Reinstatement of Openings in Highways

The Beginning of the End to "Partnering" ?

Price Fixing in the Construction Industry

Use of the Internet

Winter Maintenance 2009-10

BS EN 12591:2009
(Added 16-11-09)

Motto of the Month

Introduction
It is just three years since I retired, and I really do not know where the time has gone. I am afraid that time is like that, it just goes, or does it? Is the past still there to be re-visited by some complex new technology yet to be devised.
I make this strange comment because I have recently purchased a negative scanner, and "I are be mostly scanning negatives" in my spare time over the last couple of months.
Since I have several thousand 35mm. negatives dating back to my schooldays it is sometimes like visiting a time gone bye when the images appear from the scan, when the actual photographs have long been lost or forgotten.
In some cases I was at family functions taking photographs that I cannot remember taking, but these were occasions from my youth when I had more important things to remember.
I have never thrown away any good quality negatives although the method of storage, a shoe box, does not mean they have not always been efficiently catalogued. I exaggerate a little, some of my early negatives are nicely stored in suitably labelled negative files.
But a large number of more recent negatives were removed from the photograph envelopes and placed in one known place for safe keeping, i.e. the shoe box. So I have a considerable amount more cataloguing and filing to do as I scan.
A good many of these negatives are of work situations spanning the whole of my career, and it is good to have reaffirmed the images I hold in my mind, of places and situations that have been instrumental in building my knowledge and experience.
The images from the scanned negatives are of a much better quality than the scans I have taken of a photograph from the negative, in effect cutting out the middle man. So hopefully I will start to replace some of the images on my website with images of a much better quality.
Also taking into account that I am now working the website to a 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, not the 800 x 600 that I originally used, I would like to think that you will see some improvement in the quality of images used on the various pages of the website. It will not be immediate but will take place slowly as I work on updates and additions to existing pages, but I am trying not to add any more pages as I think there are already enough.
I just wish people would take more time to read all the information on the various pages relating to their particular need, rather than obtaining a little bit of information and then dropping me an email expecting me to provide them with the information they require. I may be being unfair as many readers may be finding the information they require without recourse to emailing me, I would like to think so.
I do try to help the ones who come with a genuine approach, some do not, but even then I will tell them where to look for the information rather than just provide it.

I always like my jottings to convey a meaning, and the meaning to this introduction is never throw away good information/records, you never know when it will be useful.
Yes it is possible to "read" a great deal from a trial hole and appropriate testing if you know how to "read" a road pavement profile and the test results. However good records on actual materials, dates used, supplier and contractor can be very useful when assessing the performance of a road pavement many years later.
In this day of information technology and data storage, I am surprised at how little "real" information on road pavement materials, especially bituminous surfacing materials, is actually, accurately, collected and collated.
If it were, or perhaps it has been but not published, we should be able to determine which materials have been successful and which have not.
"Pieces of paper" that cover a multitude of bituminous mixtures will not allow you to determine which actual bituminous mixtures/recipes/designs have been successful and which have not.
This storage and retrieval of real information should mean that you can support the suppliers and contractors who have provided you with the most successful surfacing, or other product or service.
But do take note that one example of success does not make the whole company product list successful.  

Reinstatement of Openings in Highways
There is now available for download a number of documents relating to the 3rd. revision of the,
Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways.
All these documents can be downloaded in .pdf format from the government website,
www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/openingsinhighways

One of the documents is a complete copy of the proposed revised 3rd. edition, i.e. before any further amendments that may be introduced as a result of this consultation exercise.

As poor quality reinstatement to openings in highways by the many and various utility companies is one of the major cause of fail in highway pavements, especially a prime cause/source of potholes I would suggest that you take a serious interest in this document and the consultation process.

I do wonder how many of those who look at the proposed 3rd. edition will understand much of the content relating to materials that are now able to be used in trench reinstatement, and if you think I am going to start explaining it to you I am not.

