Major micro-surfacing success for EST
Eurovia Specialist Treatments deliver Highways England’s largest micro-surfacing operation
EUROVIA Specialist Treatments (EST) have recently completed the largest micro-surfacing operation ever undertaken on the country’s Strategic Road Network (SRN), working for Tarmac on behalf of Highways England.
The project was delivered across two weekends in August when approximately 115,000 sq metres of cold-applied ultra-thin surfacing (CAUTS) was laid on the carriageway around the A1/A421 Black Cat roundabout, using Eurovia’s BBA HAPAS-approved proprietary micro-surfacing product, GripFibre.
GripFibre uses Eurovia’s highly modified bitumen emulsion, Emulvia Grip P, which is licenced by the company’s internal materials R&D centre, JLUK, and produced by Eurovia’s internal emulsion manufacturer, PolyBitumens.
The product is designed to reduce the risk of aggregate segregation, improving surface texture and skid resistance, leaving a quality road surface that significantly enhances the durability of the carriageway.
This industry-leading approach adopted by EST delivers numerous benefits to the highway authority, the road user and the taxpayer – notably in relation to cost, time and carbon savings.
The micro-surfacing scheme reduced costs by around 65%, when compared with a conventional plane-out and relay hot-asphalt operation, and provided a significant reduction in carbon emissions through cold application – the material is applied at temperatures below 30°C.
The scheme also delivered enormous time savings, with a traditional resurfacing operation of this scale taking up to six weekends to complete, compared with two weekends for EST’s four micro-surfacing crews – meaning it is around 66% quicker.
Paul Goosey, managing director of production at Eurovia, said: ‘I am delighted that we have had this amazing opportunity to not only play a leading role in the SRN’s largest micro-surfacing operation, but also to complete it using our very own, unique GripFibre product.
‘Works of this scale are not undertaken lightly and we have drawn upon our team’s expert planning and execution – I’m so proud of the efforts of our crews and all involved.
‘I hope that the success of this operation will be the catalyst for further CAUTS applications using the GripFibre solution on other parts of our country’s road network, ensuring good value and durability for taxpayers.’
