Ringway Jacobs Resurfaces Highway in World-First Gipave Trial
A trial which could revolutionise the way public highways are resurfaced has shown some encouraging initial findings.
In the summer of 2022, Essex Highways – a partnership between Ringway Jacobs and Essex County Council – began a trial adding a new strengthening compound, Gipave, to traditional surfacing material on a section of the A1016 Parkway in Chelmsford.
Ringway Jacobs brought in the global expertise of one of its shareholding companies Eurovia UK and its specialist asset management consultancy Jean Lefebvre UK (JLUK), along with other partners to conduct the trial.
It was the first time Gipave had been added to hot rolled asphalt. Produced by Italian company Iterchimica, Gipave contains graphene – which is 200 times stronger than steel yet extremely flexible – making the asphalt far less susceptible both to hardening and cracking in cold temperatures and softening in warm temperatures. It also increases the elasticity and strength to reduce the wear, particularly under high loading.
Graphene, has since been used in some notable European locations including the new San Giorgio bridge in Genova, Italy and a Treviso Airport runway landing point, also in Italy. Oxfordshire and Kent county councils are also trialling the material.
It is hoped the trial will show that adding Gipave potentially doubles the lifespan of roads, greatly reducing future maintenance – and the associated traffic delays. This expectation of greatly-reduced future maintenance could also yield very significant carbon footprint reductions, it is hoped.
The Kent trial site in Gravesend is in a very intensive HGV area and the surface is performing well. National Highways is planning a trial site for the future.
While the Chelmsford trial continues to show encouraging results, a new forum has been set up to share information and experience among representative of those behind the new technology and highway authorities using it.
Among key findings from an initial meeting of the forum were that all trials had showed a two-two and a half times improvement in durability over traditional materials, from both lab and post installation tests undertaken.
Simon Butt, Operations Director, Essex Highways said: “We were delighted to be the first authority in the world to trial the addition of Gipave to a hot rolled asphalt. We are equally pleased to see that through contacting Oxford to see how their trial went, we have gone on to create a community of organisations who have undertaken or are thinking of undertaking a Graphene trial.
“The forum has provided us all with some interesting insights and I look forward to seeing what might develop as a result of the work we are doing in this area. It is further testimony to our commitment to innovation, providing value for money and harnessing new technologies for the benefit of our residents in Essex.”