But you may like to read up on Alternative Reinstatement Materials in Appendix 9, especially the section on Hydraulically Bound Mixtures, there seems to be an awful lot of appropriate specifying to ensure the quality of this varied material. How many of you have been on site in a "real" trench reinstating situation.
If I were still involved in the industry I would explore the possibility of making the supplier of the hydraulic binder responsible for supervising its use. They obviously want to sell their product, so they will want to see it used correctly, or time will soon show that it is not producing the stated engineering requirements and hence the claimed environmental benefits.
If you do not understand this document yourselves I expect you to consult appropriate people, i.e. an experienced Materials Engineer, if you can find one.

But it has to be said, and it has been said over and over again, probably the biggest cause of failure of a trench reinstatement is poor compaction in the lower layers.
It is sad to say that without correct supervision, or penalties that actually hurt, the poor quality of reinstatements in highways will continue to take place whatever the proposed specification will contain.
And when I say penalties, I do not only mean penalties for the poor quality workmanship but also penalties for the poor response to notification of defects.

I stand to be corrected on this issue, as "Street Works", apart from the materials side of it, was not my area of knowledge.

But I do believe that a dangerous pothole that results from a poor reinstatement by a utility company cannot be left unrectifeid by a local authority once reported by a member of the public or noted in a routine highway inspection survey, as they have "a duty of care" to the highway using public.
I am not aware that the utility company has such a duty in relation to highway reinstatements, but as I said this is not my area of knowledge, and it is getting a bit "legal" so I am prepared to be corrected.

However if the utility companies do have such a duty it seems to be going unimplemented in the area that I live, where the local authority seems to be the body that makes such potholes safe.
Thus in a number of ways poor quality reinstatements to opening in highways causes a heavy drain on highway maintenance budgets by having to at least make subsequent potholes safe if not a full repair.
This is apart from the general deterioration in the surrounding area of highway pavement that often occurs as a result of a severe disturbance in the matrix of the highway.
The reinstatement of openings in highways is a very important matter, get involved.

The Beginning of the End to "Partnering"? - A News Item from NCE
A recent article in New Civil Engineer was bought to my attention, as an item that I would be interested in, and I certainly was.
The article was in the edition of NCE dated 23-30 of September 2009, being titled "Keeping Them Keen". an article by Anthony Oliver relating to an interview with Steve Morgan who is the new Capital Programmes Director of BAA.
Occasionally I feel that my jottings regarding the state of the Highways Maintenance procurement are falling on deaf ears, no closed ears. However, I know this to be untrue, as I am aware that many, many, people involved in the "real" side of highways maintenance agree with my views, but have little opportunity to influence overall decisions.
But we often think we are largely being ignored by the "suits" that now seem to run both sides of the industry.
So how refreshing to read this article in NCE where a very senior "suit", and he must be regarded as that, expresses the views contained in this article.
I particularly appreciated, "It's not a matter of let's hold hands and sing kumbaya around the camp fire  - it's more about defining what we are doing and rewarding performance."
I would like to think from this, that a part of "defining performance" includes actually specifying materials, e.g. runway surfacing, and sampling and testing to be able to reward performance.
If you wish to read this article for yourself and you do not receive NCE, the good thing about the New Civil Engineer website is that most of it is "open", and you can read much of the content of editions of the journal on line, without having to disclose all your personal details.
So to save me transferring a long website address just put the keywords "Steve Morgan" and "NCE" into a good search engine of your choice, and I know Google works for me, and you will be taken to the appropriate page containing the article, and in another area of the site you will be able to read letters/responses that the article has generated.
Please take the time to read this article, I think that you will enjoy it, well some of you will, especially if you are beginning to despair of the current arrangements in highways maintenance, especially highway surfacing. I found it particularly interesting to note that it is large elements of  "private industry" that seems to be leading the way away from "partnering" agreements to cut costs and improve performance, while government and local authorities seem to be still embracing such arrangements.
Thank you NCE, it would be nice if more of the other Highways Maintenance related press had similar content and the same open approach to sharing information.
Not having cause to visit this website for some time, I found it very informative as to what has been happening in the industry at the higher "management" level. It was revealing and disappointing, but it is unfortunate that I did not find it surprising.
It is well worth taking some time to read other "related" articles and comments to be found on this website

