“Quality in the

Construction Industry”
By: Dr. K.P. Ray Chaudhuri
B.Sc (Eng), M.Sc (Eng), Ph.D (Eng)
FIE (India), FNSE (Nig), CoREN (Nig)
Technical Director
Technical Manager
Setraco Nigeria Ltd

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Introduction:
Quality in general means compliance with specified requirements.
Quality of road construction works is to verify compliance of road
materials, equipments, performance and final deliverable to
predetermined requirements / specifications. Quality assurance is the
process of planning rather than “inspection / testing or checking of
quality”. In total quality management, the focus is not only on quality
but also on client satisfaction. Quality is not merely conducting various
tests on road construction materials. Quality of roads construction is the
totality of the characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy
the stated needs of the client. Elements of quality assurance systems
include proper assessment of requirements of the road pavement, choice
of quality materials and design, evaluating pavement thickness,
development of appropriate technical specifications, choice of
construction method / equipments / plants, field supervision and quality
control, periodic inspection and maintenance measures. As a conclusion,
quality assurance encompasses all the broad aspects of road
development.
What is Quality

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Each person or group has its own definition of Quality.
But as a conclusion Quality in technical usage, have two meanings:
1. The characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to
satisfy stated or implied needs.
2. A product or service free of deficiencies. In other word quality means
“fitness for use;” or “conformance to requirements.”

Quality control during construction consists largely of insuring

conformance to the original design and planning decisions. Even minor
defects in constructed facility can cause heavy direct and indirect loss.
What is Quality (Definition of Quality)
What is quality and what does it cost?
In manufacturing, a measure of excellence or a state of being free from
defects, deficiencies and significant variations. It is brought about by
strict and consistent commitment to certain standards that achieve
uniformity of a product in order to satisfy specific customer or end user
requirements. The international Organization for standardization (ISO*
DIS 9000:2000), formally defines quality as the degree to which a set of
inherent characteristics fulfils the requirement while ISO 8402-1986
standard defines quality as "the totality of features and characteristics of
a product or service that bears its ability to satisfy stated or implied
needs.“ If an automobile company finds a defect in one
----------------------------------------------------------
*The International Organization for Standardization (French: Organisation internationale de
normalization, Russian: Международная организация по стандартизации, tr. Myezhdunarodnaya
organizatsiya po standartizatsii),widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body
composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23,
1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial, and commercial standards. It
has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. DIS - Draft International Standard.
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of their cars and makes a product recall, customer reliability and Quality
Control is a set of procedure including inspection, analysis and action
required to ensure quality of output; the operational techniques and the
activities used to fulfil and verify requirements of quality; a procedure
for keeping quality of inputs or outputs to specifications.
Another definition of Quality:
Meeting client demands, meeting design or code requirements,
Minimum rework needed, Able to guarantee the delivered project, Proud
to put company name on the completed project.
Why is it so difficult to improve quality in the construction
industry?
The primary barrier to management system implementation success
seems to be the nature of the construction process: the projects are often
very large, labour intensive and seldom situated in the same location; the
workforce tends to be transient; and demand fluctuates, subject to the
client’s perception of the value of the construction project. The ‘nature’
of construction is a complex system in which several participants, each
with their own perspectives and interests, are brought together to 6
complete a project plan that typically changes several times during
construction, while each tries to minimize the effects of weather,
occupation hazards, schedule delays, and building defects. The many
changes can lead to delays in completion of the construction project,
complaints about quality, and rework, which in turn can lead to further
delays and so forth. In short, the industry is characterized by
confrontational instead of cooperative relationships between the different
parties involved, with claims by the different parties as a result.

A second barrier to quality implementation is the many parties involved

in the construction process, all of whom try to protect their own interests.
The construction industry consists traditionally of three primary
participants: the owner (or client), the architect/designer/engineer, and
the contractor. Participants in the project differ in what they hope to gain
from the construction process. The typical owner would probably agree
that they would like to spend as little as possible to get their desired
project completed. Designers are in business to provide a service to the
owner; however, their relationship with the contractors is often unclear.7
The contractors attempt to provide the product as drawn by the designer
as efficiently as possible, in order to maximise their profit. Apart from
the three primary participants, there are many other parties involved in
the construction process: a variety of sub-contractors and suppliers. The
many sub-contractors (masons, plumbers, electricians) are a particularly
important factor, and company size is a related factor that explains the
difficulty in implementing quality. Construction companies vary greatly
in size.
A third barrier to quality implementation is non- standardisation. During
construction, general contractors want to ensure quality throughout the
project. However, changes to the details of the design of a project are
typical and may be frequent throughout the construction process. Quality
is often at risk when a plan is changed during construction.

