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Open-Graded - Pavement Interactive

This document provides information about open-graded asphalt mixtures. There are two main types: open-graded friction courses (OGFC) and asphalt treated permeable bases (ATPB). OGFC is used as a surface course to reduce tire splash and noise, while ATPB is used below other pavement layers to provide drainage. Open-graded mixes have high air voids and use crushed stone and manufactured sands. They are designed to be permeable unlike dense-graded mixes.

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55 views1 page

Open-Graded - Pavement Interactive

This document provides information about open-graded asphalt mixtures. There are two main types: open-graded friction courses (OGFC) and asphalt treated permeable bases (ATPB). OGFC is used as a surface course to reduce tire splash and noise, while ATPB is used below other pavement layers to provide drainage. Open-graded mixes have high air voids and use crushed stone and manufactured sands. They are designed to be permeable unlike dense-graded mixes.

Uploaded by

Ahmed Gakl
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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7/6/2021 Open-Graded – Pavement Interactive

Open-Graded
An open-graded HMA mixture is designed to be water permeable (dense-graded and SMA mixes usually are not permeable). Open-
graded mixes use only crushed stone (or gravel) and a small percentage of manufactured sands. There are two types of open-graded
mixes typically used in the U.S.:

Open-graded friction course (OGFC). Typically 15 percent air voids, no minimum air voids specified, lower aggregate standards
than PEM. See Figure 1.
Asphalt treated permeable bases (ATPB). Less stringent specifications than OGFC since it is used only under dense-graded HMA,
SMA or PCC for drainage. See Figure 2.

Purpose

Open-Graded Friction Course (OGFC)

Used as a surface course only. Reduces tire splash/spray in wet weather and typically results in smoother surfaces than dense-graded
HMA. The high air voids trap road noise and thus reduce tire-road noise by up to 50-percent (10 dBA) (NAPA, 1995[1]).

Asphalt Treated Permeable Base (ATPB)

Used as a drainage layer below dense-graded HMA, SMA or PCC.

Materials

Aggregate (crushed stone or gravel and manufactured sands), asphalt binder (with modifiers)

Mix Design

Less structured than for dense-graded or SMA mixes. Open-graded mix design generally consists of 1) material selection, 2) gradation,
3) compaction and void determination and 4) asphalt binder drain-down evaluation. NCAT Report 99-3: Design of New-Generation
Open Graded Friction Courses provides a recommended mix design procedure for OGFCs.

Other Information

OGFC is more expensive per ton than dense-graded HMA, but the unit weight of the mix when in-place is lower, which partially offsets
the higher per-ton cost. The open gradation creates pores in the mix, which are essential to the mix’s proper function; therefore,
anything that tends to clog these pores, such as low-speed traffic, excessive dirt on the roadway or deicing sand, should be avoided.

Figure 1. Core from an pavement Figure 2. Asphalt treated permeable base.


using an open-graded mix as the
wearing course (from NAPA, 2001).

Footnotes (↵ returns to text)


1. National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). (1995). Thin Hot Mix Asphalt Surfacings. National Asphalt Pavement Association.
Lanham, MD.↵

https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/pavement-types-and-history/pavement-types/open-graded-hma/ 1/1

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