COURSE: Infrastructure System

MODULO 2:
Urban road mobility design and maintenance

Lesson 10: Road Mainteneance

Techniques

AULA 5.4. 30-05-2021, 12:00 - 14:00 Dott. Ing. Claudio Lantieri

 Road Mainteneance Techniques

1. REGENERATION OF SKID RESISTANCE

2. PATCHING AND UTILITY CUT PATCHING

3. SEALING AND FILLING THE CRACKS

4. SURFACE TREATMENTS

5. THIN OVERLAY: SLURRY SEAL

6. MILLING OF BITUMINOUS CONGLOMERATES

7. GEOSYNTHETICS WITH REINFORCEMENT FUNCTION

2
 Regeneration of skid resistance:
Micro e Macro texture

MACRO-TEXTURE
MICRO-TEXTURE set of roughnessessuperficial
roughness of intergranular
individualsstone elements

3
Regeneration of skid resistance:
High pressure cleaning
The dirty surface is sprayed with jets of water under pressure up to a
100 atmospheres

4
 Regeneration of skid resistance:
High pressure cleaning
ADVANTAGES:
• Allows the removal of tire residues and signs from the pavement
• It washed away the particles of fumes, dust and soil
• Particularly effective for restoring the macro texture
• Does not damage the wear surface
• Quick and cheap

DISADVANTAGES:
• It is necessary to guarantee the recovery and treatment of washing water
which cannot be discharged freely, as it contains considerable quantities of
pollutants present on the surface of the treated pavement.

• As for the microtexturing, this method tends to obtain the opposite effect:
further smoothing the aggregates, without roughening them.

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 Regeneration of skid resistance:
Micro-milling
Road surface roughening treatment carried out using milling tools, which
scratch the pavement causing a series of longitudinal streaks with a depth
of less than 5 mm.

6
 Regeneration of skid resistance:
Micro-milling
ADVANTAGES:
• uniform and regular surface after treatment
• the formation of steps and ditches is avoided
• it follows the course of the pavement even in the presence of ruts
• it is fast, does not cause particular disturbances to circulation and its cost is in
any case within market parameters.

DISADVANTAGES :
The operation turns out to be rather
invasive and not fully effective, as, as in
the case of high-pressure water cleaning,
it does not restore the micro texture.

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 Regeneration of skid resistance:
Shot blasing

It allows the removal of the parties keep the bituminous conglomerate under
impact on the pavement of steel balls with a diameter of 0.8 ÷ 1.2 mm.

It consists of surface hammering,

performed cold, by means of a
violent jet of steel micro-balls.

The machines that carry out this

treatment, the shot peening
machines, project the jet towards
the surface to be worked through
one or more rapidly rotating
centrifugal impellers.

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 Regeneration of skid resistance:
Shot blasing
ADVANTAGES:
• restoration of surface macro- and micro-
roughness
• good drainability
• reduction of rolling noise

DISADVANTAGES:
• machinery used for this treatment, appear to
be of low power and size.
• it requires a great deal of resources for the
regulation of road traffic
• the production levels of treated surface / hour
are quite low

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 Regeneration of skid resistance:
Sandblasting

It consists in the violent projection against the pavement, with subsequent

recovery, of abrasive material by means of compressed air.

ADVANTAGES:
• reviving the surface texture of
the bituminous conglomerate
• restoration of roughness and
skid resistance
• it can be performed in any
season and in the presence of
vehicular traffic

10
 Patching

… a road pavement area that has been replaced with new material to repair
the existing pavement. Even if well done, a road patch is considered a
failure …(ASTM D6433)

3 levels of severity:

Low: patch in good condition

Medium: moderately degraded patch
High: severely deteriorated patche

stablished, during the monitoring phase,

by a visual analysis and by the quality
of driving during the crossing.

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 Patching

Area: limited area of road pavement that has already undergone a previous
repair with the replacement of the more superficial layers and which now
presents again some criticalities.

• involve deteriorations with limited

extension
• they are located in the surface
and connection layers

The execution of the patches is to be

considered as an action Maintenance
of ordinary type to contain and
temporarily resolve localized defects of
the pavement waiting for subsequent
remediation more extensive and long
lasting.

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 Patching

The quality and duration of the intervention

depends on:
• preparation of the hole
• selection of the filling materials and the
weather conditions in which the installation is
carried out
• new fill geometry
• compaction of the filling mixture.

