PG Bitumen 64-22 Supplier — AASHTO M320 Performance Graded Binder

PG 64-22 is the workhorse paving binder of the Superpave system: an unmodified, performance graded asphalt binder specified for pavements where the seven-day average maximum design temperature reaches 64 °C and the minimum design temperature falls to −22 °C. It is the most widely produced PG grade in the world, and the default binder for dense-graded hot mix asphalt across temperate and warm climates. Zumrut International Kimya supplies it in bulk and drums from Turkey, the UAE and Iran.

What is PG Bitumen 64-22?

PG 64-22 is a Performance Graded asphalt binder classified under the Superpave system developed by the Strategic Highway Research Program in the United States and codified as AASHTO M320. Unlike penetration or viscosity grading, which describe the binder at a single laboratory temperature, performance grading specifies it against the temperatures the pavement will actually experience in service.

What the two numbers actually mean

This is where most product descriptions go wrong. The numbers are pavement design temperatures, not binder properties:

64 is the seven-day average maximum pavement design temperature in degrees Celsius, measured 20 mm below the surface. The binder must still resist permanent deformation at that temperature.

−22 is the minimum pavement design temperature at the surface. The binder must still resist thermal cracking when the pavement contracts at that temperature.

Together they define a useful temperature interval of 86 °C. An unmodified binder can usually cover an interval of about 90 °C before polymer modification becomes necessary, which is exactly why PG 64-22 can be produced straight from refining without additives, and why it costs less than a modified grade such as PG 76-22.

AASHTO M320 requirements for PG 64-22

Every requirement below is tested at a temperature derived from the grade itself. This is the table a specifying engineer will check before approving a supply.

The BBR test runs at −12 °C rather than −22 °C because Superpave applies a 10 °C shift to compensate for the difference between the one-hour laboratory loading time and the two-hour field equivalent. This is standard practice, not a relaxation of the grade.

Specification

Where PG 64-22 is used

Grade selection starts with the climate at the project site, not with the product catalogue. PG 64-22 is the right binder when the pavement design temperatures fall inside its interval — broadly, regions with hot summers and moderate winters. Much of the Middle East, North Africa, southern Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and the central and southern United States sit comfortably in this band.

Where traffic is slow-moving or heavily loaded — bus lanes, intersections, container yards, port aprons — the effective loading time increases and the binder behaves as if the pavement were hotter. In those cases engineers commonly step up one or two high-temperature grades to PG 70-22 or PG 76-22 rather than staying with 64.

• Dense-graded hot mix asphalt

  The dominant use. Compatible with virtually all standard HMA mix designs without reformulation, which is a large part of why contractors default to it.

• Highways and expressways

  Base, binder and surface courses on new construction and full-depth reconstruction in temperate to warm climates.

• Overlays and resurfacing

  Thin and structural overlays where the existing pavement is sound and the requirement is a durable new wearing surface.

• Airport pavements

  Runways, taxiways and aprons where the specification calls for an unmodified binder rather than a polymer-modified grade.

• Urban and rural roads

  Municipal streets, rural highways and access roads, where cost per tonne carries real weight in the tender.

• Parking areas and hardstanding

  Car parks, service yards and light industrial hardstanding with static or slow-moving loads.

How PG 64-22 compares to neighbouring grades

Move the first number to change rutting resistance in heat. Move the second to change cracking resistance in cold. Each 6 °C step is one grade.

See the full range on our PG bitumen page, or compare against penetration grades and viscosity grades.

Storage, handling and working temperatures

PG binders are graded on properties that degrade with heat and time. Every hour spent in a hot tank is oxidative ageing that the RTFO test was designed to simulate, so temperature discipline is not a formality — it is what keeps the delivered grade the grade you specified.

Flash point is a minimum of 230 °C, which leaves a wide margin over working temperatures, but that margin is not a licence to overheat. Keep tanks under nitrogen blanket or sealed where extended storage is unavoidable, use indirect heating, and never apply direct flame to a cold mass. Personal protective equipment is mandatory during transfer and application: heat-resistant gloves, face shield or goggles, and flame-resistant clothing. Full hazard and first aid data is in the product MSDS, issued with every shipment.

Packing and delivery

Container figures are typical for standard 20′ dry containers and vary with the shipping line’s payload limit for the route.

Frequently asked questions