Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418

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Case Studies in Construction Materials

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Case study

A case study on asphalt core construction rate for the

Zhaobishan embankment dam
Weibiao Wanga,*, Kai Hua , Shan Fenga , Ran Zhaob
a
Xi’an University of Technology, 5 Jinhua South Road, 710048, Xi’an, China
b
Third Branch of Sinohydro Bureau 7 Co, Ltd, 349 Chengguan East Road, 611730, Pi County, Sichuan, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Traditional construction practices showed that asphalt core construction rate was
Received 22 December 2019 commonly 2 layers/day (0.4 m/day) before the year 2000. More than 2 layers/day has
Received in revised form 29 July 2020 been concerned as it would be difficult to compact the third layer to reach the required
Accepted 5 August 2020
density (void content of maximum 3%) as the sublayers are soft. However, the Zhaobishan
embankment dam was located at a very special dam site and high construction rate was
Keywords: required. Based on reviewing successfully high construction rates of asphalt core test
Embankment dam
section with 0.8 m/day (4 layers/day) and 0.9 m/day (3 layers/day) extensive laboratory
Asphalt core
Construction rate
tests and 4 trial test sections near the Zhaobishan dam site were carried out to gain asphalt
Benefit mix parameters and construction techniques before constructing the asphalt core. The 63.6
m high asphalt core for the 71 m high dam was completed in 159 days with intensively
quality control during construction. The maximum construction rate was 0.92 m/day (4
layers/day). The dam with asphalt core has performed well since the completion year 2005.
The dam case study has documented that asphalt core dam can be constructed in a high
rate without compromising core quality. Based on practical experience, field observations,
and investigations in recent years, one can now build asphalt core dams faster and more
economically than before. The fact that one can significantly reduce the probability of
overtopping during construction by increasing the construction rate, may be an important
point in many situations.
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction

Civil engineering has the characteristics of large volume, field construction and long construction period. The quality
control and investment of a civil project are significantly affected by the construction periods and weathering conditions.
Civil engineers have been having impetus to develop construction techniques and construction equipment to shorten
construction periods. Roller compacted concrete (RCC) was developed by combining the concrete casting technique and the
embankment compacting technique to make concrete continuously constructing and greatly increase the construction rate
for mass concrete [1]. Russian engineers developed a construction technique of casting asphalt concrete core with layer
thickness of up to 0.5 m for embankment dams in the severe Siberian climate conditions down to -35⁰C and fulfilled
continuous construction works all year round [2]. American bridge engineers currently use accelerated bridge construction

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: weibiaowang@xaut.edu.cn (W. Wang), hk4453@126.com (K. Hu), fengshan@xaut.edu.cn (S. Feng), 13798638@qq.com (R. Zhao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2020.e00418
2214-5095/© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
2 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418

techniques of prefabricated bridge elements and systems to construct new bridges under current budget restraints and
improve the overall rating of bridge network within the United States [3].
In addition to the common characteristics of civil engineering, dam engineering has some special construction features. In
some cases, the construction rate of dams is more critical than other civil projects. This paper is to take the Zhaobishan
embankment dam as a case study to increase the construction rate of asphalt core for embankment dams.

