7th CONFERENCE ON ASPHALT PAVEMENT FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA

INCREASING SKILLS OF LABOUR-BASED CONTRACTORS THROUGH

TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATE ROAD SURFACING TECHNOLOGY

by P A K Greening1, C S Gourley1 and J M Tournee2

1
Transport Research Laboratory, Old Wokingham Road, Crowthorne, Berkshire,
RG45 6AU, UK
2
ILO/ASIST, 12th Floor Karigamombe Centre, 53 Samora Machel Avenue, P O Box 210,
Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Minor roads in rural and urban areas are vital to the socio-economic well being of communities
by providing access to schools, clinics, jobs, neighbouring communities and higher order roads.
The provision of bituminous surfacings either as spot improvement measures or on longer
lengths of road can greatly improve wet season passibility and reduce maintenance needs. In
urban areas and villages there are also additional dry season benefits from dust reduction.
Bituminous surfacings constructed by labour-based techniques are a cost effective method of
improving accessibility whilst providing opportunities for increasing the skills base of emerging
contractors. The paper reviews some labour-base surfacing techniques which increase
opportunities for the development of communities and small-scale entrepreneurs.

1. INTRODUCTION

In civil engineering, there often appears to be quite long delays between the development of
technology and its wide acceptance by practitioners. These delays reduce the benefits from
investment in research and technological development. Much of the investment in rural road
infrastructure is aimed at the alleviation of rural poverty attained through sustainable
development and capacity building programmes. It is now recognised, perhaps belatedly, that
sustainability can only be assured through a strong indigenous consultancy and contractor
industry with a broad knowledge base of the technology in their area of chosen specialisation.

Traditionally, road surfacing (sealing) technology has been an equipment intensive operation. In
many cases, however, simple adaptation of these methods would enable bituminous surfacing to
be constructed without the need for expensive equipment or highly skilled personnel. Adopting
simple surfacing technologies increases the scope for providing all weather access if these
options are used selectively to deal with areas where there are traffickability problems. These
include areas where poor materials exist or the terrain is difficult. Very often, wet season
traffickability and passibility on rural roads is reduced due to the condition of quite short sections
of road and “spot improvements” to these sections alone can have a large impact on the
movement of motorised and non-motorised traffic. Spot improvements can take many forms
such as: building an embankment at a critical low lying section of a road, repairing erosion
damage and providing erosion protection, providing a culvert to improve drainage, and the
sealing of steep sections of the road. The repair or upgrading of short sections of road, which can
range from a few metres to a few kilometres, generally yields large social and economic benefits
to local communities. Most of these spot improvements, including the provision of low-cost

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seals, can be carried out by small-scale contractors.

The inclusion of sealing technology within the skills base of small-scale contractors and local
consultants also has engineering, financial, social and environmental benefits. The main purpose
of this paper is to raise awareness of the technologies available to local contractors and
consultants for provision of low cost bituminous seals constructed using labour-based methods
so that these technologies can be put into practice whilst simultaneously increasing the skills
base of small-scale contractors.

Considerable effort is now being made to transfer technology to small-scale contractors in the
road sector but the skills base is often quite narrow. For example, contractors are often trained to
construct labour-based roads to one type of design only. Similarly, contractors may be trained in
labour-based maintenance techniques. Whilst training in these skills is important, there is some
concern that the skills base is too narrow for many of these contractors to succeed in the long
term. Opportunities for work are likely to be restricted if contractors are trained only in limited
skills within one sector.

Furthermore, it is assumed that funding for the maintenance of these lightly trafficked roads will
be available in the future from Road Funds and that this will ensure an adequate supply of work
for small-scale road maintenance contractors. However, evidence is already emerging that this
funding is in no way assured for the maintenance of these roads. Even with relatively high fuel
levies it is evident that there is likely to be a shortfall of funding for maintenance in some
countries. In these circumstances, funding for the maintenance of the lightly trafficked rural and
community roads on which small-scale contractors usually operate will receive low priority and
are likely to be the first casualties when funding is scarce.

