Northumberland County Council’s Highways team is trialling an innovative treatment aimed at extending the lifespan of the road network and preventing defects and potholes from occurring.
Over time as asphalt ages, micro-cracks form in the surface course allowing water and oxygen to penetrate, accelerating the rate of deterioration and allowing defects to form. Now a trial has taken place on the A1068 Amble to Warkworth road, with road maintenance and repair specialists Velocity installing a unique asphalt preservation treatment (EVERPHALT®) that ‘locks-in’ and ‘times freezes’ the condition of the road, preventing deterioration.
The product penetrates the surface to depths of 30mm, setting hard in any micro-cracks and air voids. Once treated, deterioration that can lead to potholes is prevented for a period of up to five-years.
The installation was carried out at night and following a pre-sweep, EVERPHALT® was sprayed on to the road surface with just one pass of one machine, without the need for any compaction or heavy equipment.
As the profile of the road is maintained, there is no need to raise ironworks, kerb heights or thresholds, significantly reducing time and cost.
Councillor Mark Mather, Cabinet Member for Roads and Highways at Northumberland County Council, said:
“With over 3,000 miles of roads to look after, we’re always looking to find the best and most cost-effective way to keep our highway network in good condition. This stretch of road is busy not just with locals, but the thousands of visitors who travel up our coast every day, so it makes sense to trial this product here.
“The work is completed very quickly, with application taking just 45 minutes and in the current conditions, just an hour and a half to cure. This keeps disruption to motorists to a minimum.
“If the trial is successful we will be looking to expand the use of this cost-effective preventative maintenance technique to other suitable sites in the county. However, although we are focusing on prevention this does not defer from our £100m three-year highways capital maintenance programme including resurfacing and surface dressing of our huge road network.”
Because the treatment involves using significantly less material than other methods, and stretches the life of the asphalt, preservation is exceptionally environmentally friendly, providing a carbon saving of 63 tonnes compared to traditional surfacing techniques
Once treated the road is protected, avoiding costly, disruptive interventions further down the line and providing a smoother journey for motorists.
Gavin Blogg, Head of Business Development for Velocity UK Ltd added:
“Being based in the North East we were delighted to be given the opportunity to demonstrate the effectiveness of applying EVERPHALT® in Northumberland and hope to see the process further adopted across the county and the wider region.”
(Picture: Northumberland County Council)
