9 December 2017

Subject: You may be using a third class bitumen emulsion for prime coat!

Dear Highway Colleagues:

Yes, it is a fact. There is a strong likelihood that you are using a third class bitumen emulsion for prime
coat of wet mix macadam (WMM). Right now, this useless emulsion is being specified, manufactured,
and used in India. If you really care about the quality of your road, please read on.

A good prime coat should meet the following requirements:

1. It should penetrate at least 8 to 10 mm into the WMM.

2. It should normally be absorbed within 48 hours.
3. It should not be excessive on the surface of WMM. No prime cot is better than excessive prime
coat because the latter is detrimental to the flexible pavement.

First, the background on materials used as prime coat in the US and India. In the past, medium curing
(MC) cutback bitumen Grades MC-30 and MC-70 were used as prime coat. MCs are a blend of bitumen
and kerosene. They penetrate the WMM extremely well; at least 10-15 mm in depth. In other words,
cutback bitumen is an excellent primer.

After the energy crisis in the 1970s, it was decided in the US to replace cutback bitumen with bitumen
emulsion. Conventional bitumen emulsion has water as continuous phase and minute bitumen droplets
are suspended in water (Figure 1). Slow-setting bitumen emulsion CSS-1 (ASTM D 2397) was
recommended as a primer. [C stands for cationic; I will call it SS-1 only hereinafter because we do not
use C in our Indian nomenclature.] It was soon discovered that this bitumen emulsion was a poor
penetrating material. It hardly penetrated in the WMM (called crushed stone base course in the US).
Whereas the water of this emulsion penetrated the WMM, the bitumen residue simply remained at the
surface because the WMM acted like a filter.

Therefore, many states in the US continued to use (even today) MC-30 and MC-70 cutback bitumen as
prime coat materials. The use of ASTM D 2397 SS-1 is allowed only if it is mixed in place with the top
50-75 mm of WMM after its scarification (Refer Asphalt Institute MS-19 Basic Asphalt Emulsion Manual).
This process is rather tedious, hardly any agency does it.

To overcome the problem associated with ASTM D 2397 SS-1, asphalt emulsion prime (AEP) was
developed in the US. AEP is also called inverted emulsion because it has cutback bitumen in the
continuous phase and water droplets are suspended in the cutback bitumen (Figure 1). Its performance
as a primer was fair, better than conventional ASTM D 2397 SS-1 but lesser than MC-30 or MC-70
cutback bitumen. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) developed a specification for SS-1, which is
equivalent to AEP. This specification is contained in IS:8887. In other words, IS:8887 SS-1 bitumen
emulsion is much better than ASTM D 2397 SS-1.

When the Indian Roads Congress IRC:16, Specification for Prime Coat and Tack Coat was being revised,
as a member I had recommended to the IRC Flexible Pavement Committee to include MC-30 and MC-70
Figure 1. Compositions of ASTM D 2397 and IS:8887 SS-1 Emulsions

as prime coat material besides IS:8887 SS-1 which was equal to AEP. IRC:16 was revised in 2008 with this
inclusion. However, Section 3.2.2 of IRC:16-2008 inadvertently includes ASTM D 2397 besides IS:8887.
This section reads like this:

Cationic bitumen emulsion SS-1 Grade conforming to IS:8887/ASTM D 2397 shall be used as primer.

Some contractors took advantage of this advertent error and started to use SS-1 conforming to ASTM D
2397 rather than IS:8887. As I mentioned earlier, this material is a third class bitumen emulsion for
prime coat. But to them quality is not a consideration, profit is. ASTM D 2397 SS-1 was liked by them
because of the following:

1. It is cheaper than IS:8887 SS-1 by about 30 percent. This is because IS:8887 SS-1 must have at
least 80 percent bitumen material (bitumen plus kerosene) whereas ASTM D 2397 can have as
less as 57 percent bitumen.
2. It can be diluted with water as much as they want (sometimes to deceive the customer) because
it is oil in water. On the other hand, IS:8887 SS-1 being an inverted emulsion (water in oil)
cannot be diluted at all.
3. It can be used at a lesser application rate, because most of the bitumen stays at the surface of
WMM and therefore appears excessive to the customer.

