Asphalt is one of the most frequently used materials in the construction industry. It is used for road building, bridge construction, parkways, garage repairs, pathways, and so much more. The material is a petroleum-based product and has a sticky, black, semi-solid consistency when wet. Asphalt coating is often called black top coating. Asphalt concrete pavement formulations typically contain just 5% asphalt cement. The remaining 95% of those mixes is composed of aggregates like sand, gravel, stone, etc. Due to the fact that asphalt cement has a high viscosity, it needs to be heated before it can be mixed with various aggregates.
Asphalt mixing plants are used to manufacture different bitumen mixes needed by the construction industry. Such plants are typically stationed near to construction sites, but you are can also find mobile asphalt plants for sale whose portability features mean they can be easily set up where they are needed. Many small building firms invest in mini portable asphalt mixing plants to enable them to create small batches of different asphalt mixes for different construction jobs at different locations.
Mobile asphalt plants are also a great investment option for companies that carry out “fixing” jobs on highways and pavements. Fixing is essential asphalt repair work on damaged parts of pavements and roads. It can involve filling in potholes or patching over cracks. Mobile batch mix plants are ideal for all tasks that require relatively small quantities of workable asphalt mixes.
One of the main reasons why different asphalt mixes are used for road construction is because they are strong, durable, non-slip, fire retardant and water-resistant. Furthermore, asphalt surfaces can be quickly repaired. You will see roads with bitumen black top coating all over the world as the road-building technique has proved to be successful for modern civilizations. In addition to road development, asphalt materials are also used for waterproofing buildings.
Hot-mix asphalt concrete is typically used to build and repair roads in high traffic areas, while cold mix bitumen concrete is typically used to repair roads that see less action. Cold mix blends are also more commonly used for small repair jobs.
Batch mix plants and automatic continuous asphalt mixing plants each have a different set of pros and cons. Continuous mix plants, for instance, can run round-the-clock producing hundreds of tons of high-grade asphalt mix each day. Batch mix plants, meanwhile, have lower hourly production rates and require asphalt mixes to be manufactured in batches. The good thing about manufacturing asphalt concrete in batches, however, is that you can easily change the formulation between batches. It is harder to alter the formulation of asphalt mixes in continuous stationary plants once they have entered full operational mode. So, it’s important to consider your use-case when looking for bitumen mixing machinery.