TOPICS
Recent
British European Standards
Motto
of the Month
|
Introduction
As
summer approaches,
I am spending less time inputting new information in to the website.
But I will try and find time for things that I
regard as being a little more important, such items as keeping up to
date with British Standards that are going to bring a fundamental change
in materials specifying in the UK and some parts of Europe.
Recent
British European Standards (BS EN'S)
I have added a
few new and updated standards in the British
Standards, and British
European Standards, lists.
They have been included in logical numerical order so they will not
stand out, but searches for standards that previously did not produce a
relevant standard may now do so.
But I will draw your attention to one new standard in particular,
BS EN 13043 : Aggregates for bituminous mixtures and surface treatments
for roads and other paved areas
This standard supersedes BS 63, Parts 1 &
2, which will be withdrawn in June 2004.
This standard specifies the properties of aggregates and filler aggregates obtained by processing natural or manufactured or recycled materials for use in bituminous mixtures and surface
treatments for roads, airfields and other trafficked areas.
This standard does not cover the use of reclaimed bituminous mixtures.
EN 13043 : 2002 is included in a package of new European Standards being prepared that relate to aggregates.
The existing British Standards for aggregates will be retained until the complete package of European Standards becomes available.
Whether suggested deadlines are met, or not, is debatable, colleagues I
have in the industry suggest not.
But the introduction of this standard in the UK and throughout Europe is
going to bring quite a change in how we specify aggregates, and I would
suggest you purchase a copy as soon as possible and familiarise
yourself with its contents.
If you are not used to defining aggregate properties and specifying the
level of characteristics you require the aggregate to exhibit, you are not going to find this
standard easy going.
The complexity of the document has been recognised in the UK and there
is already available,
PD 6682-2 : 2003 : Aggregates for bituminous
mixtures and surface treatments for roads, airfields and other
trafficked areas - Guidance on the use of BS EN 13043
It is my opinion even PD 6682-2 does not make the subject any easier
unless you have a background in highway materials.
I keep saying it, and I am going to say it again, any reasonable sized
contractor or consultant needs access to a well informed, experienced Materials
Engineer.
Considering the large amounts of money that are spent on highway
construction materials of all types I find it alarming and just bad
business practice that materials knowledge is not being retained
"in house".
It seems nobody in authority can be reading the prominent articles in
respected engineering journals about how important it is to retain an
"intelligent client", because I see little evidence of it
happening in relation to highways materials.
It will be unfortunate if we need a couple of high profile, and costly,
failures somewhere before people start to take notice, or a more
perfidious steep increase in the cost of highways maintenance.
Motto
of the Month
"Let not
your peace rest in the utterances of man, for whether they put a good or
bad construction on your conduct does not make you other than you are."
|
