CSS Report ENG 1/2003  -  Advice Note for the Specification of Thin Surfacing
This is a very important document even though it consists of just a few pages.
I would suggest it is required reading for all engineers and engineering technicians who are involved in specifying Thin Surfacing on local authority road networks. 
The information contained in the Advice Note will also be a good guide to those specifying materials for motorways and trunk roads.
This is an excellent document which has been needed for some time to clarify significant omissions in the specification and purchase of Thin Surfacings. I believe the CSS (formerly the County Surveyors' Society) are to be congratulated in publishing this note, as I am sure there are those who would rather it had not appeared.
I particularly like the section on "Declaration of Design", this should go a long way to sorting out the approval of Thin Surfacing "systems" where aggregates and binders can be changed from those originally submitted in the bituminous mixture that achieved approval under the Highway Authority Product Approval Scheme (HAPAS).
I would strongly recommend the purchase of ENG 1/2003 to everybody involved in specifying and purchasing bituminous road surfacing materials.  
Copies are available from the,

CSS Honorary Secretary and Treasurer,
Lincolnshire County Council,
City Hall,
LINCOLN,
LN1 1DN
Tel. 01522 553098    Fax. 01522 512335

Cost is £5:00 to members and £10:00 to non-members 

It may seem a lot for a few sheets of paper but I believe it is a bargain for the good sense it contains.

However, being me, I still firmly believe that most bituminous mixture requirements for local authority roads can be found in BS 4987 and BS 594, if you know a bit about the job, consult your friendly Materials Engineer.

Updated Footway Guide
This recently published updated edition of the,
TRL Application Guide 26 : Footway and Cycle Route Design, Construction and Maintenance Guide,
is an absolutely excellent guide and engineers and technicians who are involved in this work really must have access to a copy. 
I could try to describe what the report covers but that would take too long. I will just say it is very thorough and covers just about everything the title eludes to, and some, e.g. inspection regimes.
It costs about £50:00 and is obtainable from the TRL Publications Department.
The guide has been around for some years, originally commissioned by the CSS and the Pavement Engineering Group of the Highways Agency.
The Highways Agency has continued to fund this work and commissioned the TRL to produce this latest edition of Application Guide 26.

Disappearing "Drafts"
I do not know of the authors of TRL Application Guide 26, but I am impressed by the mention of,
Draft BS EN 13108-5 : Bituminous Mixtures - Material Specification : Part 5 : Stone Mastic Asphalt, 
in the list of specification references.
Not a lot of people know about this draft but it was published, as a draft, several years ago, but has never been ratified as a British Standard. I found this an excellent document, and I believe it mirrors the German (the nation that developed SMA) specification for SMA. 
It is my opinion that we might not now have the confusion over what is and what is not Stone Mastic Asphalt if this draft had been ratified as a full British Standard, and engineers and technicians would now have a reference to be able to specify the type of SMA they required.
However it is just nice to know that there are other "materials" people out there even if we are an endangered species and likely to become extinct quite soon.
[ But until the above draft is published if you want information on specifying stone mastic asphalt you could do worse than look at,
"Specification for stone mastic asphalt",
available on the web courtesy of the "New Zealand Bitumen Contractors Association".
It may not be suitable for every part of the world but it is a very informative document and well worth downloading, it is in .pdf format. ]

And while I am on the subject of draft BS EN specifications, I have just remembered another draft document that I do not believe has yet received full ratification.
This is,
EN 13108-2 : Bituminous mixtures - Materials Specifications : Part 2 : Asphalt concrete for very thin layers, 
in fact part of the same group of specifications that contain the SMA information.
Again, this seemed a most useful specification relating to bituminous mixtures to be laid very thin, and meant that we would all be speaking the "same language".
I am not aware that this has become a full BS EN Standard, but perhaps you ought to check. I do not claim to be infallible, and you really should check everything people tell you about highways maintenance these days, I know I do.

British Standards for Local Authorities
The British Standards Institute have set up a dedicated web address for those of us looking for British Standards that are particularly applicable to local authorities, and "we" (the highways maintenance fraternity) even have our own section that relates to roads, highways and transport.
Would you believe the website is called, www.localauthorities.org, no confusion there.
From the main page, if you then click the option headed,
"Detailed information on most popular standards related to local authorities", 
and then,
"Roads, Highways and Transport",
you will arrive at a list of British Standards relevant to our line of work, which is nice, it is a little incomplete as yet, but am sure it will be expanded. 
But it is good to see BS 594:Hot rolled asphalt for roads and other paved areas:Part1,
at the top of the list, with Part 2, a close second, and it would be nice to see reference to,
BS 4987:Parts 1 & 2 : Coated macadam (asphalt concrete) for roads and other paved areas.
 
But until the BSI list of standards applicable to "Roads, Highways and Transport" is completed perhaps you would like to refer to the pages on this site :-
British Standards List and Associated Information
and
BS EN Specification List and related information

These lists do not claim to be comprehensive or even completely up to date, they are a GUIDE to what is available.

I believe the new website provided by BSI is an excellent initiative and I hope they will continue to develop it.
I really do like the use of well thought out, precise, practical standards that everybody can refer to, and by precise I do not necessarily mean onerous in being able to comply with them. 
But a standard with dozens of "categories" and an abundance of small print "exceptions" is not much of a standard, however it is a lot better than no standard at all.
What you need is a good Materials Engineer, if you can find one, who understands all the categories and the small print and he will be able to prepare you a contract document and an Appendix 7/1, by making reference to British Standards, that will keep you "safe".

Surface Dressing Photograph 
This is a photograph I took quite recently, and is of, what is known in the business, a "wet-edge", and the next rip of the surface dressing train will match in with this unchipped area to try and avoid any ridges. But please understand this is not an exact process at the speeds this process takes place, and a small amount of overlap is better than missing an area.
Clicking on the image will cause it to enlarge.
I just thought the image showed quite nicely the old road surface, the sprayed emulsion binder and the chippings spread on to the binder, and for those not familiar with the surface dressing process this would be a good insight as to what is happening.
Obviously "they" are paying me too much if I can use a £1:00 coin for the purposes of scale.

Impending Aggregate Specification Changes

This page is already quite lengthy, so please see the May 2003 Newsletter for the background to this topic.
The Quarry Products Association   (QPA) have produced a number of extremely good guides that relate to the massive changes that will affect the specifying of aggregates in the UK and Europe.
These guides are extremely good reading, and I would recommend them to you all, they come in .pdf format and can be downloaded from their website.
However as good as these guides are in the space that they occupy the specifications they give guidance on are large and complex documents that need some real study by engineers and technicians who understand these matters, perhaps a Materials Engineer.
There are "subtleties" within these specifications that if you are not aware of them could cause problems. 
E.g. - I suggest you look at the changes in "flakiness" specifying, do not email me, work it out for yourself. 
These specifications are due to come in to force on the 1/1/2004.
However there are "rumours" this date may be delayed, but even if there is a delay they will be introduced sooner or later, so begin to understand the changes they will bring as soon as possible, ignorance is no defense.

Motto of the Month

"All that really belongs to us is time, even he who has nothing else has that."