2. Requirement of high construction rate of asphalt core for the Zhaobishan dam

When a dam is constructed at a dam site crossing a river valley, upstream and downstream cofferdams are constructed in
advance. The cofferdams are used to close the river and as the water barriers to divert the river water through a tunnel in the
right or left bank. After the dam site between the upstream and downstream dams is cleaned, the dam is constructed. The
cofferdams are temporary structures and are designed to withstand a flood with a low standard. The dam is required to be
constructed at a high rate to rise to enough height to withstand large flood. This is typically critical for embankment dams as
the dams would fail due to overtopping. Fig. 1 shows that an asphalt core embankment dam failed due to overtopping during
construction. It was because that the asphalt core dam had not been risen up to the design height to withstand a large flood.
Zhaobishan embankment dam is 71 m high with asphalt core height of 63.6 m. The upstream slope of the dam is 1V:2.5H
and downstream slope is 1V:2.0H. The dam is located in a narrow valley with steep abutments and Fig. 2 shows the cross-
section along the asphalt core axis. The dam axis length at the bottom is only 11 m and 121 m at the dam top. From the bottom
to top, the asphalt core width is 200 cm with a height of 60 cm seating on the concrete plinth, then the core is constant width
of 70 cm covering 42.2 m height and constant width of 50 cm covering 20.8 m upper core height. The core width flares doubly
toward the abutments. The dam volume is 0.8 million m3 and the asphalt core volume is about 3000 m3.
Fig. 3 shows that the dam is located at the mouth of the Banfang Creek. In front of the creek mouth, there is flat Gobi with
sufficient gravels and sands to fill the dam with haul distance of less than 1 km. This provided a possibility for the dam body
being filled at a high construction rate. However, a high dam construction rate is controlled and depended upon the
construction rate of the asphalt core.
Majority of the creek water comes from snow melting in the mountains and usually a flood season takes place around 10
June. A temporary upstream cofferdam was built to protect excavating about 17 m depth foundation, constructing of concrete
cut-off and plinth, and foundation curtain grouting and filling the lower part of the dam. The cofferdam with the top at
el.1863.0 m had to retain the river water until 10 June 2005 and then constituted part of the dam. The elevation at the top of
the dam bottom concrete plinth is el.1837.2 m. That means the asphalt core height is 25.8 m from the dam bottom to the top
of the cofferdam.
There is long wintertime from middle of October to the middle of April in the dam site area with annually mean air
temperature of 4
C. The early April would start to be suitable for asphalt core construction. Therefore, asphalt core had to be
risen to about 26 m in less than two months and a construction rate of 3 layers/day or 4 layers/day for asphalt core was
required.

Fig. 1. An asphalt core dam failed due to overtopping during construction.

 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418 3

Fig. 2. Cross-section of the Zhaobishan dam along the asphalt core axis.

Fig. 3. Zhaobishan dam is located in a narrow valley with steep abutments at the mouth of Banfang Creek. Looking downstream.

3. Possibility of increasing construction rate of asphalt core

When constructing an asphalt core for an embankment dam, about 25 cm thick layer of asphalt concrete is placed and
compacted simultaneously with adjacent transition material on either side of the core. As a new placed asphalt layer
contains much heat and is soft, the sub-layer is usually required to be harder and stable so as to make the new layer to be
easily compacted and to achieve specific density (void content of maximum 3%). A new asphalt layer after compaction at
4 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418

about 130
C may need some hours to cool down and to become harder. Therefore, for a safe consideration, a rate of 2 layers/
day for an asphalt core had been gradually formed as a common practice before the year 2000. Furthermore, the recorded
experience over the past 50 years before the year 2000 showed that the rate of asphalt core at no more than 2 layers/day
(after compaction, 0.4 m/day) would generally meet the requirements of embankment construction progress [4–6].
Asphalt core construction technique is derived from road asphalt and asphalt facing practices where sub-layer is sound
and stable to support a heavy roller to move on and vibrate. Compared with the design of asphalt core, asphalt mix for
pavements is with less content of fine aggregates, filler and bitumen. A about 3-ton vibratory roller is required to compact
510 cm thick asphalt layer as less kneading action is produced in the asphalt due to restrain effects of the stiff sub-layer.
However, for asphalt core, a about 0.5-ton vibratory roller can compact the thicker layer of about 25 cm due to significant
kneading action in the asphalt. The kneading effects of compaction in asphalt were systematically studied [7,8]. In most of
the past built asphalt cores, bitumen B65 had been used in European countries and bitumen B70 in China [4,6,9,10]. The
bitumen content was of 6.1 %–6.3 % by total weight and a rate of 2 layers/day (40 cm/day) was achieved by about 0.5-ton
vibratory roller [4,5]. If the bitumen content is increased by 0.1 % to 0.3 %, high rate of constructing asphalt core may be
achieved duo to the more significant kneading action.
Tschernutter [11] mentioned that the maximum construction rate of the asphalt core in Feistritzbach rockfill dam was 3
layers/day. The bitumen type was B70 and the bitumen content 6.5 %. The void content in all field drilled specimens was less
than 2.5 %. Saxegaard [12] did full scale 15 m-long test section on an asphalt mix with 6.7 % bitumen content (type B180) with
modern asphalt plant and core paver to improve the construction rate of asphalt core. One way was to place 4 layers in only a
few hours when the temperature was -4
C on the ground and up to 4
C in the air, with rain, snow and wind. That was a speed
of 80 cm/day, doubling the specified 40 cm/day (2 layers/day). Another way was to place 3 subsequent layers up to 30 cm
thick in a few hours, 90 cm/day representing more than double daily specified 40 cm/day. Test results of drilled core
specimens showed the void content meeting the requirement (maximum 3%) for the two ways of accelerated asphalt core
construction. When the transition zone materials on either side of the core were removed, it was discovered the width of the
core also was kept in specified required. Therefore, construction rate of an asphalt core can be increased in an actual
embankment dam if corresponding technical measures are taken.

