In terms of highway engineering, there are mainly three types of mixing stations, commercial mixing station, asphalt mixing plant and water stabilization station.

Commercial concrete plant, also known as (commercial) cement concrete mixing plant, is composed of mixing system, aggregate supply system, powder storage system, metering system, control system and external supporting equipment. As a building material, it is widely used in civil engineering.

Asphalt mixing plant is the of producing asphalt concrete. The main function is to mix asphalt, gravel, mineral powder and fiber in a certain proportion and heat them to the mixing temperature for mixing. It is mainly used for building highway pavement.  

Water stabilized mixing station is a large-scale machinery specially used for mixing water stabilized materials in industrial construction. Water stabilized materials are generally cement, fly ash, graded crushed stone, stabilized soil layer materials, etc. It is mainly used for highway subgrade construction.

Similarly, as a mixing plant, the three have their own characteristics, as follows:

Different layout

In terms of construction layout, commercial mixing stations are generally arranged close to bridges and tunnels, and water stability stations and asphalt stations are arranged close to the middle of the line to facilitate the transportation of finished materials nearby.

Different raw materials

① The commercial mixing station is mainly composed of cement (generally used in large quantities), crushed stone, sand, fly ash, mineral powder, admixtures, etc. ② The water stable station mainly consists of cement (much smaller amount), gravel, sand, fly ash, stone chips, etc. ③ The asphalt station mainly includes asphalt, coarse aggregate (> 4.75mm), fine aggregate (< 4.75mm) and filler (< 0.6mm). In addition, heavy oil is required for equipment heating.

Different processing technology

① The concrete in the commercial mixing station shall be accurately and reasonably proportioned, and can be transported to the nearby construction site with a shelf life of several hours after mixing. ② The water stabilizing station is not as complex as the above two, and the proportioning requirements are not high. The finished products are stacked in the stockyard and can be used at any time. ③ In addition to requiring accurate proportioning, the asphalt plant also needs heating treatment during processing, and the temperature should be guaranteed during use. Basically, the mixer truck takes the asphalt raw materials to heat and mix on site.

Different production products

① The commercial mixing station is mainly composed of commercial high-standard concrete of various models and different strengths.

② The water stabilized station is mainly to meet the basic stabilized soil of high-grade highways, urban roads, squares and airports. ③ The asphalt station is mainly composed of asphalt mixture, modified asphalt mixture and color asphalt mixture.

Different product uses

① The ready mixed concrete (wet material) produced by the commercial mixing station is mainly used as building materials for construction projects. ② The stabilized soil (dry material) produced by the water stabilization station is mainly used for the construction of foundation cushion for roads, airports, squares, etc. ③ The asphalt concrete produced by the asphalt station is mainly used to build highway pavement, especially high-grade highways such as airports and expressways.