Common Terms used in Road Construction

One of the areas in the World of Construction is the Construction of Roads. Getting involved in this kind of work is not an easy task, so, understanding the most basic and common terminologies involved in this job is an advantage.

1. CONCRETE PAVEMENT – a slab of concrete basically consists of a mixture of Portland cement, Fine aggregate, Coarse aggregate, Admixture (when specified) and Water in Standard proportions specified by the Engineer.

2. PORTLAND CEMENT - binding material in the form of a finely ground powder, usually gray, that is manufactured by burning and grinding a mixture of limestone and clay or limestone and shale.

3. FINE AGGREGATE - consists of natural sand, stone screenings, or other inert materials with similar characteristics, or combinations thereof, having hard, strong and durable particles.

4. COARSE AGGREGATE - consists of crushed stone, gravel, blast furnace slag, or other approved inert materials of similar characteristics, or combinations thereof, having hard, strong, durable pieces and free from any adherent coatings.

5. ADMIXTURES - A material other than water, aggregates, and hydraulic cement that is used as an ingredient of concrete or mortar and is added to the batch immediately before or during its mixing. This is generally used to provide an economical means of improving one or more properties of fresh or hardened concrete. Other use is to ensure the quality of concrete during the stages of mixing, transporting, placing and curing in adverse weather conditions.

6. ASPHALT PAVEMENT – a slab basically consists of asphalt mixture. Such mixture is composed of aggregates, binder and filler.

7. BATCHING PLANT – is an equipment that combines various ingredients to form a concrete. Some ingredients include water, air, admixtures, cement & aggregates.

8. CURB & GUTTER – it is a combination of a short wall (curb) and a flat, concrete slab (gutter) that is constructed alongside the roadway that act as a barrier between the sidewalk and main roadway. The general purpose is also to drain out the water collected from the roadway onto the drainage.

9. SIDEWALK- this is also called a “footpath” or “footway” is a path along the side (parallel) of a road. This path is generally designed for the pedestrians. This can be constructed out of concrete pavement or sometimes asphalt.

10. BROOMING – it is the process of adding corrugations on the concrete pavement to give an extra traction to the concrete (extra grip between the road & the wheel).

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