I know that I only used to play somewhere in the First Division compared to the top four management spot in the Premier Division, that the gentleman in the article that I refer to occupies, but the principles are the same. A good well specified contract takes a lot of beating in providing clarity for both sides to work to, but of course you need people who understand fully what they are doing to provide such a contract.
I always found the "real" people in the production/supply and contracting side of the industry also preferred this option.
It was the "hairy/fairy" management people, on both sides I hasten to add, who preferred "partnering" arrangements as it made up for their lack of any "real" knowledge. 
I am led to believe that large and important Highways Maintenance contracts are these days won on the eloquence of their presentations, the sartorial elegance of the presenters, and having the appropriate social contacts, rather than any proof of the knowledge/expertise that a bidding "team" is able to provide to the client, allegedly representing the taxpayer.
It is good that I am retired and not part of this "unreal" situation that we have arrived at today, in what is basically a very "real" industry.
You see, I can remember, in what seems a different age, when we used to have contractors and suppliers into the office for a serious "arse kicking" session (a highways maintenance technical term) if they had failed to deliver what was in the contract, and things would get sorted out pretty quickly or they would be off the approved list.
"They" are probably invited in for counselling these days.
The commercial side of the the industry is a tough industry, it is fully able to take the criticism, survive, and produce the materials that you the engineer want, that is, if you know what you want.
But you need somebody equally tough to keep them in line, it is just the way it has been for a very long time, until lately.
Allowing the decline of the engineering capability of local authority engineering departments, and consultant engineers, and their ability to supervise, and replacing them with media/public relation types is not the answer.
This decline in engineering supervision will only promote a lowering in quality of supplied materials and workmanship, because if the "good guys" putting in the effort to supply good materials and workmanship do not see this investment rewarded with a continual supply of work/contracts, well I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
If you wish  to maintain the integrity of the UK highway network, the relevant authorities must also put in place the appropriate investment to support the Engineers and Engineering Technicians, quality does not happen by itself.
It is like saying, as long as you have laws, you do not need a police force, I just do not think it would work, do you?

Price Fixing in the Construction Industry
It was while browsing the internet regarding the item above, that I understood the extent of the "illegal bidding" that had been conducted in obtaining construction contracts by companies large and not so large.
Yes, I had seen the brief news item on the television news, and not given it a lot more thought. I know these things happen from time to time, but they are usually individual situations.
After visiting the website, www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2009/114-09, and seeing the length of the list of the companies that had been fined by the Office of Fair Trading it is concerning how endemic this type of practice is in the UK construction industry.
I am going to exercise caution and limit any comments I may have, I leave you to download the list from the Office of Fair Trading website and draw your own conclusions.
However you may wish to look at the comments and letters that an article regarding this situation published in NCE and available on their website.
The illegal bidding (price fixing) did not come about of its own accord, it would have been arranged by "people" active in the industry.
It is sad that the industry has come to this, but it has happened because it is able to happen. Were there really no checks in place to have a reasonable idea of what the work, whether large or small, should cost?
Perhaps I am spoilt and worked with a team that had a pretty good idea what work should cost. We often used to get concerned if a price was too cheap, knowing that it would be difficult to provide the standard we expected for the price that had won the bid.
And we certainly knew if a contract had been over priced.
I am not making this up, line marking was a particular example of low prices causing concern. When you worked out the total length of the line to be laid the average thickness and width, the quantity of good quality thermoplastic needed, the amount of good quality drop on glass beads to provide the minimum 100mcd's retro-reflectivity that was specified for the marking, the cost of the labour, plant, and traffic control, there was little margin if any left.
But the point I am making is, that between us in "The Highways Maintenance Team" I worked in, we had this combined knowledge and the ability to exercise it. Are there any such teams left? I would like to think so, but I doubt it, and even if there are, there is a good chance that they will disappear in the next round of local authority "savings".