A final and important barrier to quality implementation and

management is the bidding process. Both contractors and researchers are
concerned about ‘competitive bidding’ for construction projects. E.g., a
contractor may try to reduce allotted resources towards safety or quality
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management in order to maintain a healthy profit margin for the job.
Attempts to reduce involvement in safety and/or quality management
can be very costly to a contractor, if they encounter accidents during the
project.
They may also experience schedule delays for many reasons: weather,
riots, strikes, staff shortage, late delivery of equipment or materials, and
other events beyond the control of the contractor.

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Steps to improve Quality
Employees and Management Relationship
1. Training and education (managers & employees)
2. Employees involvement
3. Skilled employees.
4. Management commitment.
5. Good communication between managers and employees.
6. Regular meetings.
7. Incentive for good performance.
Project manager role in quality
1. Well defined roles & responsibilities of his team.
2. Regular inspection & audit.
3. Written program or policy for quality.
4. Regular meetings with his staff.
5. Clearly defined goals & objectives.
6. Clearly defined guidelines for client satisfaction.
7. A well defined method for review / analysis for identifying errors &
defects and improve quality.
How to improve quality performance ?
Methodology to Improve Quality
1. Education and Training:
Training takes on several dimensions. For starters, you should set up a
program that trains technical staff to focus on quality issues from their
first day on the job.
2. Make a commitment: management has to recognize the
importance of quality of construction.
3. Rigid supervision: of the design process. A construction company
must participate in the design process, in order to avoid the problems
related with lack of construction knowledge of the designers, providing
its experience in design solutions.
4. Coordination: of the different specialties through a logic sequence of
information transfer, avoiding incorrect assumptions, and giving a
priority level for changes in order to avoid lack of
Cost of Poor Quality
There is a good saying which state that If the cost of achieving good
quality is high, the cost of poor quality is still higher.
Cost of poor quality it’s a term widely used and widely misunderstood.
The “cost of quality” isn’t the price of creating a quality product or
service. It’s the cost of NOT creating a quality product or service. Every
time work is redone, the cost of quality increases.

Quality costs are costs associated with non-conformance / achievement

of product / service quality. In simple terms, quality cost is the cost of
poor product / services. The price of non-conformance or the cost of
poor quality, the term “cost of Quality, refers to the costs associated with
providing poor quality product or service.
Cost and quality are considered as the two most important elements in all
construction activities. The cost of poor quality can add to other costs
such as redesign, maintenance, re-inspection, retest, extra time spent in
finding a proper solution so that no defect will occur again, etc.
Delivering projects of poor quality can have far reaching consequences.
In the long term, poor quality can hurt reputation, and if the company
continues in the same way it might have to close its business. Cost of
Poor Quality Results in:
1. Increase in project cost.
2. Increase in time.
3. Completion schedule delays.
4. Delay in payment.
5. Cost of demolition of defected works plus the cost of rework.
6. Spoils firm reputation.
7. Poor safety condition.
8. Poor professional relationship.
9. Disputes among professional.
10. Completion schedule delays. 11. Increase in overhead expenses
12. Cost of demolition of aborted or substituted works plus the cost of
rework.
13. Redesign costs.
14. Higher insurance costs.
15. Bad publicity
Factors Affecting Construction Quality Management
There are 3 main factors affecting the construction quality management
system. These are:
1. Lack of Management Commitment
Reasons that can account for the lack of commitment are:
Lack of awareness of the benefits of quality management system.
Implementation of a quality system because of market pressures.
2. Inconclusive Interpretation of Standard Requirements
The ISO standards are a generic standard that has its origin from the
engineering field. As generic standards, some of the terms used in the
standard could be misconstrued as being vague, ambiguous and
imprecise. Confusion also arises as there is a lack of the definition of
these terms in the standards.
3. Training Policies
Looking into the general training policy, the ISO 9001 registered Course
content includes quality assurance in road works, contract management
and inspection procedures, testing of construction materials such as
concrete works, concrete aggregates, soil gradation, density and
compaction, field compaction/density of subgrade, and asphalt material.
The study visit and on-site study are conducted to road construction sites
with different level of development from excavation, forming
embankment, compaction, pavement construction, etc., to observe the
work processes and QC at each stage. Observe the construction
equipment being used in construction, equipment of the field laboratory
for quality evaluation, field density sampling and testing, asphalt
pavement construction, etc.

