BULLETIN MAKING ROADS Historical Archives - Page 2 of 4

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON ASPHALT MIXTURES

BITAFAL GROUP present at the International Seminar "Asphaltic mixtures and their relevance in the durability of pavements"

The seminar organized by the Peruvian company Ing. Nestor Huamán y Asociados was held last 11th of June via online, both on the Zoom platform, where about 100 people listened to us and exchanged, as well as on Facebook Live, where there were about 1,200 connected participants. The subsequent numbers of the day are more impressive since the video of it has more than 9000 reproductions at the moment.

The event began with a talk on "Asphaltic mixtures as wearing course" by Ing. Adrián Nosetti from Argentina, then Qco. Santiago Kröger presented on the "Importance of asphalt irrigation with emulsions" and at the end Eng. Nestor Huamán presented on "Asphalt rheology".

We invite you to watch the video of the seminar in the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/NestorHuamanAsociados/videos/200178947822216/

International Seminar on Asphalt Mixtures and their Relevance in the Durability of Pavements
published by Nestor Huaman & Associates on Thursday, June 11, 2020

9TH TECHNICAL DAY OF ASPHALT

The biannual event of the Uruguayan Association of Roads was held in online format

The virtual activity co-organized with the Permanent Asphalt Commission (CPA) and the Argentine Highway Association (AAC) had a great attendance of almost 450 people from all over the world.

In this edition, emphasis was placed on modified asphalts for asphalt mixtures such as the new highly modified asphalt (HiMA), which we have already delved into in previous editions (Nota HiMA) and novel experiences with AM3 such as the recapping of Route 1 carried out by Tracoviax (Note route 1).

We hope to continue having such an active participation in person as well as virtually in future editions.

The conferences were held on the 22nd and June 23 through the AAC platform. They began with a conference of the Ings. Rafael Lopes Martins and Gary Fitts from the Kraton company doing an "Introduction to high performance modified asphalt (HiMA)", technology introduced in Uruguay by GRUPO BITAFAL with the support of the Kraton company in the development and Colier in the execution of the section test. This technology has been extensively studied at CITEVI and is part of the degree thesis of BITAFAL Engineers, Carlos Pfeiff and Ignacio Kröger (Thesis Note: https://bitafal.com.uy/novedades/desempeno-de-asfaltos-altamente-modificados/).

Then for the CPA, Eng. Alejandro Bisio, who until a few months ago was in charge of the Research and Development Quality Management of the National Highway in Argentina, made an excellent overview of the “Asphalt mix design methods”.

He Tuesday June 23 opened the day the Ings. Diego Larsen and Lisandro Daguerre with “Solutions for high performance pavements” where they detailed the 200 km project with HiMA asphalt carried out in Argentina on Route 9 (Rosario-Campana) and other sections with high modulus asphalt.

For the closing, Eng. Marcelo Borrelli detailed what the Tracoviax company had done in the "Rehabilitation in asphalt mixture of Route 1 double track between accesses to Montevideo and Santiago Vázquez" where modified asphalt was used BITAFLEX AM3 for the three layers of the overcoat, an asphalt sand to delay the reflection of cracks, a semi-dense one for leveling and an F10 for rolling. For more information about this work you can see in our BLOG (https://bitafal.com.uy/novedades/arena-asfalto-con-am3-en-ruta-1/) or in the presentation of the day.

The presentations are available on the AUC and AAC websites (http://www.aacarreteras.org.ar/noticia-jornada-asfalto.php).

THREE SECTIONS OF ROUTE 14 INAUGURATED

The PPP of Circuit 3 is fulfilling its objectives and already has three sections of Route 14 in service.

As we have been reporting in previous editions of our newsletter, Road Circuit 3 by the Espina-Copasa consortium, is in charge of the Route 14 Public-Private Participation contract.

There are about 300 km of road rehabilitation using cold recycling technology with Portland cement and a subsequent 4 cm tread with the new modified asphalt BITAFLEX PG 70-28 provided by Grupo Bitafal.

