Asphalt concrete, also known as blacktop, tarmac, rolled asphalt, pavement, and bitumen macadam, is a composite construction material that is commonly used for road surfaces, airport runways, parking lots, and embankment dams. There are many different mixture formulations of the material available depending on the manufacturing method and aggregates used. Mixture formulation examples include hot mix asphalt concrete, cold mix asphalt concrete, cut back asphalt concrete and sheet asphalt.
With the right machinery, it is easy to manufacture many different asphalt mixture formulations and the good news is that most global manufacturers have no issue exporting their asphalt concrete plants to customers in the UAE. Now let’s talk about some of the reasons why asphalt concrete is used for modern road construction.
Asphalt Concrete Performance Characteristics
Different formulations of asphalt concrete have varying performance characteristics in reference to tire wear, roadway noise, braking efficiency, and surface durability. The performance characteristics of asphalt concrete used for roads must take into consideration the friction performance requirements for the terrain and the traffic volumes of each vehicle class.
On average, Portland cement concrete surfaces and chip and seal surfaces result in a lot more roadway noise than asphalt concrete surfaces. This means asphalt concrete is a good option for road surfaces if minimizing roadway noise is the main aim. However, it’s also important to consider the structural performance of the material and its degradation over time.
Asphalt Concrete Surface Deterioration
Asphalt surface deterioration can include potholes, raveling, crocodile cracking, stripping, grade depressions, upheaval, bleeding and rutting. In very cold climates, frosts can cause significant surface cracking in a short period of time. And, filling in the cracks with bitumen serves only as a temporary fix. To slow down the cracking, adequate drainage and proper compaction are needed.
Factors that cause the deterioration of the material over time include traffic loads, construction quality and environmental considerations. For the best road surface, high-quality asphalt is required. The best asphalt mixing techniques are needed to produce high-grade formulations.
The high daytime temperatures in the United Arab Emirates can cause the asphalt binder to soften, leading to deformed surfaces. Paradoxically, however, extremely high and strong UV sun rays cause asphalt to oxide, which makes it stiffer and less malleable, resulting in more susceptibility to crack formation.
Asphalt Concrete Plant UAE
Despite some of its limitations, there are not many better alternatives to asphalt concrete for mass-scale road construction. As a result, all countries that are investing in their transport network infrastructure are going to continue needing large quantities of the material.
Fortunately, you can now find many affordable UAE asphalt concrete mix plants for sale online and they are all available in a wide range of configurations. There is a lot of money to be made in the asphalt manufacturing market when you invest in high-quality machines.
Keep in mind that you can now buy continuous stationary asphalt mix plants, which can operate round-the-clock and have output capacities exceeding 120 tons per hour. That is a lot of asphalt for the Dubai construction industry.