5.

0 HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

Pavements are a conglomeration of materials. These materials, their associated properties,

and their interactions determine the properties of the resultant pavement. Thus, a good
understanding of these materials, how they are characterized, and how they perform is
fundamental to understanding pavement. The materials which are used in the construction of
highway are of intense interest to the highway engineer. This requires not only a thorough
understanding of the soil and aggregate properties which affect pavement stability and
durability, but also the binding materials which may be added to improve these pavement
features. In the following section we shall study pavement materials in detail.

5.1 SOILS OVERVIEW

The wide range of soil types available as highway construction materials have made it
obligatory on the part of the highway engineer to identify and classify different soils. Soil types
such as gravel, marram and naturally occurring soft aggregates, which can be used in road
construction. Broadly, the soil types can be categorized as Laterite soil, Murram / red soil,
Desert sands, Alluvial soil, Clay including Black cotton soil.

 Gravel: These are coarse materials with particle size under 2.35 mm with little or no
fines contributing to cohesion of materials.

 Murram: These are products of decomposition and weathering of the pavement rock.
Visually these are similar to gravel except presence of higher content of fines.

 Silts: These are finer than sand, brighter in color as compared to clay, and exhibit little
cohesion. When a lump of silty soil mixed with water, alternately squeezed and tapped a
shiny surface makes its appearance, thus dilatancy is a specific property of such soil.

 Clays: These are finer than silts. Clayey soils exhibit stickiness, high strength when dry,
and show no dilatancy. Black cotton soil and other expansive clays exhibit swelling and
shrinkage properties. Paste of clay with water when rubbed in between fingers leaves
stain, which is not observed for silts.

AASHTO soil terminology comes from AASHTO M 145, “Classification of Soils and Soil-
Aggregate Mixtures for Highway Construction Purposes”. Aggregate terminology comes from
AASHTO M 147, “Materials for Aggregate and Soil-Aggregate Subbase, Base and Surface
Courses”. Basic terms include:

 Boulders & Cobbles: Material retained on a 75-mm (3-inch) sieve.

 Gravel: Material passing a 75-mm (3-inch) sieve and retained on a 2.00-mm (No. 10)
sieve.

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  Coarse Sand: Material passing a 2.00-mm sieve (No. 10) and retained on a 0.475-mm
(No. 40) sieve.
 Fine Sand: Material passing a 0.475-mm (No. 40) sieve and retained on a 0.075-mm (No.
200) sieve.
 Silt-Clay: Material passing a 0.075-mm (No. 200) sieve.
 Silt Fraction: Material passing the 0.075 mm and larger than 0.002 mm.
 Clay Fraction: Material smaller than 0.002 mm.
 Silty: Material passing a 4.75-mm (No. 4) sieve with a PI ≤ 10
 Clayey: Material passing a 4.75-mm (No. 4) sieve with a PI ≥ 11
 Coarse Aggregate: Aggregate retained on the 2.00 mm sieve and consisting of hard,
durable particles or fragments of stone, gravel or slag. A wear requirement (AASHTO T
95) is normally required.
 Fine Aggregate: Aggregate passing the 2.00 mm (No. 10) sieve and consisting of natural
or crushed sand, and fine material particles passing the 0.075 mm (No. 200) sieve. The
fraction passing the 0.075 mm (No. 200) sieve shall not be greater than two-thirds of the
fraction passing the 0.425 mm (No. 40) sieve. The portion passing the 0.425 mm (No. 40)
sieve shall have a LL ≤ 25 and a PI ≤ 5. Fine aggregate shall be free from vegetable
matter and lumps or balls of clay.

Note that these definitions are AASHTO definitions and are slightly different than those of the
Unified Soil Classification system (ASTM).