However, it constitutes a defect in the

pavement as a point of discontinuity in
terms of materials, laying methods and
age of the section.

It is a preferential point for the initiation of further instability

(e.g. distortions, cracks)!

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 Patching: Preparation

The preparation of the hole generally consists in removing debris, water and
loose material, drying and leveling the laying surface.

Semi-permanent technique: preliminary phase of cutting and shaping of the

damaged area to create a containment volume with uniform and vertical edges
such as to prevent the sliding on the laying surface of the new material
subjected to the tangential actions of vehicular traffic (> duration).

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 Patching: Seasonality

The fillings carried out during the

summer period, with hot bituminous
conglomerate, last longer than those
carried out in winter.

In winter, the cold bituminous

conglomerate, used for patches that
do not require heating phases of the
material, combined with additives
such as polymers and fibers.

Road repairs must also be carried out even in the absence of rainy events.
Regardless of the season, it is always advisable to make sure the hole is dry
before proceeding with the filling steps. (prevent the effects of freeze-thaw
cycles).

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 Patching: Compaction

A. fill the road hole in a single

step and then quickly
compact the mixture only with
the back of a shovel,
without having cleaned, dried
and leveled the new material
in the hole in layers.

B. compaction of the patch

with the passage of the tires
of a truck.

C. Adequate compaction is with vibro-compaction of the area to be

restored, carried out using vibrating plates of suitable mass!

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 Patching: Throw and go

Throw and go technique: it is the most commonly used, because it is

cheap, simple, quick: the cold filling material, in fact, simply has to be poured
into the hole, which may not even be "prepared" to properly accommodate
the material .

It does not require special equipment

and the compaction is delegated to
the passage of vehicular traffic.

It is a method suitable only for

emergency situations and in any case
for superficial holes of low severity.

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 Patching: throw and go
Intervention Steps:

1. Arrangement of temporary safety

signs
2. Preparation of the hole with cleaning
of water and debris
3. Distribution of the bituminous material
inside the hole
4. Quick compaction with manual
compactor
5. Removal of temporary safety signs.

Due to its limited duration should be considered a type of temporary

topping up waiting for more effective remedial measures!

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 Patching: throw and roll

Throw and roll technique: the high quality cold asphalt mix is used and the
extra time spent compaction guarantees a longer life and greater resistance to
traffic loads.

Intervention Steps:

1. Arrangement of temporary
safety signs
2. Cleaning of the hole and of the
areas adjacent to it from water
and debris
3. Spraying of the primer
(bituminous emulsion) on the
bottom and edges

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 Patching: throw and roll

4. Distribution of the bituminous conglomerate inside the hole

5. Compaction with vibrating plate, until reaching a height of about +0.5 cm with
respect to the surrounding road surface
6. Edgesealing: insertion of a bituminous sealing tape along the edges of the
hole
7. Distribution of calcareous sand on the treated areaRemoval of temporary
safety signs.

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 Patching: Semi-permanent technique

Semi-permanent technique: it is among the best in terms of the

effectiveness of the intervention, in particular for the repair of structural holes,
areas damaged by branched cracks or ruts.

The duration of the patch is

increased if a correct
reshaping of the edges and
the bottom is carried out
and if the filling material is
hot bituminous
conglomerate to be
compacted with metal
rollers.

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 Patching: Semi-permanent technique
Intervention Steps:
1. Arrangement of temporary safety signs
2. Delimitation of the intervention area (increased by the possible presence of
branched cracks) with plaster or spray paint
3. Cutting of pavement executed with the use of a diamond blade device, including
water jet for cooling the blade and cleaning the cutting residues, up to shape the
sides of the area to be in a perfectly vertical repair
4. Demolition of the damaged part of the pavement, using a demolition hammer

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 Patching: Semi-permanent technique

5. Cleaning of the hole and the areas adjacent to it from water and debris, also
using an air blower and / or pressure washer
6. Application of acid bituminous emulsion on the laying surface
7. Distribution of the bituminous material within the volume to be filled
8. Compaction with vibrating plate
9. Edging
10. Removal of temporary safety signs
11. Transport to landfill of the waste material.

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 Patching: spray-injection

It is a machine dedicated to the semiautomatic realization of the filling.