4. Asphalt mix design aimed to increase construction rate of asphalt core

The limestone aggregates were produced from a combined crushing and screening plant near the dam site which was
mainly used for road asphalt production. The aggregates had very good granular particle shapes. Local well-graded and
naturally-rounded river sand was used in the asphalt mix design to increase the workability. The filler was limestone
powder. The bitumen B70 from the Kelamayi refinery in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, has been
documented to be the best and widely used since 1990s in China. Table 1 shows that the properties of bitumen B70 are much
higher than the requirements of the design specifications. The Zhaobishan dam is located in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region. Technically and economically, the bitumen B70 was selected to be best for the asphalt core of the Zhabishan Dam.
In order to achieve the required void content of maximum 3% for the asphalt core in the field at a construction rate of 3
layers/day or 4 layers /day, void content of maximum 1.5 % instead of 2.0 % for laboratory asphalt specimens using the
standardized Marshall compaction method was pre-set as an asphalt mix design parameter. The modified Fuller’s equation
of mineral grain size distribution [10] was used:
r r
d  d0:075
Pi ¼ F þ ð100  FÞ ir r
D  d0:075

Where:
r = index of aggregate gradation, an aggregate gradation curve characteristic parameter;
Pi = the percent by weight smaller than the equivalent grain size dimension di;
F = filler content, percentage;
di =size of sieve mesh, mm;
d0.075 = size of sieve mesh, 0.075 mm;

Table 1
Properties of bitumen B70.

Test properties Standard Test result

Penetration (25
C, 100 g, 5 s)/(0.1 mm) 6080 68
Ductility (10
C, 5 cm/min)/(cm) ≧20 111
Softening point (TR&B)/(
C) ≧46 48
Density (15
C)(g/cm3) – 0.986
TFOT
Loss by mass (%) 0.8 0.1
Residual penetration (%) ≧61 81
Residual ductility (cm) ≧6 28
 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418 5

Table 2
Four asphalt mixes (% of mineral weight) and void content (%) of Marshall specimens.

Mix No. r Crushed limestone aggregate (sieve size: mm) Filler content Bitumen content Void content

2015 1510 105 52.5 2.50.075

1 0.33 9.5 11.9 17 13.5 36.1 12 6.5 1.4
2 0.33 9.3 11.6 16.6 13.2 35.3 14 6.5 1.4
3 0.42 11.1 13.5 18.4 13.7 31.1 12 6.5 1.2
4 0.42 10.8 13.2 18 13.4 30.6 14 6.5 1.2

Note: The data in the table are the average values of three specimens for each mix.

D = the maximum grain size of aggregates, mm.