Fortunately, MORTH Specification Clause 502.2.1 for Prime Coat specifies only IS:8887 not ASTM D
2397. However, in India we have an undesirable system of two parallel specifications: IRC and MORTH.
Some contractors like to refer to the one which has cost advantage to them. This is what happened in
this case since 2008. Contractors asked the bitumen suppliers to supply ASTM D 2397 SS-1 because it is
in the IRC:16-2008. The use of this third class bitumen emulsion is more rampant on state highways
compared to national highways.

What I have explained above is not a rocket science but just commonsense. If you are a conscientious
highway engineer who believes in building good quality roads for India, please immediately stop
specifying, producing, or using this third class ASTM D 2397 SS-1 bitumen emulsion for prime coat. The
Indian Roads Congress should issue a corrigendum to delete the reference to ASTM D 2397 in Section
3.2.2 of IRC:16-2008 because it was an inadvertent error. The National Highway Authority of India
(NHAI) should issue a circular immediately to this effect ensuring this third class bitumen emulsion is
not used on our national highways.

In my opinion, we should only use cutback bitumen MC-30 and MC-70 (already included in IRC:16-2008)
which are excellent primers and should not use even IS:8887 SS-1 which is a fair primer. After all,
the latter is also a cutback bitumen in a different form. However, based on my experience in the past,
that would be expecting too much from IRC, MORTH and NHAI.

As a customer, how do you identify in the field whether you have been supplied with ASTM D 2397 SS-1
or IS:8887 SS-1 bitumen emulsion? It is very simple. First, the former being a conventional emulsion
(bitumen in water) is brownish in color and the latter being inverted emulsion (water in bitumen) is
black. Second, take a glass beaker; fill it partly with water; and then pour about equal amount of the
supplied SS-1 emulsion on it. If the emulsion in the top does not mix with water and stays at top, it is the
right type of emulsion, that is, IS:8887 SS-1.

Regards,
Prof. Prithvi Singh Kandhal
Jaipur
pkandhal@gmail.com

American roads are good not because America is rich, but America is rich because
American roads are good. - John F. Kennedy

About the Writer

Prof. Prithvi Singh Kandhal is Associate Director Emeritus of the National Center for Asphalt
Technology (NCAT) based at Auburn University, Alabama, U.S.A. NCAT is the largest asphalt
(bitumen) road technology center in the world.

Prior to joining NCAT in 1988, Prof. Kandhal served as Chief Asphalt Road Engineer of the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for 17 years. He is the first person born outside
North America, who has held the following three national and international very prestigious
positions in the asphalt road technology area:

President, Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (with members from all

continents in the world)
Chairman, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International Committee
on Road Paving Standards (responsible for over 200 standards used worldwide)
Chairman, US Transportation Research Board Committee on Asphalt Roads

Prof. Kandhal has published over 120 technical papers and has co-authored the first ever
textbook on asphalt road technology, which is used by more than 25 universities in the U.S. He
has travelled to various countries in Europe, South America, Middle East, China, Vietnam,
Japan, Singapore, and Australia to provide training and consulting services in asphalt (bitumen)
technology.

Prof. Kandhal has been a practicing highway engineer in India for over 20 years and in the US
for 30 years. Recently he has drafted many standards for the Indian Roads Congress including
specifications for dense graded bituminous mixes, stone matrix asphalt and readymade pothole
patching mix. He was also instrumental single-handedly in introducing viscosity grading of
bitumen in India in lieu of penetration grading in 2005. He has now published in July 2016 the
first ever textbook cum reference book, Bituminous Road Construction in India.

In August 2011, Prof. Kandhal was inducted on the Wall of Honour established at the largest
asphalt road research center in the United States. In April 2012, he received the Lifetime
Achievement Award in Asphalt Road Technology from the International Association of Asphalt
Paving Technologists during their annual banquet held in Austin, Texas, USA.