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

  • New M90 surfacing in the UK gain praise
    January 8, 2013
    Early evaluation of surfacing work on the M90 at Rosyth – the first major application of Scotland’s new TS2010 specification – has earned positive praise. Transport Scotland’s determination to obtain pavement that is durable, long lasting and safe (especially in early life) is clearly apparent on the M90 just north of the Forth Road Bridge. Here surfacing has been carried out this spring to TS2010, a tough new specification designed to ensure thin surfacing pavements that work. And the initial prognosis is
  • The case for recycled asphalt
    October 24, 2017
    Debate continues over the use increased recycled asphalt for road surfaces - David Smith, development director at UK contractor FM Conway urges more cross-sector work to prove the case for a higher recycled asphalt content
  • UK hosts world’s first zero-emissions Portland cement industrial trial
    February 8, 2023
    The UK is hosting the world’s first zero-emissions Portland cement industrial trial
  • Key transport award
    February 29, 2012
    A key research award is attracting a high-profile list of prospective candidates.