Equipment: hopper for aggregates, thermoregulated bituminous emulsion tank,

pressure air generator, electronic material dosage control device, mechanical arm (in
the versions controlled from the driver's cab and direct control) for the execution of
the cleaning and filling phases of the hole.
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 Patching: spray-injection
Intervention Steps:
1. Arrangement of temporary safety signs
2. Cleaning of the affected area from water and
debris using a jet of compressed air
3. Cast of bituminous emulsion with the function of
adhesion (primer) on the perimeter and on the
bottom of the hole
4. Uniform distribution under controlled pressure of
pre-mixed lithic material with bituminous
emulsion, dosed in proportion to the weight of
the lithic aggregates
5. Surface dusting of the patch with clean inert
material
6. Compaction with vibrating plate (not always
necessary with this technique)
7. Removal of temporary safety signs.

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 Patching: Infrared thermal regeneration
technique
Infrared thermal regeneration technique: regeneration of pavings by heating
strongly deteriorated portions of the wear layer, to a depth of approximately 4-5 cm.

Equipment: portable thermal plate, roundup and with automatic extraction by van,
equipped with a set of infrared burners, fed with electric generator, with batteries,
or with photovoltaic panels (patches up to about 4 square meters of surface).

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 Patching: Infrared thermal regeneration
technique
Intervention Steps:
1. Arrangement of temporary safety signs
2. Heating: the thermal plate is positioned above the damaged area, starting a
thermal heating cycle (about 10 minutes, the absorption of heat is faster for young
floors), aimed at creating a workable bituminous material.
3. Scarification and recycling: the staff proceeds with the scarification of the heated
area, starting from a margin of about 4-5 cm from the edges to ensure continuity
and integrity of the joint between existing and treated material. At this stage, all the
heated material is recycled within the repair (no transport to landfill)

27
 Patching: Infrared thermal regeneration
technique
4. Regeneration (or rejuvenation): addition of bituminous emulsion in the
repaired area to reactivate the binding characteristics of the aged bitumen
and uniformly cover the aggregates treated in the previous phase
5. Addition of new bituminous conglomerate: after the bituminous emulsion,
new preheated bituminous conglomerate is poured up to about 100 ° C
and such as to reach leveling with the surrounding existing pavement
6. Compaction: with vibrating plate
7. Removal of temporary safety signs.

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 Crack sealing and filling

The interventions that can be carried out on the cracks of the road surface refer
to the filling and sealing with bituminous matrix products.

Discriminating factors:

1. Spread of cracks
Filling and shaving Simple sealing Tank and shaving
2. Cracks width and
depth edge
3. degradation

Tank sealing Filling and reservoir Filling and sealing

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 Crack sealing and filling: Hot mixture
Intervention Steps:
1. Blowing and cleaning: preliminary blowing and
cleaning of cracks by machinery with compressed air
and heating of the edges of the crack at a very high
temperature of 200 ° C (dry the crack, eliminate dust
and debris and promote HOT-HOT sealing).

2. Crack sealing: use of the machinery for pouring

bituminous polymer mastic inside the crack.
Following the previous heating, the rubber will
penetrate deeper into the crack itself, adhering
perfectly to the edges of the crack.

3. Complete cleaning of the intervention areas:

avoiding the spread of debris and dust in the area
subject to repair, a complete cleaning will be carried
out.

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 Crack sealing and filling: Sealant strip

The type of application is of the sealant type with excess material without the
need for adhesion primer, it is a product in rolls to be applied cold directly on
the crack using a patented trolley.

asphalt sealant strip

asphalt

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 Crack sealing and filling: Sealant strip

Intervention Steps:

1. Opening of the crack by means of a circular

(routing) or flexible saw, in order to create a box
about 0.5 cm deep and 0.5 cm wide around the
crack;
2. Blowing and thorough cleaning of cracks with
compressed air and pressure washer;
3. Waiting to ensure perfect drying of the surfaces;
4. Possible taping of the edge of the joint with
adhesive tape;
5. Application of the primer with the function of
adhesion;
6. Sealing of cracks on flexible floors using self-
leveling cold sealing mastic resistant to
hydrocarbons;
7. Complete cleaning of the intervention areas.

