Construction Materials Technical Group

Bitumen Demystified download page

Bitumen is a complex visco-elastic material, derived from the hard end of the hydro-carbon spectrum that is used as the binder in the majority of flexible road pavements since the demise of coal tar in the middle of the last century. The complexity allows for wide variation in properties, both naturally occurring and deliberately engineered, that leaves many engineers who regularly use the product confused about the myths and the truth.

The seminar set out the position of bitumen as a useful engineering material that is key to an efficient road network in this and other countries. Papers review the history, exploration and manufacture of the material, looking at its chemical and physical properties, its influence within asphalt mixtures and its specification and testing. The seminar was aimed as an update to practising engineers and technicians in the highway industry, whether from a bitumen supplier, an asphalt producer, a consultant or a highway authority.