Bitumen PG 64-10 — Production, Specification & Applications
PG 64-10 has the narrowest span of the 64-series at 74 degrees, and that narrowness is the point.
Where PG 64-10 sits on the temperature scale
Performance grading ties the binder to the climate of the road rather than to a refinery output slate. The shaded band is the range PG 64-10 is certified to serve, a useful span of 74 degrees.
What distinguishes PG 64-10
A binder that only has to satisfy the bending beam criteria at 0 °C can normally be produced straight-run, without modification, from a wide range of crude slates. For high-volume tropical road programmes this is usually the lowest delivered cost route to a 64 °C upper grade.
What buyers should know
It is also the grade most exposed to specification error. Because the minus 10 degree floor is shallow, a project that under-estimates its winter minimum by even a few degrees has specified a binder that will crack. Where pavement temperature records are thin or interpolated, the prudent course is to widen the lower grade rather than accept the saving.
How Bitumen PG 64-10 is produced
Understanding the refining route explains why some grades are readily available and others are not, and why two binders that look similar on a datasheet can behave differently in service.
From crude oil to vacuum residue
Like every paving grade, PG 64-10 originates as vacuum residue. Crude is fractionated at atmospheric pressure, the long residue is charged to a vacuum column, and the residue that leaves the base of that column after the heavy gas oils have been stripped is the base binder. The cut point determines consistency, and for a 64 °C upper grade that cut is taken at a conventional depth.
Reaching the PG 64-10 envelope
What makes PG 64-10 the least constrained grade in its series is the cold end. A bending beam requirement at 0 °C is satisfied by almost any straight-run residue that meets the upper grade, including paraffinic and waxy slates that would be disqualified at minus 6 or minus 12 °C. In practice this means the grade can be produced from crude that is available locally rather than crude selected specifically for binder properties, which is the main reason it carries the lowest premium in the 64-series.
Production control
Because the constraint sits entirely at the upper end, refinery quality control concentrates on the dynamic shear result at 64 °C before and after the rolling thin film oven test. A parcel that passes both of those and shows a bending beam result anywhere inside the 0 °C envelope is released; the low-temperature test is rarely the reason a batch is rejected.
Derived test temperatures you can check
The two intermediate temperatures on a PG 64-10 certificate follow arithmetically from the grade, so a buyer can verify the document without reference to any other source.
| Test | Derivation | Result for PG 64-10 |
|---|---|---|
| PAV dynamic shear (fatigue) | (64 + −10) ÷ 2 + 4 | 31 °C |
| Bending beam (stiffness, m-value) | −10 + 10 | 0 °C |
Bitumen PG 64-10 specification
| Property | Test method | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Average 7-day max pavement design temperature | AASHTO M323 | 64 °C |
| Minimum pavement design temperature | AASHTO M323 | −10 °C |
| Original binder | ||
| Flash point, Cleveland open cup | AASHTO T48 | min 230 °C |
| Rotational viscosity @ 135 °C | AASHTO T316 | max 3 Pa·s |
| Dynamic shear G*/sinδ @ 64 °C | AASHTO T315 | min 1.00 kPa |
| After RTFOT (short-term ageing) | ||
| Change of mass | AASHTO T240 | max 1.00 % |
| Dynamic shear G*/sinδ @ 64 °C | AASHTO T315 | min 2.20 kPa |
| After PAV @ 100 °C (long-term ageing) | ||
| Dynamic shear G*·sinδ @ 31 °C | AASHTO T315 | max 5000 kPa |
| Creep stiffness S @ 0 °C | AASHTO T313 | max 300 MPa |
| m-value @ 0 °C | AASHTO T313 | min 0.300 |
The full PG 64-10 specification is tested to AASHTO M320 and reported on the certificate of analysis for every parcel. Nearest indicative equivalents: penetration grade 60/70, viscosity grade VG-30. These are reference points for discussion, not substitutions. A certificate of analysis accompanies every shipment; third-party inspection by SGS, Intertek or an equivalent surveyor can be arranged at the buyer instruction and account.
Where Bitumen PG 64-10 is used
Tropical secondary networks
Rural and district roads in tropical and subtropical climates carrying moderate traffic volumes, where winter simply does not occur in any meaningful sense.
Municipal resurfacing programmes
City maintenance works where cost per tonne is a governing procurement factor and the climate genuinely supports the narrow span.
Light industrial and commercial paving
Car parks, service yards and access roads with modest axle loading in warm climates.
Binder and base courses
Intermediate layers beneath a higher-grade wearing course, where the layer is insulated from surface temperature extremes and a narrower span is defensible.
Coastal tropical highways
Routes in maritime tropical climates with hot days and no meaningful winter minimum, where a wider span adds cost without service benefit.
Estate and access roads
Lower-volume sealed roads where cost efficiency governs the binder choice and traffic is free-flowing.