5.1.1 SUB GRADE SOIL

Soil is an accumulation or deposit of earth material, derived naturally from the disintegration
of rocks or decay of vegetation,that can be excavated readily with power equipment in the
field or disintegrated by gentle mechanical means in the laboratory. The supporting soil
beneath pavement and its special under courses is called sub grade. Undisturbed soil
beneath the pavement is called natural sub grade. Compacted sub grade is the soil
compacted by controlled movement of heavy compactors. The desirable properties of sub
grade soil as a highway material are
i. Stability
ii. Incompressibility
iii. Permanency of strength
iv. Minimum changes in volume and stability under adverse conditions of weather and
ground water
v. Good drainage, and
vi. Ease of compaction

a) Classification of Kenyan Soils

For a rational approach to pavement design/ the most important characteristic of the
subgrade is its elastic modulus. However, the measurement of this modulus requires
fairly complicated and time-consuming tests.However, it has been proved that there is

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good correlation between the California Bearing Ratio and the elastic modulus of Kenyan
soils. Since the CBR test is a fairly easy and widely used test, it has been decided to retain it
as the quantitative means of evaluating the subgrade bearing strength. A survey of Kenyan
subgrade soils, described in Materials Branch Report No. 345, has shown that they can be
grouped into the following 5 bearing strength classes.

The above CBR ranges correspond to the results actually obtained on materials of the same
type along sections of road considered homogeneous. They reflect both the variations of the
characteristics of the soil which inevitably occur, even at small intervals, and the normal
scatter of test results.

The following points should be noted:

(i) No allowance for CBR's below 2 has been made, because it is, technically and
economically, out of the question to lay a pavement on soils of such poor bearing capacity.
Such weak soils are saturated expansive clays, saturated fine silts or compressible (swampy)
soils, e.g. mud, soft clay, etc. Moreover, the measurement of the bearing strength of such soft
soils is most uncertain and CBR's below 2 are of little significance.

(ii) The use of Class SI soils (CBR 2-5) as direct support for the pavement should be avoided
as much as possible. Wherever practicable, such poor quality soils should be excavated and
replaced, or covered with an improved subgrade

(iii) The CBR range of Class S5 is fairly wide. This is because Class S5 is either gravelly
material or unsoaked soil, the CBR's of which always show considerable scatter. Furthermore,
the difference in the pavement thickness required is comparatively small when the subgrade
bearing strength varies from the lower to the upper limit of this class.

(iv) Class S5 covers all subgrade materials having a CBR over 30 and which comply with the
plasticity requirements for natural materials for subbase (See Chart SB1). In such cases, no
subbase is required. No class of higher bearing capacity has been considered as such
subgrade materials are extremely rare and as a roadbase is always necessary to provide a

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 homogeneous and uniform layer.

(v) It will be noted that the subgrade categories overlap. For any one section of a road the
average (CBR should be higher or equal to the mean of the subgrade class selected for
design, and no individual result shall be below the lowest valve of the range for that subgrade
class. Where the subgrade CBR values are very variable the designer should balance the
cost of having very short sections of different subgrade categories against a conservative
design taking account of the worst conditions encountered over longer sections.

The following should be noted:

• In order to minimize construction costs, natural materials should be used as much as

possible. Every endeavor should be made to use the cheap local materials before
considering the importation of material from some distance. It is therefore of prime
importance to make a complete inventory of all available roadmaking materials, such as
stone, gravel, sand and clayey sand at the investigation stage.
• Kenya has abundant resources of hard stone. Detailed information regarding the various
types of stone available and their roadmaking characteristics can be found in Materials
Branch Report No. 335.
• Many different sorts of gravels exist in Kenya: lateritic gravels, quartzitic gravels,
calcareous gravels, some forms of weathered rock, soft stone, coral rag, etc. Various
types of sand and silty or clayey sands are also found. Detailed information concerning
these materials and their engineering properties can be found in Materials Branch
Reports No. 343 and 344.
• It will be useful for the design engineer to consult all relevant documents, such as
materials reports, geological and pedological maps and reports

The following materials cover almost all the subgrade materials encountered in Kenya, and they
may be classified on the basis of bearing strength, as shown in Table 1.2.

