Cold Weather Paving Requirements for Bituminous Concrete

About the report:

Cold weather paving specifications were developed from work by Corlew and Dickson, who used a computer solution to predict the cooling rate of bituminous concrete. Virginia had used a minimum atmospheric temperature as a criterion; however, it was evident that other factors had a significant effect, so the computer solution was considered as a possible basis for new specifications. Although the solution had been checked by field measurements it was decided to obtain further verification by plotting cooling curves for freshly placed hot mix. The curves were developed by measuring the cooling rates of bituminous mats of varying thicknesses under a variety of weather conditions. The field measurements verified the computer solution, and it was used to develop new cold weather paving specifications. The first specification, put into effect in 1970, was written in tabular form using the laydown temperature and mat thickness as criteria. This specification was modified and put into the form of a simple nomograph.

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