Why Bitumen is used in road construction?

These days bitumen used for road construction and road engineers prefer bitumen over other materials. It’s the superior option when it comes to road construction projects due to many different reasons.

Versatility, recycling, cost-efficiency, low melting point, adhesiveness, and various colors of bitumen explain why it’s the number one choice of many road constructors.

If you need more information about this material, you should keep reading this blog. We discuss the unique properties and benefits of bitumen and why it has considerable effects on pavement construction.

What Are the Reasons for Using Bitumen in Road Construction?

Experts prefer bitumen over other alternative materials due to its properties for road construction. There are solid reasons explaining why they choose to use bitumen in road construction vastly.

It Significantly Provides Versatility.

According to research, some specific factors impact bitumen’s physical and chemical characteristics. Critical elements such as temperature, duration of loading, and load level can determine the features of the final product. Bitumen is considered a viscoelastic and thermoplastic material, which makes it even more interesting. All these allow road constructors to customize suitable bitumen mix properties. They consider many crucial factors on the road, including stress levels, traffic, etc. They can utilize a perfect type of bitumen with the best mixture ever according to their needs. Furthermore, the versatility of bitumen enables experts to offer various mixes to meet road construction needs.

It Can Be Easily Recycled.

The good news to all environment lovers is the option of recycling bitumen. Fortunately, recycling bitumen in road construction is much easier than you imagine. A low and favorable melting point is the key to this property. It explains why the recycling process is straightforward since heating the bitumen is quick. When some parts of the roadway are destroyed, professionals prefer to recycle the torn-up bitumen instead of sending it to landfills. They ground up these materials to produce an easy-to-measure mixture. Finally, the recycled bitumen is reused in roadway mix designs. If required, they mix old and new bitumen and add aggregates to make the mixture more solid.

Bitumen Production Saves More Money.

An interesting point about bitumen is its cost-effectiveness for roads. Crude oil is the main raw substance used to manufacture bitumen. It’s a composition of hydrocarbons that is refined through the distillation process. During this procedure, professionals collect the vapors at different temperatures as they heat the crude oil. The primary products resulting from this process are petrol, gasoline, diesel, and high-octane fuels. Only the bitumen is left behind after all of them are refined from the oil. Since bitumen is necessary in the road construction industry, it should have a lengthy lifespan. It’s why experts continue treating bitumen and removing all contaminants for optimal outcomes.

Bitumen Has a Low Melting Point.

The bitumen melting point is in the perfect condition possible. It’s around 240 degrees, which is fortunately not too high. It’s low enough to allow professionals to heat up the bitumen without consuming too much energy. This low point is significantly practical since road constructors can melt the bitumen easily while laying the pavement. However, professionals use a suitable aggregate composition in areas with significantly high temperatures. It helps them caste the road pave without contorting.

It Offers a Variety of Colors.

If you imagine the only option for road construction is black bitumen, you are wrong. Traditional and basic bitumen is offered in black due to the density of its organic material. Yet, specialists can easily add the color of their choice to the normal black bitumen. Adding these colorful pigments to the solution increases the final price of bitumen, but it’s usually worth the money.

It’s Significantly Adhesive.

Another reason to use bitumen for road construction is its adhesion. As explained, all toxic hydrocarbons are eliminated during bitumen production. The process of removing all impurities makes the left bitumen considerably adhesive. This is a very beneficial property in the road construction industry. This adhesive nature keeps the materials in the road mix bound together. As a result, the road will be constructed more strongly so that vehicles can move on it in the safest way possible.

Explore: Top Bitumen suppliers in the UAE.

What Are the Different Types of Bitumen Used in Road Construction?

Professionals may determine a specific type of bitumen based on various factors. Each type provides unique benefits for particular road construction projects.

• Polymer Modified Bitumen: This type of bitumen is ideally refined by adding polymers to it. Therefore, its performance will be improved, and it offers better advantages. Polymer-modified types of bitumen are stronger, more durable, and more resistant to different types of damage.

• Penetration Grade Bitumen: Specialists experiment with the consistency of this type of bitumen in laboratories. Afterward, they grade it according to its softness or hardness. That’s why it’s the most widespread type of bitumen used in road construction. Viscosity, performance, and millimeter grade are standard methods of measuring penetration grade.

• Crumb Rubber Modified Bitumen: The combination of bitumen with crumb rubber is widely used in road construction projects. As explained, this type of bitumen offers a higher level of resistance to deformation and cracking. These properties make it a suitable option for constructive projects. It also provides an advantage in noise reduction.

These are three common types of bitumen used by road constructors. It’s necessary to have enough knowledge about these options to make the best decision. Each one provides experts with different features and properties, and a wrong choice can lead to awful complications. Factors like climate, budget, traffic volume, and type of pavement structure should also be determined.

How Is the Road Construction Process Using Bitumen?

First, it’s necessary to have a basic overview of road layering. Regardless of the techniques used, constructing a new bitumen road follows general instructions. A road structure has main layers and sublayers that should be carefully prepared.

1. Subgrade: Experts at RAHA Bitumen explain that preparing the subgrade is the most crucial step. It’s the foundation of a bitumen road, guaranteeing proper sustainability. As the subgrade supports all other layers, it should be compacted carefully to avoid problems.
2. Sub-Base: It’s the matching layer between the subgrade and base course. Therefore, its level of compaction and thickness significantly matter. The good thing about the sub-base is that it helps the process of bitumen recycling in road construction. It’s made from crushed stone or gravel.
3. Base Course: It’s the leading layer of bitumen road. That’s why it’s made from more durable and more robust materials such as densely graded aggregate or other stabilized materials. The most critical thing about this layer is its capacity to distribute traffic loads. It offers additional support to the whole structure of the bitumen road to prevent rutting.
4. Binder Course: It’s an attachment between the layers above and below. It usually utilizes bitumen emulsion and improves the flexibility aspect of bitumen road. It’s significantly effective to endure heavy traffic loads by adding more strength to the road structure.
5. Surface Layer: It’s the uppermost layer in close contact with vehicles. The most important thing is providing moving care with a smooth, firm, and skid-resistant surface for driving. The combination mainly includes a high-quality bitumen mixture with smaller particles.

It’s the uppermost layer in close contact with vehicles. The most important thing is providing moving care with a smooth, firm, and skid-resistant surface for driving. The combination mainly includes a high-quality bitumen mixture with smaller particles.