Skip to main content

Long life pavements trials

Seven countries have confirmed their participation in field trials for the proposed third phase of the Long Life Pavement Project, being operated under the auspices of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation) and International Transport Forum (ITF).
July 6, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Seven countries have confirmed their participation in field trials for the proposed third phase of the Long Life Pavement Project, being operated under the auspices of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation) and 1102 International Transport Forum (ITF).

France, New Zealand, Denmark, Belgium, the UK, Ukraine and Spain have confirmed while the US, Israel and South Africa have expressed interest and could also participate in the trials.

The third phase requires that countries take an active role in constructing roads using epoxy asphalt and high performance cementitious materials (HPCM).

France indicated it will launch two construction sites using HPCM (a roundabout and a 100m section of urban road). In the latter case, a parallel experiment will take place to assess the de-pollution effect of Titane Dioxide.

New Zealand has already started constructing sections of road using epoxy asphalt.

The Long Life Pavements project began in 2002, and in the first phase an economic evaluation of long life wearing course was performed. It concluded that long life pavement surfacing costing around three times that of traditional wearing courses could be economically viable, assuming an expected life of 30 years and an annual average daily traffic of 80,000 or more.

It also concluded that laboratory tests should be conducted on the two candidate materials identified (epoxy asphalt and high performance cementitious material).

In Phase 2 (2005-08), the two materials were tested in laboratories where it was found that both materials performed well, and it was concluded that the materials should be implemented on large scale demonstrations to test production, laying and performance issues

The objectives of Phase 3 are to coordinate trials in order to research production, laying and quality control, as well as cost, and demonstrate the performance of such surfacing under real traffic and environmental conditions.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Slag for roads research
    May 7, 2020
    Research will be analyse the potential for steel slag in road building.
  • ITF at OECD launch ‘Promising Transport Innovation Award’
    November 22, 2013
    The International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation for the transport sector with 54 member countries, is calling for applications for a new award. The Promising Transport Innovation Award will recognise an innovation with the potential to significantly improve the transport industry. The innovation can be based on technological change, operational change, organisational change or a combination of these.
  • Sandvik drilling rigs boost production
    July 9, 2012
    The drill and blast contractor Technical Drilling and Blasting in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is standardising on Sandvik rock tools for its fleet of drill rigs. The firm operates across Fujeirah, providing quality gabbro aggregates for construction projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Recognised as one of the worlds hardest rocks, gabbro features a typical density in excess of 3tonnes/m, a crushing factor of 10 and a 61% silica content and demand remains strong for this quality construction material. Every
  • Developing the European roads of the future
    February 14, 2012
    A new project aims to bring Europe to the forefront of developing the future of transport. A three-year project has set itself the challenge of developing a "truly inspiring vision" of how roads will be built and maintained in the 21st century. Forever Open Road is a revolutionary concept led by the Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) and supported by the UK's influential TRL (Transport Research Laboratory).