SIMPLE ROAD MAINTENANCE TECHNIQUE USING COLD ASPHALT EMULSION

Road maintenance work needs to be done regularly in order to provide comfort and safety to road users. Roads that have been paved with asphalt mixture, will experience wear, deformation, cracking, peeling, release of aggregate grains which then become potholes.

Road maintenance, especially those with asphalt, can be carried out using a mixture of hot asphalt or cold asphalt emulsions. The use of hotmix mixture of aggregate with asphalt, for road maintenance is often felt to be less practical, because it requires heating the material and is applied when the mixture of aggregate and asphalt is still hot. Practical shortages will be increasingly felt if the volume of maintenance work is small and the location is scattered. The mixture will lose heat so that it becomes stiff and hard to compact.

To overcome the lack of practical application of hot asphalt mixtures, aggregate mixtures with emulsified asphalt can be used which do not require heating. Emulsified asphalt is asphalt mixed with water with emulsion technology. Asphalt emulsions at room temperature in a dilute condition, where the water content of about 40% and 60% in the form of asphalt granules that are very small in size (2-5 microns), where 1 micron is thousandth of a mm. To make an aggregate mixture with emulsified asphalt, the aggregated aggregates are first prepared. Practically can use broken stone aggregate diameter 5-10 mm and stone ash (> 5mm). Stone ash is produced in a stone crusher. Stone ash can be purchased at a stone-breaking company. The volume ratio can be as follows: broken stone 5-10mm: stone ash: emulsion asphalt = 1.5: 2: 1. The type of asphalt emulsion suitable for use is the slow setting, so as not to dry out too quickly.

Before spreading the mixture the required (for example potholes in the road) needs to be cleaned and shaped/dug up until the surface is somewhat flat, doused with water until it is sufficiently moist and compacted as necessary. The surface of the bottom of the hole is given a thin layer of emulsified asphalt, by spraying the emulsified asphalt with a sprinkler (a type of equipment for watering plant) or spraying emulsified asphalt evenly.

By using a manual tool, such as a mixing container from a used drum or on a waterproof surface, the aggregate material according to the volume proportion above is dampened just sufficiently unnecessarily until there are droplets / puddles of water, then stirred with a shovel or hoe. After that, pour the emulsified asphalt in the moist aggregate, and stir again until the asphalt covers the aggregate evenly. If the mixture is a bit sticky because there is too much water, leave it for a while and then stir again until the condition is not sticky or just loose. The mixture is ready to spread on a surface that has been prepared beforehand.

The mixture is poured evenly over the area with a thickness of about 20% above the surrounding surface. Then compacted with a manual compactor or hand tamper. The thickness of the loose mixture spreaded needs to be tried according to the level of compaction that will be done, so that repaired/patched area the same or 5-10 mm higher with the road surface around the patching area. Please try, good luck. If you have anything to ask, please contact Arya, WA 081 338 982 948. Greetings.