Therefore, if these contractors are to remain viable, it is important to widen their skills base so
that they can diversify their operations when work is scarce. Although the skills described in this
paper are still linked predominantly to roads sector operations, they will contribute to increasing
the skills base of small-scale contractors and provide opportunities for some diversification into
other sectors.

2. LABOUR-BASED ROAD CONSTRUCTION

Between 70 and 80 per cent of the road network in Africa is unpaved. Although the situation
varies substantially in different countries, most roads in the rural areas are of earth construction
with some of the busier roads having a gravel wearing course. In many peri-urban areas too, it
has been accepted that the appropriate standard of construction should be unpaved. Increasingly,
many of these roads in southern Africa and elsewhere are being successfully constructed and
maintained by labour-based methods. In more recent years labour-based methods have also been
seen as an important route to allow the entry of emerging contractors into the road sector. The
main reason for this approach being successful is that by using labour-based methods, the level
of investment required by the contractor is reduced when compared with the size of investment
that would be required for a more equipment intensive operation. Using labour-based methods it
is also possible for contractors to enter the roads sector at different levels of operation ranging
from petty contracting for routine maintenance, to periodic maintenance, rehabilitation and larger

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construction contracts. With the thrust towards decentralisation evident within countries in the
region, it is important to have contractors who can operate at the local level without incurring
large mobilisation costs for relatively simple works.

As unemployment continues to grow within the region and the world generally, the use of local
resources becomes increasingly attractive not only in financial terms but also in social terms. By
adopting labour-based methods, temporary employment can be offered to people in rural areas
who are generally far from other work opportunities. The development of locally-based (district
and province level) contractors can assist in spreading the employment opportunities into all
areas of a country, and provide capacity at the local level for the implementation of road
maintenance and improvement works. This is particularly important as the emphasis shifts away
from road construction towards maintaining existing road investments. This inevitably results in
less new construction work being undertaken and an increase in the need for maintenance and
repair works.

Labour-based contractors trained to work on the un-paved road network, can easily adapt their
working techniques to take up off-carriageway routine maintenance contracts for on major paved
highways. The introduction of training into the appropriate materials, equipment and correct
maintenance procedures for pothole patching operations can allow them to expand to take up
contracts which involve work on the carriageway itself. Small scale contractors have also been
trained to carry out simple pothole repairs in the urban sector and this approach has been
successfully demonstrated in Johannesburg and other cities.

In many rural areas the focus on road provision may move away from the concept of vehicle
operating costs and travel time to that of all weather access. When access is treated as a priority,
(i.e. to schools, clinics, markets, transport services etc.), it is likely that there will be an increased
focus on spot improvement solutions. If spot improvement works are to be carried out, then the
conventional equipment based approach becomes expensive and cumbersome for the small
sections of work to be tackled thus creating a further opening for labour-based methods using
locally based contractors.

3. LABOUR-BASED SEALED SURFACES: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Properly planned and supervised labour-based methods assisted by appropriate equipment can
produce rural roads of a good technical standard suitable for carrying relatively low volumes of
traffic. Regardless of the method of construction, there are circumstances where unpaved roads
(or sections of road) are susceptible to rapid deterioration or give problems of passibility.

Some typical examples are:

a) Areas where the available soils or gravels are of poor engineering quality
b) In steep terrain
c) The land is low lying and liable to flooding
d) Traffic levels (motorised and non-motorised) are relatively high
e) In villages and peri-urban areas.

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In circumstances such as these, the traffickability and passibility could be greatly improved by
the application of a low cost seal.