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 Surface treatments
Discriminating factors:

HEAVY SKID DRAINABILITY

ROUGHNESS
TRAFFIC RESISTANCE

HOMOGENEITY OF THE DEGREE OF

BASE SUPPORT WATERPROOFING

AGGREGATE BINDER
• Cationic emulsions of modified
• Size between 2 mm and 16 mm
bitumen with polymers with a high
• Los angeles coefficient LA <20%
residual binder content (67 ÷ 69%)
• Accelerated smoothing coefficient
• Bitumen modified with polymers and
CLA> 0.45
additives with adhesion activators

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 Surface treatments

ADVANTAGES:
They give high roughness to
the road surface, also restore
waterproofing and improve the
optical properties of the road
surface

DISADVANTAGES:
They do not allow the
correction of regularity defects
and do not increase the bearing
capacity of the superstructure

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 Surface treatments

Intervention Steps:

• Preparation of the substrate after

eliminating any irregularities or structural
degradation
• Cleaning of paving with sweeper
• Application of the attachment coat with
sprayer
• Laying of the grit medinate spreader
• Compaction with 1.5 ton rubber rollers
• Elimination of excess grit by means of a
suction sweeper

The road is open to traffic after 2 ÷ 3 hours for cold

treatments and after 6 ÷ 8 hours for hot ones!

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 Surface treatments: single-layer

1. SPREAD OF 2. LAYOUT OF THE

BINDER LARGE AGGREGATE

4. ROLLING
3. EXPOSURE OF THE
FINE AGGREGATE

36
 Surface treatments: double layer

1) SPREAD OF BINDER 2) LAYOUT OF THE

LARGE AGGREGATE

3) EXPOSURE OF 4) EXPOSURE OF THE 5) ROLLING

THE BINDER FINE AGGREGATE

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 Surface treatments

BITUMINOUS EMULSION: dispersion of bitumen in water, is classified

on the basis of the bitumen content and the breaking speed with which
the bitumen is separated from the emulsion after it has come into contact
with the aggregate.

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Surface treatments

VACUUM ROAD SWEEPER

SPRAYER TANK FOR BITUMEN

COMPACTOR ROLLER
CHIP SPREADER

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 Surface treatments

CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING THE GRANULOMETRIC CLASSES AND THE TYPE OF BINDER

Tipo di struttura LG LGG GLG LGLG

2/4
6/10+2/4 6/10+2/4
Classi granulometriche 4/6 6/10+4/6
6/10+4/6 8/10+4/6
dell’aggregato 6/10 8/12+4/6
8/12+4/6 12/16+6/8
8/12
Bitume mod. Bitume mod. Bitume mod. Bitume mod.
con con con con
Traffici polimeri polimeri polimeri polimeri
elevati
Emulsioni Emulsioni bit. Emulsioni bit. Emulsioni bit.
bit. mod. mod. mod. mod.

Tipo di Idem come Idem come Idem come

Traffici
legante sopra sopra sopra
medi
Bit. flussati Bit. flussati Bit. flussati
Idem come
sopra Idem come Idem come
Traffici
Bitumi puri sopra sopra
scarsi
Emuls. Bitumi puri Bitumi puri
(ECR 65)

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 Surface treatments

AVERAGE DOSAGES FOR TREATMENTS: LG, LGG AND LGLG

Classe granulom. 4/6 6/10 8/12

Legante
Bitume mod. con polimeri (T.S.) Kg/m² 0,8÷1,0 1,0÷1,2 1,2÷1,3

Emulsione di BMP (69%) Kg/m² 1,1÷1,4 1,3÷1,5 1,5÷1,8

Emulsione di bit. puro (69%) Kg/m² 1,2÷1,5 1,5÷1,8 1,8÷2,1

Granulato Tipo di struttura litri/m² LGG 6÷7 8÷10LGLG 10÷12

Classe granulom. 8/12+4/6 6/10+2/4 8/12+4/6

Legante

Bitume modificato
Kg/m² 1,3÷1,4 0,95+0,80 1,1+0,9
con polimeri

Emulsione di BMP (69%) Kg/m² 1,8÷2,0 1,4+1,1 1,5+1,4

Granulato litri/m² (7÷8)+(4÷5) (8÷9)+(5÷6) (9÷10)+(6÷7)

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 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

They are bituminous mortars made up of aggregates with a size of less

than 10 mm (0/8), bonded by bituminous emulsion, latex, water, cement,
additives and fibers, cold cast in a thickness of approx. 1 cm.

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 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

• Developed in Europe in 1930

under the name of RALUMAC®
• Since 1980 it has been produced
in the U.S.A. with the term Micro-
surfacing
• Today it is a consolidated
technique used all over the world

Every year they are applied around the

world 15 million m² of slurry seal equal
to approximately 4300 km of road.