In my opinion there certainly is not much "intelligent client" left in the Highways Agency. I can remember when a visit from the Highways Agency engineering team to our own Motorways and Trunk Roads Section, to check that everything was progressing as it should be, used to put the fear of God into them, because these visiting teams really knew about highway engineering.
This is of course when local authorities had the responsibility, funded by government, to locally maintain the motorways and trunk roads in their area.
I still find it amazing that practically all of the motoring public do not realise that the maintenance of motorways and trunk roads for all intents and purposes has been privatised by Government, and they are having a jolly good attempt at doing it to Local Authorities.

Use of the Internet, (the information is out there, if you know how, and are willing, to search)
Already, with the items above you will have noticed how I have accessed appropriate information that has been posted on the internet, not from any dubious blogs or dodgy websites, but from mainstream sources who obviously want you, and that is everybody "you", to have access to the information.  
I am of the opinion that there is less "information" available for young and inexperienced engineers and technicians within the "engineering office", and what there is, is not shared across the office as it used to be, on the basis that "knowledge is power". It is also my belief that the commercial side of the industry is trying to play down the engineering aspect of promoting a material or process, replacing it with "marketing", in the form of "pieces of paper" to define engineering ability, and plain old ordinary advertising in all its forms.
I particularly notice the plethora of "awards" that are available these days, it seems somebody is always "winning" something, and there is a jolly party attended by all the various "PR" people, with some prominent "speaker" picking up a nice cheque for orating the views of those gathered there.
In response to all the "hype" creeping into the industry I would suggest that you look to the internet to obtain a fuller and more balanced view of the materials and processes that are out there to choose from.
There are organisiations and websites out there who do provide more in depth information of the products and process that they provide or support.
I will give you a couple of examples of the information out there if you take a little time browsing and you have some knowledge of highway materials, if you do not have such knowledge then you do need a website such as mine, or similar, to point you in the right direction.
This is what I like to think I do, not necessarily put answers on a plate, but point you in a direction where you are able to find information that will allow you to become capable of making your own decision.
(It would be better still if you could discuss items with a knowledgeable and experienced Materials Engineer, but still make up your own mind, but I think I may have mentioned this before.)
It also highlights the fact that it is not possible to tell you everything, there is too much to tell, you have got to be capable of finding it out for yourself.

Example 1:
Website items like this also remind me of items of information that I have taken for granted as accepted knowledge, that everybody dealing with bituminous mixtures still possess, e.g. the use of limestone filler in hot rolled asphalt (HRA), and other bituminous mixtures.
This filler is a significant factor in making hot rolled asphalt the premium surfacing material that it is, or can be.
So take a look at,
www.britishlime.org/tech_asphalt01.php
Although not dealing with hot rolled asphalt surface course in particular, it does concisely cover the benefits of using limestone filler in bituminous mixtures.
In my early days it was custom to use ground limestone as the filler element of a hot rolled asphalt "recipe", whether a "recipe" recipe or a "design" recipe.
(Whatever bituminous mixture a supplier produces they do need a "recipe" to be able to manufacture a consistent product.)
Over the years it has now progressed to the situation that the filler element of the mixture is more likely to be "aggregate dust" from the manufacturing quarry, often material fed back from the dust extraction equipment on the plant.
I am not saying that this is the situation on all plants, and the filler portion could well be a blend of "in house" filler and bought in limestone filler.
But what I am saying is that before you condemn all hot rolled asphalt surface course as liable to rutting, in the wheel tracks of heavily trafficked roads, that you fully investigate the nature of the HRA surface course that has been used, including the nature of the filler element.
You will also need to investigate the source of the sand (fine aggregate) and the viscosity of the binder, but this item is primarily to draw your attention to the filler portion of a HRA surface course, all other things being equal.