In labour-based road construction in Manggarai District in Indonesia, the implementation

procedure is based on contracts, agreed products and services. The procedure aims at improving
the efficiency of construction work (while maintaining the quality) and enhancing the capacity of
the implementing institution (the Diocese) to become a competent and competitive development
agency. The emphasis in the programme is therefore not only to improve the skills of the labour-
based contractors - based on communities - but to ensure work opportunities through
strengthening the capacity of the development agency. The project constructs and up-grades
stone paved roads. The up-grading works consist either of a Double Bituminous Surface
Treatment or Penetration Macadam surfacing. The only items of plant required are a static roller
and heater/sprayer for the manual spraying of the bitumen. As a result of the training work done
on this project, the region has a local capacity for producing sealed roads. (Beusch, A et al,
1997)

It is becoming more widely accepted that sealed roads, providing all weather access, can be
constructed at much lower costs if appropriate design standards and maintenance methods are
adopted. Substantial savings can be achieved by adopting spot improvement methods and other
innovative and cost effective solutions such as "design-by eye" geometrics, low-cost
improvements to drainage, use of "lower-standard" materials in the pavement structure and
alternative surfacing techniques suited to the region which use locally available materials.

The argument most commonly stated against surfacing rural roads, or even short sections of
road, carrying low levels of traffic is usually based on construction cost. On this basis, surfacing
is generally perceived as uneconomic. However, there is an argument to look at costs carefully,
particularly the whole life cycle costs of having to re-gravel in a 3 to 8 year cycle using an ever
diminishing resource. The increasing haul distances required to recover gravel, the destruction
and loss of agricultural land after extraction and the use of these ever diminishing non-renewable
resources also has cost implications both for the environment and future development planning.
Roads constructed with or on erodible materials and in areas where vehicle generated dust cause
problems such as in villages and peri-urban centres are further areas where low cost sealing
would lend itself to providing cost effective improvement.

Further examples of circumstances when provision of a sealed surface could provide a cost
effective solution to engineering and environmental problems are given in Table 1. The social
and political benefits of providing a surfaced road within a labour-based framework are also
included in this table.

Although much more evidence is needed on the cost components of low-volume roads, life-cycle
costing encourages a more flexible approach to road provision and greater scope for engineering
innovation which can yield considerable cost savings. In the future, more low-volume roads are
likely to be built, rehabilitated and maintained by labour-based methods. In this environment,
the skill base of small contractors needs to be increased to include construction and maintenance
of bituminous seals.

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A range of products, construction technologies and maintenance techniques have been developed
over the past decade or so. These enable sealed roads to be provided at much lower costs and
greatly improve the economic benefits in life cycle terms. Thus, in some circumstances, sealed
roads can provide economic benefits at relatively low traffic levels and spot improvements to
short sections of roads can often give very large economic benefits indeed. Many of these
techniques and technologies have been developed specifically with the small-scale contractors in
mind. Maximum use is made of plant already available on many labour-based schemes which
removes the need for the large capital intensive plant necessary for conventional surfacing
schemes. The technology associated with labour-based methods of road construction continues
to develop and the standard of construction is now generally much higher than in the past.
Labour-based technology has also been developed for surfacing roads and has in some countries
been used to construct roads carrying relatively large volumes of traffic.

Table 1: Check-list for consideration of labour-based sealing

Category Sub-category Considerations
Engineering climate heavy rainfall area;
dry and dusty area

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terrain flat, poorly drained;

rolling and mountainous;
geometry alignment poor;
steep gradients
materials lack of good materials in the area;
plasticity too high resulting in slipperiness;
poorly graded materials resulting in erosion;
traffic disproportionate amount of heavy traffic;
even light traffic in poorly accessible areas
spot not necessary to seal total length of road - look for
improvements worst spots
Financial whole life costs comparison of initial construction cost for sealed and
unpaved options
maintenance comparison of maintenance costs for sealed and
strategy unpaved options
Social and employment local employment with earnings spent in local area
Political
build local skills and broadening of work opportunities for local
capacity small-scale contractors
improved access all year access to schools and markets
Environmental dust reduction in dust from gravels especially in villages
and Health and peri-urban areas
erosion heavy rainfall areas;
erodible soils
access to health all year access to hospitals and clinics especially in
services wet season when malaria and other illnesses are more
prevalent
food security all year movement of food and agricultural inputs
possible

4. CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES TO SURFACING

The most common method of sealing low-volume roads is to use a surface dressing. Surface
dressing can provide an effective and economical running surface for newly constructed road
pavements. It is a simple and durable road surface treatment which is highly effective if

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adequate care is taken in the planning and execution of the work. The process is used throughout
the world both for surfacing medium and lightly-trafficked roads and as a maintenance operation
for roads of all kinds.

