Revised bitumen standards released by Austroads

Four Australian standards for bitumen and related products used in road construction have been updated with technical expertise provided by Austroads.

The organisation will soon hold a webinar to inform industry of the changes.

Ross Guppy, Austroads Program Manager Transport Infrastructure said, 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,” Guppy said.

The following four standards were reviewed and 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 first three 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’.

Robert Urquhart will present the webinar, he has contributed to the revision of eight Austroads test methods over 10 years and 12 Australian standards relating to bituminous product testing.

The webinar will detail the main changes to each of the four standards and the process used for the update.

It will be held on Tuesday 11th of August at 1pm AEST and registration is required through the Austroads website.

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