Road works specification for Subgrade, sub-base, stone base, asphalt

works, road furniture, HSE, stormwater drainage, Kerbs and gutters,
Precast reinforced concrete culverts, plastic flexible pipes, utilities, etc
Quality Control Procedure for Constr. of Asphalt Road
New Construction Road Rehabilitation
1. Subgrade
2. Sub-base Layer HMA overlay over an existing one
3. Stone Base Course Detailed Investigation for the existing
4. Prime Coat conditions of the road

5. Asphaltic Base Overlay (non-structural)

6. Tack Coat
Overlay (structural)
7. Binder Course

8. Tack Coat Overlay on PCC

9. Wearing Course
Structural PCC Overlays for HMA -
10. Seal Coat Whitetopping
All asphalt paving projects have some things in common:
Design Considerations
Water is the enemy.  The three most important considerations for
designing the pavement structure are drainage.  Water saturation can
erode the base structure and weaken the bond between the aggregates
and asphalt binder.  Most potholes form during the spring when the
ground and road base are saturated and weakened with springtime rains. 
Over time, asphalt exposed to sunlight, heat and air oxidizes and
becomes more brittle and loses its elasticity.  A little preventive
maintenance at regular intervals can greatly prolong the life of asphalt
paving project.
Fatigue cracks have a tell-tale pattern that looks like alligator skin. 
Having a thick enough, strong enough base under your asphalt paving
project, prevents the pavement from flexing so far each time.  This lets
you extend the time before your pavement fatigues and cracks.  Having
too thin pavements over a too soft base (not enough structure) is an all
too common problem on places like parking lots and driveways.
If asphalt paving project doesn’t use quality materials, it may look good
right after paving but not so much later on.
Whatever the application, your asphalt paving project should be
designed with good drainage, enough structure to meet the project’s
needs and the right mix design.
Road Rehabilitation
When the ride becomes really rough, when there are severely
deteriorated cracks, moderate alligator  cracking (fatigue), potholes
or patches everywhere, or when there are ruts, it’s time to
rehabilitate the pavement.
The most common practice is to use a milling machine to mill off the
top, distressed layers. Then, any base or drainage problems are
corrected.  Finally, a layer of new asphalt pavement is applied to fill the
area that was milled off.  This process is referred to as “mill and fill.” 
The millings or reclaimed asphalt pavement may be taken back to a
asphalt plant to be re-used in new asphalt.  They can also be recycled in
place by adding new liquid asphalt and correcting any deficiencies in the
mix.
If the distresses are through the whole pavement structure, or if the base
has been damaged, then it’s time for full depth reclamation.  If new
pavement layers are put over a poor base, they will fail prematurely.
Perpetual or Long lasting pavements
Perpetual pavement use multiple layers of asphalt surfaces.  The
pavement design begins with a strong yet flexible asphalt base layer that
resists the repeated bending of tensile strains caused by traffic, and thus
stops cracks from forming in the bottom of the pavement.  A strong
intermediate asphalt layer (binder course) completes the permanent
structural portion, and the final layer (wearing course) is a rut-
resistant asphalt surface that lasts many years before needing
restoration.  When the wearing course starts to show distress or when it
loses its skid resistance, the top layer is milled off, recycled and replaced
with a new wearing course.  Perpetual pavements can be maintained
easily and cost-effectively without removing the road structure for
reconstruction, saving time and money.  A perpetual pavement provides a
sustainable, durable, safe, smooth, long-lasting roadway without
expensive, time-consuming, traffic-disrupting reconstruction or major
repair.
Overlays
A wearing /surface course may be laid over an existing bituminous or
concrete surface. The overlay surfacing should be a min. 25mm thick
and must be bonded to the existing surface with a cationic or anionic
bonding emulsion, commonly referred to as a 'Tack Coat'.
Overlays can be either structural or non-structural make up a large
portion of the roadway paving done today. The degree of surface
preparation for an overlay is dependent on the condition and type of the
existing pavement. Generally, the existing pavement should be
structurally sound, level, clean and capable of bonding to the overlay. To
meet these prerequisites, the existing pavement is usually repaired,
