What is stabilization?

Stabilisation is the process of improving the engineering properties of the soil before construction. Stabilisation is done to improve the CBR of the soil to be used for a specific construction purpose. This can be done using various additives including Portland cement, fly ash, lime, bitumen etc. These chemicals impart higher bond strength by providing cohesion between the soil particles.

Bitumen emulsion for Soil Stabilization

Using bitumen emulsion for soil stabilisation refers to the process of adding a specified amount of bitumen emulsion to the soil and mixing it appropriately to create a strong and stable base. The bitumen is dispersed in the water in the form of small droplets which are suspended in water by an electrostatic charge of the emulsifier.

Bitumen Emulsions can be used for stabilising both cohesive as well as non-cohesive soils. However, in soils with finer grain sizes, this method may no longer be cost effective as the soil particles require a high dosage of bitumen emulsion in order to provide the same/better level of bonding. Succinctly, the quantity of the bitumen emulsion will depend on the type of the soil so as to offer the desired strength to the soil base.

Following are some of the benefits attributed to the bitumen emulsion being used for soil stabilisation:

Waterproofing: Using bitumen emulsion for stabilisation is slightly different from cement stabilisation, as the soil particles coated with the emulsion renders it water-resistance.

Load bearing capacity: Soil stabilisation using bitumen emulsions result into a permanent sealing of the soil structure. This increases the load carrying capacity of the soil layers. The load distribution is 2-3 times higher than that of the unbound foundation layers.

Flexibility: The soil layers of the roads should act as supporting layers by absorbing the stresses of the vehicles moving on top of it and not deform under these stresses. In order to facilitate this, the soil layers need to be somewhat flexible, so as to retain the shape and size. In case of a rigid structural layer, the risks of crack formation are much higher thus increasing the risk of failure. This is the situation which calls for the use of bitumen emulsion. They are very thin flowing and can be easily mixed with the soil, which also calls for lesser bituminous binder.

Soil stabilisation with Foamed Bitumen

Additionally, foamed bitumen is also currently being used in the industry for soil stabilisation. Foamed Bitumen is a mixture of air, water and bitumen. Bitumen is heated on site and when small quantity of water is injected in to the hot bitumen, it expands explosively to about fifteen times its original volume and forms a mist or a foam. This results in to the formation of bitumen droplets with increased surface area. It has been proven that by applying foamed bitumen, it is possible to produce a semi-rigid layer of stabilised soil.

What affects road construction quality the most?

With greater push on sustainability, road construction is becoming an affair that presents many opportunities for innovation and development. The problems are basically two-fold

• Construction Quality Affected by moisture and other factors
• Using resources efficiently and sustainably

Water, which is otherwise a boon, can be extremely harmful to pavements. It forces the asphalt binder to strip from the stone aggregate and leads to distresses such as cracking, potholes, ravelling etc. It also compromises the dimensional stability of the pavement by entering into soil bases and making the soil loose which can cause undulations.

Apart from this, incorrect construction practices and injudicious use of resources not just causes inconvenience to construction workers and commuters both, but also results in pavements that need constant rehabilitation which translates to wasted time, effort and money.

With awareness spreading about ruthless depletion of natural resources and the deteriorating environment around us, the need of the hour is to be innovative and come up with solutions that not just ensure sustainability by way of high quality and everlasting roads, but also ensure a nature friendly means of execution.

With economies growing increasingly aware of the use of sustainable road construction, energy saving and proper resource allocation is turning out to be a challenge.

What’s the solution?

The key is to come up with a solution that ensures conservation of natural resources, monetary resources and energy & power while also promising high quality and everlasting roads.

This is what Zydex offers.

By making use of nanotechnology, Zydex has come up with innovative chemical agents that help induce changes on a nano level, effectively changing the properties of the pavement construction material. This ensures higher strength and durability of pavements.

Zydex Road Solutions provides innovative Bitumen Additives that chemically enhance the bonds between the asphalt binder and the aggregate while also making the mix immune to water and the damages caused by it.

The warm mix asphalt solutions allows the contractor to reduce the temperature of the asphalt mix and work at lower temperatures while giving the same, or even better results than hot mix asphalt. This warm mix asphalt solution by Zydex not just helps in saving energy and fuel but also results in better working conditions.

The cold mix asphalt solutions for surface dressings and bond coats is profoundly dependable. The additives used to make this cold mix, enhances the bonds between the asphalt and the aggregate, thus creating a seamless bonding membrane between the pavement layers. It also reduces the amount of asphalt binder to be used. These additives also reduce wastage by eliminating the possibility of tire pick up.

Zydex also provides innovative soil stabilization and dust control solutions that make the soil bases impermeable to water and reduce the expansivity of the base, thus making it dimensionally stable. The nano acrylic co-polymer creates strong inter-particle bonds which when coupled with the water resistant nature of the base, means an immensely strong and self-strengthening base.

Zydex Road Solutions provides the following features:

• Anti-Stripping: Reactive anti-stripping agent with world class performance.
• Warm-Mix Anti-Stripping: Patented warm-mix technology for building green and long-lasting roads.
• Prime Coat: Penetrative, reactive and waterproofed bond coat.
• Tack Coat: Improved spray, reduced tire tack and quick-setting tack coat.
• Soil Stabilization: Solutions for expansivity control and bonding of in-situ soil to replace stone bases and asphalt layers in road design.
• Micro surfacing: Improved coating and strength.
• Slurry Seal: Improved coating and better WTAT performance
• Chip Seal (Surface Dressing): Improved strength and bonding to the base.
• Waterproofing of soil bases: Water resistance with permeability reduced to 10^-7 cm/sec.
• Dust Control: 90% dust control in 1^st spray with relief up to 98% in 2-3 sprays
• Asphalt Emulsion Additives: Improved emulsification, reduced particle size and stronger bond strength.

These nanotechnology solutions provide a 360 degree mitigation and protection of roads. Sustainable construction and energy efficiency become easy to achieve with innovative tools like these!