The uses of bitumen are numerous. The chief one in most countries is for road construction. It is also used for surfacing airfield runways and taxi tracks, hydraulic applications such as canal lining, river bank protection, dam construction and sea defences. There are also numerous industrial applications like roofing, felt manufacture, printing inks, electrical cable/junction boxes, mastic for flooring, waterproofing of terraces, duplex paper manufacture, etc.