Evaluation of Microclimate Effects on Surfacing Seal Performance
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 26, Issue 2
Abstract
Surfacing seals consist of a combination of bitumen and aggregate, and are used to provide an all-weather surfacing to protect underlying layers and provide safe access to vehicles traveling on a road. Analysis of a number of sections in Gauteng, South Africa has shown that surfacing seals lost a large proportion of their aggregate where the road was crossed by a bridge. As all original properties of the seal components and the traffic on the road were similar, it was deduced that the microclimate where the road traveled underneath the bridge should have caused this localized failure condition. In this paper, the phenomenon is investigated through analysis of the microclimate underneath the bridge, the material properties of the surfacing seal, and the combined effect of these factors on the performance of the seal. It is shown that the microclimate can affect the performance of an otherwise suitable surfacing seal to such an extent that the performance of the seal is severely compromised. A procedure for the analysis of potential microclimate effects is described in the paper.
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Acknowledgments
The paper is on the basis of the final year undergraduate dissertation of the second author, and the support of the university and various roads departments in providing information and conducting the research is acknowledged.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 26 • Issue 2 • April 2012
Pages: 138 - 144
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 28, 2010
Accepted: Dec 27, 2010
Published online: Dec 30, 2010
Published in print: Apr 1, 2012
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