Typically, the process is used for surfacing more lightly trafficked new roads carrying up to 500
vehicles/lane/day. In these circumstances, resealing with another surface dressing becomes
necessary after 4-5 years but on more lightly trafficked roads these surfacings perform well for
periods often in excess of 10 years.

The main function of a surface dressing is to provide a waterproof seal to a road surface. It will
also arrest the deterioration of an existing road surface that is showing signs of distress, restore
the skid resistance and provide a dust-free and durable running surface. Surface dressing is
therefore a very important maintenance technique which is capable of greatly extending the life
of existing sound road pavements. Under certain circumstances surface dressing may also
significantly retard the rate of failure of a road pavement, postponing for a while the need for
structural rehabilitation or reconstruction. Surface dressing has little or no structural strength
itself but by preventing the ingress of water it enables the inherent strength of the pavement and
the subgrade to be preserved.

A surface dressing comprises a thin film of 'binder', generally bitumen or tar, which is sprayed
onto the road surface and then covered with a layer of stone chippings. The stone chippings
protect this film of binder from damage by vehicle tyres, and they form a durable, skid-resistant
and dust-free wearing surface.

Over the years various adaptations and improvements have been made to the "standard" double
surface dressing method of construction which depends on the prevailing project circumstances.
These include the use of triple seals, "inverted" surface dressings and "Cape seals". However,
the conventional surfacing method for rural paved roads in many countries of southern Africa
and elsewhere is to apply a double layer of surface dressing using a penetration grade or cut-back
bituminous binder and aggregate on top of the primed road base. In some circumstances, the
prime coat is also omitted. On very lightly trafficked roads, a single seal surfacing, utilising one
layer of aggregate is also sometimes used. The most usual type of construction consists of a
prime coat of cut-back bitumen, tar (in a few countries) or emulsion followed by a tack coat of
bitumen and 13mm-19mm or 7mm-13mm stone and a seal coat of bitumen and 6mm-10mm or
1mm-6mm stone.

5. ADAPTING TECHNOLOGIES TO LABOUR

5.1 Construction

In developed countries the technological development in road surfacing has been aimed at more

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sophisticated surfacing techniques to accommodate the very high level of traffic and the
extremes of climatic conditions that prevail in many of these countries. Even in many African
countries, contractors specialising in road surfacing have equipment designed for the rapid
application of aggregate and binder. For the construction and maintenance of long sections of
road there are large savings in the economy of scale in the use of this equipment where rapid
application of the surfacing is important in terms of the efficient utilisation of plant and to
minimise disruption to traffic. Even on low-volume and labour-based roads there may be
circumstances where the use of plant is appropriate such as the surfacing of a previously
constructed labour-based road or in peri-urban areas where the work is concentrated in a small
area and the surfacing needs to be completed rapidly.

For many rural and labour-based road projects, however, where the rate of construction per
kilometre is slower than for machine-based operations, the use of sophisticated plant for
surfacing is neither appropriate nor cost-effective as utilisation rates are likely to be much lower.
In these circumstances, surfacing can be completed equally well by labour-based methods using
locally available resources.

Under the Labour-based Infrastructural Development Programme in Bangladesh, the Local

Government Engineering Department has managed contracts for the construction of 12,465 km
of paved road using labour-based methods. The work on the paved roads is only part of a wider
range of activities undertaken by the department. All the work of this national department is
carried out using labour-based contractors, some of which are formed by the landless poor. The
adopted wearing course consists of 25mm dense bituminous carpeting with the optimum bitumen
content fixed at 5.8% using the Marshall method of mix design. This is placed over a water
bound macadam base course. Very simple methods and equipment are used (such as heating the
bitumen and aggregates in panniers over an open fire before mixing and laying), and these
methods are well accepted by both the contractors and the department. A trial project in 1994
recommended dense bituminous carpeting and double bituminous surface treatment as most
suitable and durable for road surfacing using labour-based methods in the Bangladesh context.
(Hasan, R N, 1998).

