Skip to main content

Innovative surfacing

UK firm Hanson hopes to attain key sustainability targets with its new ERA asphalt product. This energy reducing asphalt delivers a 50% reduction in carbon emissions while enhancing durability and improving health and safety for contractors. It can also use up to 50% recycled content, while the asphalt itself is 100% recyclable. The Hanson ERA production process allows a wide range of base, binder and surface course materials to be produced at temperatures of 80 and 95°C, compared with up to 190°C for equiv
February 29, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The novel Hanson ERA asphalt product features a high percentage of recycled materials
UK firm 2644 Hanson hopes to attain key sustainability targets with its new ERA asphalt product.

This energy reducing asphalt delivers a 50% reduction in carbon emissions while enhancing durability and improving health and safety for contractors. It can also use up to 50% recycled content, while the asphalt itself is 100% recyclable.

The Hanson ERA production process allows a wide range of base, binder and surface course materials to be produced at temperatures of 80 and 95°C, compared with up to 190°C for equivalent hot-mix asphalt. As well as the increased sustainability credentials, the lower temperature allows faster completion of resurfacing works, minimising time on site for contractors and disruption for motorists.

Hanson ERA can also help local authorities reduce waste and carbon emissions and meet sustainability targets. In the UK 3348 Newport City Council was one of the first to use the material to resurface a bus route carrying heavy traffic loads. Andrew Morris, chief highway engineer at Newport City Council said, "Using Hanson ERA allowed the site to be planed out, resurfaced and reopened to traffic within a very short window of time. Testing has shown that the resistance to deformation is equivalent to standard hot-mix asphalt. We believe that adopting this new surface technology will help us meet our sustainability targets while providing durable longer lasting roads."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bitumen provides more durable road surface
    April 5, 2012
    When the main commuter route into Cardiff, the Welsh capital, began to suffer from acute deformation, the Vale of Glamorgan Council required a durable and faster alternative to hot rolled asphalt to ensure minimum disruption for local road users.
  • Latest bitumen mixes improve roads, reduce noise
    February 14, 2012
    Special bitumen mixes and machines are capable of improving the service life of roads and reducing noise. Mike Woof and Patrick Smith report. The need to improve traffic flow in an important part of the City of Poznan, Poland, led to the decision to build a new 1.13km long dual carriageway.
  • Skanska and Kraton boost RAP use with called SYLVAROAD™ RP1000
    November 23, 2017
    The city of Västerås in central Sweden is known as a centre for industrial automation and information technology. Innovation abounds here and with it comes strong environmental efforts – meeting carbon reduction goals and maximising the recycling process, for example. A road construction project just outside this picturesque city highlights such innovation.
  • Cost-effective innovative backfill recycling
    February 29, 2012
    Day Aggregates offers a novel materials recycling approach - Kristina Smith reports Here's a neat idea: take the muck from utilities trenches, treat it and reuse it, saving between 30-40% on the cost of landfill and backfill. This, in essence, is the theory behind Day Aggregates' EcoFILL 40 material. Confident of a growing market for this type of product, Day has invested over €569,000 (£500,000) in a new plant at its 3.4ha site in south London. "There is great demand for a solution to waste streams which