EURONORM IN UKRAINE. BITUMEN
Recently, some experts propagated the myth that Ukravtodor system has an outdated regulatory base, which not allows building roads of European quality.
For the possibility of professional discussion and acquaintance of all stakeholder experts, we are starting a new section "EURONORM in UKRAINE". We will compare the requirements of European documents and our documents.
Today we will talk about the technical requirements for the main road construction material - bitumen.
There are 3 systems for evaluation of bitumen properties in the world:
- Penetration – by the depth of penetration of the needle into the bitumen;
- Viscous - by the viscosity of bitumen at a temperature of 60°C;
- Superpave – by the operational characteristics of bitumen for a certain climatic region.
In Ukraine, a penetration system is used, according to which bitumen is classified according to the penetration index at a temperature of 25°С.
Technical requirements for bitumen are included in two main standards:
- DSTU 4044: 2019 “Oil viscous paving bitumen. Technical specifications", which is a real "Bible" for bitumen, the standard is valid from 01.05.2020;
- DSTU EN 12591: 2017 (EN 12591: 2009, IDT) “Bitumen and bituminous binders. Technical requirements for paving bitumen", the national standard is identical to the European standard, valid from 01.10.2017.
During the formation of requirements to bitumen quality the following features are considered:
- operational characteristics;
- raw material base;
- climatic conditions;
- softening point and brittleness temperature;
- operational conditions.
DSTU EN 12591: 2017 establishes 12 grades of bitumen covering the penetration range from 20 • 0.1 mm to 900 • 0.1 mm. This significant range is connected with wide geographical coverage of Euronorm use and different climatic conditions.
DSTU 4044: 2019 establishes 5 grades of bitumen that are used in Ukrainian realities and cover the penetration range from 35 • 0.1 mm to 200 • 0.1 mm.
Technical requirements for bitumen quality in Europe and Ukraine are IDENTICAL!
It should be noted that in accordance with the requirements of the national DSTU 4044 for taking into account the features of the raw material base and climatic conditions of Ukraine, more stringent requirements for softening point and brittleness temperature were adopted, as well as for bitumen values after heating (aging).
Thus, the requirements for bitumen established in the national DSTU 4044: 2019 are even higher than in European EN. Taking into account the production realities, for improving of the bitumen operational characteristics, mostly it is necessary to perform its modification, thereby increasing the plasticity range and improving the interaction with the mineral material.