In the southern Africa region, an example of the construction of a bituminous surfaced road in an
urban environment exists in the pilot study in the town of Phuthadithaba in North East Free state
in South Africa. (Bergh, A O et al, 1997). In this project, an emulsion treated base was
constructed over the existing structure using labour-based techniques.

5.2 Design

Most labour-based roads are between 3.5 metres and 5.5 metres wide. This range of widths is
easily accommodated by labour-based surfacing methods. Even on wider roads, a first approach
to upgrading to a bitumen surfaced standard is to provide a narrow-mat running surface with
gravel shoulders, a technique used in a number of countries in the region and elsewhere. Roads
surfaced to these standards are ideally suited to labour-based construction.

Although the provision of roads to this design has become less fashionable in recent years, the
technique has proved to be extremely effective on lightly trafficked roads even in some countries

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in Europe. These roads are often built to lower standards of geometric design but road safety
considerations can easily be accommodated by providing full width surfacing on tight curves or
at the brow of hills where sight distances may be less than those recommended in a "standard"
design approach. This "design by eye" approach has been successful even on feeder roads with
relatively high levels of traffic where the main benefits are much lower construction costs
through reduced earthworks.

When surfacing roads constructed by labour it is important to achieve as much compaction as

possible to reduce secondary compaction by traffic and to produce a reasonable surface finish. A
technique used on gravel roads destined for surfacing is to allow traffic compaction for a period
before re-shaping and final rolling prior to surfacing. This technique is especially effective if
roads are trafficked through one wet season although this is not always practicable.

Labour-based roads are usually constructed with a cross-fall of 8 per cent to assist the rapid
dispersal of water from the running surface. On bitumen surfaced roads the cross-fall needs to be
reduced to 2.5 to 3.0 per cent because the surface is impervious to water and the higher cross-fall
causes construction problems due to binder run-off. The problem remains, however, on steep
gradients where alternative solutions such as penetration macadam might be more appropriate
which are also suitable for construction by labour.

5.3 Equipment and materials

One of the reasons that the bituminous sealing of roads is still regarded as an operation best done
by plant and unsuited to labour-based works relates to the plant and materials necessary to carry
out these works. The production of aggregate of nominally single size, with crushed faces in the
quantities necessary for large scale works usually requires the use of a crushing plant and a large
source of approved rock. Furthermore, the aggregate used for surfacing the highly trafficked
roads must meet strict cleanness, hardness and durability specifications. The production of
aggregate for low-volume roads whether in rural or peri-urban areas does not need to meet these
stringent specifications if appropriate standards are developed. Traffic volumes are low and
deterioration due to environmental factors is likely to be of more importance than traffic.
Aggregate in sufficient quantities to match the speed of construction can be produced by labour
without the use of large-scale equipment. The surfacing aggregate for rural road schemes
constructed in Botswana during the 1980's was produced and applied using labour.

The binders commonly used for surfacing are penetration grade bitumens which require heating
to high temperatures. These binders need a constant heat supply and for safety reasons are better
suited to application with specialised equipment. Cut-back bitumen binders soften at lower
temperatures but these are still well in excess of 100 degrees Celsius and are also not well suited
to labour-based works. Nevertheless, these binders have been used in some countries for
application by labour and one example of this is in Bangladesh.

Water-based emulsions which can be used at ambient temperatures or at temperatures much

lower than straight run bitumen are more suitable for labour-based surfacing as they are easier to
handle and safer to use. Emulsions "break" earlier in higher temperatures which reduces the
tendency to run off although some reduction in cross-fall may also be necessary.

