Pen (short for Penetration) Grade Bitumen

Material Edge have been supplying penetration bitumen from independent suppliers since 2005.

As a trusted agent providing bitumen products we pride ourselves on keeping a watchful eye on the UK and overseas pricing and movement of bitumen to ensure that at any time our customers are getting the best products at the best prices we can achieve for them.

We supply bitumen produced by the major refineries and importers of Europe including UK based production, all through independents channels.

Deliveries are typically 28 Tonne, Small loads (10-25t) or Bulk supply (e.g. 4-10,000t barges). We can also supply ready dosed in the bitumen, odour and emissions reducers to improve the fresh air around asphalt plants and pavers as well as adhesion agents.

Our suppliers can carry out safety audit inspections and provide certificates of conformity for all products.

Contact us and compare our prices.

You will be pleasantly surprised and will find the speed of response, attention to detail and friendly delivery service is second to none in the industry.

Bitumen is available in a variety of grades. Bitumen is graded according to standardised testing methods (see list of EN standards below). These tests also give rise to two commonly used terms which describe the method of measurement, rather than a "type" of bitumen.

Bitumen is classified by the depth to which a standard needle will penetrate under specified test conditions. This “pen” test classification is used to indicate the hardness of bitumen, lower penetration values indicating a harder bitumen, higher values e.g. 160/220 indicate a softer grade. Specifications for penetration graded bitumens normally state the penetration range for a grade, e.g. 50/70. Other tests are used to classify the bitumen for specification purposes, such as softening point, solubility, flash point etc.

An old (2001) but useful chart on pen grades new and old appeared on the Quarry Products Association web site and can accessed from here.

EN standards Pen Grades

Harmonised European standards exist for most types of bituminous binders, the applicable specifications for bituminous binders in Europe are:

• EN12591 - Specifications for paving grade bitumens
• EN13924 - Specifications for hard paving grade bitumens