This section of the A45 was displaying thermally induced reflective cracking over the joints throughout lanes 1and 2 including the slip roads the substrate being a 280mm thick concrete pavement with slab lengths of 5m .Carillion/URS made use of ARCDESO design software to give them a 20 year design life from the maintenance solution selected which was a 70mm thick polymer modified asphalt construction reinforced with Gridseal .There were control sections built within the scheme without Gridseal in order to monitor the performance of the reinforcement.

Firstly, you need to specify the correct reinforcement at the outset. GlasGrid is a fibre glass reinforcement that has a polymer resin coating to provide long term protection against mechanical abrasion and water ingress, beware of uncoated glass systems. GlasGrid is designed to provide uniform tensile strength in the remaining asphalt even after a utility company has excavated through the reinforcement. The pictures say it all. It only requires saw cutting approx. 50-100mm wider than the main excavation to just above the existing reinforcement. This will allow the utility contractor to reinstate with an overlap ensuring the asphalt overlay remains reinforced. This process is quick and simple and may be undertaken by the utility contractor themselves.

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As winter tightens its grip on the UK, severe flooding and extreme weather conditions are causing massive damage to British roads. In large areas of the country, potholes as large as 6 inches deep are being formed in highways by receding floodwaters and freezing temperatures. As reported in the Sunday Times, Local Authorities are struggling to cope with the sheer scale of the damage caused and some claim that many roads will remain closed for months.

Estimates place the scale of the damage as being close to 2 million potholes requiring repair this winter, whereas last year’s figure was around the 1.7 million mark. The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), which collates this data, has also speculated that this figure may rise as high as a record breaking 2.2 million. Many councils including Devon, Bradford and Warwickshire, are already claiming that their roads are in worse condition than two years ago. As a result, motorists are forced to travel at extremely slow speeds through affected areas, while risking serious damage to their cars.

As part of a preventative measure against pothole formation, ARS offers several reinforcement systems that provide a moisture barrier for pavement foundations. Our product range caters for any reinforcement need by combining the latest technologies for longer life cycles, a reduction in maintenance costs and savings in natural resources due to prolonged service intervals.

Most councils classify potholes exceeding 2 inches deep as being in urgent need of repair requiring maintenance within 24 hours. Owing to the current deficit budget situations that Local Authorities find themselves in many are unable to carry out these essential road repairs resulting in some roads being closed. Some of the more heavily affected areas, such as in Somerset where strips of tarmac as large as 5m were torn from the road by floods, expect the repairs to take years.

Areas most affected include the South West of England, Wales and the East of Scotland, but the problems span most of Britain. In Devon a 300ft stretch of rural road was destroyed by floodwater; whilst a carriageway collapse in Oxfordshire led to road closures likely to last for 6 months.

Asphalt Reinforcement Systems Ltd are distributors and installers of pavement reinforcement systems in the UK. Our expert technical team truly understand the pavement reinforcement challenges brought about by flooding and extreme weather conditions and we believe that we can offer you the very best technically advanced pavement reinforcing solutions.

For more information on maintenance solutions for flood damaged pavements or to discuss any other asphalt reinforcement requirements, call us today.

CG100L is a new addition to our manufacturer’s GlasGrid CompoGrid (CG) range and will be available from 7th June 2012.

The in-service performance of CG100L is as high as the standard CG100, but the enhanced technical and environmental benefits of using it make CG100L a very effective alternative.

The benefits of using CG100L are:

•             absorbent geo-textile enhances bond

•             environmentally-friendly geo-textile reduces carbon footprint

•             acts as a moisture barrier

•             reduces repair costs

•             matches design requirements

•             saves time and money

•             provides rapid strength

•             offers reliable, long-term performance

•             not damaged by hot asphalt during paving operations

Surface dressing remains one of the most cost-effective methods for increasing the life of asphalt pavements. Maintenance periods can be extended by up to four times if the surface is prepared with a solution such as Tencate’s GeoPrep prior to surface dressing.

Further benefits of using GeoPrep are:

•             Reduced pre-patching costs (see testimonial below)

•             Increased the potential area for surface dressing repair – avoids high cost inlays

•             Extended pavement lifecycle – whole life cost considerably reduced

•             Prevention of moisture and oxygen penetration – protects sub layers

•             Lower tack coat consumption – minimising the bitumen costs

•             Rapid installation in line with surface dressing operation – no delays

10 years maintenance free…

Bob Noakes, Group Manager of the Norfolk County Council Laboratory specified GeoPrep on a project almost ten years ago as a stress relieving and bitumen retention layer under surface dressing for one of their busiest roads.  The particular section of road was in a cracked and crazed condition and would normally have been repaired prior to surface dressing with hot mix asphalt inlay patching.  GeoPrep was specified in order to save on the costs of patching repairs.  The road has been regularly inspected over time and the treated section has been completely maintenance-free.

Bob reports that “my experience over many years of this type of surface and traffic loading tells me that pre-patching is essential to ensure surface dressing is effective. Without patching I would expect the surface dressing to last two to three years and even then this section would be at a high risk of developing potholes.  Patch repairs run the risk of potholes around the edges of the repair, even under a surface dressing.  However the road to date still shows no sign of distress and the saving to the council has been considerable and we recommend this treatment method throughout the county as part of our investigation and design for repairs”.

GeoPrep is fully CE marked and quality assured to European Norm standards.  The optimum product quality and functionality are only guaranteed when GeoPrep is correctly installed by trained and experienced installers.

The project, which ran from Autumn 2010 to early 2011, was the first major refurbishment of the airfield since it was constructed in 1985 and was planned to coincide with summer in the southern hemisphere and the 25^th anniversary events to commemorate the Falklands war.

Work included resurfacing both of Mount Pleasant’s 2.4km runways, as well as all of its taxiways, links and loops and involved refurbishment of all the asphalt surfaces and replacement of all airfield ground lighting together with specialist surface treatments laid by Asphalt Reinforcement Services Ltd and civil engineering.  Much of the work was carried out at night and under very extreme weather conditions.  The Falklands is infamous for its ‘four seasons in one day’ climate.

Significant resources and logistics were required to complete the project, which was 8,000 miles from the UK, including two mobile asphalt plants.  Colas’ own Warrington plant supplied the entire bitumen and bond coat required for the project.  Over 12,000 drums of binder were filled and transported.

It is critical to get main runway open in time every Friday to maintain the Island’s key supply lines.  The runway had to remain operable for military use all week.  A squadron of RAF Typhoons is based here and the phasing of our work has been calculated to allow take off within 15 minutes’ notice – Simon Downing, Airfields Business Manager at Colas