SOLUTIONS CASE STUDY

Sustainable Construction

Record supply of specialist asphalt

“At a time when the highways industry is increasingly looking towards more sustainable and better value solutions, it has been really positive for us to not only supply but lay a record amount of this material on the A11. We know it will help to eliminate future interventions, together with the related carbon emissions and disruption associated with maintenance work.”

Phil Greenin, Tarmac Contracting Framework Delivery Manager

A major strategic road in Norfolk was given a new lease of life thanks to the installation of our largest ever supply of a specialist asphalt solution, specifically designed to maintain roads where the underlying concrete has deteriorated. We were tasked with finding a long-lasting and sustainable surface that would cut lifecycle maintenance costs.

Working in partnership with National Highways and project consultants Atkins and following a detailed whole-life cost analysis, we proposed the use of our fully recyclable ULTILAYER SAMI asphalt – a high-performance stress absorbing membrane interlayer, proven to provide long-term protection of the asphalt overlay. Completed in July, the site team laid a total of 80,000 tonnes of material to complete the scheme including 7,000 tonnes of ULTILAYER SAMI – the most we have ever supplied to a single project. It has been estimated that, in addition to being fully recyclable, the asphalt will increase the life of the pavement, resulting in lower maintenance requirements, highlighting the substantial sustainability benefits of this product.

This innovative pavement design generated a total project saving of 1,154 tonnes of CO2 emissions, a 20% reduction compared to the original plan, which is equivalent to taking 250 cars off our roads. A whole life cost analysis also predicted half the number of maintenance interventions will be needed over 22 years from using ULTILAYER SAMI.

Phil Greenin, Tarmac Contracting Framework Delivery Manager, said: “ULTILAYER SAMI is a proven technology that has been uniquely developed to tackle deteriorating concrete roads. Its previous applications on the strategic network, including on the M25, have demonstrated that its greater whole-life performance can extend pavement life, deliver longer resurfacing intervals and lower maintenance requirements.

Martin Fellows, Highways England’s Regional Director, said: “The A11 is a vital route providing thousands of drivers with a reliable route for work journeys and home deliveries, visits to friends and family, holidays and the movement of the goods and services. By using a product that is longer lasting and fully recyclable we’re able to extend the life of the road, reduce the amount of time undertaking maintenance and repairs, which minimises disruption to drivers, businesses and the local community.”

In addition to the new surface’s improved sustainability credentials, 100% of the old surface material was recycled and a ‘carbon calculator’ was implemented to accurately identify where other emissions savings have been achieved.