METHODOLOGY FOR LAYING OF BITUMINOUS

CONCRETE
By Sri Kanth on Tuesday, 10 July 2012 at 21:42
METHODOLOGY FOR LAYING OF BITUMINOUS CONCRETE

PREPARATION OF BASE:

The surface on which the Bituminous concrete is to be laid shall be prepared as per the MOST clauses. The
surface shall be thoroughly swept clean by mechanical broom and dust removed by compressed air.

APPLICATION OF TACK COAT:

The application of tack coat shall be at the rate specified in the contract, and shall be applied uniformly. Before
applying tack all the nozzles and valves of sprayer nozzle bar are thoroughly cleaned to get uniform
distribution of tack coat.
The tests are conducted at site to assess the rate of application of tack coat. The speed of sprayer is adjusted to
distribute tack as per specification. Tack coat will be applied if the second layer of DBM is not tacky . RC
250 is used for tack coat.

PRODUCTION OF MIX:

Aggregate mixing = 170 - 185 0 C

Bitumen mixing = 170 - 175 0C
Mix temperature = 170 - 175 0C
Laying = 160 - 165
Rolling = 150 -160

The temperature of bitumen is controlled through the digital display of temperature in the control cabin. The
batch weight as per JMF is fixed in the control cabin to get the mix as per the approved job mix formula. The
bitumen content is set by calibrating the plant by extraction test and feeding the resulting correction to the
plant value.

Mixing time of 12 seconds is fixed so that the all the aggregates and bitumen are thoroughly mixed and all
aggregate are coated with bitumen content. The plant is started early in the morning so that mix is produced by
6.00 am.
LAYING OF BITUMINOUS MIX AT SITE:
The mix is hauled to site in 24 tonne capacity dump trucks. The dump trucks are provided with tarpaulins to
cover the mix during the traffic jams. Laying of mix starts when four loaded dump trucks arrive to site. The
mix is spread at site using electronic sensor paver. The bituminous layers are laid at site in the following
sequences.
Shoulders
Bituminous Concrete 40mm thickness
PCC kerb
DBM II layer 60mm thickness
DBM I layer 60mm thickness

With the above sequence, the thickness of DBM and BC layers are as follows.
I. Average thickness of DBM is 120 mm and minimum thickness at local spots is 109mm.
II. Average thickness of BC layer is 40 mm with minimum thickness of 34mm at local spots.

LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE JOINTS:

Hot joints are provided at site with edge tamping behind the paver. Wooden blocks of specified thickness are
placed with the previously laid lane. This will ensure smooth transverse joints. Staggered transverse joints are
provided at site.

ROLLING:

Rolling commences at the highest temperature up to 140 o C if the mix is stable without cracks. Careful break
down rolling is ensured with tandem roller without any vibration to avoid high temperature cracks and tandem
rolling operations are completed before the temperature of mix falls below 100 oC. Back rolling with
pneumatic tyred roller is done for 1-3 hours. Each location shall experience 8 passes of tandem roller and 6-8
passes of PTR. The rolling at the joints is executed such that only 0.25 m width of roller is on loose layer and
the remaining width of roller is on adjacent compacted layer for first two passes. Roller gradually moves
upwards for every two passes with an overlap of 0.5m. Additional roller passes are applied near kerb side to
have 8 passes on Kerb side or on inner edge.
QUALITY CONTROL TESTS:

Samples are collected from the plant and laying site for gradation, bitumen extraction and marshal sample
preparation. Cores will be taken from the DBM layers for checking field compaction, thickness and
voids. Nuclear Density gauge is used to check the density of BC layers after calibration is done. If any defect
is found it will be rectified as per specifications.

Plant & Machinery at site

1. Electronic sensing paver with sensors.

2. Tandem roller 2 nos
3. Pneumatic tyre rollers
4. Water tanker-1. No.
5. Bitumen Sprayer
6. Compressor
7. Broomer
Small T&P available at site

1. Straight edge
2. Levelling instrument
3. Staff
4. Thermometer
5. Thickness boards
6. Thickness Blocks
7. Depth Gauge
8. Steel tape
9. 3 m tape
10. Guide pegs
11. String wire
12. Hammer
13. Lime powder for making lines.