New system for patching roads from Bituchem

Bituchem’s FortSeal product has been applied to a countryside highway in Leicestershire to preserve and maintain the road surfacing. The FortSeal preservation product is undergoing a trial by Leicestershire County Council in the UK to assess its future potential in positively affecting the council’s road maintenance budget by prolonging the life of the county’s roads.
December 24, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
Fast road repairs are possible with the new Bituchem product

Bituchem’s FortSeal product has been applied to a countryside highway in Leicestershire to preserve and maintain the road surfacing. The FortSeal preservation product is undergoing a trial by Leicestershire County Council in the UK to assess its future potential in positively affecting the council’s road maintenance budget by prolonging the life of the county’s roads.

FortSeal is said to be a quick and effective solution for old and worn carriageways by repairing minor damage and preserving the existing asphalt against further corrosion. Forming part of the 1327 Bituchem Group’s hard landscaping materials, FortSeal increases highways’ longevity while being economically friendly.  Following on from a road preservation seminar given by Bituchem’s Phillip Humphreys and Peter Buckley, Leicestershire Council approved a trial site for the FortSeal product. With increasingly more frequent extreme weather combined with the ever decreasing council road budgets, country roads are susceptible to pot holes and cracking surfaces which pose safety hazards to road users. If these remain unrepaired the road surface disintegrates further at a rapid rate resulting in the costly process of completely replacing the road surface.

The 1.5tonnes of FortSeal was hot laid by a phoenix spray tanker at a low rate of spread to ensure an even and thorough distribution of product onto the main road that runs through the village of Burton on the Wolds. Andrew Whailing, Senior Technician at Leicestershire County Council, explained, “Councils across the UK are having to find new and innovative ways of maintaining their highway network to achieve the same high standard of roads but with reduced resources. As such the focus is on a proactive approach towards preservation of existing assets rather than reactive work such as resurfacing. The FortSeal product allows us to apply a protective coating to the entire road surface, extending the life of the road surface and any repairs previously carried out. We are very pleased with the initial application of FortSeal and will now carefully monitor its performance. If the trial suggests that FortSeal provides a cost-effective means of extending the life of the surface, then we anticipate applying it to other roads in Leicestershire.”

The preservation material works to seal the surface to prevent effects of oxidisation and ravelling which helps to stop or slow down further deterioration. FortSeal is extremely durable and can withstand the challenges that moisture, heavy snow and gritting present whilst being able to seal minor cracks in the existing asphalt surface.

By using the FortSeal system, costly and time consuming road surfacing is not necessary, allowing councils to save money ensuring the roads are maintained to a high standard. The resealing of asphalt with the FortSeal emulsion also gives a fresh, blackened look that is identical to newly laid roads, adding to the aesthetic preservation of the highways.

Maintenance

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Innovative surface treatment for concrete road
    July 30, 2019
    An innovative surface treatment approach by Foster Contracting Limited has been developed for use on a £745million roads project in Aberdeen, Scotland. The specialist contractor, Foster Contracting Limited (FCL), has played a key role in a major project, to build the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie-Tipperty (AWPR/B-T). AWPR Construction Joint Venture, the contractor appointed to design and construct the project, approached FCL to provide a customised treatment to remove the latency from the sl
    Read More
  • Self-healing roads, slippery roads and slimmer roads
    November 24, 2017
    This month’s bitumen technology pages bring you self-healing roads, slippery roads and slimmer roads and explains why one UK contractor has started manufacturing its own polymer modified bitumen - Kristina Smith reports. Professor Erik Schlangen, who heads up experimental micromechanics at the Delft University of Technology is receiving calls from all round the world these days. And it is hardly surprising because he and his team have invented a great new technology: asphalt that heals itself.
    Read More
  • Brazilian contractor uses novel methods for high quality road
    January 5, 2015
    Cold-in place recycling method provides fast road rebuild in Brazil In Brazil a road contractor has carried out a high quality road rebuilding job, using novel techniques. Contractor Brown Brown is located in Santa Teresinha in the state of Bahia and recently carried out a two-week job for the company to rehabilitate sections of highway BR-381. The highway is an important route in Brazil and runs from Sao Paulo to Belo Horizonte. Highway BR-381 or Rodovia Fernão Dias, as it is called, stretches some 576km
    Read More
  • More investment needed for road maintenance
    March 13, 2014
    As the Northern Hemisphere recovers from yet another tough winter, the road system in many countries can be seen to have taken a heavy battering. Potholes abound in many countries, the legacy of cold weather, and this has been made worse by heavy rain that has caused widespread flooding and also damaged bridges.
    Read More

Highlighted Content