🏗️ Type testing of bituminous mixtures — the AVCP procedure, PN-EN 13108-20

Construction PN-EN 13108-20

Overview

THE SCOPE FROM THE PKN CATALOGUE CARD, IN FULL: "This European Standard specifies the Type Testing procedure for use in the assessment and verification of performance (AVCP) of bituminous mixtures used in roads, airfields and other areas intended for traffic."

WHAT TYPE TESTING IS AND HOW IT DIFFERS FROM ROUTINE TESTING. Type testing is carried out ONCE for a given mixture — when it is introduced, when its composition changes, or when the source of the constituents changes — in order to demonstrate the performance of the product. Routine testing, carried out within factory production control, checks instead whether production keeps to the demonstrated type. The sentence "the mixture has passed type testing" therefore does not mean that every batch conforms — and the sentence "the routine tests come out well" does not replace type testing.

AVCP — THE SAME SYSTEM AS WITH CEMENT. The abbreviation stands here for assessment and verification of performance — the PKN card for this standard expands AVCP without the word "constancy", whereas the card of PN-EN 197-2 contains it; the mechanism is the same, the expansion of the abbreviation on the two cards is not. Type testing is one of its elements: the initial demonstration of performance on which the manufacturer's declaration rests.

THREE KINDS OF SURFACE — ROADS, AIRFIELDS AND OTHER AREAS INTENDED FOR TRAFFIC. The same list as in the road aggregates standard PN-EN 13043, described in this knowledge base. It recurs throughout the family of road documents and means that the scope is not limited to public roads.

PLACE IN THE SERIES. The PN-EN 13108 series contains requirements for particular kinds of mixture (parts 1–9) and common parts: 20 — type testing and 21 — factory production control. The catalogue also holds part 31 (PN-EN 13108-31:2020-01); we do not treat the list as closed, as we have not reviewed the series in its entirety. Methods of testing mixtures are in the separate PN-EN 12697 series, represented in this knowledge base by, among others, the entry on density (part 5 of the series), present in this knowledge base. Type testing is therefore not a method — it is a PROCEDURE which indicates which methods of the 12697 series to apply and how to bring their results together.

CHANGE OF LANGUAGE VERSION. The edition in force, PN-EN 13108-20:2016-07, is in the ENGLISH version and superseded PN-EN 13108-20:2008 together with corrigendum AC:2008 — both available in POLISH. The newer editions of PN-EN 482, PN-EN 933-2 and PN-EN 12390-4 (separate entries in this knowledge base) likewise lost the Polish version — but THIS IS NOT A RULE, in either direction: PN-EN ISO 11290-1:2017-07 (Listeria) gained a Polish version three and a half years after the English one, while a standard of the PN-ISO family — PN-ISO 5667-11 — lost its Polish text with the 2017-10 edition. The language version is decided by the card of THE edition being cited. It is worth noting that the supersession covered the standard TOGETHER with its corrigendum — the "Supersedes" field lists both documents.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We do not have the text of the standard — PKN supplies it for a fee (34 pages, KT 212 — the PKN technical committee for Road Construction and Maintenance). We therefore GIVE NEITHER the range of tests making up type testing, NOR the number of samples, NOR the conditions of validity of the testing, NOR the circumstances requiring it to be repeated.

Method principle

Type testing is a one-off demonstration of the performance of a mixture: a set of tests is carried out by the methods of the PN-EN 12697 series and the results are brought together so as to describe the product placed on the market. The result of type testing forms the basis of the manufacturer's declaration, and factory production control then checks whether current production corresponds to the demonstrated type.

Applications

• Placing a new bituminous mixture on the market
• A change in the composition of a mixture or in the source of its constituents — circumstances requiring type testing
• Assessment and verification of performance (AVCP) of bituminous mixtures
• Mixtures for roads, airfields and other areas intended for traffic

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 13108-20:2016-07 (wersja angielska; wprowadza EN 13108-20:2016 [IDT])

Title (PL)

Mieszanki mineralno-asfaltowe -- Wymagania -- Część 20: Badanie typu

Title (EN)

Bituminous mixtures — Material specifications — Part 20: Type Testing

Step-by-step procedure

1. Establish whether type testing is required

   Introduction of a mixture, a change of composition or of the source of constituents. WE DO NOT GIVE THE DETAILED CIRCUMSTANCES — they are in the text of the standard.

2. Establish the kind of mixture

   The requirements for kinds of mixture are in parts 1–9 of the PN-EN 13108 series.

3. Carry out the tests by the methods of the PN-EN 12697 series

   The procedure indicates which methods to apply; the methods themselves are in the separate series.

4. Bring the results together into type testing

   The result forms the basis of the declaration of performance.

5. Link with production control

   Type testing does not replace factory production control (part 21), nor the other way round.

Required equipment and apparatus

Reagents, media and consumables

Health and safety (OHS)

• Bituminous mixtures are tested at elevated temperature — risk of burns
• Fumes from hot bitumen contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — extract ventilation is required
• TECHNICAL NOTE: "the mixture has passed type testing" is not a judgement on the conformity of a particular batch

Frequently asked questions