Skip to main content

Retexturing crucial UK route

Contractor Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald has used Klaruw’s advanced longitudinal grooving system, GrooveTex, to retexture sections of concrete surface on the M20 in the UK. The GrooveTex system improves and restores surface skid resistance by creating micro longitudinal grooves using closely spaced diamond-tipped saw blades at a predetermined width and depth. While being based on proven diamond-grinding techniques, Klaruw’s system is said to be optimised to provide significant improvements.
July 21, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Klaruw’s new grooving system has been used in the UK to improve skid resistance and boost safety for drivers

Contractor 1530 Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald has used Klaruw’s advanced longitudinal grooving system, GrooveTex, to retexture sections of concrete surface on the M20 in the UK.
 The GrooveTex system improves and restores surface skid resistance by creating micro longitudinal grooves using closely spaced diamond-tipped saw blades at a predetermined width and depth.  While being based on proven diamond-grinding techniques, 2311 Klaruw’s system is said to be optimised to provide significant improvements.

Unlike traditional grinding systems, GrooveTex adjusts to and follows the profile of the surface. The surface levels after treatment remain the same as the surrounding surface, avoiding the need for removal and reinstatement of road markings, road studs or ironwork.

Productivity is also said to be higher, as the machine has a retexturing width of 2m, said to be the widest of any unit available at present. A full lane width can be treated in a single pass using two GrooveTex machines in echelon.  The benefits mean that the GrooveTex treatment is less costly than competing systems, according to Klaruw.

The technology has been tested successfully on the M20 and is likely to be used elsewhere in the UK, to boost safety for drivers. Unaffected by wet weather, Klaruw successfully completed the GrooveTex treatment within the specified timeframe and with minimal disruption to motorway users. The system also has the potential to reduce road/tyre noise levels generated by concrete.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Prized recycling
    June 13, 2012
    Wirtgen has won the US Cold Recycling Award 2012 for applying its cold recycling structural road rehabilitation technology on Interstate I-81 in eastern America. The I-81 is one of the major north-south routes running across Virginia state with two lanes in each direction. Increasing traffic volumes and the loads imposed by heavy-vehicle traffic were said by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to have left the pavement surface covered with alligator cracks, wheel ruts and patches where minor re
  • ERF calls for roads maintenance funding
    February 19, 2014
    On 27 November, six key stakeholders sounded an alarm bell to Member States urging them to stick to their pledges made at the International Transport Forum meeting in May 2013, where Ministers signed a joint declaration on Sustainable Infrastructure Financing On the occasion of the launch the latest consultation paper on ‘Roads that Cars can Read’, The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), t
  • Specifying barriers correctly for optimum roadway safety
    April 29, 2015
    Mike Dreznes, executive vice president at the International Road Federation (IRF) discusses the proper utilisation of longitudinal barriers as a road safety priority Road authorities have a duty of care to ensure infrastructure not only meets safety requirements but provides protection for all road users. Crash barriers play an essential role in maximising safety, lowering the risk of sudden impact for road users and also allowing redirective capabilities.
  • Greener transport infrastructure
    February 16, 2024
    Crossing the carbon challenge: Pioneering carbon reduction on the UK’s ‘greenest’ major infrastructure project Paul Taylor – AtkinsRéalis Carbon Manager, Lower Thames Crossing Roads North