While you are on the British Lime website you may want to explore all the other information (with excellent downloads) that is available relevant to highway construction, e.g. lime stabilisation.

Example 2:
Now contrary to my earlier statement, "it is also my belief that the commercial side of the industry is trying to play down the engineering aspect of promoting a material or process, replacing it with "marketing", in the form of "pieces of paper" to define engineering ability, and plain old ordinary advertising in all its forms."
There are companies that are not following this trend, and do produce quite comprehensive websites to inform you of the products that they market, their intended use, and "product information sheets" to tell you the composition of the actual product.
This gives the purchaser/client the ability to compare individual products that are on offer, and indeed sample and test to check the quality of the material that they are receiving against that advertised.
I would particularly draw your attention to the highways/line marking section of this website as it is the area I have mostly explored, but other topics on the website seem to follow the same approach.
I am sure that there are many other websites, that offer similar information, and you will find that good search engines do favour websites that have good content in them in their main "open" searching.
Suffice to say this is an example of a good "open"  website (i.e. you do not have to enter all your personal details before you can access it) where an Engineer or Engineering Technician will find "real" information on the products listed, in what I found, a fairly logical manner.
So, as an example of what I think is a good commercial website take a look at, www.adbruf.com/home.htm, and search for similar websites in relation to the product or process that you are looking for, and form your own conclusions.

And, I have to add, as a retired Materials Engineer, look for information in relation to British Standard specifications.

Winter Maintenance for 2009-2010
I would also like to describe the "Use of the Internet", as a means of trying to follow what is happening in relation to products and processes that are being introduced on to the Highways Maintenance market, and how "change" is happening all the while.
Not to the basic product or service, but how it is "marketed". to make it more profitable or appear more "sexy". (A marketing term I believe, and I hope the presence of this word on my website does not attract the "wrong kind" of browser.)
Winter Maintenance being a very important sector of Highways Maintenance, I present this as a topic in its own right.
This wander around the web, and it is is a long tale so I hope you are sitting comfortably, all started when I noticed that a link I had on my, Road Salt for Winter Maintenance page no longer worked.
It appeared that the website, and more important the title, that had been displaying the products and services of the largest  road salt supplier in the UK was no longer in being.
In fact the current website title had reverted back to the company title, rather than the all embracing but not specific title it  had recently held, so the website was still active under the name it had held before the grand marketing ploy.
What immediately struck me was that this company was now owned by a very large American based company, you were even able to download their 2008 Annual Report if you wished.
I do not know when this occurred but I certainly did not notice this, at this time of the year in 2008.
Once on the website my curiosity led me to the list of products to see if the much marketed and allegedly enhanced road salting material containing an agricultural by product from the sugar production industry was still offered for sale. I noted that the complete road salting product was no longer offered under its highly promoted brand name, but was still available as a proprietary product using the quite innovative company brand name.
This discontinuation of the original highly promoted brand name as a "total" salting material may be because of a significant amount of criticism that had been associated with the storage, use, and claimed benefits of the product.
It appeared that there has been a change in marketing strategy, and a little more searching led me find that there was still an active website that promoted and supplied information regarding the agricultural by product used to coat rock salt. The addition of this modifier claiming to provide a number of benefits to the basic rock salt element, and therefore more than offsetting the increased cost of the modified road salt. The claims for this rock salt modifying product are documented on their website.
It is my opinion that there is a distancing between the rock salt industry and supplier/promoter of the agricultural by product, but it is for you to decide for yourself.
What I did appreciate finding was a comprehensive specification for this salting product, as well as specifications for other products supplied, on the salt mining company website, which means that you can sample and test to ensure that you are being delivered the material you are paying for.
These specifications being very useful if you are not using, BS 3247:1991:Salt for spreading on highways for winter maintenance, as your specifying document.