Four asphalt mixes without river sand were tested using the standardized Marshall compaction method for checking void
content. According to the test code [13], the hot asphalt mixture in a cylindrical mould with 101.6 mm in diameter was
compacted by 35 blows on each side face and the final height of the specimen was designed to be 63.5 mm. The mixes and the
void content are shown in Table 2.
For asphalt core located inside embankment dams, the core is mainly subjected to triaxial compression stress states.
When the reservoir is impounded the core is subjected to the reservoir water thrust and resulted in bending deformations
vertically and horizontally along the core axis. For a dam located in a narrow valley, like the Zhaobishan Dam, the top part of
the asphalt core towards abutments may be subjected to tensile stress and strain [14]. Therefore, bending, triaxial
compression and tension tests are usually conducted on asphalt concrete.
Table 2 shows that the four mixes were compacted to meet the pre-set void content of maximum 1.5 % though the
bitumen content was 6.5 % by mineral weight (6.1 % by total weight). This indicated the good asphalt mix design with the
granular aggregates. Therefore, mid-values of index of aggregate gradation 0.38 and filler content 13 % were selected to study
bending behaviour with three different bitumen contents. The asphalt specimen beam with dimensions of 35 mm  40
mm250 mm was tested at bend strain rate of 0.1 %/min at the mid-span of the beam at 4
C and the test results are shown in
Table 3.
Table 3 shows that bending strength was reasonably reduced while bending strain at failure increased with increase of
bitumen content. Mix No.6 was selected to study the effect of river sand on the bending behaviour and Table 4 shows the test
results. The test results of mix No.6 without using river sand are shown in the table for comparison.
Table 4 shows that river sand replacing crushed fine aggregate in the mix had no significant effects on the void content but
reduced the bending strength and increased the bending strain at failure.
According to the test code [13], direct tension tests were carried out on mixes No.6 and No.8 and the strains at failure were
1.4 % at a strain rate of 0.1 %/min at 4
C. Triaxial compression tests were carried on the two mixes with specimen size of 100
mm in diameter and 200 mm in height at strain rate 0.1 %/min at 4
C and the test results are shown in Table 5.
Table 5 shows that the void content of the triaxial specimens of the two mixes was less than 1% when bitumen content
was 6.8 % by mineral weight (6.4 % by total weight). The triaxial compression test results indicated the two mix asphalt

Table 3
Effect of bitumen content on bending strength and bending strain at failure.

Mix No. Bitumen content (%) Void content (%) Bend strength (MPa) Bending strain
at failure (%)
5 6.5 1.2 2.28 3.6
6 6.8 1.2 1.97 4.4
7 7.1 1.1 2.05 5.4

Note: The data in the table are the average values of three specimens for each mix.

Table 4
Effect of natural river sand on the bend strength and bend strain at failure.

Mix No. Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate Filler Bitumen Void Bend strength Bending strain
(202.5 mm) (%) (2.50.075 mm) content (%) content (%) content (%) (MPa) at failure (%)
(%)
6 34 33 Crushed aggregate 13 6.8 1.2 1.97 4.4
8 34 16.5 Crushed aggregate + 13 6.8 1.5 1.66 4.7
16.5 River sand
9 34 33 River sand 13 6.8 1.3 1.54 5.2

Note: The data in the table are the average values of three specimens for each mix.
6 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418

Table 5
Triaxial compression test results on the two asphalt mixes.

Mix No. Confining Void content Young’s modulus Deviator stress Axial strain at
stress (MPa) (%) (secant) at 1% axial at failure (MPa) failure (%)
strain (MPa)
6 0.2 0.9 90 2.0 8
0.4 0.7 120 2.4 8
0.8 0.7 130 3.1 11
1.2 0.7 130 3.3 13
8 0.2 1.0 90 2.0 9
0.4 0.9 95 2.2 10
0.8 0.9 110 3.2 11
1.2 0.8 110 4.0 14

Note: The data in the table are the average values of three specimens for each condition.

Table 6
Calculated maximum deformations, compressive stresses and strains for the Zhaobishan Dam at full supply water level after the dam completion.

Item Deformation Stress and strain

Settlement Horizontal displacement Major principal Minor principal Major principal Minor principal
(m) (up-downstream direction) (m) stress (MPa) stress (MPa) strain (%) strain (%)
Embankment 0.28 0.23 1.38 0.83 0.6 0.2
Asphalt core 0.28 0.24 1.31 0.89 0.7 0.2

concretes were ductile. River sand had no significant effects on the void content and stress-strain behaviour. However, that
50 % of the fine aggregates was river sand (mix No.8) was suggested for the field asphalt mix in an economical consideration.
Three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed simulating the dam construction progress and reservoir
impounding to compute the deformations, and stresses and strains of the embankment and asphalt core in the narrow valley.
The results are shown in Table 6. At the left abutment at the concrete plinth with 1V:0.45H slope the calculated maximum
tensile strain is 1% in the asphalt core.
Compared with the laboratory test results of the suggested asphalt mix No.8 the computed maximum compressive strain
in the asphalt core is well below the allowable strain of the flexible and ductile asphalt core material.

