Datuin, Dominic R.

CE – V October 11, 2019

CE 11: Highway Engineering

Reflection Paper
Second Topic: Flexible pavement and bituminous materials

“Pavement are useful?”

In civil engineering pavement is durable surfacing of a road, airstrip, or similar area.

Primary function of pavement is to transmit loads to the sub-base and underlying soil. Flexible
pavements contain sand and gravel or crushed stone compacted with a binder of bituminous
material, such as asphalt, tar, or asphaltic oil. A rigid pavements are made of concrete,
composed of coarse and fine aggregate and portland cement, and usually reinforced with steel
rod or mesh. A pavement has enough plasticity to absorb shock.

I learned on this topic that primary use of asphalt is in road construction, where it is
used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. And it is
also used in other paved areas such as airport runways, car parks and footways. Its other main
uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for
sealing flat roofs. Asphalt was used widely for constructing roads and highways because asphalt
are less expensive to install and generally easier to repair but it needs more maintenance
compare to concrete. But asphalt properties change with temperature, which means that there
is a specific range where viscosity permits adequate compaction by providing lubrication
between particles during the compaction process. Low temperature prevents aggregate
particles from moving, and the required density is not possible to achieve. There are types of
asphalt Hot and Cold mix asphalt, hot mix asphalt is used on days that applied at temperatures
over 300 °F (150 °C), because it cools down very quickly while cold mix asphalt is the most
affordable option on the market, because it doesn’t need heat during the process. It is typically
used to repair cracks over an inch wide and potholes that pop up during the winter months.
That the thickness of asphalt should be at least 50 mm according to DPWH. The Blown Asphalt
is not used as paving material but it is very useful as a roofing material. Pavements form is the
basic supporting structure in highway transportation. Each layer of pavement has a multitude of
functions to perform which has to be duly considered during the design process. The different
types of pavements can be adopted depending upon the traffic requirements. And the proper
design of pavement can result a prolonged performance of the road and minimize the
pavement management costs and also to protect the embankment slopes of the soil.

As a conclusion, this learning will help us to know the use of different materials used in
roads and highways specially Asphalt. And someday this learning will help and guide me to my
future project as a Civil Engineer.