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Very often, the simple adaptation of existing equipment is all that is required although the use of
additional equipment such as hand lances allows a more controlled and even application of
binder. On labour-based projects, pedestrian rollers are often available which can be used for the
initial rolling of the seal before trafficking. Even without rollers, the use of any transport
available for the initial compaction may be sufficient as traffic on many labour-based roads is
low and travels at low speed which is ideal for compaction of the surfacing.

6. LABOUR-BASED SURFACING OPTIONS

There are a number of surfacing techniques which are amenable to application by labour. These
include surface dressing (using emulsion), graded or OTTA seal, sand seals, slurry seal and
penetration macadam.

6.1 Surface dressing (emulsion)

The advantage of using a surface dressing is that the method is tried and tested and application
rates of both binder and aggregate are well defined making the design fairly straight forward.
Emulsion binders are much more user-friendly in that they do not need to be heated to such high
temperature and some emulsions can be used at ambient temperatures. Some care is needed in
the choice of emulsion to ensure that it is compatible with the aggregate used and that it has a
"breaking" time appropriate to the method of construction. The surface dressing of very low
volume roads is likely to be most applicable where suitable single sized aggregate is either
readily available or easily won.

6.2 Graded gravel seal

The use of aggregate with a wide particle size distribution instead of the nominally single sized
stone used in surface dressing was developed by the Norwegian Road Research Laboratory
where it is known as an "OTTA" seal. Originally, the graded aggregate was crushed rock
allowing a larger proportion of the crusher output to be used due to the wide particle size
distribution allowed.

In graded gravel seals, crushed or uncrushed gravels with low aggregate strength are permitted
and "soft" binders are normally recommended. The main differences between these seals and
conventional seals are summarised qualitatively in Table 2.

Table 2: Qualitative comparison of graded gravel seal and surface dressing

Seal Type Grading Envelope Binder Hardness Aggregate Strength
Graded seal Wide Soft Strong or Weak
Conventional Seal Narrow Hard Strong

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6.2.1 Graded gravel seal design

An empirical approach is normally used for the design of graded gravel seals and considerable
experience has already been acquired on the material properties and application rates of both the
binder and aggregate constituents. The construction of these seals is far more forgiving, in terms
of over-application of binder and aggregate, than a conventional seal. Bleeding can be more
easily cured by blinding with sand because of the softer binder and the crushing effect caused by
the over-application of aggregate is less of a problem with the more continuously graded
aggregate. The use of a prime coat on the road base prior to sealing is optional.

The design guides shown in Table 3 and Table 4 are far more flexible in terms of binder content,
aggregate particle size and application rates than for surface dressing. This flexibility is ideal for
labour-based works where it is often impossible to effect strict control of application rates. On
very low-volume roads, it is sufficient to sieve out the oversize and possibly the dust component
without worrying too much about the grading. This approach using local "sub-standard"
aggregates was successfully demonstrated in the surfacing of a number of roads in Botswana in
the early 1980's where aggregate was obtained by hand-screening sources of gravel from borrow
pits. The technique has since been used to surface roads in a number of other countries including
Kenya, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Evidence on the performance of these types of seal have shown them to have been satisfactory
for over 12 years on roads carrying up to 300 vehicles per day. Occasional problems of poor
surface/road base bonding can occur but this is likely to be more acute with fine-grained road
base materials and priming is recommended in these circumstances.

Generally, the durability of a bituminous surfacing is determined by the effects of ageing and
embrittlement of the bitumen. Even the coarse graded gravel seals are generally less open
textured and are thicker than an equivalent conventional surface dressing and for these reasons,
graded gravel seals might prove to be more durable.

Table 3: Typical design guidelines for OTTA seals in Botswana (Pinard, 1995)
Aggregates
Fraction Spread Rate
( ) ( 3/ 2)
Single Seal Yes 3(0)-12(16) 8-10 1.10-1.25

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Double First seal No 12-19 8-10 1.25-1.40

l
First seal Yes 12-19 1.10-1.20

Second seal N/A 3-12 1.10-1.25

Table 4: Particle size distributions for Otta seals

Sieve type and Per cent passing sieve size for type of Otta
size seal
BS sieve (mm) Dense seal Preferred for AADT<100
19 100 100
12.5 90-100 90-100
10 42-100 42-65
9.5 37-100 37-60
5 18-70 11-32
4.75 16-69 10-31
2.36 8-51 1-17
1.18 6-40 0-11
0.600 3-30 0-8
0.300 2-21 0-5
0.150 0-15 0-2
0.075 0-10 0-1

Some of the suggested merits of graded seals for lightly trafficked roads are given in Table 5.

