Highways Agency Reports

The advent of polymer modified sufface dressing binders has resulted in a number of empirical test methods being developed to characterise their properties. However, no agreed procedures or specifications have been established. In an attempt to review the current situation in the UK the County Surveyors Society in collaboration with others set up a 'surface dressing survey' in 1988. This paper reviews the test methods employed by Lanfina Bitumen Ltd, Shell Research Centre and this Laboratory in assessing road surface dressing binders. The paper suggests areas in which procedures may be better controlled and assesses the suitability of the empirical tests for evaluating modifier binder behaviour.