leveled (by milling, pre-leveling or both), cleaned and then coated with a
binding agent. This subsection covers:
Repair
Tack coats
Leveling (both by applying a leveling coarse and by milling)
HMA overlays on PCC pavement
Structural Overlay
Over time repeated traffic loading can weaken (fatigue) and deteriorate
the pavement structure with time, and growing traffic counts require
higher structural strength and corrective measures to restore safety and
rideability are deemed necessary.  When more strength is needed, it’s
time for a structural overlay, that is, one or more layers of new asphalt
surfacing. Overlay is expected to survive longer and carry more traffic
loadings. The existing road should be in good shape, and any distresses
should be fixed before the overlay is done.  A good tack coat (a thin layer
of asphalt applied to the old surface) is essential in bonding the old and
new layers.  Testing has demonstrated that firmly tacked layers improve
overall pavement strength and provide better performance than untacked
layers.
Rural Overlay
Non-structural overlay.
Non-structural overlays
NSO do not involve extensive structural design and generally contribute
little, if anything, to a pavement’s structural capacity. Non-structural
overlays are generally thin surface overlays on the order of 12.5 mm to
37.5 mm that are used:
Improve ride quality.
Correct minor surface defects.
Improve safety characteristics such as skid resistance and drainage.
Enhance appearance.
Reduce road-tire noise.
Categories
Non-structural overlays can vary widely in composition depending upon
local practice, traffic and general purpose. A classification of non-
structural overlays:
Light volume/residential traffic.
The primary objective in light traffic areas is to retard asphalt binder
aging of the underlying pavement. Since heavy traffic loads are not of
great concern, overlays are generally less stiff (resulting in a more
workable mix, increased durability and flexibility and a potential for the
overlay to react under traffic) and use smaller-sized aggregates.
Heavy, high-speed traffic.
The primary objective in heavy, high-speed traffic areas is to prevent
rutting and provide good friction. Because of this, overlays typically use
larger angular aggregate and more durable mixes such as SMA or OGFC.
Repair
Pavement overlays are used to restore surface course (both HMA and
PCC) characteristics (such as smoothness, friction and aesthetics) or add
structural support to an existing pavement. However, even a structural
overlay needs to be placed on a structurally sound base. If an existing
pavement is cracked or provides inadequate structural support these
defects will often reflect through even the best-constructed overlay and
cause premature pavement failure in the form of cracks and
deformations. To maximize an overlays useful life, failed sections of the
existing pavements should be patched or replaced and existing pavement
cracks should be filled. At most, overlays are designed to add only some
structural support; the remaining structural support must reside in the
existing pavement. Therefore, small areas of localized structural failure
in the existing pavement should be repaired or replaced to provide this
structural support. Often, existing pavement failure may be caused by
inadequate subgrade support or poor subgrade drainage. In these cases,
the existing pavement over the failed area should be removed and the
subgrade should be prepared as it would be for a new pavement.
Repairing failed pavement sections before overlay.
Tack Coats
Before overlaying, a tack coat should be placed on an existing pavement
to ensure adequate bonding of the overlay to the existing pavement
surface. Proper tack coat application can be critical to long-term
pavement performance.
Leveling
The existing pavement should be made as smooth as possible before
being overlaid. It is difficult to make up elevation differences or smooth
out ruts by varying overlay thickness. For flexible overlays, HMA tends
to differentially compact; a rule of thumb is that conventional mixes will
compact approximately 6 mm per 25 mm (0.25 inches per 1 inch) of un-
compacted thickness. Therefore, before applying the final surface course
the existing pavement is typically leveled by one or both of the following
methods:
Applying a leveling course (HMA pavements). The first lift applied to
the existing pavement is used to fill in ruts and make up elevation
differences. The top of this lift, which is relatively smooth, is used as the
base for the wearing course.
Milling (HMA pavements):
