 cm.
At last, wheel grinding instrument was used to mold the specimen. After 48 hours, the mould
was released. Coring machine was used to get a 100mm 100mm double layer specimen.
Structure material electric shear apparatus was used to study the shear performance. The
study program is shown in Table 1. The effects of waterproof materials type, test condition
and material contents on shear strength resistance are mainly studied.

Table 1. The program for shear performance tests

Effects Levels
Temperature 254060
Materials types SBS modified asphaltSBR modified asphalt emulsionSecond order
reaction waterproof material
Materials 0.6 kg/m ,1.0 kg/m21.5 kg/m22.0 kg/m2
2

content

2.3 Pull-Off Performance

The pull-off test sample size is similar with the shear test samples. The molding method is
same with that in section 2.2.
The structure materials strength tester was used to study the tension performance in this
research. The surface of two specimens should be clean before testing, and then epoxy resin
was used to adhere the specimen and mold together. Keep them at room temperature for 24
hours until the epoxy resin solidified completely. In this research, the tension rate was set as
20 mm/min. Two temperatures 25 oC and 60 oC were selected and three different
waterproofing bonding materials were studied.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Water Permeability

The water permeability resistance of waterproof bonding layer was shown in Table 2.
It can be seen from Table 2 that the water permeability resistance of waterproof bonding
layer tested in this research ranked as follows: SBS modified asphalt > Second order reaction
waterproof material > SBR modified asphalt emulsion. For the waterproof bonding layer of
the highway bridge, a good performance should be able to resist water leaking after paving
the asphalt mixture and road roller rolling. However, its easy for the moisture damage to
happen in the asphalt pavement due to the raining, traffic, and other environment effects.
When the adhesion between asphalt binder and mineral aggregate is weak, or the void content
is high, or the compaction degree is small, the moisture damage will become worse. The
moisture damage can further lead to potholes, slurry pump etc. So the function of waterproof
bonding layer is to prevent the outsider water leaking into the inside of the bridge concrete to
avoid the moisture damage.

Table 2. Test results of water permeability resistant.

Water pressure Waterproof bonding layer
Water seepage situation
MPa
SBR modified asphalt
0.1 No water seepage within 30 mins
emulsion
0.1 SBS modified asphalt 0.3 No water seepage within 30 mins
Second order reaction
0.1 No water seepage within 30 mins
waterproof material
SBR modified asphalt
0.2 No water seepage within 30 mins
emulsion

0.2 SBS modified asphalt 0.3 No water seepage within 30 mins

Second order reaction
0.2 No water seepage within 30 mins
waterproof material
SBR modified asphalt Water started to leak at 10 mins, and leak
0.3
emulsion became worse at 20 mins.
0.3 SBS modified asphalt 0.3 No water seepage within 30 mins

Second order reaction Water started to leak at 25 mins, and leak

0.3
waterproof material became worse at 35 mins.

3.2 Shear Performance

The shear stress can be calculated in Equation (1).

F
(1)
S
Where, shear stress (MPa);
Fshear force (N);
SShear area (m2).
(1) Effect of waterproof bonding layer content on the shear performance of interlayer
The contents of waterproof bonding layer were selected as 0.6kg/m21.0kg/m21.5kg/m2
2.0kg/m2. The test results are shown in Figure 2.
 0.6

0.5

Shear strength (MPa)

0.4

0.3
SBS modified asphalt
0.2
SBR modified asphalt emulsion
Second order reactio waterproof material
0.1

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Content of waterproof bonding layer (kg/m2)

Figure 2. Shear strength of waterproof bonding layer with different materials.

It can be seen from Figure 2 that with the increasing of the waterproof bonding material
content, the shear strength increases first, and then decreases. Based on the tested data, we
can obtain the fitting equation of shear resistant strength for SBS modified asphalt as follows:

-0.097X2+0.31X+0.30 R20.89 (2)

Where, the shear resistant strength (MPa).
X the content of waterproof bonding material (kg/m2).

When X=1.50, the shear strength reached maximum.

