Skip to main content

Historic promenade given a facelift

In the UK, Foster Contracting was part of the team that carried out road improvements to the main route along the historic promenade of the seaside town Great Yarmouth, in eastern England. The harshness of the sea environment coupled with traffic loading caused the road surface to deteriorate, leading to brittle cracking of the thin surface course and also reflective cracking from overlain service trenches and patches. The town centre was already undergoing a major regeneration and as part of this scheme, i
July 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
In the UK, Foster Contracting was part of the team that carried out road improvements to the main route along the historic promenade of the seaside town Great Yarmouth, in eastern England.

The harshness of the sea environment coupled with traffic loading caused the road surface to deteriorate, leading to brittle cracking of the thin surface course and also reflective cracking from overlain service trenches and patches.
The town centre was already undergoing a major regeneration and as part of this scheme, it was decided to carry out essential carriageway repairs to Marine Parade. Core samples showed the existing road construction comprised a thin pavement with a maximum of 125mm of asphalt overlaying sand and gravel.

To prolong the life of the new road construction, the polymeric geocomposite, PGM-G 100/100, manufactured by 1631 TenCate Geosynthetics, was installed to retard the formation of reflection cracks in the bituminous inlay as well as to seal cracks in the underlying layers and prevent penetration by water and oxygen; reinforce the asphalt layers of the carriageway, and prolong its life.

TenCate PGM-G 100/100 paving geocomposite is a mechanically bonded continuous filament non-woven geotextile made from 100% polypropylene and reinforced with high modulus glass filaments, which allows construction plant to traffic the geocomposite during the surfacing operation without damage or picking up.
Contractor Ennstone Johnston planed 40mm off the carriageway, cleaned the exposed surface, and filled exposed cracks greater than 4mm wide to ensure a 100% bond between the planed surface and the paving fabric.

TenCate's specialist installation contractor, Foster Contracting, used its calibrated tanker to spray a bond coat of 160/220 pen bitumen (approximately 1litre/m² at 180°C) onto the planed surface. It then used its bespoke laying machine to install the PGM-G 100/100 under tension onto the hot bond coat.

Finally, Ennstone Johnston overlaid the PGM-G 100/100 with 40mm of a polymer modified proprietary overlay, and a total of 7,000m² of road refurbishment was successfully completed over a seven-day period.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tensar’s Glasstex makes the grade in UK’s Smart Motorway upgrade
    February 27, 2017
    A Stress Absorbing Membrane Interlayer is delivering stronger, safer and more reliable surfaces for the UK’s M3 Smart Motorways project in the southern England.
  • Spanish contractor Sorigué has the edge with VÖGELE SprayJet
    March 21, 2016
    Spanish contractor Sorigué, the first to use the SUPER 1800-3i SprayJet from Vögele, has pioneered paving thin overlays and the development of new mixes. The company won the contract for rehabilitating the surface course of the 3km-long dam, 10m-wide promenade in the Catalonian port city of Tarragona. Sorigué’s idea was to overlay the existing surfacing with a thin layer applied to a spray seal of polymer-modified bitumen. The spray seal prevents water penetrating inside the structure – a major advant
  • Asphalt reinforcement extends road life
    July 12, 2012
    Special reinforcements can extend the life of an old or new road, and also offer environmental benefits. Patrick Smith reports. Asphalt reinforcement can extend the service life of a resurfaced road by a factor of 3-4, says Huesker, developers of the HaTelit range of asphalt reinforcement. Aimed at preventing the propagation of reflective cracking from an old asphalt layer through a new surface course, Huesker claims the formation of reflective cracking is considerably delayed or even completely prevented u
  • Copy of Article
    May 4, 2012
    Special fabrics are often used in civil engineering works, including highways, to make soil stronger Geosynthetics have been used in roadway construction for thousands of years with natural materials being mixed with soil to improve quality and stability. While today's products are much more sophisticated, the principles are the same. For example, when used with soil, geotextiles (permeable fabrics) can filter, separate, reinforce, protect, or drain, and they are often made from polypropylene or polyester,