A top layer is milled off the existing pavement to provide a relatively
smooth surface on which to pave. Milling is also commonly used to
remove a distressed surface layer from an existing pavement.
Diamond Grinding (PCC pavements). A thin top layer can be milled off
of an existing pavement to smooth out relatively small surface
distortions prior to flexible or rigid overlay.
Leveling Course – HMA Pavements
Leveling courses (or pre-level) are initial lifts placed directly on to the
existing pavement to fill low spots in the pavement (Figure 2). Typically,
pavers use an automatic screed control, which keeps the screed tow point
constant regardless of the tractor unit vertical position. This allows the
paver to drive over a rough, uneven pavement yet place a relatively
smooth lift with extra HMA making up for low spots in the existing
pavement.
,Photo showing the existing pavement (left, front) a leveling course
(left rear), and the final surface course (right).
Leveling course lifts need to be as thick as the deepest low spot but not
so thick that they are difficult to compact. Because it is not the final
wearing course, leveling course elevation and grade are sometimes not
tightly specified or controlled. However, contractors and inspectors alike
should pay close attention to leveling course thickness because an
excessively thick leveling course can lead to large overruns in HMA and
thus large overruns in project budget.
Although leveling courses can help produce a smoother pavement, they
suffer from discussed differential compaction and therefore may not
entirely solve the smoothness problem.
Milling – HMA Pavements
Milling (also called grinding) can be used to smooth an existing HMA
pavement prior to HMA or PCC overlays. Rather than filling in low
spots, as a leveling course does, milling removes the high points in an
existing pavement to produce a relatively smooth surface. For HMA
pavements, milling can help eliminate differential compaction problems.
Milling machines are the primary method for removing old HMA
pavement surface material prior to overlay. They can be fitted with
automatic grade control to restore both longitudinal and transverse grade
and can remove most existing pavement distortions such as rutting,
bumps, deteriorated surface material or stripping.
The primary advantages of milling are:
Eliminates the need for complicated leveling courses and problems with
quantity estimates for irregular leveling course thicknesses used to fill
existing pavement depressions.
Provides reclaimed asphalt paving for recycling operations.
Allows efficient removal of deteriorated flexible pavement material that
is unsuitable for retention in the pavement structure.
Provides a highly skid resistant surface suitable for temporary use by
traffic until the final surface can be placed.
Allows curb and gutter lines to be maintained or reestablished before
flexible overlays.
Provides an efficient removal technique for material near overhead
structures in order to maintain clearances for bridge structures, traffic
signals and overhead utilities. The basic components of a milling
machine are a cutting drum to mill the existing pavement, a vacuum to
collect the milled particles and a conveyance system to transport the
milled particles to a dump truck for hauling.
A PCC overlay
PCC overlay of an existing flexible pavement, called “whitetopping”, is
a newer, viable rehabilitation alternative for flexible pavements. The
overlayed rigid layer offers a reasonably thin, highly durable wearing
course with a significant structural capacity. Although there are risks,
whitetopping can be effective for almost all applications. They have been
successfully used on interstate highways, state primary and secondary
roads, intersections, etc. as well as major airport and general aviation
runways, taxiways, and aprons.
Improving the Elements of Highway Quality Assurance
•· Evaluation of improved application of testing.
•· Recommended procedures for visual inspection of completed asphalt
road elements.
•· Dispute Resolution Best Practices for Materials Testing. Conflict can
easily arise between quality team and project team simply because
quality team is looking for non-conformance and identifying bad quality
and performance aspects.
•· Guidelines for recommended procedures for non-destructive testing of
completed precast concrete elements.
•· Guidelines for conducting data validation on results from test
procedures
• Training/Workshops for improved QA practices. the development and
conduct of webinars; the development of educational and training
materials; and the delivery of presentations.