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 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

As a maintenance intervention it can be used

to correct or improve:

• Characteristics of surface skid resistance

• Regularity of the road plan
• Roughening and waterproofing operations
on bridges and viaducts

As a preventive intervention it can be used to

reduce:

• aging of the pavement caused by oxidation

water infiltrations from the surface
• deterioration of the road pavement caused
by atmospheric agents

44
 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

Intervention Steps:

• Preparation of the laying surface by cleaning the surface,

sealing the cracks and re-profiling the deformed sections
• Preparation of the mixture on site and spread without rolling

1. Aggregate bin
2. Mineal filler bin
3. Additive storage
4. Metered aggregate
5. Metered microsurfacing emulsion
6. Metered water and additive
7. Pugmill
8. Microsurfacing
9. Surfacing spreder box
10. Brown to black color
11. Road water spraybar

45
 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

• Absence of fumes during production (emulsion) and installation

• Absence of inconvenience due to installation temperatures
• Less presence of operating personnel
• Less presence of construction equipment, better coordination
• Faster execution times for construction site

46
 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

COLD MIX:
• Basaltic aggregates (grits and sands)
• Modified bituminous emulsion SBR
at 65% (13.0%)
• Cement (0.5-1.5%)
• Water (7-10%)

47
Thin overlay: Slurry Seals
AGGREGATE

EMULSION
BITUMEN
CEMENT Microsurfacing process

Water separation
BANK

mix color marron mix black color

mixing time
DIRECTION from 15 to 45 sec
Breaking Time
from 60 to 300 sec

Time for traffic opening 1h

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 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

Kinetics of the reaction

Reaction time of the mixture less than 5 minutes

Cohesive setting time about 20 minutes

Traffic opening time within 60 minutes

The mortar does not need to be compacted after laying!

The kinetics of the rupture reaction and the cohesive

setting speed of the mortar is a function of the
chemical and physical characteristics of the
bituminous emulsion.
For this reason, the emulsion is specially formulated
from time to time according to the reactivity of the
aggregates and the application temperature.

49
 Thin overlay: Slurry Seals

Additive with highly coarse glass fibers

Mixture with additives with glass fibers (in the ratio of

0.3% by weight), characterized by a discontinuous or
semi-discontinuous grain size curve; the fibers
represent a "micro-weave" (increases mechanical
resistance).

Mixture containing rubber granules

The thin overlay is formed by a mixture obtained with

aggregate containing a percentage by weight of 2 ÷
3% of crushed rubber particles, bonded by means of
bitumen content variable from 5.0% to 6.5%.

50
 Milling and recycling of bituminous
conglomerates
Removal of the bituminous conglomerate up to the established depth, through the use
of cutters that can work hot or cold, and in the subsequent laying of new or recycled
conglomerate.

51
 Milling and recycling of bituminous
conglomerates

Based on the depth of the intervention,

functional and structural problems can be
resolved; the dimensions of the rotating
drums do not currently allow to go up to
50 cm.

< 10 cm the intervention only restores

skid resistance and regularity
Depth of the intervention

the intervention also takes on

> 10 cm
a structural function

52
 Geosynthetics with reinforcement function

Geosynthetics are used in flexible pavements for binder layer to perform the
following functions:

Barrier or impediment to the migration of

liquids

Reinforcement
of the bonded
layers

 Limitation of the propagation of

cracks in the surface layer

53
 Geosynthetics with reinforcement function

Asphalt layer

Foundation

Sub-foundation

APPLICATION OF THE
GREATER FLEXIONAL
REINFORCEMENT IN THE
STIFFNESS
BASE LAYER

APPLICATION OF THE INCREASED LOAD

REINFORCEMENT IN THE DISSEMINATION CAPACITY
SURFACE LAYER

54
 Geosynthetics with reinforcement function
http://www.iss.it/sitp/sicu/publ/0001/0045%20.pdf = file matr. Rischio

Limitation of crack propagation in the surface layer

GEOSINTETICO

They are used geotextiles

continuous wire or bidirectional
geogrids positioned between the STRATO AGGIUNTO DI C.B.

STRATO ESISTENTE DI C.B.

damaged surface and the added
layer of conglomerate STRATO DI FONDAZIONE

FOCUS:
• il the melting point of the geotextile must be compatible with the temperature of
the layer
• the minimum safety depth is 70 ÷ 80 mm

55
 Lantieri Claudio
DICAM
claudio.lantieri2@unibo.it
https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/claudio.lantieri2

Claudio Lantieri