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5.1.2.5 Other Subgrade Requirements
a)Subgrade Compaction
The compaction requirements are generally as follows:
• The upper 300 mm of the subgrade shall be compacted to a dry density of at least 100% MDD
(Standard Compaction) in cuttings where there is no improved subgrade and on all fills.
• In cuttings where an improved subgrade is to be placed, the upper 150 mm of the subgrade,
prior to placing the improved subgrade layer(s), shall be compacted to at least 100% MDD
(Standard Compaction) and the lower 150 mm to at least 95% MDD (Standard Compaction).
• All improved subgrade shall be compacted to a dry density of at least 100% MDD (Standard
Compaction).
• The maximum compacted thickness which shall be paid, processed and compacted at one
time is generally 300 mm.
• The moisture content shall be adjusted in order that the required relative compaction is
obtained, but the moisture content at the time of compaction shall not exceed 105% of the
Optimum Moisture Content (Standard Compaction).
• If it proves feasible, dry compaction may be accepted, especially in dry areas. In some cases,
it is advantageous to obtain relative compactions higher than the above figures, since
compaction not only improves the subgrade bearing strength, but also reduces permeability.
This applies, in particular, to clayey sands, silty sands and granular materials, the coarse
particles of which are hard enough not to crumble under heavy compaction.

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5.2 Aggregates

Overview

Aggregate is a collective term for the mineral materials such as sand, gravel, and crushed stone
that are used with a binding medium (such as water, bitumen, Portland cement, lime, etc.) to
form compound materials (such as bituminous concrete and Portland cement concrete). By
volume, aggregate generally accounts for 92 to 95 percent of Bituminous concrete and about 70
to 80 percent of Portland cement concrete. Aggregate is also used for base and sub-base
courses for both flexible and rigid pavements. Aggregates can either be natural or manufactured.
Natural aggregates are generally extracted from larger rock formations through an open
excavation (quarry). Extracted rock is typically reduced to usable sizes by mechanical crushing.
Manufactured aggregate is often a bye product of other manufacturing industries. The
requirements of the aggregates in pavement are also discussed in this chapter.

The maximum nominal aggregate size is determined from both the required thickness of the
material when put in place and the surface texture called for. The following are typical nominal
aggregate sizes used at different levels within a bituminous pavement:

Wearing course

 14mm dense wearing course macadam

 10mm or 5mm pervious macadam

Base course

 40, 28 or 20mm dense macadam

Roadbase

 40 or 28mm dense macadam.

The size of aggregate must not be greater than the required layer thickness. The layer thickness
should be approximately 2 1/2 times the nominal maximum aggregate size, with a minimum
layer thickness of 1 1/2 times the nominal maximum aggregate size in order to minimize the
likelihood of the larger stones being crushed during rolling

5.2.1 Desirable properties

5.2.1.1 Strength

The aggregates used in top layers are subjected to (i) Stress action due to traffic wheel load, (ii)
Wear and tear, (iii) crushing. For a high quality pavement, the aggregates should posses high
resistance to crushing, and to withstand the stresses due to traffic wheel load.

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5.2.1.2 Hardness

The aggregates used in the surface course are subjected to constant rubbing or abrasion due to
moving traffic. The aggregates should be hard enough to resist the abrasive action caused by
the movements of traffic. The abrasive action is severe when steel tyred vehicles moves over
the aggregates exposed at the top surface.

5.2.1.3 Toughness

Resistance of the aggregates to impact is termed as toughness. Aggregates used in the

pavement should be able to resist the effect caused by the jumping of the steel tyred wheels
from one particle to another at different levels causes severe impact on the aggregates

5.2.1.4 Shape of aggregates

Aggregates which happen to fall in a particular size range may have rounded, cubical, angular,
flaky or elongated particles. It is evident that the flaky and elongated particles will have less
strength and durability when compared with cubical, angular or rounded particles of the same
aggregate. Hence too flaky and too much elongated aggregates should be avoided as far as
possible.

5.2.1.5 Adhesion with bitumen

The aggregates used in bituminous pavements should have less affinity with water when
compared with bituminous materials, otherwise the bituminous coating on the aggregate will be
stripped off in presence of water.