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Quality Assurance Training/Workshops
1. Plan, develop, organize, schedule, and deliver webinars/workshops to:
(1) identify research and development needs related to construction and
material quality assurance, (2) examine and discuss agency and
contractor quality control/quality assurance practices, and (3) obtain
feedback on research products and concepts established under this
contract. The Contractor shall provide all technical and administrative
functions associated with arranging and coordinating a webinars,
including arranging web connections, contacting participants, developing
online scheduling. For workshops the Contractor shall provide all
technical and administrative functions associated with arranging and
coordinating, including arranging meeting location, contacting
participants, securing lodging and meeting space, developing schedules,
obtaining miscellaneous equipment and expendable supplies, and other
workshop support functions. Workshops may range in length from 4 to
12 hours of contact time and be presented at one or more times and/or
places.
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Construction Management Functions
Responsibility to construct the project:
– In accordance with the plans and specifications
– To satisfy the Client’s cost, quality, and time expectations
– Setting the standards for quality and safety
– Planning the sequence of construction
– Controlling progress and expenditures
The project team is organized for the purpose of accomplishing
those missions!

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Properties of Asphalt
Critical conditions during construction and service
– Construction:
• mixing
• spreading  appropriate viscosity
• compacting
– Service:
• plastic deformation (rutting)
• thermal cracking
• fatigue cracking
• water sensibility

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• Specifications of Paving Asphalts
• The role of specifications:
– specify properties that directly reflect asphalt behaviour
– express these properties in physical units
– provide limits for those properties to exclude poor performing
products
– provide information from which the service performance can be
predicted
• Important properties of asphalt:
– mechanical
– adhesive
• Durability
• Conventional tests used for asphalt characterization:
– penetration, ductility, softening point R&B, flash point, spot test.
• Ageing characteristics:
– Thin Film Oven Test, Rolling Thin Film Oven Test, Pressure Aging
Vessel… 39
Requirements in Common
• Sufficient asphalt to ensure a durable pavement
• Sufficient stability under traffic loads
• Sufficient air voids
– Upper limit to prevent excessive environmental damage
– Lower limit to allow room for initial densification due to traffic
• Sufficient workability

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Should asphalt paving be allowed in the rain?
The following points should be considered seriously when dealing with
rain:
1. Rain will cool the asphalt mix and could make obtaining proper
compaction more difficult .
2. The asphalt lifts must be able to properly bond together and moisture
can be a hindrance to that bond
3. Puddles overlaid with HMA turn to steam, which may cause stripping
(separation of the asphalt binder from the aggregate) - never pave over
puddles whether it is raining or not.
If you temporarily suspend paving operations due to rain, don't forget to:
1. Keep all trucks covered.
2. Avoid cold joints, construct a vertical-faced construction joint.
3. Properly dispose of all material left in the hopper.
4. Be careful not to track mud and dirt onto the project.
Compaction of asphalt layers:
Compaction by rollers results in an extremely tight interlock between the
individual parties of the mineral aggregate, which enables a high degree
of stability, excellent resistance to wear, and permanent evenness to be
achieved. Rollers reduce the void content in the asphalt, making it more
resistant to loads and more durable.
Reason For Compaction
To provide shear strength or resistance to rutting
To ensure the mixture is waterproof
To prevent excessive oxidation of the asphalt binder
Rollers used in asphalt compaction are:
Vibratory and or static rollers
Pneumatic-tired
Compaction is the process of densifying, or reducing the volume of, a
mass of material. Most practitioners consider achieving appropriate
compaction critical to the performance of an asphalt pavement. For
asphalt mixtures, compaction locks the asphalt-coated aggregate
particles together to achieve stability and provide resistance to
deformation (or rutting) while simultaneously reducing the permeability
of the mixture and improving its durability.

There are many factors that affect the compactability of asphalt mixtures.
Among those factors are the properties of the asphalt mixture, the type
and density of the underlying base course material, the thickness of the
asphalt layers, and the environmental conditions at the time of
placement. If any of these factors change, the final modulus, stiffness or
strength of the mix will be directly affected. Additionally, the final
compactability of the mix is affected by the type of rollers, the number
of rollers, and the rolling patterns used during the compaction process.
Factors Affecting Compaction
Asphalt mixture
Aggregate types and particle size
Mix Temperature
Layer Thickness
Environmental Factors
Types of rollers used in compaction.
Different types of trucks are Used

