--- title: "Road construction activities; plants for bituminous and CC" subject: "Transportation Engineering II" chapter: 3 key: "semester_7/transportation_engineering_ii:road-construction-activities-plants-bituminous-cc" source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_7/transportation_engineering_ii/road-construction-activities-plants-bituminous-cc site: BCT Engineering --- # Road construction activities; plants for bituminous and CC Transportation Engineering II · Chapter 3: Road Construction Technology - Asked in: 2075 Chaitra, 8 marks - Video: [33 04 N Road Construction Bitumen pavement](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPHhvsuQ9L0) — construct SKILLS - Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14 - Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_7/transportation_engineering_ii/road-construction-activities-plants-bituminous-cc - Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_7/transportation_engineering_ii/chapter-3 ## Question What are the various activities involved in road construction? Write the plants and equipment required for bituminous and cement concrete road constructions. ## Short answer Road construction activities include survey, clearance, earthwork, drainage, subgrade, sub-base/base, surfacing, shoulders, furniture and quality control. Bituminous roads need crusher, bitumen boiler, hot-mix plant, paver and rollers. Concrete roads need batching plant, slip-form paver, vibrators, joint cutter and curing sprayer. ## Answer #### Activities in road construction The main activities in constructing a road are: 1. **Survey and setting out** - final location survey, fixing the centre line, bench marks, and clearing limits (right of way). 2. **Site clearance** - cutting trees, removing stumps, boulders and topsoil; demolition of structures. 3. **Earthwork** - excavation in cut, hauling and filling to form the formation level; compaction of embankment in layers (150-200 mm) to 95-97 percent of Proctor density; benching and slope trimming in hills (planned using the mass haul diagram). 4. **Drainage and protection works** - side drains, catch-water drains, cross-drainage (culverts, causeways), retaining/breast walls, bioengineering for slopes. 5. **Subgrade preparation** - scarifying, watering, compacting the top 500 mm of soil to specification and checking CBR. 6. **Sub-base and base courses** - granular sub-base (GSB), WBM/WMM or stabilised base; each layer spread, watered and rolled. 7. **Surfacing** - prime coat, tack coat, bituminous binder course (DBM/BM) and wearing course (BC, premix carpet, surface dressing, Otta seal), or a cement concrete pavement slab. 8. **Shoulders and kerbs** - construction of earth/gravel shoulders, kerbs and edge drains. 9. **Road furniture and finishing** - signs, markings, guard rails, kilometre posts, plantation. 10. **Quality control and measurement** - field tests, levels, thickness, density and payment measurement, following the Nepal DoR "Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Works" and IRC/MoRTH specifications. #### Plants and equipment for bituminous roads - **Aggregate**: stone crusher and screens. - **Binder**: bitumen boiler/heater, pressure distributor (sprayer) for tack and prime coats. - **Mix production**: hot-mix plant (batch or drum) with dryer, mixer and temperature control. - **Placing**: paver-finisher, motor grader, chip spreader. - **Compaction**: smooth-wheel (8-10 t) and tandem rollers, pneumatic tyre roller. - **Haulage and site tools**: covered tippers, sweeper/blower, thermometers. #### Plants and equipment for cement concrete roads - **Batching and mixing plant** with silos, weigh batchers and transit mixers. - **Paving**: slip-form paver or fixed-form paving train, with side forms and dowel baskets. - **Compaction**: needle vibrators and surface (screed) vibrators. - **Finishing**: straight edges, floats, texturing (tining) machine, curing compound sprayer. - **Joints**: concrete saw (joint cutter), sealant applicator. - **Subgrade/sub-base**: grader, rollers and a DLC paver. ## Check yourself The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why. 1. Which is the correct early sequence of road construction activities? A. Bituminous courses, survey, earthwork, clearance B. Survey and setting out, site clearance, earthwork, drainage C. Earthwork, road furniture, survey, base course D. Subgrade, survey, shoulders, clearing Answer: B. Work starts with survey, clearance and earthwork before drainage, subgrade and pavement courses. (Key point: Order of activities) 2. How is embankment compacted? A. In layers of 150-200 mm to 95-97 percent of Proctor density B. In one 1 m layer to 80 percent C. Without water D. To 100 percent of liquid limit Answer: A. Embankment is built in thin layers and compacted to 95-97 percent of Proctor density. (Key point: Embankment compaction) 3. What produces the bituminous mix? A. Transit mixer B. Hot-mix plant (batch or drum) with dryer, mixer and temperature control C. Slip-form paver D. Concrete saw Answer: B. A hot-mix plant dries and heats aggregate and mixes it with bitumen under temperature control. (Key point: Equipment for mix production) 4. Which equipment is used to cut joints in cement concrete pavement? A. Pressure distributor B. Concrete saw (joint cutter) C. Chip spreader D. Pneumatic roller Answer: B. Joint cutters make contraction joints and a sealant applicator seals them. (Key point: Equipment for CC joints) ## Related in Transportation Engineering II - [Road construction equipment and DBSD procedure](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Aequipment-plants-activities-dbsd) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 3 - [Road construction equipment and mass haul characteristics](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Amass-haul-diagram-equipment-plants) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 3, asked 3× - [Road construction activities; otta seal procedure](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Aactivities-otta-seal-construction) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 3 - [Rolled vs normal concrete; CC pavement construction](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Arolled-concrete-cc-pavement-construction) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 3 - [Bituminous pavement types; asphalt concrete construction](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Atypes-bituminous-pavement-ac-construction) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 3 - [Road construction technology and activities](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_7%2Ftransportation_engineering_ii%3Aroad-construction-technology-activities) — Transportation Engineering II, chapter 3 ## Related in other subjects - [Road construction equipment, paver and bitumen sprayer](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aroad-equipment-paver-sprayer) — Construction Management, chapter 4 - [Equipment for concrete construction and functions](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aconcrete-equipment-functions) — Construction Management, chapter 4 - [Concrete batching and mixing plants](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aconcrete-batching-mixing-note) — Construction Management, chapter 4, asked 7× - [Advantages and disadvantages of construction equipment](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aequipment-advantages-disadvantages) — Construction Management, chapter 4, asked 6×