The last friday May 22nd the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Luis Alberto Heber inaugurated the first three sections between the Maciel stream, on the border between Flores and Durazno, and Route 100 (sections 10 and 11) and from kilometer 259 to Sarandí del Yí (section 14).

The sections in question were carried out within the deadlines stipulated by both the Díaz Alvarez company and the CVC company with great care and dedication, which translates into a work of very good quality.

The works carried out were widening and recharging of granular material, then cold recycling with Portland cement in 20 cm thick, then an irrigation of curing with emulsion IRRIGATION BITAFAL 65 and gravel and finally a 4 cm thick asphalt mix with modified asphalt BITAFLEX PG 70-28. For more information about the work carried out, you can enter "ADVANCES IN ROUTE 14"O en"ASPHALT PG70-28 ROUTE 14“.

The inauguration was also attended by the Minister, the National Director of Roads, Eng. Rodolfo Long, the Mayor of Durazno, Carmelo Vidalín, and the Mayor of Sarandí del Yí, Mario Pereyra, among other departmental authorities, staff from the MTOP, the consortium and of construction companies.

VIRTUAL COURSE “Surface treatments and asphalt primer”

On Thursday, May 20 and Friday, May 21, we had the pleasure of attending the virtual course on "Surface treatments and asphalt primer" organized by the Bolivian company Quimitec Asfaltos. The webinar, by Prof. Edson Andrade and Ing. Daniel Zenteno, discussed important aspects on the execution of asphalt primer and surface treatments, developing the concepts and manufacturing procedures for emulsions and construction procedures for these techniques.

On Friday, Ing. Ignacio Kröger spoke about the importance of a good penetration in the primer. For this, the porosity and humidity conditions of the base, and the viscosity and strength of the binder were detailed. Likewise, the need to progressively eliminate the use of asphalt dilutes in paving in general and in priming specifically was discussed.

To summarize, the four main disadvantages presented by the dilutes are detailed below:

1) Contains volatile gases that are toxic to workers.

2) Impact on the greenhouse effect and reduction of the ozone layer.

3) It requires energy for heating, which in addition to being expensive, requires valuable time. It can also create a risk of overheating and explosion of tanks, like the two accidents we had in our country last year.

4) After 72 hours of applying a dilute type MC1, it still has between 55 and 85% of the solvent. Risk of softening binder of future treatment and oozing in summer.

The IMPRIMA 50 emulsion for its part is a mixture of asphalt and water, and this brings great technical and environmental advantages:
1) Quick release to traffic, without the need to prime with sand. This allows paving tasks to be carried out in the following 12 and 24 hours.

2) Low viscosity at room temperature (at 25 degrees it has the same fluidity as at 60 of the diluted). Quick loading of a sprinkler truck and without the need for heating.

3) Releases water to the environment instead of volatile organic compounds (less dangerous for workers and the environment).

4) It is compatible with other emulsions, therefore it does not generate inconveniences in its manipulation.

For more information about the performance comparison between the emulsion and the diluted primer, you can consult the technical work presented by Quim. Santiago Kröger at the IX Uruguayan Road Congress "Primer with emulsions: technical and environmental improvements."

https://bitafal.com.uy/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/9%c2%ba-CVU-Trabajo-Imprimaci%c3%b3n-con-emulsiones-mejoras-t%c3%a9cnicas-y-ambientales.pdf

We thank Quimitec Asfaltos for the invitation, and hopefully it will be the first of several collaborations between the two companies.

HIGH PERFORMANCE SURFACE TREATMENTS - NEW EDITION IN DIGITAL VERSION

The book edited by Grupo Bitafal has already been distributed to almost 2000 technicians around the world

Since its launch in November 2018 in Uruguay, nearly 500 copies have been delivered in our country, then in the second edition held in Mexico, almost 600 books were delivered to professionals throughout Latin America, Europe and the US.

With the recent revision and edition of the digital version of the book, almost 800 professionals from 22 countries have already downloaded it.

We recommend that all those who have the paper editions, enter the on our website where will find the history of the revisions and changes we make in each edition. There You can download the latest Edition 2.1 in PDF format.

