Traditional Asphalt
The road pavements are defined as asphalt when they are formed by one mix layer (wear coat).
The asphalt road pavements are formed by a mixture of aggregates and binders.
The mix is mistakenly called "asphalt", but it is a natural mix.
The surface layer of the road is the road pavement (or wearing coarse). The layer below the wear coat is called binder, while the one below is called foundation.
The mix is produced in a plant and subsequently carried at the construction site for its application. The bituminous pavements are normally subdivided in two layers called:
- Wearing coarse
Is the superficial part of the road superstructure, therefore is the one in direct contact with vehicle traffic and weather. - Binder or connection layer
Is the most intern and bitumen layer, it connects the foundation with the wear coat, has the task of transmitting vertical loads to the foundation with permanent deformations.
The thickness of these layers depends on the traffic (very light to very heavy).
The road maintenance is essential to guarantee it's accurate functionality and varies according to the different types of pavements.
The civil engineering application area in which Iterchimica operates: asphalt pavements, white, soil (flexible).
In ancient Greek they built stone pavements while the Romans, clever engineers, developed techniques which the modern civil engineering still uses.
The road pavements are defined according the type of material used:
- Asphalt formed by a mix layer
- Stoned formed by large irregular stones from igneous rock characteristic of ancient Roman roads
- Stoned formed by lava slabs (paving stones)
- White formed by a layer of red gravel and a binder weaker than the bitumen
- Soil precisely formed by earth (dirt roads)
- Pavé formed by a layer of small sized stones
- Sanpietrini formed by a layer of small porphyry blocks
- Cobblestoned formed by slab or block stones
- Macadam formed by gravel and compressed adhesive material
The road pavements are defined rigid, if they are made of concrete or flexible if they are made of macadam or mix. The flexible pavements have no bending stiffness and deformation under load is only a few millimetres.