Baselayermaterials|lowlandpathsguide|pfa

Materialsusedtobuildapathbaselayeraregenerallywellgradedgranularsubbasematerialswhichhelp
tospreadtheweightandforcesofdifferentpathusersintoformationlayerbelow.Thebaselayercanbe
builtwithonetypeofmaterialorincombinationwithanothertype.Forexample,thelowerhalfofthebase
layercanbebuiltwithalowerqualitymaterialsuchascrushedconcrete(demolitionwaste),whilstahigher
qualitymateriallikeType1granularsubbaseisusedonthetophalftoremoveallirregularitiesbeforelaying
thesurfacelayer.
Wellgradedgranularsubbasematerialscanbe:

Naturalaggregates

TheDepartmentofTransport'SpecificationofHighwayWorks'(SHW)definesanumberofwellgraded
aggregatesbasedonthecompositionofparticlesizescontainedinthecommerciallyproducedmixture.
Clause803definesDepartmentofTransport(DTp)Type1granularsubbaseandClause804describes
DTpType2granularsubbase.Theseaggregatesaremorecommonlyreferredtoas'Type1'and'Type2'.

Type1

Thisisthemostcommonwellgradedgranularsubbasematerialusedtoconstructapath'sbaselayer.Itis
awelltriedandtestedcomponentoflowlandpathsthathasbeenusedformanyyearsasthedefaultbase
layermaterial.CommercialquarriessupplyDTpType1granularsubbaseconsistingofcrushedrockgraded
toaspecificationthathasadefinedproportionofstoneparticlesizes.WellgradedType1containsagood
mixofangularaggregatesizedbetween63mmand'fines'(sandsizedparticles),however,mostofthe
aggregatecontentislessthan32mminsizetheEuropeanNormstandardforType1is0/32.Thesolid
stoneparticlesshouldnotexceed63mminsizeandlessthan9%offines.Thisensuresthematerialhasan
acceptablelevelofnaturalinterlockbetweentheangularaggregateparticlesandnovoidsoncecompacted.
Type1issubjecttoregionalvariationsbasedongeologymostquarriesincentral,westandsouthScotland
produceitfromgreywhinstone,afewquarriesineasternScotlandproduceitfromreddishwhinstone,and
furthernorthitisproducedfromgranite.

Type2

LikeType1,thisiscrushedrocklessthan32mminsizewithlessthan9%'fines'butwithnospecified
grading.ItusuallycontainsfinermaterialthanType1,beingcomposedoffewerangularaggregatesizes.
Type2isnotasstrongasType1,soforthatreason,itisnotgenerallyusedonitsowntobuildabaselayer.
ItwouldusuallybeusedtoformthelowerpartofabaselayerwithType1laidontop.

Type3

Anothercrushedaggregatewithalower'fines'componentthanType1orType2thereshouldbelessthan
5%'fines'andoverhalfoftheaggregateparticlesaregreaterthan4mminsize.Thisuniformlygraded
aggregatematerialissuitableforafreedrainingbaselayerforporoussurfacedpaths.

Crusherrun

Thisgranularsubbaseisawastematerialfromquarrystoneprocessing.Itiscrushedmaterialthatcomes
straightofftherockcrusherafterthefirstcrushingstage,whichisnotcarriedforwardtosievingstage.Itis
similartoscalpings,itsstrengthisvariable,andisavailableindifferentmaximumparticlesizes,basedonthe
screensizesusedontherockcrusher,whichmeansthereisnoguaranteethatthewastematerialiswell
graded.Providingthattherockcrushedisnottoosoft,crusherruncanbeusedasanalternativetoType1
orType2.

Scalpings

Thisisawastematerialfromquarryexplosionswhichisremoved(sievedout)beforethelargerrockis
crushed.Itisoftenreferredtoasquarrywaste,itsstrengthcanbevariableandthereisnoguaranteethatits
wellgraded.Itisoftenmuchcheapertopurchasethantheothergranularsubbasematerialsbecauseof
qualityissues.Particlesrangeinsizefrom100mm40mmtodust.Scalpingscanbeusedasfillmaterialto
makeuptheformationlevelwhereithasbeenexcavateddeeperthanoriginallyspecifiedtodealwithsoft
spots.ItcanalsobelaidasthelowerpartofabaselayerwithType1ontop.Ifcarefullyselected,scalpings
maymakeareasonablygoodbaselayerwhenusedontheirown,butavoidwetmaterialwithhighclay
content.Itcancauseproblems.