Table 5: Relative merits of graded and conventional seals

Graded gravel seal Conventional seal
Use of materials • Relaxed aggregate • Stringent aggregate

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specifications specifications
• Maximum use of crusher • Minimum use of crusher
output output
Design • Empirical approach • Rational approach
• Relies on site trials
Construction • Binder and aggregate • Binder and aggregate
application rates not critical application rates applied
strictly
Durability • Durability aided by the use • Durability reduced by the
of soft binders use of hard binders

6.3 Sand seal

Where chippings for a surface dressing are unobtainable or are very costly to provide, sand can
be used as 'cover material' for a seal. Sand seals are less durable under heavy traffic than surface
dressings but can provide a satisfactory surfacing for lightly trafficked roads carrying less than
100 vehicles per lane per day.

Sand is often available in areas where aggregates for the production of surfacing stone are scarce.
These areas include arid areas, rivers and alluvial plains. In desert areas dune sand is often
available and although these sands are not as durable as the river deposits they can, nevertheless
be used for lightly trafficked roads. In low lying and alluvial areas quartz rich sand is often
available in river beds and surfacing seals constructed using these sands can perform extremely
well.

Conventionally, sand seals are applied by a single application of bitumen by a distributor

followed immediately by an application of sand size material. It is not possible, however, to
design a sand seal as precisely as is possible for, say, a surface dressing although typical
recommendations would be that clean coarse sand should be used, with a maximum size of 6mm,
containing no more than 15 percent of material finer than 0.3mm and a maximum of 2 percent of
material finer than 0.1mm. The sand should be applied at a rate of 6 to 7x10-3m³/m² (NITRR,
1971) and the binder, which may be a cutback or an emulsion, should be spread at a rate of
approximately 1.0 to 1.2 kg/m² depending on the type of surface being sealed.

Because sand seals can be constructed with emulsion as the binder, they are well-suited to
construction by labour-based methods and it is often sufficient just to hand-screen out any over-
sized particles. Some over application of the sand can be tolerated.
6.4 Slurry seal

In this process, a fine graded aggregate is mixed at ambient temperature with a bitumen emulsion
with a relatively high bitumen content. Some cement is usually added (Hawken, 1967) and the
mixture is applied to the road surface as a free-flowing slurry in a layer 5mm to 10mm thick. The
slurry penetrates and seals surface voids and cracks very effectively, thus the process is
particularly well suited to the maintenance of old bitumen surfaces. When the emulsion 'breaks'

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an impermeable bitumen-rich surface results. The aggregates used in slurry seals are normally
not greater than 6mm in size but some specifications include material up to 10mm in size.

Slurry seals can be made with simple, slow breaking, (stable) anionic emulsions in a static
mixing plant and then spread on the road by hand or by simple drag spreaders. When spread the
slurry needs little, if any, compaction and traffic compaction alone will often suffice once the
emulsion has 'broken'.

6.5 Penetration macadam

The two types of bituminous penetration macadam are semi-grouted and full depth (The Asphalt
Institute, 1964). The type of macadam selected will depend on the prevailing site conditions and
the materials available.

