Tarmac develops a Super-Strength Pavement for two of the UK's busiest roads
Tarmac, together with Westminster City Council and Westminster TranServ, has developed a revolutionary, ultra-durable road pavement that is being used on parts of London's Regent Street, Oxford Street and Oxford Circus.
The roads in this area of the capital (a busy shopping centre and a tourist hotspot), experience a high volume of heavy, slow moving vehicles, which combine to create a unique set of conditions.
These conditions have caused considerable deformation to the existing road surface, particularly in the lanes that are used by London buses, delivery vehicles and taxis. Traditional pavement design and materials used in this area typically have a short life span, giving Westminster City Council a significant problem with both the cost and inconvenience of maintaining these roads.
As the service provider for the City of Westminster, one of the UK's most forward-thinking authorities, Westminster TranServ and Tarmac held a series of workshops with the City Council and proposed the use of a high quality pavement material that would offer durability and resistance to deformation.
Working in close partnership with Westminster City Council and Westminster TranServ, Tarmac's technical team was tasked with designing binder and surface materials that would enable the roads to last significantly longer than conventional pavement designs, and also reduce the amount of wheel rutting caused by the volume and weight of traffic.
Tarmac created unique formulations that were meticulously tested over a number of months, liaising with its clients at every stage to ensure the high performance requirements were met. As the only UK supplier to have a French wheel tracker, Tarmac was also able to undertake rigorous 'real-life' trials on deformation resistance of the pavement's lower layers.
Nick Toy, aggregates and asphalt technologies manager for Tarmac said: "This project was an exciting challenge, but our technical expertise put us in the best position to deliver the client's stringent requirements. We have come up with a new pavement design and also incorporated variations in construction across the different lanes to accommodate the different flows and weights of traffic across Oxford Street, Regent Street, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus."
Toy adds: "What really set the project apart was the fact that all three parties were engaged in the process and it truly was a partnership approach. We were able to use our experience of high-profile, technically-complex projects to advise the client as to what would work best for their busy roads long term, even if it meant resurfacing a smaller area of road in the first instance. We are confident that our unique design will deliver a high-quality road pavement that offers durability, deformation resistance and long-term value for money."
Rakesh Vaghela, assistant service manager for highways at Westminster City Council, said: "An innovative solution was required to ensure that the selected pavement solution is durable. Traditional pavement design and materials was not a viable option. Therefore, working in partnership with our service provider - Westminster TranServ and Tarmac - we have achieved a high quality road pavement which will provide long-term value for money. In addition, the works have been delivered on programme and on budget, with extensive liaison and co-ordination during the design and construction phases with Transport for London who funded the works, as well as other major stakeholders, including The Crown Estate."
Peter Payne, assistant contracts manager at Westminster Transerv added: "I'm pleased the collaborative working between all three parties led to an innovative solution that will provide best value to the businesses, visitors and residents of the City of Westminster. The liaison and coordination required to carry out this work was extensive and the Westminster TranServ team delivered these works to programme and budget."
More than one thousand tonnes of the new products were supplied by Tarmac's Hayes plant in Middlesex for the £938,000 contract.
The final binder course formulation used an innovative polymer-modified binder supplied by Nynas Bitumen UK.
Jukka Laitinen, asphalt engineering support manager for Nynas Bitumen UK AB, commented: "We were pleased to assist Tarmac in providing a Nynas SP PMB from the Nypol range, to meet the challenging demands of their contract. Using advanced technology from our laboratories, the enhanced bitumen formulation enabled Tarmac to carry out this challenging contract. The Nynas PMB allows for heavier loads and longer-lasting pavements to be designed and easily constructed in the most difficult of circumstances."
The new pavement was laid by Tarmac's National Contracting division, who faced a tough task when working on such busy roads. Alleviating traffic congestion while the work was carried out was a major consideration for all parties. Possession time was between 10pm and 6am, with the road needing to be planed, cleaned, prepped and laid, ready to take traffic by 6am. However, Westminster City Council realised the importance delivering a pavement solution that would have greater longevity, and would mean that in the long-term, the roads would be closed for repair less frequently.
Tarmac is also conducting a rigorous programme of post-testing for deformation resistance of the pavement every six to eight weeks. This testing began on the first day that the new pavement was laid and will continue for the rest of 2008.
See also Tarmac Asphalt for details of our asphalt products
and Tarmac National Contracting for details of our services
For further information please Contact PR.
28 May 2008
