Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering

CIVL4036- Highway Engineering

Technical Information Supplement

The following information is related to the asphalt mixtures that your company plans to
use in the current road project that you are working on.
Four aggregate stockpiles are to be used in the manufacturing of an HMA surface layer
for the heavy traffic category (Asphalt Institute criteria). The gradation of the aggregate
stockpiles is shown below in Table 1.
Table 1. Stockpile Gradation
Sieve
size, in

3/4
1/2
3/8
4
8
16
30
50
100
200

No. 20
100
75
23
10
4
3
2
0
0
0

N0. 10
100
97
93
48
19
8
4
3
3
0

Sand
100
100
100
98
79
52
41
25
18
4

Filler
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
99
98
51

LL
specs
100
90
73
51
34
22
18
10
9
2

UL
specs
100
100
93
71
54
38
30
22
17
8

Aggregate blending calculations to meet specification requirements resulted in the

following individual aggregate percentages as shown in Table 2
Table 2. Aggregate design blend
Aggregate
% in the
blend

No. 20

N0. 10

15.0

41.5

Sand
38.0

Filler
5.5

% in the mix
Batch
weight, g
The asphalt content to be used with the above aggregate is according to Table 3 as
follows:

Table 3. Percent Asphalt Cement

Group
%AC
A&B
4.0
C&D
4.5
E&F
5.0
G&H
5.5
What is required from you is:
a- Calculate the design blend. Plot the particle size distribution of the design blend
together with the specification limits.
b- Calculate the percent of each aggregate in the mix i.e. fill the missing information
in raw 2 of Table 2
% of aggregate in the mix = (1-%AC)*% agg in the blend
c- Calculate the batch weight from each aggregate stockpile that will result in a total
weight of compacted sample of 1200g. Fill the missing information in raw 3 of
Table 2.
Batch weight for each aggregate = % of aggregate in the mix *1200
defgh-

Blend the aggregate from the different stockpiles

Follow the Marshall method for mixing and compacting asphalt specimens
Determine the basic volumetric data ( Va, VMA, VFA)
Run Stability and Flow test on the compacted specimens
Analyze the results and provide your feedback on the client claims as per the
original problem statement you received from your project supervisor.

Table 4 Asphalt Institute criteria for Marshall Test

Traffic
Marshall
Light
Medium
Heavy
Method Mix
Criteria

Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum

Compaction,
No. of
35
blows/side
Stability, lb
750 (3336)
(N).
Flow
8
(0.01 inch)
Air Voids,
3
%
Voids in
Mineral
Aggregate

50

75

---

1200
(5338)

---

1800
(8006)

---

18

16

14

(varies with aggregate size)

Table 5 VMA Requirements- Asphalt Institute

Nominal Maximum
Particle Size
(mm)
(U.S.)
63
2.5 inch
50
2.0 inch
37.5
1.5 inch
25.0
1.0 inch
19.0
0.75 inch
12.5
0.5 inch
9.5
0.375 inch
4.75
No. 4 sieve
2.36
No. 8 sieve
1.18
No. 16 sieve

Minimum
VMA
(percent)
11
11.5
12
13
14
15
16
18
21
23.5

Table 6 Marshall Mixture Design Criteria for Bases (Oman)

Property

Specification Limit

Stability

12 kN minimum

Flow

2-3.5 mm

Voids in total mix

4.0-7.0 %

Voids in Mineral Aggregate

12% minimum

Voids Filled With Asphalt

50-70 %

Table 7 Marshall Mixture Design Criteria for Surfaces (Oman)

Property

Specification Limit

Stability

14 kN minimum

Flow

2-5 mm

Voids in total mix

4-7 %

Voids in Mineral Aggregate

14-15% minimum

Voids Filled With Asphalt

50-70 %