Wet Mix Macadam

Wet Mix Macadam construction is an improvement upon the conventional Wet

Bound Macadam (WBM) and is intended to be as an alternative and more
durable pavement layer in roads and highway works .

It generally consists of clean, crushed, graded aggregates premixed with other

granular materials and water and rolled to a dense mass on a prepared surface.

FUNCTION
 It is generally used as a base course of Flexible Pavement.
 WMM provides a uniform and strong support, high resistance to deformation
and distress.

Material Requirement for WMM

 Material to be used for WMM shall be
 Crushed Gravel
 Crushed Stone
 WMM material shall be free from organic or other deleterious constituents.
 It shall conform the Grading requirements as per MORTH V Table 400-13.
Grading Requirements WMM-MORTH V Table 400-13:

IS Sieve Designation Percentage by weight passing

53.00mm 100

45.00mm 95-100

26.50mm –

22.40mm 60-80

11.20mm 40-60

4.75mm 25-40

2.36mm 15-30

600 micron 8-22

75 micron 0-5
Grading Curve for WMM-Morth V:
 Quality Control Tests and Frequency

Relevance IS Frequency of
Tests Performed Limits  
Code Tests

Sieve Analysis IS 2720 (Part4) 1/200 m³ As per Morth-V

IS 2386 (Part4) /
AIV/Wet AIV 1/1000 m³ As by Engineer
IS5640

Los Angles
IS 2386 (Part4) 1/1000 m³ ≤30%
Abrasion Value

FI & EI IS 2386 (Part1) 1/500 m³ ≤40%

Liquid Limit IS 2720 (Part5) 1/200 m³ ≤35%

Plasticity Index IS 2720 (Part5) 1/200 m³ ≤6

MDD & OMC IS 2720 (Part8) 1 test per source As per material

Water Absorption IS 2386 (Part3) 1 test per source Max 2%

<12% with Na2SO4 <18% with

Soundness Test IS 2386 (Part5) 1 test per source
MgSO4

Moisture Content IS 2720 (Part5) As per Engineer As by Engineer

Field Dry Density IS 2720 (Part28) 3 test/1000 m² >98% of MDD

 Method of Construction:
Preparation of WMM from plant:

 Wet Mix Macadam shall be prepared, as per approved design proportion. In

the pug mill plant with controlled addition of water. Water to be maintained
within limit.
 Gradation of the mix shall be checked at the start of plant for the day work.
 Generally, 1-2% extra moisture that of OMC shall be maintained in the mix to
compensate the evaporation losses depending up on lead and season.
 Mix shall be transported from the plant to the laying site by dumpers with
tarpaulin.

Spreading/Paving of WMM:

 If the GSB layer surface is found to be dry, water shall be sprinkled before
laying of WMM.
 While constructing Wet Mix Design, arrangement shall be made for the lateral
confinement of Wet Mix where WMM is laid on the outer edge of carriageway.
 Control pegs shall be fixed at every 10m along CL on both sides of the bed in
such a manner that they are not distributed by paver movement.
 Required level shall be marked on the pegs with suitable vertical offset and
string wire shall be fixed over the pegs to hold the sensor of paver.
 The string wire shall be tightened by using hand winch.
 The paver shall be set over the GSB layer considering loose thickness and
shall be kept 15-17% extra than compacted thickness.
 Paver shall be check for skid and sensor before unloading WMM mix.
 Special care is required for cambering and grade to be maintained.

Compaction:

 Test trail shall be done to check the number of passes required for achieving
98% of FDD and approved from clients.
 The number of passes shall be made as:

                      
  Plain Pass- 1, Low vibration- 2, Plain Pass- 1

 The speed of roller during compaction shall not exceed 5kmph.

 The acceptance criteria for the test on density shall be subject to condition that
mean density shall be less than the specified density plus [1.65-1.65/(no. of
samples)^0.5] times standard deviation.

Rectification:

 Moisture Content, sampling of raw material is very important aspect.

 If the surface is found high or low, the top 75mm shall be scarified, re-shaped
with freshly mixed WMM material.
 The surface shall be watered thoroughly up to 75 mm for scarifying by using
Mechanical Grader.
 Care shall be taken to ensure the line and levels including surface regularity to
the specified requirement.

Surface Finish:

  Surface level- The level of finished layer shall not vary from the project design
level for a particular layer.
 Tolerance on surface levels: ±10mm.
 For checking compliance with the above requirement, measurements of the
surface levels shall be taken on a grid of points placed at 6.25m longitudinally
and 3.5m transversely along the pavement. The average of 10 measurements
shall not be more than 3mm above the permitted limit.

Productivity
 Wet Mix Macadam productivity:   25000 m³/Month/team/shift
 Paver productivity                         :    60 m³/hr
 Roller productivity                         :    60 m³/hr

Note:

 The above details are considered for 5km lead and 8-10 hr of working time.
 For WMM 160 TPH plant is considered for production.