Asphalt preservatives dramatically extend the lifespan of highways
The highways industry is faced with a unique challenge – The ‘Road’, with its depreciating finite life, cannot economically be renewed in line with traditional life cycle activities.
There are 31,000 potholes awaiting repair in the UK that is estimated could take 11 years to clear, while 1 in 7 drivers have claimed their car was damaged as a result of pavement defects, with more than £20 million paid out annually in third party claims.
Road works, both planned and unplanned are estimated to cost the UK economy more than £4.3 billion – is this sustainable? ASI Solutions response, and that of an increasing group of asset managers is that – it is not. Lobbying Government for more funds is one way forward, but unlikely to be successful due to budget constraints and spending cuts.
But there is another way – Using an asphalt preservative based Highway Asset Management methodology would have a dramatic effect on the long-term deterioration and sustainability of road surfaces, reducing wear and driving down costs.
RHiNOPHALT® from ASI Solutions is the perfect example of a low cost, cold applied, chemically engineered preservative applied to the top surface of a ‘Road’, forming a membrane on, and uniquely, within the bituminous surface. Ideally, applied 1-2 years after surfacing has been laid and maintained as part of a 5-7 year cyclical regime of application and re-application with optimum results being delivered by targeting ‘Roads’ with an IRI Condition Index of ‘Very Good’ or ‘Good’ to radically slow deterioration of the surface.
Preservatives have been used to treat assets like wooden buildings, fences, and even cars with surface preservative applications for many years, so ASI Solutions knew the technology works and developed their RHiNOPHALT® preservative solution for bituminous surfaces to deliver economic and environmental savings by increasing the productive life of this ‘finite’ asset.
Typically RHiNOPHALT® will save at least one resurfacing over a 20-year period and one of ASI’s largest motorway concession customers is confident of achieving whole life savings of close to 40% and will minimise the amount of “unplanned interventions“ that would normally be expected to be carried out, which are estimated to be reduced by 66%.