The story now takes a turn, as during my searching I had come up with website items that interested me, relating to a "partnership" between a large university in the "North West" and the large road salt supplier I have already mentioned. This partnership dates back to 2003-4 and was facilitated through a company that appears to be government funded (I gave up trying to find out its exact sponsor) and a number of universities.
It appeared that a newly qualified graduate, one of many who take part in the overall "partnering"  arrangement had been put in charge of a project to "explore the technologies of GPS (global positioning systems) and vehicle weighing and salting sensors" to produce a system to improve the efficiency and profitability of the road salt company.
It appears that this "system" worked well until last winter when we actually had a prolonged spell of relatively severe winter weather when the "system" fell down badly.
Now in all my browsing and seeing images of smiling people in suits at "partnering" meetings I did not see one reference, or picture, of a guy or girl  from the "sharp end" who I know, certainly in my area, predicted failure of this system on the basis of their practical knowledge and experience over many years.
Now I am not, and never have been one of the "winter maintenance team", but I did provide support in certain areas of sampling, testing and calibration and so rubbed shoulders with these people on a regular basis, and they appeared to talk a lot of sense to me, apart from being some of the "hardest" guys who worked for the authority.
Yes I am talking about the actual guys who drove the gritters, they probably know a bit about actually getting salt onto the road surface during bad weather.
It is my opinion that most people could run a winter maintenance programme when we have practically no winter, but when it all hits the fan it is the people with the experience and "grit" if you will excuse the pun who "get you out of the shit", (another "real" highways maintenance technical term).
And if I may make just a couple of  brief comments, of my own, on winter maintenance.
It is that reducing the number of salt stockpiles and centralising them may do wonders for increasing efficiency for precautionary salting, but when conditions do get bad and accidents prevent the gritters from getting back to the stockpile to refill and they have no other source of salt it does not seem so clever.
The second point being, that supplying salt "on demand" works as long as the whole country does not "demand" it at the same time.

We will all, once again, be watching the performance of the winter maintenance industry carefully this coming winter. I wonder how many "managers" are already crossing their fingers.

You will note that I have omitted the names of the various "players" in this scenario because pointing fingers at individuals was not the point of the item, but it is to highlight how those in charge of Highways Maintenance are losing touch with reality.
I believe that this same scenario of the involvement of academics and public relations people, not to forget the accountants, is being played out in many aspects of highways maintenance, and it is producing few, if any, benefits.
But I do see plenty of examples of it not working, and of course the main example being proprietary, Thin Surface Course Systems.
In my opinion the modern procurement "system" has to change, i.e. revert to sound engineering practice, before the extinction of the species of "real" highways maintenance people, at all levels, have given up or have gone to maintain the network for the "force" in the firmament.

There may come a time when there is no one left to get you out of the brown smelly stuff, and even governing authorities, small or large, could falter on this issue. Perhaps I need to get more political.

BS EN 12591:2009:Specifications for Paving Grade Bitumens
Here is an important piece of news which I thought was of sufficient importance to add to this newsletter rather than leave it until the next edition, in truth I never know if my enthusiasm will survive to produce a next edition.

In my recent internet browsing on highways related matters I found that,
BS EN 12591:2009:Specifications for paving grade bitumens, has recently been published to supersede BS EN 12591:2000 which has been withdrawn.
A "Guidance Brochure", describing the changes and additions to the 2000 edition is available on the RBA (Refined Bitumen Association) website.
Once on the RBA website follow the toolbars for "Bitumen" and then "Testing and Standards", and the document is available to download as a .pdf file.
(While there you may also like to download the guidance document relating to polymer modified bitumens.)
On reading this note you will find mention to the fact that there is now included in BS EN 12591:2009 a table, Table NA 1, that provides guidance on the use of paving grade bitumens from 20/30 pen. to 160/220pen. "for use in the construction and maintenance of roads and airfields in the UK".
Table NA 2 gives guidance on softer, less viscous, bitumens.
My interpretation of these "informative" tables is that they are a common sense suggestion that you specify a penetration grade bitumen from the "normal/standard" range of available penetration grade bitumens.
It following that you do not use cutback bitumen in bituminous mixtures if it can be avoided.

