The surface was laid on the A12 northbound between Hatfield Peverel and Witham, Essex in mid-August and incorporates Gipave, a proprietary graphene-enhanced polymeric additive that acts as a reinforcement to the bitumen film surrounding aggregates in asphalt. It contained 40 per cent reclaimed asphalt - the highest level ever used in the UK for asphalt with graphene-enhanced polymeric modifier.
In a statement, Umesh Parajuli, project sponsor and senior pavement advisor at National Highways said: "This trial of graphene-enhanced asphalt supports our 2040 net zero target for construction and maintenance and could provide significant whole-life benefits, improving the service life of both local and national networks.”
Previous studies have shown Gipave has improved stiffness and resistance to rutting compared to conventional asphalt while improving fatigue endurance. The performance of the material on the A12 will be monitored over several years.
This trial is part of a National Highways research project under SPaTS 2 which is testing several emerging, low carbon asphalt products. The trial is adopting hot and warm mix technologies for comparison studies and is being conducted with industry partners Eurovia, Jean Lefebvre (UK), AtkinsRéalis, Iterchimica and Directa Plus.
This is the first time Gipave has been applied on the strategic road network and follows ongoing trials in Oxfordshire, Kent, Staffordshire and Essex by councils.
Related content
This technology has been adopted internationally including at the new San Giorgio bridge in Genova, Treviso Airport runway, Edinburgh and Rome Fiumicino Airport taxiways, the main motorways in northern Italy – the A4 Turin-Milan and the A4 Brescia-Padua - and the F1 Imola circuit in Italy.
Gipave has been developed by Iterchimica which Eurovia UK produced and installed on the A12 surfacing with support from Jean Lefebvre UK for the mix design. AtkinsRéalis will analyse the performance of the one-kilometre trial section including its carbon footprint and whole-life benefits, measuring it against a control section of standard polymer-modified bitumen asphalt.
The trial is being coordinated by an AtkinsRéalis-Jacobs joint venture as part of a National Highways research project which Nottingham University and Jean Lefebvre UK will support with lab testing.
Government urged to allow smaller batteries on to grid
Once again, it is meaningless to talk about a 1 MW battery (instantaneous power output) without also giving its storage capacity in MW-h i.e. how long...