Similarly, the fitting equation of shear resistant strength for second order reaction
waterproof material can be shown in Equation (3).

-0.19X2+0.54X+0.10 R20.90 (3)

When X=1.40, the shear strength of second order reaction waterproof material bonding
layer reached maximum.
The fitting equation of shear resistant strength for SBR modified asphalt emulsion
waterproof material can be shown in Equation (4).

-0.01X20.04X+0.36 R20.93 (4)

When X=1.61, the shear strength of SBR modified asphalt emulsion waterproof material
bonding layer reached maximum.
It can be seen from Figure 2 that when the content of waterproof bonding material is
little, the waterproof bonding layer would form a discontinuous thin film, which decreases
the shear strength. When the content of waterproof bonding material is too much, the
frictional resistance between different layers is decreased. Therefore, there should be an
optimum content of water proof bonding materials to balance the interlayer adhesion and
interlayer friction.
(2) Effect of test temperature on shear strength of waterproof bonding layer
In this research, three test temperatures were seltected: 25 oC, 40 oC and 60 oC. The
optimum contents of waterproof bonding materials were applied to study the shear strength.
The tests results are shown in Figure 3.

0.6
25 40 60
0.5
Shear strength (MPa)

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
SBS modified SBR modified Second order
asphalt asphalt emulsion reaction
waterproof
material

Figure 3. The shear strength of waterproof bonding materials at different temperatures.

It can be seen from Figure 3 that the shear performance of waterproof bonding material
depends on the temperature significantly. With the temperature increases, the shear strength
of three waterproof bonding materials decreases dramatically. When the temperature rose
from 25 oC to 40 oC, the shear strength decreased by around 80%. With the temperature
further increased to 60 oC, the shear strength dropped to 10% of that at 25 oC. The shear
resistance of SBR modified asphalt emulsion has the most temperature sensitivity, followed
by second order reaction waterproof material. The SBS modified asphalt has the least
temperature sensitivity.

3.3 Pull-Off Performance

The tension stress can be calculated as Equation (5).

F
P= (5)
S
Where, PAdhesion strengthMPa
FTension forceN
SArea of fracture surfacemm2
Test results are shown in Figure 4.
 0.6
No waterproof bonding layer

0.5 SBS modified asphalt

SBR modified asphalt emulsion

Shear strength (MPa)

0.4
Second order reaction waterproof
material
0.3

0.2

0.1

0
25 60
Temperature

Figure 4. The adhesion strength of different materials at different temperatures.

It can be seen from Figure 4 that at 25 oC, the adhesion performance of three waterproof
bonding materials ranks as follows: SBS modified asphalt > Second order reaction
waterproof material > SBR modified asphalt emulsion > No waterproof bonding layer. SBS
modified asphalt has a good temperature sensitivity. If the content of SBS modified asphalt is
proper, it will form an adhesion layer with good tension performance on the surface of
cement concrete.
The asphalt based waterproof bonding materials all have temperature sensitivity. With the
temperature increasing, not only the shear performance decreases dramatically, but also the
tension adhesion performance declines significantly. It can be seen from Figure 4 that the
tension strength at 60 oC was much lower than that at 25 oC. At 60 oC, the tension strength
were all more than 0.4 MPa, but when the temperature rose to 60 oC, it decreased to 0.1 MPa,
which is only 3%~20% of that at 25 oC.

4. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
In this research, three waterproof bonding materials were studied. The water permeability
resistance, shear strength resistance and tension strength resistance were investigated. And
the effect factors were analyzed. The followings are the other main findings from this study:
(1) Compared to SBR modified asphalt emulsion and Second order reaction waterproof
material, SBS modified asphalt has a better water permeability resistance.
(2) The shear resistance of three waterproof materials ranks as follows: SBS modified
asphalt > Second order reaction waterproof material > SBR modified asphalt emulsion.
(3) Three waterproof materials used in this research are all temperature dependent. Their
shear strength and tension strength decrease significantly with temperature increasing.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study was supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2016M600926),
Beijing Natural Science Foundation (8174071), and Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities (FRF-TP-16-039A1).

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