However, I feel that I still have to mention the recent introduction of in-plant blending of penetration grade bitumens, this procedure being introduced in the final years of BS 594 and BS 4987, and has followed into the new European specifications for bituminous mixtures.
I find the introduction of this practice a little concerning, as since this time I have noticed examples of highly rutted HRA surface course patching, which clearly should not be occurring.
In my opinion a 100pen. bitumen is an acceptable, pragmatic, compromise bitumen for a HRA surface course, in a patch, in difficult laying conditions, in cold winter weather. It will give the gang a much better opportunity of laying and compacting a successful surface course to any hand laid patch. But this material, containing a 100pen straight run bitumen will not rut to the degree that I have observed on some occasions recently.
Is trying to "blend" a small quantity of bitumen in a small tonnage of material going to be beyond the capabilities of some plants, or some operators, I do not know. But my observation of heavily rutted HRA surface course patching has increased since the permitted introduction of in plant blending of penetration grade bitumens, it may be a coincidence but I think not.

Of course, the bottom line is that the penetration of the bitumen in the mixture shall be that which is specified whether the source has been a tank holding a straight run bitumen of the grade required, or if the bitumen in the mixture is a result of blending two other components to produce a bitumen of the specified viscosity.
It is my fear, that in reality, the arrival at the correct penetration grade bitumen in the bituminous mixture through blending may not always be achieved.
So, I had hoped to see some further reference to in-plant bending of bitumen, but I was disappointed. There is a very brief reference to "loading through an in-line blender" and "a procedure for checking the performance of the blender", but it is very brief and not at all specific.
I am further "troubled" by the comment at the beginning of the document that states, "This European Standard does not directly address 'cohesion, adhesion and setting ability'", this is more fully detailed in the "Introduction" to the specification.

There is a slightly larger reference to in-plant blending of bitumen in,
NHSS (National Highway Sector Schemes for Quality Management in Highway Works) 15 : The Supply of Paving Bitumens.
NHSS 15 can be downloaded from the UKAS website, and the information relevant to in-plant blending can be found in,
Section 8.2.4 - Monitoring and Measurement of Product

This depth of knowledge, in an ideal world, should not be part of the purchasers responsibility, you should be receiving the materials that you have specified.
Note what I have just said, if you do not know what material you require that is not the responsibility of the Supplier, talk to your Materials Engineer for guidance.
However, I found it was only by having a fairly thorough understanding of what was happening in the "industry", and in the changes in specifications, that was I able to be aware of what may be causing the problems on the highways and sites I had some responsibility for.

Whether you think knowing your craft is important I leave for you to decide, fortunately I can just keep a watching brief out of a sheer interest in what was my profession for most of my life.
But it does disturb me to see what is in my opinion a decline in the quality of the highway network of the UK,  well, at least in the area that I drive.
It is not all down to reduced funding, as funding was increased recently, for a time, and I did not perceive any benefit, and it is certainly going to get tougher in the next few years.
A bit of "real" engineering by "real" engineers and technicians would go a long way to holding off the worst of the reduced funding, but I am probably not supposed to say that.
I am probably supposed to say we need a conference on the subject followed by a few working parties, followed by another conference, which all the "suits" will attend and hardly any "proper" engineers.
And then, I guarantee that the result will be a unanimous "whinge" for more money, which I realistically and reluctantly admit the highway network does need, but at this time you are not going to get it.
So what you will get needs to spent correctly, and perhaps an investment in suitable engineers and technicians based on qualification and/or experience will produce a better return on the available budget.

Motto of the Month
News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress, all the rest is advertising.