AASHTO R 26:01(2018) Standard Practice for Certifying Suppliers of Perf formance-Graded Asphalt Binders.
3.2. agencu—shall be defined as a state highway agency or other agency responsible fbr the final acceptance of the PGAB.
3.3. AS—approved supplier.
3.4. ASc—approved supplier certification.
3.5. asphalt hinder—an asphalt-based cement that is produced from petroleum residue either with or
without the addition of nonparticulate organic modifiers.
3.6. PGAB—performance-graded asphalt binder.
3.7. quality control testing—the quality control testing shall be described in the supplier’s quality control plan. The supplier’s quality control plan shall be approved by the agency.
3.8. specification compliance testing—complete testing in accordance with the M 320 specification requirements. The procedure for verification of PGAB as described in R 29 shall be followed.
3.9. supplier—shall be defined as one who produces the final product or who makes the blend or modification that alters the properties of the PGAB specified in M 320. A supplier shall be a refinery, a terminal, or an HMA producer. If no modification is made to the PGAB after its initial production at the refinery, the refinery shall be the supplier and must provide the certification. If any modifications are made to the PGAB at the terminal, the terminal shall be the supplier and must provide certification. If any modification, blending. or blending of PGAB from different sources is made at the HMA plant. the HMA producer shall be the supplier and must provide the certification.
Note 1—Various refining techniques can produce equivalent PGAB; however, these asphalts may be incompatible with each other. Users shall consider compatibility before combining asphalts from different sources.
Note 2 Definitions for many terms common to asphalt binder arc found in ASTM D8.
SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
This standard specifies procedures fbr minimizing disruption of PGAB shipments. This is accomplished by a certification system that evaluates quality control and specification compliance tests performed by the supplier on samples obtained prior to shipment.
4.2. The number of PGAB available under M 320 may require construction of additional storage facilities if the procedure of bsample and hold while testing” is followed exclusively. The addition of new storage capacity at a facility may be infeasible at some locations. Standardization of procedures that allow shipment under an approved supplier certification provides the flexibility needed to use existing facilities and to limit the shipment disruptions.
4.3. This standard provides in/brmation on the/b/lowing activities:
4.3.1. General requirements that the supplier shall satisfy to be given approved-supplier status;
4.3.2. Minimum requirements that shall be included in a supplier’s quality control plan;
4.3.3. General requirements that the agency shall satisfy before certification;
4.3.4. Procedure for shipping PGAB tinder an ASU system;
4.3.5. Procedure for agency monitoring of an ASC system at the shipping facility.AASHTO R 26 pdf download.