Mix design and handling temperatures
Mixing and compaction temperatures are set from the binder viscosity–temperature relationship rather than from the grade designation alone. The ranges below are typical starting points for PG 64-10 and should be confirmed against the rotational viscosity figure on the delivered certificate.
| Operation | Typical range for PG 64-10 | Control note |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk storage | 150–170 °C | Circulate to prevent local overheating at the heating coils |
| Pumping and transfer | 150–170 °C | Confirm line tracing is operating before transfer begins |
| Hot mix asphalt mixing | 150–165 °C | Target viscosity approximately 0.17 Pa·s |
| Compaction | 130–150 °C | Target viscosity approximately 0.28 Pa·s; cease rolling below the lower figure |
| Maximum sustained heating | below 180 °C | Above this, oxidative hardening accelerates sharply |
Drummed material should be reheated in a controlled oven or hot room rather than by direct flame. Localised overheating hardens the binder at the drum wall and can take a compliant parcel out of specification before it reaches the mixer.
What happens when PG 64-10 is mis-specified
The dominant risk with PG 64-10 is a cold-weather event the specification did not anticipate. A single winter night at minus 15 °C on a pavement built with this grade produces transverse thermal cracks at regular spacing, and once formed they admit water and accelerate structural deterioration from the surface down. Because the grade is chosen for economy, the saving is frequently smaller than the cost of the first crack sealing campaign.
Available packing for PG 64-10
| Packing | Net weight | Loading per 20 ft FCL | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| New steel drum | 150 / 180 / 185 / 200 kg | 110 drums, 20.35 MT at 185 kg | Smaller parcels, sites without bulk storage |
| Jumbo bag | 1 MT | 20 MT | Lower packing cost, requires melting facility |
| Flexitank / bitutainer | 20–22 MT | 1 unit | Bulk economics without a bulk vessel |
| Bulk vessel | by parcel | heated tanker | Terminal to terminal, largest volumes |
As a PG 64-10 supplier Bitumen Asphaltive ships on CFR, CIF and FOB terms with commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin and certificate of analysis.
Questions specific to PG 64-10
Is PG 64-10 a lower quality binder than PG 64-22?
No. It is certified to the same standard at the same upper temperature, and it must satisfy identical dynamic shear criteria at 64 °C. It is simply not certified for as cold a winter. In a climate that never reaches minus 10 °C, PG 64-22 offers no service benefit over PG 64-10.
What happens if a PG 64-10 pavement sees minus 15 degrees?
Thermal transverse cracking, typically appearing as regularly spaced cracks across the carriageway within the first two or three winters. The binder becomes too stiff to relax the tensile stress that builds as the pavement contracts, and the stress is released as a crack.
Can PG 64-10 be blended with a softer grade on site to widen the span?
Blending in the field is not a recognised route to a performance grade and no certificate can be issued for the result. Performance grading applies to a binder as produced and tested, not to a field mixture.
Why is PG 64-10 usually the cheapest grade in the 64-series?
Because the cold-temperature requirement is shallow enough that crude selection is not constrained. A refinery can meet it from whatever slate it is already running, rather than importing or blending specifically to satisfy a bending beam criterion, and that flexibility shows up in the price.
Our design mixes at 155 degrees. Is that correct for PG 64-10?
Mixing and compaction temperatures are set from the binder’s viscosity-temperature relationship, not from the grade designation alone. For an unmodified 64-series binder a mixing range of 150 to 165 °C is typical, but the mix design should confirm it against the actual viscosity data on the certificate.
The performance grade range
Intermediate temperatures below are derived from each grade, not selected by the supplier.
| Grade | Upper | Lower | Span | PAV DSR | Bending beam | Pen equiv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG 70-10 | 70 °C | −10 °C | 80 °C | 34 °C | 0 °C | 40/50 |
| PG 64-22 | 64 °C | −22 °C | 86 °C | 25 °C | −12 °C | 60/70 |
| PG 64-16 | 64 °C | −16 °C | 80 °C | 28 °C | −6 °C | 60/70 |
| PG 64-10 | 64 °C | −10 °C | 74 °C | 31 °C | 0 °C | 60/70 |
| PG 58-22 | 58 °C | −22 °C | 80 °C | 22 °C | −12 °C | 85/100 |
| PG 58-16 | 58 °C | −16 °C | 74 °C | 25 °C | −6 °C | 85/100 |
| PG 58-10 | 58 °C | −10 °C | 68 °C | 28 °C | 0 °C | 85/100 |
| PG 52-10 | 52 °C | −10 °C | 62 °C | 25 °C | 0 °C | 120/150 |
Speak to a Bitumen PG 64-10 supplier
Send quantity in metric tonnes, required packing, destination port and preferred Incoterm. Offers are normally returned within one working day.