5. Asphalt production

The asphalt core dam was located in the narrow valley and the quantity of the asphalt required was only about 10 m3/day
to 50 m3/day. In economical consideration and without compromising the core quality, a simplified asphalt plant was
erected (Fig. 4). The five grade mineral materials, crushed limestone aggregates (2010 mm, 102.5 mm and <2.5 mm), river

Fig. 4. Simplified asphalt plant used for the low asphalt quantity production.
 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418 7

sand (<2.5 mm) and filler, were manually weighed respectively on scales for each batch according to the asphalt mix
proportions (Table 6). The four grade aggregates were evenly entered the drum and heated. The hot aggregates flowed in the
steel flume and were stopped for temperature check. If it was in the specified temperature range (170190
C) and the flume
door was opened and the hot aggregates flowed in the mixer. Then the filler at ambient temperature flowed in the mixer
directly through a steel tube and mixed with the hot aggregates. After having tried a few batches, the temperature of the
mineral materials could be controlled in the required temperature range of 160180
C that was based on past construction
experience and the construction specifications [15].
The bitumen was heated in a double-layer steel pot with 10 cm gap filled in heat-conducting oil to avoid the bitumen from
ageing. A stove heated the steel pot. The oil temperature was monitored by a temperature meter and controlled through
adjust the heating of the stove. The bitumen quantity for each batch was weighed in volume and flowed in the mixer. In such
a way, the asphalt mix and the temperature of the asphalt mixture could be controlled in specified range of 150170
C. A
team of about ten workmen were needed to operate the simplified asphalt plant.

6. Field trial tests

In order to validate the asphalt mix (mix No.8) suggested from the laboratory tests and obtain construction technique
parameters such as temperatures during mixing, transporting, placing and compacting, asphalt concrete layer placing
thickness, number of roller passes, four trial tests nearby the asphalt plant were carried out in November 2004.
On 5 November 2004 the first trial test was done by placing one layer on the same mineral material proportions with
three bitumen content values of 6.8 %, 7.0 % and 7.2 % by mineral weight. The designed and abstracted mineral material
proportions are shown in Table 7.
Table 7 shows that the mineral material proportions were well controlled. After the asphalt job trial section was cooled
down, asphalt core specimens were drilled out and the void content of all the specimens was less than 1.5 %. On 10 November
the second trial test was carried out on two mixes with bitumen contents of 6.8 % and 7.0 % and one layer was placed on the
asphalt sub-layer. On 11 November the third trial test on bitumen content 7.0 % was carried out to further validate the mix
proportions and compaction procedures. On 20 November the fourth job trial test with two layers in few hours were placed
and compacted. All test results at site laboratory documented the mix proportions and void content satisfied the
requirements of the design code and construction specifications [10,15]. Twenty-six (26) asphalt core specimens with size of
100 mm in diameter and 45 cm long were drilled out from the fourth trial test section and sent to Xi’an University of
Technology for testing the asphalt behaviour (Fig. 5).The drilled core specimens were tested on mix proportions, void
content, bending strain, direct tension and triaxial compression behaviours according to the test code [13]. All the results had
met the requirements of the design and construction specifications [10,15] and the asphalt mix and construction procedure
were determined to be used for the asphalt core in the dam.

