A road pavement, implemented with quality materials and laid according to the rules should last for many years without the need for repairs.
The standard pavements that are widely applied in the process of road construction are those made of bituminous concrete.
They have two main components – aggregates (about 95% of the total weight of the ready mixture) and a binder - bitumen - approximately 5-6% of the total mass.
The quality of the pavement, namely its durability, strength and solidity depend on the choice of quality components and their mechanical properties, size and shape prior to their connection in the bituminous concrete mixture.
Besides that, in addition to the ready mixture are further added other components as well like additives and modifiers, which aim to improve the durability of the physical properties of the binder – bitumen, which is aging and oxidizing, which reduces and disrupts its bonding strength.
In addition to its strength, the pavements are classified according to their shock-absorbing and sound-absorbing ability, as well as by the extent they leak water in the depth.
In general, the water that falls in the bituminous concrete itself is very destructive, especially at low temperatures, as once trapped inside the layers it expands upon freezing and thus destroys their integrity.
There is, however, porous bituminous concrete, the main characteristic of which is the effect of draining of the water from the top layer of the surface, aiming to avoid water retention and slipping of vehicles and pedestrians.
This type of bituminous concrete is laid following a special technology to successfully drain the water and at the same time to absorb the noise coming from the engines and to preserve its mechanical properties and load capacity.
According to the technology of placing of the bituminous concrete, there are hot bituminous concrete mixes and cold bituminous concrete mixes.
The cold bituminous concrete mixtures are more environmentally friendly and safe for the workers who laid them.
The bituminous concrete pavements can also be decorative – they can come in a variety of colors. This effect is achieved with colored aggregates, colorful elements that were embedded in the upper layer or are applied on the top decorative covering on the finished surface.
The recycled asphalt pavements are also widely used these days. During their implementation a special technology is being used to guarantee the strength and the durability of the new bituminous concrete.
In order a high sound-absorbing effect to be achieved, grinded rubber from old tires is being added to the bituminous concrete.
Besides being quieter, such pavement also has a higher frost resistance as the rubber components in the mixture absorb the thermal expansion and prevent the asphalt from cracking during the day/night and the seasonal change of temperatures.
Besides the bituminous concrete pavements, widely used in practice are also the concrete pavements, as well as the reinforced concrete covering, the stamped concrete covering, the different types of pavements, the macadam road coverings, and others.