At the same time we want to ask our readers that if they have contributions and comments about the book, send us an email to bitafal@bitafal.com.uy to continue improving and updating the manual.

https://bitafal.com.uy/libro-tratamientos-superficiales/

BITAFAL GROUP AT IRMD 2020

Each first Thursday of April the International Road Maintenance Day (“International Road Maintenance Day” - IRMD) is celebrated, a proposal that this year was showcased by a huge digital presence.

With a presentation on some "Tips to improve the quality of surface treatments", Ing. Ignacio Kröger was part of the 19 speakers from 10 countries: Germany, Slovenia, United States, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico and Spain than the past April 2 They discussed the importance of road maintenance, the influence of the state of the pavement on CO2 emissions, the need to incorporate innovation into road maintenance objectives and the social importance of road infrastructure.

The conference was broadcast through the platform Itafec and had more than 1,400 users from all over the world who, through Twitter and the hashtag #IRMD2020, reached nearly 8,000 messages, becoming a trend in Spain, Mexico, and Guatemala, surpassing an estimated audience of 2,000,000 users. We invite you to see the presentation of Grupo Bitafal and what was discussed during the day.

Taking up the motto "preserving roads is preserving the environment", the main topics discussed during the day were how greenhouse gas emissions can be significantly reduced both with a good condition of the pavement as well as in the use of reuse and recycling techniques. . Some of the most relevant papers highlighted that "the reuse of a pavement using dry aggregates and biomass can reduce emissions from the entire manufacturing process by up to 38%".

Likewise, it was highlighted that the carbon footprint associated with the vehicles that circulate on the highway is much greater than that related to the process of construction and maintenance of the infrastructure, especially in the use of asphalt pavements. For its part, the Spanish Road Association (AEC) presented a report that explains the relationship between the state of conservation of the pavement, fuel consumption and vehicle emissions. “The tests, carried out on a 46-kilometre-long section, confirm that, in the case of light vehicles, CO2 emissions decrease by an average of 3.5% when driving on well-preserved asphalt, reaching 4% of reduction for the heavy vehicle”, they explain from the AEC.

On the other hand, topics of interest were discussed, such as the life cycle of asphalt pavements, the use of new maintenance technologies and their environmental impact both in the use of cold techniques, such as surface treatments, as well as in the recycling of materials. .

The presentation of Grupo Bitafal can be seen below the note.

To learn more about what was presented during the day, we recommend you visit: https://www.asefma.es/un-millar-de-entidades-y-personas-apoyaron-el-dia-internacional-de-la-conservacion-de-carreteras-en-2020/

To learn about International Road Maintenance Day: http://roadmaintenanceday.org

OVERHAUL HISTORIC ROUTE 30

The route is finishing being reconstructed in its section between Artigas and Bella Unión.

With the completion of this section, more than 250 km of intervened route from Route 5 to Route 3 in Bella Unión are completed. The recent works leave excellent connectivity for the city of Artigas, both due to the rehabilitation of the pavements and the 5 new bridges that were built in the section between Artigas and Tomás Gomensoro. The Traxpalco company is doing a great job in the widening and surcharge of the route as well as in the double interlocked treatment (DTT) with emulsion IRRIGATION BITAFLEX 65 P40.

Traxpalco is carrying out a granulometric stabilization by means of a 20 cm thick basalt surcharge and taking the width of the route to 11 m with 7.2 m of carriageway and 1.5 m of shoulder. The stabilized material is sealed with fine material and waterproofed with diluted MC1 awaiting double bituminous treatment.

The treatment is performed with emulsion IRRIGATION BITAFLEX 65 P40 and 12-19 mm gravel of very good quality in irrigation A and with 6-12 mm in irrigation B. The two irrigations are carried out in the same day ensuring the interlocking of the system applying the right dose and using a tandem roller to achieve the searched matrix.

The company has carried out great logistics to obtain granular material and stone aggregates, they have three mobile crushers and one fixed to achieve the necessary daily volumes of material.