5.2.1.5 Durability

The property of aggregates to withstand adverse action of weather is called soundness. The
aggregates are subjected to the physical and chemical action of rain and bottom water,
impurities there-in and that of atmosphere, hence it is desirable that the road aggregates used
in the construction should be sound enough to withstand the weathering action

5.2.1.7 Freedom from deleterious particles

Specifications for aggregates used in bituminous mixes usually require the aggregates to be
clean, tough and durable in nature and free from excess amount of flat or elongated pieces,
dust, clay balls and other objectionable material. Similarly aggregates used in Portland cement
concrete mixes must be clean and free from deleterious substances such as clay lumps, chert,
silt and other organic impurities.

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5.2.2 Aggregate tests

In order to decide the suitability of the aggregate for use in pavement construction, following
tests are carried out:

• Crushing test
• Abrasion test
• Impact test
• Soundness test
• Shape test
• Specific gravity and water absorption test
• Bitumen adhesion test

5.3 Bitumen

Bitumen is produced artificially from crude oil within the petroleum refining process. It is a basic
constituent of the upper layers in pavement construction. It can resist both deformation and
changes in temperature. Its binding effect eliminates the loss of material from the surface of the
pavement and prevents water penetrating the structure. Two basic types of bituminous binder
exist:

 Tar – obtained from the production of coal gas or the manufacture of coke
 Bitumen – obtained from the oil refining process.

With the decreased availability of tar, bitumen is the most commonly used binding/water
resisting material for highway pavements.

The oil refining process involves petroleum crude being distilled, with various hydrocarbons
being driven off. The first stage, carried out at atmospheric pressure, involves the crude being
heated to approximately 250°C. Petrol is the most volatile of these and is driven off first,
followed by materials such as kerosene and gas oil. The remaining material is then heated at
reduced pressure to collect the diesel and lubricating oils contained within it. At the conclusion
of this stage of the process a residue remains which can be treated to produce bitumen of
varying penetration grades.

This is the material used to bind and stabilize the graded stone used in the top layers of a
highway pavement.

5.3.1 Requirements of Bitumen

The desirable properties of bitumen depend on the mix type and construction. In general,
Bitumen should possess following desirable properties.

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  The bitumen should not be highly temperature susceptible: during the hottest
weather the mix should not become too soft or unstable, and during cold weather the
mix should not become too brittle causing cracks.
 The viscosity of the bitumen at the time of mixing and compaction should be
adequate. This can be achieved by use of cutbacks or emulsions of suitable grades or
by heating the bitumen and aggregates prior to mixing.
 There should be adequate affinity and adhesion between the bitumen and
aggregates used in the mix

5.3.2 Tests on Bitumen

There are a number of tests to assess the properties of bituminous materials. The following
tests are usually conducted to evaluate different properties of bituminous materials.

1. Penetration test
2. Ductility test
3. Softening point test
4. Specific gravity test
5. Viscosity test
5. Flash and Fire point test
7. Float test
8. Water content test
9. Loss on heating test

Two of the most prominent are the penetration test and the softening point test, both of which
indirectly measure the viscosity of a sample of bitumen. (The viscosity of a fluid slows down its
ability to flow and is of particular significance at high temperatures when the ability of the
bitumen to be sprayed onto or mixed with aggregate material is of great significance.)

5.3.3 Surface dressing and modified binders

Surface dressing involves the application of a thin layer of bituminous binder to the surface of
the pavement slab followed by the spreading and rolling into it of single sized stone chippings.
In order to apply the binder effectively, its stiffness must be modified during the construction
phase of the pavement. Two such binder modifications used during surface dressing are
cutback bitumen and bitumen emulsion.

5.3.3.1 Cutback bitumen

Bitumen obtained from the refining process described briefly above can be blended with some
of the more volatile solvents such as kerosene or creosote to form a solution that has a viscosity
far below that of penetration grade bitumen and will act as a fluid at much lower temperatures.