7. Asphalt core dam constructed at high rate

The distance from the asphalt plant to the dam site was only about 500 m and it took just a few minutes to transport the
hot asphalt mixture. Two ways were used for transporting the asphalt. At the initial construction stage of the asphalt core,
asphalt silo was transported by a truck and then hung by a crane down to the core spot (Fig. 6). When the asphalt core was
risen up to a height where a vehicle could reach the core spot, a skip loader was used for transporting the asphalt.
Steel forms were erected for each asphalt layer and asphalt core was compacted by a 0.7-ton vibratory roller. To prevent
the asphalt core from contaminating the area of transition zones adjacent to the core was covered with canvas during
compacting (Fig. 7). The transition zone materials on either side of the core were placed manually and compacted by two 2-
ton vibratory rollers.
On 13 April 2005, the first asphalt layer with 20 cm thickness core was placed. Then there was a 3-days stoppage for
drilling core samples to check the void content. After all the test data having showed satisfactory, the second layer was placed
on 16 April and placing was stoppage on 17 April to check bonding quality between the two layers. The core samples showed
good bonding and then the third layer was placed on 18 April and two layers were placed on 19 and on 20 April (see Figs. 6
and 7). On 23 April, 3 layers were placed and 4 layers on 12 May successfully. The compacted thickness of the asphalt layer
was also increased from 20 cm to 23 cm. That was to say, the asphalt core construction rate was 0.92 m/day (4 layers/day).
The asphalt core height versus time and number of layers in every day is shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 9 shows the total days for the
asphalt construction rates of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 layers/day.

Table 7
Designed and abstracted mineral material proportions (%) for the trial tests.

Sieve size (mm) 20 16 10 5 2.5 1.25 0.63 0.3 0.16 <0.075

Designed 100 91.8 77.6 58.1 44 36.9 30.7 21.9 15.8 13
Plant weighed (2010 mm) 21.9, (102.5) 34.4, River sand 13.4, Crushed fine aggregate 18 12.3
Abstracted (1) 99.1 93.4 78.6 59.9 40.6 32.6 25.2 19.8 16.9 13
Abstracted (2) 97.2 93.2 79.9 60.2 40.1 31.1 23.3 18.1 15.5 13
8 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418

Fig. 5. Trial test section for the asphalt core of the Zhaobishan dam in November 2004.

Fig. 6. Asphalt silo was hung down to low part of the asphalt core of the Zhaobishan dam.

The asphalt core dam construction can be divided into three continual stages. The first stage is from 13 April to 18 June. In this
stage, because of the flood threat and easily filling the lower part of the dam body, the asphalt core was quickly placed. In the 67 days,
asphalt core rose 33.8 m from el.1837.2 m to el.1871.0 m. On 6 June (the 55th day) the asphalt core had risen up to the cofferdam top
at el.1863.0 m. The average rate of 0.5 m/day for asphalt core in this stage made the dam getting rid of the flood threat.
 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418 9

Fig. 7. Asphalt core was compacted by a 0.7 t vibration roller for the Zhaobishan dam.

Fig. 8. Asphalt core height versus time and number of layers in every day for the Zhaobishan dam.

The second stage is from 19 June to 1 August. The dam rising rate was reduced due to larger quantity of dam body filling
materials. In the 44 days, there was 21 days stoppage for the asphalt core placing and the asphalt core rose 9.0 m reaching at
el.1880.0 m where the thickness of asphalt core was changed from 70 cm into 50 cm. The average rate of asphalt core in this
stage was 0.2 m/day.
The third stage is from 2 August to 18 September. In this stage, the construction rate of the asphalt core was gradually
increased while the rising rate of the dam was increased as the volume of the dam upper part became smaller with dam
height increase. In the 48 days, asphalt core rose 20.8 m from el. 1880.0 m to el.1900.8 m. The average rate of asphalt core was
0.43 m/day. In the 5 of last 6 days, with 2 days at 3 layers/day intervening 3 days at 4 layers/day, total 18 layers were placed to
raise 4.1 m for the asphalt core. In the morning of the last day or 18 September (the Middle Autumn Festival in the Chinese
lunar calendar), 2 layers was placed to reach the designed asphalt core top at el. 1900.8 m and a cheerful celebration was held
for the completion of the asphalt core.
The asphalt core was placed in 282 layers including 244 layers (86.5 % of the total layers) being placed in 0.23 m thick after
compaction (Table 8). The asphalt core with a height of 63.6 m was constructed within 159 days from 13 April to 18
September 2005.
10 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418

Fig. 9. Total days for the asphalt construction rates of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 layers/day.

Table 8
Layer thickness after compaction and number of layers for the Zhaobishan asphalt core.

