Experts push for innovative new technology for road repairs
Following the Chancellors £2.5bn commitment to pot holes in the recent budget and many Local Councils now targeting to become carbon neutral by as early as 2030, Sheffield based material engineering company Roadmender Asphalt are launching a new breed of road repair materials that are greener, faster to install and less expensive than traditional asphalt.
Unlike traditional methods that require pot holes to be cut out and refilled with asphalt which is timely and expensive, the new rubberised repair material known as Elastomac is poured in as a hot liquid that forms to the shape of the hole and welds itself the existing road.
The benefit of this process is that where traditional repairs often fail when water penetrates through the edge of a repair and then freezes, Elastomac, which contains around 7 end of life waste tyres melted into every ton, is applied as a molten liquid that fills and then forms a flexible waterproof membrane over the pot holes, covering the edges and locking out any potential for the ingress of water.
Harry Pearl, CEO of Roadmender Asphalt, has provided an insight into why Elastomac is so revolutionary within its field: “Having been through 10 years of austerity, Councils have naturally gravitated towards innovation as the only viable way to safeguard their road assets.
“As part of this they have set up knowledge sharing hubs and innovation funding initiatives that encourage the development of new materials and working methods aimed at driving down costs and improving efficiency.
“Roadmender Elastomac is a by-product of this drive for innovation that’s ultimately led to the creation of a new road repair system that is faster, less expensive, uses 90% less virgin material than traditional repairs and has the ability to recycle hundreds of thousands of waste tyres a year in the process.
From a health perspective, the use of these new flowable reinstatement materials also eliminates any hand arm vibration and airborne dust issues traditionally caused by saw cutting and jack hammering out potholes.”