6.5.1 Semi-grouted macadam

Construction of 50mm thick semi-grouted macadam involves the following steps:

(i) Placing a layer of sand or quarry fines on the prepared formation to a depth of not more
than 13mm.
(ii) A uniform mixture of specified proportions of 40mm and 28mm single sized aggregates
and 14 to 20mm aggregate is placed on the sand layer to give a thickness of 50mm after
compaction. The aggregate is placed in such a way as to prevent segregation and to give
as dense a layer as possible.
(iii) During rolling a minimum amount of water is added to bring up an evenly distributed
slurry of the fines to depth of not more than two-thirds of the thickness of the layer.
Compaction is continued until appreciable movement of the aggregate under the roller
ceases.
(iv) K1-60 or K1-70 emulsion is then applied at a rate of between 3 and 5.5 litres per square
metre.
(v) Immediately after the emulsion has been applied sufficient 6 to 10mm size chippings are
spread to fill up any interstices and then rolled in.

6.5.2 Full-depth grouting

This type of construction is essentially the same as semi-grouted macadam except that the layer
of fines is omitted. A heavier application of emulsion is required to ensure that asphalt reaches
to the full depth of the aggregate layer. Typical application rates for emulsion are between 5.5
and 7 litres per square metre.

Pedestrian type vibrating rollers are required for penetration macadam to ensure that the fine
materials fill the interstices between the hand pitched stones.

6.6 Concrete strip

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 7th CONFERENCE ON ASPHALT PAVEMENT FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA

Traffickability is often a problem on steep rocky sections of low-volume unsealed roads. The
cost of the provision of a sufficiently thick layer of earth and gravel to provide a reasonably
smooth running surface is often prohibitive and is further exacerbated by erosion of the gravel
layer. An appropriate solution in these circumstances might be to use concrete strips in the
wheel paths with occasional passing places (which may be gravelled). These sections can be
constructed by labour as quite simple formwork is required for the strips.

7. CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge and application of appropriate sealing technologies enhances the skill base and
opportunities for small scale contractors who traditionally only have the capacity to construct and
maintain unpaved roads.

Standard surfacing technologies have been successfully adapted to labour-based road

construction and maintenance works in a number of countries. Design options available to the
labour-based practitioner include the use of graded or OTTA seals, sand and slurry seals and
penetration macadam.

The production and screening of aggregates as well as the application of binder and stone do not
require the use of expensive plant and equipment on labour-based works where economies of
scale are not a constraint.

The use of bituminous emulsions enables binders to be easily and safely handled.

Labour-based sealing has been considered in this paper mainly as a spot improvement option
where engineering conditions necessitate the need for an alternative surfacing to earth or gravel
to ensure access.

In some circumstances, the provision of a bituminous surfacing on longer lengths of low volume
and labour-based roads may also be justified in life cycle terms by the adoption of appropriate
standards and technologies and if the social, economic and environmental benefits, in addition to
the usual road user benefits, can be quantified. Such projects increase opportunities for the
development of communities and of small-scale contractors.

8. REFERENCES

1. BEUSCH A, HARTMANN P, PETTS R C, WINKELMANN P, (1997). Low cost

road construction in Indonesia - Labour-Based Road Projects in Manggaria District,
volume I & II.

2. HASAN R N (1998). Labour-based Infrastructure Development Programme in

Bangladesh, a paper presented in the workshop on Labour-based Infrastructure

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Development Programmes in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

3. BERGH O P, HENDRICKS P J, CASSIEM I, (CSIR, 1997). Rehabilitating and

Maintaining Surfaced Roads. Proceedings of the 6th regional seminar for labour-based
practitioners, Jinja, Uganda.

4. PINARD M (1995). Surfacings for low volume roads: The OTTA seal. Workshop on
low volume roads. Secondary and feeder roads development programme. Mandel
Training Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe.pp9.

5. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR TRANSPORT AND ROAD RESEARCH (1971).

Bituminous surface treatments for newly constructed rural roads. South African
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, TRH 3, Pretoria, (National Institute for
Road Research).

6. HAWKEN N (1967). Slurry seal—practical application and current use. Slurry seal
Symposium, Roads and Road Construction. 45 (531), 60.

7. THE ASPHALT INSTITUTE (1964). Asphalt surface treatments and asphalt

penetration macadam. Manual Series No. 13 (MS-13). College Park, Maryland, (The
Asphalt Institute).

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