Thursday, 16 July 2020
Austroads has provided expert technical input into the update of four Australian standards for bitumen and related products used in road construction. Industry representatives are invited to attend a webinar to learn about the changes.
“In Australia and New Zealand, bituminous binders and cutters are an important component of the Australasian road network and it is imperative to ensure they will perform satisfactorily during road construction and maintenance. Many of the Australian standards which are used to determine if bitumen and related materials are suitable for use in road construction, were last updated in the late 1990’s. Some of the specified materials were no longer available,” said Ross Guppy, Austroads Program Manager Transport Infrastructure.
The review updated:
- AS 2341.3 Determination of kinematic viscosity
- AS 2341.12 Determination of penetration
- AS 2341.18 Determination of softening point
- AS 3568 Oils for reducing the viscosity of bituminous binders for pavements.
The AS 2341.3, AS 2341.12 and AS 2341.18 test methods have been clarified to be consistent with the most recent Australian bitumen specifications and best laboratory practice.
The AS 3568 specification document has been completely revised based on the outcomes of Austroads’ study ‘Relationships Between Cutter Oil Properties and Sprayed Seal Performance’.
The webinar will be presented by Robert Urquhart. Over the past 10 years Robert has contributed to the revision of eight Austroads test methods and 12 Australian standards relating to bituminous product testing. He will detail the main changes to each of the four standards and explain the process used to update them. Robert will also talk about the current and future work undertaken by the Standards Australia Technical Committee CH-025 ‘Bitumen and related products for roadmaking’.
Join the webinar on Tuesday 11 August at 1 pm AEST. There will also be a live Q&A at the end of the session to have your questions answered. There is no charge, but registration is essential. If you can't make the live session, registration will allow us to send you a link to the recording.
The standards have been published by Standards Australia and can be accessed at www.techstreet.com/sa.