45
Self Propelled Paver

46
Temperature is critical

47
Vibratory Roller

48
Steel Wheeled Roller

49
Pneumatic Roller

50
Extracting A Core

51
Measuring asphalt content and Density
Types of failure in asphalt pavement:
Rutting (shear failure)
Potholes (bond failure)
loss of skid resistance (viscous flow)
Cracking (Fatigue failure)
Breakdown due to failure of lower courses (e.g. reflected cracking from
dry-lean concrete)
Cracks in asphalt:
Cracking in pavements occurs when a stress is built up in a surface layer
that exceeds the tensile or shear strength of the pavement causing a
fissure or crack to open. Crack sealing and crack filling are methods
which can be used to repair these cracks in pavement surfaces. The cause
of the crack and its activity play a dominant role in determining the
success of crack sealing or filling operations.
This chapter addresses crack sealing and filling techniques associated
with flexible hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements and joint and crack
sealing of rigid Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement systems. The
reader is advised to pay close attention to the type of pavement system
being addressed, as treatment techniques can vary.
Cracking may be associated with various distress mechanisms. Crack
types include: fatigue cracks, longitudinal cracks, transverse cracks,
block cracks, reflective cracks, edge cracks, slippage cracks etc. The
following slides show some of these cracks.
Longitudinal and transverse cracking

55
56
Bleeding due to high bitumen content
Raveling, stripping, and premature aging due to low
bitumen content
Block Cracking
Cracks due to a high % passing the #200 sieve combined with a low
binder content
Alligator / Fatigue Cracking
Alligator / Fatigue Cracking
Alligator / Fatigue Cracking
Longitudinal Cracking
Reflection Crack
Edge Cracking
Edge Cracking
Slippage Cracking
Slippage Cracking
Quality Testing on asphalt:
One common reason to conduct an asphalt test is for quality control and
consistency reasons. The test is used to confirm that the asphalt contains
the materials it is supposed to contain, and that the asphalt being
produced is of a uniform nature. The Quality Control (QC) Department
is. Some of the responsibilities here include:
Properly collecting a sample from the truck
Monitor plant mixing temperatures
Breaking it down to test for liquid asphalt content.
At the end of an asphalt test, the laboratory will prepare a written report
discussing the findings of the test. The lab may indicate that the asphalt
has passed or failed certain key tests, and provide additional information
about the nature of the asphalt and its predicted strength over time.
Inspecting asphalt is an important part of safe, reliable construction of
roads, driveways, parking lots, and so forth, as application of poor
quality asphalt can have consequences well into the future.
Field Laboratory quality testing on asphalt and
aggregates:
Marshall Test (Density, stability and flow).
Sieve Analysis of Find & Coarse Aggregates
Penetration of Bituminous Materials
Asphalt Core Testing
Asphalt extraction
Extracted aggregate gradations
Maximum theoretical specific gravity
Thickness and density of pavement cores.
Bitumen content
Void ratio
After completion of rolling, the degree of compaction of the asphalt shall
be determined.
Tests on aggregates:
Resistance of Aggregates to Degradation
Angularity Test Unit weight of Aggregates
Soundness of Aggregates
Clay Lumps and Friable Particles, shale content and plasticity index.
Moisture Content
Specific Gravity & Absorption of Coarse and Fine Aggregate
Flat and Elongated Test
Organic Impurities
L.A. Abrasion
Asphalt Compactor

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Asphalt Compacted Specimen

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 Bulk Gravity
• Test on laboratory specimen
• Three weights needed
– Dry Weight
– Submerged in Water Weight
– Saturated Surface Dry Weight
• Determines Bulk Specific Gravity of Mixture

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Bulk Specific Gravity

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 Asphalt Content
• Two Methods to Determine Asphalt Content

– Nuclear Gauge Method

– Ignition Oven

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Asphalt Content

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 Gradation
• Performed on Combined Aggregate After Asphalt Binder is
Removed

• Affects Voids and Ability to Compact Asphalt Mixture in the

Field

• Performed in Accordance with AASHTO T 27

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Gradation

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 Roadway Density
• Roadway Density is determined by Nuclear Gauge or Cores
• Low Density allows air and water to enter the pavement
resulting in oxidation and raveling
• High Density can cause rutting and bleeding of asphalt binder

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