Road and road pavements can always be exposed to different types of stress and may undergo erosion and damage over time. In fact, factors such as heavy traffic load, temperature changes, humidity, subsoil movements, etc. can be the most important factors that have a direct impact on pavement damage. Different types of damage may occur in asphalt road pavement, the most important of which are cracks, holes, settlements, etc., which eventually cause it to break. Several different failures may occur simultaneously on the surface of the pavement and cause serious damage to the road. Of course, it should be noted that failure does not occur in all pavements and various conditions and factors can be involved in its occurrence. In the following article, the most important methods of preventing pavement damage will be discussed.
What is paving and what is its purpose?
In order to prevent the shear failure of the soil and also to cause permanent changes in it, it is necessary to reduce the intensity of compressive stresses on the soil, and this is done by creating a layer of high-quality and resistant materials such as asphalt produced with gilsonite or natural asphalt. The pavement must minimize the compressive stresses of the soil and bear the incoming loads, and for this reason, nowadays road pavements are implemented in several layers. Among the most important goals of road paving, the following can be mentioned:
- Implementation of resistant layers against the stresses caused by dynamic and static loads.
- Increasing resistance against bending, shearing and sliding forces caused by loads and friction on the road surface.
- Preventing unauthorized changes to roads
- Resistance to various weather conditions and factors
- Creating a smooth, safe and suitable platform for the movement of vehicles and...
Types of pavement damage
As it was said, road pavement damage can appear in various forms, and each of these forms can occur due to various factors, but in general, road pavement damage can be divided into four main categories, which are as follows:
- Surface defects that include graining and chipping of stone materials, polishing, bitumen, oxidation, etc.
- Deformation of the surface, which includes sagging, settling, swelling and corrugation.
- Cracking that can occur transversely, longitudinally, lizard skin, mosaic and reflective.
- Cracking of grains and granulation, which can be caused by the lack of mineral or industrial bitumen or its oxidation. Granulation can occur with different intensities including low intensity, medium intensity and high intensity.
Solutions to prevent damage to pavements
In general, the best way to maintain road pavements and prevent them from deteriorating is to identify and identify the causes of damage. Determining and diagnosing the failure factor can help a lot in adopting the appropriate method for protection, repair and elimination of failures. As mentioned, the grading of pavement damage can be defined in low, medium and severe scales and can be graded from 1 to 10 according to its severity. The best practices to prevent pavement damage include the following:
Prevent moisture penetration into pavement texture
It can be said that one of the most important reasons for the failure of all types of pavements is moisture infiltration, and controlling water infiltration is the most important factor for protecting pavements, embankments, etc. To avoid this problem, it is necessary to carry out the drainage operation in a standard and perfect way. The accumulation of water in the pavement layers and its saturation causes the surface layers to wear out over time and the bearing capacity of the pavement decreases. Water infiltration, especially in cold seasons, causes freezing and swelling of the pavement texture and quickly destroys it, so drainage is very important in the production and implementation of pavements.
Use of high quality materials in pavement production
Another main factor in road pavement damage is the low quality of the materials used. In order to prevent the deterioration of the pavement and increase its lifespan, it is necessary to use high-quality materials and choose the best possible sand and bitumen granulation. Today, bitumen is used to increase the strength and durability of asphalt, as well as to increase its lifespan, which has unique characteristics.
Proper road infrastructure
When the infrastructure of the road and road is not basic and standard, it definitely cannot withstand the traffic load and the imported loads. For proper infrastructure, there may be a need to excavate in some places and to pour earth in other places. If the asphalt foundation is not done well, no matter how perfect and perfect the asphalt is, after a while it will suffer from various tensions such as bursting, settlement, etc.
In principle, the infrastructure of the roads should be flat and solid, and you should not use plant and animal materials as well as topsoil for its implementation. In the substructure, 6 to 8 mm of the upper surface should be filled with rough and dense gravel, and to widen and re-substrate the road, it is necessary to re-substrate with gravel so that drainage can be done in the best possible way.
Attention to the type of asphalt
Today, different types of asphalts are used to pave roads and paths, and each of them can have unique features and capabilities. In general, asphalts are divided into three main categories, including hot asphalts, cold asphalts, and protective asphalts, and the use of each of them has its own special conditions. In order to use any of these asphalts, it is necessary to pay attention to such things as weather conditions, the type of road infrastructure, the type of equipment used, etc.
Paying attention to the bond strength of pavement materials, paying attention to the level of impact resistance, paying attention to the amount of resistance to polishing, paying attention to the amount of resistance to wear, etc. The use of materials such as Gilsonite powder in the production of asphalts increases the resistance of asphalts against pressure, impact, moisture, etc., and the pavements will last longer.
The final conclusion
Various factors such as humidity, pressure, temperature changes, loads, soil tensions, etc. can be effective in the deterioration of road pavement and ultimately cause it to break, that is why it is necessary to prevent these problems from various factors such as the type of road drainage. The type of substructure, the type of materials used, etc. should be taken into account. For this reason, mineral bitumen powder and natural bitumen are mostly used in the production of asphalts because they have unique characteristics such as high compressive strength, no moisture penetration, excellent lifespan, etc.
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