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However, when the solution is exposed to the atmosphere, the volatile solvents evaporate
leaving solely the bitumen in place. Such solutions are termed cutbacks and the process of
evaporation of the volatile solvents is called curing. The speed at which it occurs will depend on
the nature of the solvent. The classification of cutbacks is based on the following two
characteristics:

 The viscosity of the cutback itself

 The penetration of the non-volatile residue.

The cutback‟s viscosity is measured using a standard tar viscometer (STV) which computes the
time in seconds for a given volume of binder to flow through a standard orifice at a temperature
of 40°C. Three common grades for cutback have viscosities of 50, 100 and 200 seconds.
Cutback bitumen is used in surface dressing. In this process, it is sprayed onto a weakened
road surface and chippings are placed on it and then rolled. It serves to provide a non-skid
wearing surface to the pavement, makes the surface resistant to water and prevents its
disintegration. From the environmental point of view also cutback bitumen is preferred. The
solvent from the bituminous material will evaporate and the bitumen will bind the aggregate.
Cutback bitumen is used for cold weather bituminous road construction and maintenance. The
distillates used for preparation of cutback bitumen are naphtha, kerosene, diesel oil, and
furnace oil. There are different types of cutback bitumen like rapid curing (RC), medium curing
(MC), and slow curing (SC). RC is recommended for surface dressing and patchwork. MC is
recommended for premix with less quantity of fine aggregates. SC is used for premix with
appreciable quantity of fine aggregates.

5.3.3.2 Bituminous emulsions

Bitumen can be made easier to handle by forming it into an emulsion where particles of it
become suspended in water. In most cases, their manufacture involves heating the bitumen and
then shredding it in a colloidal mill with a solution of hot water and an emulsifier. The particles
are imparted with an ionic charge which makes them repel each other. Within cationic
emulsions the imparted charge is positive, while the charge is negative in anionic emulsions.
When the emulsion is sprayed onto the road surface, the charged ions are attracted to opposite
charges on the surface, causing the emulsion to begin „breaking‟ with the bitumen particles
starting to coalesce together. The breaking process is complete when the film of bitumen is
continuous. Bitumen emulsions are graded in terms of their stability or rate of break on a scale
of 1 to 4, with 1 signifying the greatest stability (stable = rapid acting). Rate of break depends on
the composition of the emulsion and the rate at which the emulsion evaporates. The grading of
the aggregate onto which the emulsion is applied is also important to the rate of break. Dirty
aggregates accelerate it, as will porous or dry road surfaces. Cationic emulsions tend to break
more rapidly than ionic ones. The UK code, BS 434 (BSI, 1984), also designates cationic
emulsions as K and ionic as A. Therefore, K3 denotes a slow acting cationic emulsion, K2 a
medium acting one and K1 a rapid acting one. Three types of bituminous emulsions are
available, which are Rapid setting (RS), Medium setting (MS), and Slow setting (SC). Bitumen

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emulsions are ideal binders for hill road construction. Where heating of bitumen or aggregates
are difficult. Rapid setting emulsions are used for surface dressing work. Medium setting
emulsions are preferred for premix jobs and patch repairs work. Slow setting emulsions are
preferred in rainy season.

5.4 Recipe specifications

Some of the most important bituminous materials used within highway pavements are:
 Coated macadam (dense bitumen macadam, high density macadam, pervious
macadam)
 Asphalt (mastic asphalt, hot rolled asphalt).
The main uses for these materials within a highway pavement are shown in Table below 1.4:

Location in pavement of different bituminous materials

5.4.2.3 Chippings

The chippings used are central to the success of the surface dressing process as they provide
essential skidding resistance. The correct rate of spread depends mainly on the nominal size of
chippings used, varying from 7kg per m2 for 5mm nominal size to 17kg per m2 for 20mm. The
chippings themselves may be precoated with a thin layer of binder in order to promote their swift
adhesion to the binder film during the laying process. Rolling should be carried out using
pneumatic-tyred rollers. The process should result in a single layer of chippings covering the
entire surface, firmly held within the binder film.