Asdug

Thisgranularsubbasematerialshouldconsistoffreedraining,naturallyoccurringsandsandgravelswith
sufficientclaycontenttobindthematerialtogetherwhencompacted.Itissometimesreferredtoashoggin.
Suchmaterialsareusuallyglacialtillsfoundmainlyinglaciatedareasandrivervalleys.Asdugmaterialis
takenstraightoutofthegroundfromsmallscaleborrowpitsalongsidetheroutebeingbuilt,andhasnot
beencrushedorgradedtoanyspecification.Itcanalsobeimportedtositefromonelargeborrowpitwhere
onsitematerialsarenotsuitableforpathconstruction.
'Asdug'materialscanbeusedtoprovidethebulkofabaselayer,whichcanthenbeoverlaidbya
regulatinglayerofhigherqualityType1onwhichthepathsurfacecanbelaid.Toimprovethequalityofthe
asdugmaterialitcanbegradedonsiteusingaportablenonvibratingscreenerattachedtothedumperor
alargermobilevibratingscreener.Thelatterissuitablewheregoodaccessisavailable.
Asdugmaterialsmaybetheonlysourceofstoneinsomeareaswhereitisimpracticalorprohibitively
expensivetoimportcommerciallyquarriedaggregates.Thesesituationscouldincludesmallscaleupgrades,
orparticularlyremotelocations.However,iftherangeandcompositionofparticlesizeswouldresultina
poorqualitypath,suchastoomuchclayorsoftrock,itisworthinvestigatingotheroptionsbeforesettlingfor
asdugmaterial.

RecycledandSecondaryaggregates(RSA)

Inrecentyearstherehasbeenanincreaseintheavailabilityanduseofrecycledaggregatesandreuseable
byproductsfromindustries.Theytendtobelocallyavailableandthequalitycanvarygreatly,butrecycled
andsecondaryaggregatequalitystandardsarenowavailable.Inmanycasesitwillbenecessarytouse
RSAalongwithconventionalpathconstructionmaterials.AusefulinformationresourceaboutRSAis
availableonAggRegainacompleteonlineguidetosustainableaggregates.
Typicalrecycledaggregatesareroadplanings(fromroadreconstructionormaintenance)andcrushed
concrete(fromdemolitionwaste).Allrecycledandsecondaryaggregateproductsshouldbechosen
carefully.Industrialbyproductsthatdonotformaspecifiedstandardaggregatemixturedesignmustbe
individuallyassessed,becausesomematerialsarepronetoleachingorjustnotsuitableforconstruction.

Demolitionwaste

RecycledType1,Type2canbeproducedfromavarietyofmaterialsarisingfromdemolitionwaste(crushed
concrete,brick,hardcore)frombuildingsorotherstructures.However,qualitycanbevariablesocheckthe
specificationwiththesupplierbeforepurchasingthematerialcheckforawellgradedsizedistribution.
RecycleddemolitionwastescanmakegoodbottomingorlowerhalfofthebaselayerwithType1laidontop.
SomepathbaselayershavebeensuccessfullybuiltusingjustrecycledType1wherethematerialhasbeen
wellgradedtothespecifiedqualitystandard.

Roadplanings

Thesearecrushedormilledbitmacorasphaltarisingsproducedinroadorpavementreconstructionor
maintenancework.Thismaterialhassimilarpropertiestowellgradedaggregate.Ifrolledhardinhot
weather,thebitumenbindercansoftenandthenrebindthebitumencoatedstonetoformahardsurface.
Forthisreason,planingshavebeenmainlyusedforpathsurfacing,buttheycanbeusedtocreateabase
layer.Theplaningscanbeeitherpartofthebaselayerwithhigherqualitygranularsubbaselaidontop,or
asawholebaselayer.
Thepriceofplaningscanvaryconsiderably.Unscreenedplaningspurchasedstraightfromasitemaybe
cheaper,butthequalitywillbevariable.Wellgradedscreenedmaterialboughtfromaprocessingcentrewill
probablybeprocessedtoamaterialspecificationtoproducearecycledType1granularsubbasematerial.
Ifyouplantouseroadplaningsforpathconstruction,checkwherethematerialhascomefrombefore
acceptingit.Itispossiblethatmaterialsfromdeepplaningofoldroadsmaycontaintarproducts,which
generallyshouldbetreatedashazardous/specialwasteandnotrecycled.However,insomesituationstar
boundplaningsmaybereprocessedinagreementwithScottishEnvironmentProtectionAgency(SEPA).Itis
importantthereforetoseektheiradvicebeforepurchasingandusingroadplanings.

Blaes

Thisindustrialwastebyproductofcollieryspoilsandspentoilshalebingsisreprocessedasasecondary
aggregateandisavailableinsomeareasofCentralScotland,particularlyWestLothian.Blaesfromcolliery
spoiliseitherblackorred.Blackmaterialcontainscoaldustthatiscombustible.Redmaterialhasbeen
burnt,andcanbereusedforotherconstructionpurposes.Blaesfromspentoilshaleispinkish,andsimilar
innaturetoredburntcollieryspoil.
Blaesconsistsofparticlesofvariablesizesmakingqualityveryvariable.Itcanprovideawellboundbase
layermaterialthatissuitableasbottomingorthelowerpartofthebaselayer,withahigherqualitygranular
subbaselaidontop.Itgenerallyneedstobelaidtogreaterthicknessthanothergranularsubbase
materialstomakeastronglayer.
Caremustbetakenwhenusingneartowatercoursesassomematerialscanbehighlytoxic.Ifyouplanto
useblaesforpathconstruction,seektheadviceofSEPAbeforeusingit,especiallyifthepathistobebuilt
nearawatercourse.