Thickness of layer (m) 0.17 0.18 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.23 Total
Number of layers 2 7 24 2 3 244 282
Sum (m) 0.34 1.26 4.80 0.42 0.66 56.12 63.60

8. Quality control for asphalt core during construction

The gradations and humidity of the three grade crushed limestone aggregates from the aggregate plant and the river sand
were routinely checked and weighs were accordingly adjusted according to the specified aggregate proportions. The filler
and bitumen were weighed respectively. The asphalt mix proportions were checked in every placing day and temperatures
were controlled on each batch mixing, asphalt transportation, surface of asphalt sub-layer, asphalt placing and compacting.
The asphalt layer was compacted with the 0.7-ton vibratory roller using 4–6 passes with vibration and 2 passes without in
temperature range of 130150
C. In order to ensure the asphalt core quality at high construction rate, bitumen content of
the total weight was controlled in the range of 6.5 %–7.0 %. Void content of the standardized Marshall specimen at site
laboratory was controlled of maximum 1.5 % in every placing day. The asphalt core wall was divided into 7 sections and
asphalt core samples for each of the sections were drilled out for checking asphalt mix proportions, void content, bending,
direct tension and triaxial compression behaviours. The average void content of all the drilled core samples was 1.4 % and the
maximum was 2.5 %. The bending, direct tension and triaxial compression behaviours were similar to those of the previous
test results on the drilled asphalt specimens from the trial test section.
When the void content of a placing layer and width of the asphalt core is ensured, the asphalt core at high construction
rate has two unique advantages. One advantage is that the surface of asphalt sub-layer is so hot that bonding of two layers is
quite easily realised. Another advantage is that asphalt core being kept inside the dam at a higher temperature possesses
higher viscous behaviour and easily adjusts the deformations imposed by the dam body during construction.
The Zhaobishan asphalt core embankment dam was constructed at a high construction rate and the dam deformation and
seepage have been monitored. The dam deformations are in a reasonable range compared with those of similar dams, e.g.,
such as the Finstertal Dam in Austria [16], the Storvatn Dam [17] and the Storglomvatn Dam in Norway [18], the Maopingxi
Dam and the Yele Dam in China [9], and the Romaine-2 Dam in Canada [19]. There has no sign of seepage through the asphalt
core. Based on the observations of dam deformations and seepage, the dam with the asphalt core has performed very well
since completion of the year 2005.

9. Summary and conclusions

The possibility of increasing the construction rate of asphalt core was analysed and the successful experience of
increasing construction rate of asphalt core test section was reviewed. Combining the required high construction rate of the
Zhaobishan gravel-fill dam, the high construction rate of the asphalt core was achieved.
The construction rate of asphalt core can be as high as 4 layers/day if the asphalt mix is properly designed. In the
Zhaobishan case, the good aggregate particle shapes and gradations were very favourable for compaction. The void content
of maximum 1.5 % for the standardized Marshall specimen was pre-set as an asphalt mix design parameter to achieve the
specified void content of maximum 3% in the field at high construction rate of asphalt core. Furthermore, construction
techniques must be taken to ensure the required void content of maximum 3%, the bonding between layers and design width
of asphalt core.
 W. Wang et al. / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00418 11

In recent years, several asphalt core dams with dam height of 150200 m have been built or are under construction [20].
Among them, the highest 174-m high Quxue Dam in China and the 153-m high Zarema Dam in Ethiopia were completed in
2017 [21,22]. The 165-m high Moglicë Dam in Albania was completed in February in 2019, and first impoundment was
completed. Nowadays, construction rate of 3 layers/day and the compacted thickness of about 25 cm have become
conventional practices [23]. With modern asphalt plant and asphalt core paver construction rate of 4 layers/day is possible
for large and high asphalt core dams. The Shimeng and Kayingbulake asphalt core embankment dams in China were risen at a
peak construction rate of 18 m/month. Based on the practical experience, field observations, and investigations in recent
years, one can now build asphalt core dams faster and more economically than before. The fact that one can significantly
reduce the probability of overtopping during construction by increasing the construction rate, may be an important point in
many situations.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Acknowledgment

The research work for the paper was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
51179155).

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