Examining asphalt volcanoes' natural communities

Santa Barbara Channel's natural oil seeps are a beach-goer's bane, flecking the shores with blobs of tar. But the leaking petroleum also creates fascinating geologic and biologic features. About 10 miles off the coast of ...

Daylight causes road damage

The durability of asphalt depends crucially on bitumen—the black binder that holds the small stones in the asphalt together. As the bitumen ages, it can change its properties and become brittle, eventually causing the asphalt ...

Worn tires could be reused in new asphalt roadways

Swiss drivers wear out countless tires. Instead of incinerating them, they could be reused locally: The asphalt of various countries has long contained rubber from used tires. Empa and its partners from industry are adopting ...

Polymers pave way for wider use of recycled tires in asphalt

Each year, about 27 million tires end up in landfills, dumps and stockpiles, where they pose health and environmental hazards. These tires could get a second life as components of the roads they once traveled, but blends ...

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Asphalt

Asphalt /ˈæsfɔːlt/ ( listen) or /ˈæsʃfɛlt/, also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch. Until the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used.

The primary use of asphalt is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.

The terms asphalt and bitumen are often used interchangeably to mean both natural and manufactured forms of the substance. In American English, asphalt (or asphalt cement) is the carefully refined residue from the distillation process of selected crude oils. Outside the United States, the product is often called bitumen. Natural deposits terminology also sometimes uses the word bitumen, such as at the La Brea Tar Pits.

Naturally occurring asphalt is sometimes specified by the term "crude Bitumen"; its viscosity is similar to that of cold molasses. whilst the material obtained from the fractional distillation of crude oil (boiling at 525 °C (977 °F)) is sometimes referred to as "refined bitumen".

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA