Kier Highways Solutions, a surface dressing and bituminous product manufacturing business and part of Kier Highways, has been awarded a year-long contract with Derbyshire County Council for surface dressing.

Kier will deliver circa 550,000sqm of surface dressing across Derbyshire using 900t of surface dressing emulsion, which will be manufactured at the Kier-owned bitumen plant in Wymondham, Norfolk. The contract will begin in summer and will be self-delivered using a seasonal workforce.

As part of the operational delivery, Kier will take delivery of two new custom-built emulsion sprayers to work in the county. The sprayers will be powered using hydrotreated vegetable oil, have low emission engines and electrical heating elements rather than combustion heating, supporting the ambition to reach its net zero carbon target by 2045.

Lee Draper, Kier Highways Solutions general manager, said: “This is great news for the Solutions team and fits with our growth plans for the business. We look forward to cementing new relationships in Derbyshire. Our self-delivery offering has proven a first-class service nationally to various clients and offers fantastic value for money to our clients.”

Julian Gould, highways director for Derbyshire County Council, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to award this contract to Kier Highways Solutions. The work forms part of our £58m investment in the county’s roads over the next year, with Kier carrying out all the surface dressing work on our behalf.”

Kier Highways Solutions is the new name for the Surface Treatments Business and Wymondham Plant (formerly Ayton Products) business within Kier Highways. The two have now merged offering a one-stop shop of manufacturing, delivery, and traffic management design service.