With sufficient equipment and materials, together with adequate logistics on site, they are managing to execute close to 20,000 m2 of double finished treatment per day. Grupo BITAFAL is committed to the work ensuring the supply of two daily trips of emulsion to almost 700 km from our plant. The high daily yields with this system and the quality of the finished treatment demonstrate the advantages of this type of execution.

At the end of last year, 5 bridges were inaugurated in the section under reconstruction, with an estimated investment of USD 22 million. In this way the connectivity between Bella Unión and Artigas is assured.

The works are completed with a section of Branch Route 3 between Tomás Gomensoro and Bella Unión by the company DÍaz Alvarez. In that case there is also a surcharge of crushed material and then a double bituminous treatment carried out with emulsion IRRIGATION BITAFLEX 65 P25. In the area Diaz Alvarez has also carried out a resurfacing with BITAFLEX AM3 on Route 3 in the accesses to Bella Unión.

In this way, the Department of Artigas has received the largest injection of works in history, leaving a good quality infrastructure for the development of the area with the realization of investments that boost production activity.

* We thank Engineer Emilio Aitcin of the Traxpalco company for the collaboration provided for this note

BITAFLEX PG AIRPORT RUNWAY 70-28

Works are currently suspended until after Tourism Week.

The CVC company is carrying out the renovation of the main runway of the Laguna del Sauce Airport in Maldonado. For this they are applying high technology for leveling surfaces using a 2m milling machine with control by 3D robotic station to have a base according to the project requirements, correcting imperfections, subsidence and dimensions. Then apply a layer of 7 cm thick asphalt mix with modified asphalt BITAFLEX PG 70-28 applied by two terminating “high compaction” that work simultaneously. We thank CVC and Corporación América for their trust in supplying the modified asphalt cement.

The milling of the track is carried out in sections between 500 and 600 m long continuously, corroborating in each of the passes that the project requirements are being met. The removed material is being used for the construction of the airport's auxiliary roads, which did not exist. After milling, it is necessary to thoroughly clean it to ensure the adherence of the asphalt layer to be applied. For this, good logistical work is first necessary to minimize traffic on loose material, then a good sweep, blowing and scraping in case if necessary.

For irrigation asphalt layer adhesion is performed with emulsion IRRIGATION BITAFAL 65 and then the laying and compaction of the asphalt mix in 7 cm thickness with modified asphalt BITAFLEX PG 70-28 using two pavers in parallel. One of them equipped with a multiplex ruler with 3 sensors on one side and a laser sensor (or copying skid) or electronic pendulum on the other; the other paver has automatic leveling through laser copier sensors on both sides or pendulum and sensor that copies what was done by the first one and extends outwards until completing the programmed width. The recoat width is between 9.26 – 10.26 m per shift to minimize cold joints on a runway that is 45 m wide. It begins with a central strip of 4 m mounted on the slope break of the runway axis (with broken plate in the middle regulated at 1.5% cross slope) and an adjoining one towards one of the sides of 5.26 m (second regulated finisher at 5.40 m to mount about 10-14 cm on the hot joint); this completes the 9.26 m. Then it follows with widths of 5.00 m for the paver equipped with multiplex (corrects small deviations in the longitudinal profile) and 5.26 m in the second paver (5.40 m to absorb the assembly in the hot joint). Towards one of the sides, the total width of 45 m is completed with a single paver regulated at 5.00 m wide.

In addition to these works, repairs are being made to the concrete and asphalt pavements of the aircraft parking platforms, improvements to runway accesses and runway intersections – level transitions, replacement of edge lighting systems and runway thresholds. – AGL (Airfield Ground Lighting) as well as the adaptation of the ALS (Approach Lighting Systems) for runway 08-26 and other visual aids. The areas of the runway Resas are also being readjusted to the latest ICAO requirements in terms of extension and levels, to fulfill this task some 30,000 m3 of soil movement are estimated. The deadline to complete all the works is 4 months, with completion estimated for the month of June.

