Building Materials - Engineering

Q1:

For filling cracks in masonry structures, the type of bitumen used, is

A cut-back bitumen

B bitumen-emulsion

C blown bitumen

D plastic bitumen.

ANS:D - plastic bitumen.

Normal practice is to heat bitumen to reduce its viscosity. In some situations, preference is given to use liquid binders such as cutback bitumen. In cutback bitumen suitable solvent is used to lower the viscosity of the bitumen. From the environmental point of view also cutback bitumen is preferred. The solvent from the bituminous material will evaporate and the bitumen will bind the aggregate. Cutback bitumen is used for cold weather bituminous road construction and maintenance. The distillates used for the preparation of cutback bitumen are naphtha, kerosene, diesel oil, and furnace oil. There are different types of cutback bitumen like rapid curing (RC) , medium curing (MC) , and slow curing (SC). RC is recommended for surface dressing and patchwork. MC is recommended for premix with less quantity of fine aggregates. SC is used for premix with the appreciable quantity of fine aggregates.