Asphalt is a solid and compact mixture of hydrocarbons and minerals that is mostly used to build road pavement..
Solid mixture of hydrocarbons and minerals used to pave roads and streets and to waterproof roofs
Its most outstanding physical characteristics are viscosity, its stickiness and its intense black color; and as we said at the beginning, its primary use is given as binder in asphalt mixtures at the request of the construction of roads, highways and highways, since it is able to unite fragments of various materials and give cohesion to the whole through transformations in its own mass that give rise to the origin of new compounds.
The main component of asphalt is bitumen, also know as bitumen, bitumen is the residual fraction, that is to say, the bottom left after fractional distillation of petroleum, it is the heaviest part and has the highest boiling point of the process. Although they are commonly confused and use the terms interchangeably, bitumen should not be confused with asphalt, since the latter is a mixture of bitumen with minerals.
In addition, asphalt is a material that is present in the composition of crude oil.
Origin of the term
The origin of the term comes to mind Lake Asfaltities (the Dead Sea) in the basin of the Jordan river where its presence is predominant.
But in addition to the aforementioned Lake, the asphalt, in a totally natural state, is feasible to be found in the lagoons of some oil basins forming a complex mixture of solid hydrocarbons, such is the case of Guanoco lake, in Venezuela, the longest asphalt lake in the world with an area of four square kilometers and 75 million barrels of natural asphalt. Another similar lake that follows in importance is that of La Brea on Trinidad Island.
Although it turns out to be simple to obtain it and in terms of quality, natural asphalt has no competition, for a long time, and due to a strict economic question, it is not exploited but is obtained in oil refineries as a by-product.
Among the uses given to asphalt there are two very important, on the one hand, as we mentioned, for the construction of road and highway pavements, due to its adherent, cohesive and highly resistant characteristics that allow it to receive significant and permanent loads. And also how roof waterproofing, for example, since it is not very sensitive to humidity and gives effective results against the action of the water that comes from the rains.
Benefits of asphalt on highways and streets
Almost all streets and highways around the world are made of asphalt since it is a material that, due to its composition, provides good resistance to stress, is adherent and waterproof.
By case it is ideal to favor the transit of vehicles and trucks, among others; in the case of the latter, which have a volume and weight greater than that of cars, which also increases with the load they carry, driving on asphalt benefits them due to the adherence of the tires, while it is also convenient for those who manage highways because the strength of this material resisting any effort is ideal given that trucks obviously produce much greater wear on highways than that generated by vehicles or motorcycles.
Another advantage that we mention and we cannot ignore is the impermeability that the asphalt presents and that makes it a very safe material to be able to circulate on it on rainy days. Although caution is always recommended to motorists on rainy days to avoid skidding or non-braking problems, it is a reality that asphalt roads provide greater safety in this sense than others that are not made of this material.
On the other hand, roads where the asphalt has not yet reached for various reasons, and which are made of sand or earth, tend to be cut off or useless when heavy rainfall occurs. It is really impossible to drive on a flooded dirt road for a vehicle as it will most likely get stuck.
On the asphalt of the streets or highways, various indications for motorists are usually painted, such as the thick vertical white stripes that have the mission of indicating that the pedestrian must circulate and cross and for case, the car must stop behind them .
The division of the lanes is also painted on them, in white as well.
On dual-lane routes, it is painted yellow to indicate that cars cannot pass the lane because it is dangerous since there is no total visibility on the other side that allows us to confirm that no car is coming from the front.