* We thank Engineer Horacio García Terra from CVC for the collaboration provided for this note

BITAFAL GROUP SAYS PRESENT AT THE 2020 SLURRY SYSTEMS WORKSHOP (# 2020SSWS)

From January 20 to 23, 2020, the largest annual grout and micro-pavement workshop in the United States was held in Las Vegas, organized by the International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA). More than 450 professionals and experts from the road sector discussed the importance of surface treatments, their laboratory design, and the best practices for execution and control of works.

Surface treatments in the United States represent only 5% of its road network, but that small number in a country of enormous dimensions allows it to become one of the world leaders in this technology. The # 2020SSWS delves into the use of gravel, micro agglomerates, grouts, crack sealing, Capeseals, ultra fine mixes, etc. and the combination of these to extend the life cycle of the pavements.

The workshop presents the technical knowledge of experts who comment on the details that must be taken into account in the laboratory and on site, with tips for correctly applying the guidelines developed by ISSA (A105 and A143). Among the topics discussed could be highlighted:

- Care and controls in the laboratory to improve the design of micro-agglomerates.

- The physical and chemical foundations of the breaking and curing of special micro emulsions.

- The importance of fissure sealing to extend future treatments.

- Best construction practices for high-quality grouts and micro-agglomerates.

- Use of RAP in preservation techniques, among others.

In addition, the practical application of these foundations was carried out, carrying out small material testing sessions to determine the optimal mixing time in the laboratory and later real test sections with machines and complete work equipment.

Finally the online tool was presented to www.roadresource.org for the correct selection of the type of treatment with calculators to determine life cycle costs, annualized equivalent costs, remaining life and cost benefit. The goal of ISSA with this excellent website is to promote the selection of the right treatment, on the right path, at the right time ("The Right Treatment on the Right Road at the Right Time").

ADVANCES IN ROUTE 14

Road Circuit 3 advances according to the schedule foreseen in the rehabilitation of Route 14.

The “Circuit 3” Public-Private Participation project in charge of the COPASA and ESPINA consortium comprises the sections of Route 14 that go from the city of Mercedes to Sarandí del Yí. There are about 300 km of road rehabilitation using cold recycling technology with Portland cement and a subsequent 4 cm tread with the new modified asphalt BITAFLEX PG 70-28 provided by Grupo Bitafal.

In addition, the construction of a bypass to the city of Sarandí del Yí, the construction of two new traffic lanes in the city of Trinidad and the construction of a new section that connects Route 14 with Route 3 is planned.

This Route that crosses our country practically in the center has an important weight for the productive activity, foreign trade and the productivity of the companies that export through the port of Nuevo Palmira and especially for the pulp production plants of UPM and Montes del Plata. The situation of the same was diverse, sections in bituminous treatment and sections in asphalt layer with variable widths in all their extension.

The new project involves a widening in several sections together with their respective bridges, correction of the layout, planimetric improvements to increase the average speed as well as reinforcement of the structure and a smooth and safe running surface.

Currently there is a large deployment of teams and work fronts throughout the route. Many national companies are doing a great job in the construction of their respective sections or bridges. Idalar, Cujó, Incoci, Díaz Alvarez, Molinsur, CVC, Frivial, Saceem, Espina and other subcontractors are working at the same Impact.

All sections have a widening and recharging front for granular material, then a 20 cm cold recycling front with Portland, then an emulsion curing irrigation IRRIGATION BITAFAL 65 and gravel and finally a paving front applying a 4 cm thick asphalt mix with modified asphalt BITAFLEX PG 70-28.

In Bulletin # 108 of last November we anticipated some aspects of the work such as the incorporation of technology for example: 4 m rules for pavers, automatic control systems for motor graders, oscillating compactor rollers, among others, as well as safety and neatness of the works.

In addition to this, the works are being carried out at a very good pace and it is expected that by the middle of this year a large part of the sections will be completed.

Once again, we thank the Consortium and the contracting companies for the trust they have given to supply such an important input as modified asphalt and emulsions for a road work of such magnitude.

Category Archives: BULLETIN MAKING ROADS Historical Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Bitafal