5.5 Materials in rigid pavements

General
A rigid pavement consists of a subgrade/subbase foundation covered by a slab constructed of
pavement quality concrete. The concrete must be of sufficient depth so as to prevent the traffic
load causing premature failure. Appropriate measures should also be taken to prevent damage
due to other causes. The proportions within the concrete mix will determine both its strength and
its resistance to climate changes and general wear. Joints in the concrete may be formed in
order to aid the resistance to tensile and compressive forces set up in the slab due to shrinkage
effects.

Cement is manufactured by heating a mixture of limestone, iron ore, gypsum, clay and other
ingredients. Two processes, namely dry process and wet process are followed while
manufacturing cement. In the dry process, the raw materials are mixed in dry state, whereas in

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the wet process raw materials are mixed in presence of water to form slurry . After pre-heating,
the raw material is passed through rotating kiln inclined with a small angle with the horizontal
line. The kiln is progressively hotter towards its lower end, where the raw material gets molten.
From this clinkers are formed when cooled, and after grinding the clinkers, cement is produced.

The Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is the most popular, all-purpose cement. There are
various other types of cements (for example, natural cement, Portland pozzolanic cement, high
alumina cement, expansive cement, quick setting cement, high performance cement, sulphate
resistant cement, white cement etc.) and are manufactured to serve specialized purposes. For
concrete pavement construction, OPC is most commonly used

Aggregates: Aggregates are naturally available pieces of rocks. The aggregates could be
igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic type depending on its origin. Details are discussed
above.

Water: Water participates in the hydration process; also it provides desirable level of workability.
About one third of the water added is utilized in the hydration process, rest forms the pores of
concrete, and thereby developing porosity to the concrete. Excess porosity reduces strength of
the concrete, and however presence of porosity is good for the situations where there is a
freeze-thaw problem.

Concrete slab and joint details

As the strength of concrete develops with time, its 28-day value is taken for specification
purposes, though its strength at 7 days is often used as an initial guideline of the mix‟s ultimate
strength. Pavement quality concrete generally has a 28-day characteristic strength of 40N/mm2,
termed C40 concrete. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is commonly used. The cement content
for C40 concrete should be a minimum of 320kg/m3. Air content of up to 5% may be acceptable
with a typical maximum water cement ratio of 0.5 for C40 concrete.

The effects of temperature are such that a continuous concrete slab is likely to fail prematurely
due to induced internal stresses rather than from excessive traffic loading. If the slab is
reinforced, the effect of these induced stresses can be lessened by the addition of further
reinforcement that increases the slab‟s ability to withstand them. This slab type is termed
continuous reinforced concrete (CRC). Alternatively, dividing the pavement into a series of slabs
and providing movement joints between these can permit the release and dissipation of induced
stresses. This slab type is termed jointed reinforced concrete (JRC). If the slab is jointed and not
reinforced, the slab type is termed unreinforced concrete (URC). If joints are employed, their
type and location are important factors. Joints are provided in concrete pavements for a variety
of reasons.

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 Typical Concrete Joints

 The contraction joints for example, are provided to relieve tensile stresses resulting from
contraction and warping of the concrete slab. Dowel bars are used for load transfer
across the joints.

 Expansion joints are provided, in the form of clear breaks in the concrete slab, to allow
for expansion. Again, dowel bars are used for load transfer across the joints.

 Construction joints mark the end of a day's construction work and are normally of the
butt type with dowel bars provided for load transfer.

 Hinge and warping joints are used to control cracking along the centreline of the
concrete pavement slab

5.5.3 Reinforcement

Reinforcement can be in the form of a prefabricated mesh or a bar-mat. The function of the
reinforcement is to limit the extent of surface cracking in order to maintain the particle interlock
within the aggregate. In order to maximise its bond with the concrete within the slab, care must
be taken to ensure that the steel is cleaned thoroughly before use. Because the purpose of the
reinforcement is to minimise cracking, it should be placed near the upper surface of the
pavement slab. A cover of approximately 50mm is usually required, though this may be reduced
slightly for thinner slabs. It is normally stopped approximately 125mm from the edge of a slab,
100mm from a longitudinal joint and 300mm from any transverse joint. Transverse lapping of
reinforcement within a pavement slab will normally be in the order of 300mm

5.5 OTHER ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS USED IN PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION

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5.5.1 Slag

Slag is an industrial by-product of metal working processes and although there are many types
of slag, the two most common are blast furnace slag and steel slag. Blast furnace slag is
considered to be a by-product rather than waste material due to its high value. Blast furnace
slag is widely used as a coarse aggregate in asphalt production. In addition, granulated blast
furnace slag is an alternative to cement in concrete and binder in HBM. Crushed air-cooled
phosphorus slag aggregate is somewhat lighter than conventional granular aggregate which
exhibits very good soundness (high resistance to freeze-thaw deterioration) and good
resistance to mechanical degradation together with good stability from their sharp, angular
shape. However, their use occurs primarily in rural areas close to the remote locations where
these slags are produced, at least in North American (University of New Hampshire, 2008).

Steel slag is also considered a by-product and is produced from the manufacture of steel from
pig-iron. There are two types of steel slag; basic oxygen-furnace slag (BOS) and electric arc
furnace (EAF) slag. EAF is typically more easily weathered than BOS due their chemical make-
up which is a result of their respective manufacturing processes (Dunster, 2001; HA et al., 2004).
Similar to blast furnace slag, steel slag is commonly used as coarse aggregate in asphalt
especially in thin surface courses where it provides good skid resistance, as well as in HBM for
bases and sub-bases (HA et al., 2004). It is also noted that steel slag undergoes weathering to
ensure volumetric stability before being used in pavement applications. In particular, the
weathering process involves hydration reactions of any lime (CaO) or magnesia (MgO), which
can cause potential swelling of steel slag aggregate (Reid, 2011). There are numerous studies

which show that slag performs well as coarse aggregate material used in asphalt mixtures and
HBMs (Rockliff et al., 2002; Dunster, 2001.

5.5.2 Coal fly ash (CFA) / Pulverised-fuel ash (PFA)

Fly ash is extracted from the burning of coal in coal-burning power stations and, when refined
into pulverised-fuel ash (PFA), is similar in fineness to cement (HA et al., 2004). Historically, fly
ash has been used as bulk fill for highway embankments. A typical example is the upgrading of
a motorway junction outside Reading in the south of London where 85,000 tonnes of fly ash was
used in the embankments (Reid, 2011). Fly ash is a siliceous material and does not swell when
exposed to moisture.

Some of the limitations of using fly ash are that it is a difficult material to compact especially
when wet, and when compared with materials such as expanded clay, polystyrene or tyre bales,
reduction in density is poor.

However, fly ash supply is plentiful and is a cheaper alternative to other lightweight fill materials.
Due to its pozzolanic properties, fly ash can replace cement in concrete or binder in HBM. As is
the same with recycled aggregates or RAP, fly ash in HBM can be processed in-situ (to treat

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weak soils) or by plant, along with recycled aggregates. Studies on the use of fly ash in HBM
bases have shown it to perform well initially under construction traffic and opening traffic and to
continue to gain strength as the pavement is trafficked (Walsh and Williams, 2002)

5.5.3 Concrete Admixtures

Admixtures are generally of two types, chemical admixture, and mineral admixture. Air
entrainer, retarder, accelerators are examples chemical admixture, and, fly ash, silica fume are
the examples of mineral admixtures. One of the important concrete admixtures used in
pavement construction is the air-entraining admixture. Air entraining admixtures are derived
from natural wood resins, fats, sulfonated hydrocarbons and oils etc. Air-entraining admixtures
provide durability against freeze-thaw situation. Plasticizers may be used for concrete pavement
construction purposes which maintain workability without having increased the water-cement
ratio. Calcium chloride is also used sometimes, as accelerating agent, which renders an early
strength of concrete.

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