Proponents of concrete roads have questioned National Highways’ policy of rebuilding some of its concrete carriageways with an asphalt surface, which they say has a shorter performance life.
Britpave, the British Cementitious Paving Association, said that although the government-owned company’s Concrete Roads programme sets out to deliver new road surfaces that will last for the next 40 years, the replacement of concrete road pavements with asphalt ‘questions the achievement of that objective'.
It said the first part of the National Highways programme will see £400m spent by 2025 to ‘rebuild and revitalise’ concrete roads that have performed well for approaching 60 years, despite traffic volumes and loads being significantly higher than they were originally designed for.
The trade body pointed to two projects that have removed sections of the concrete road and replaced their surfacing with asphalt – on the A11 between Spooner Row and the Tuttles Interchange (below) and on the A14 between Haughley and Tothill.
It said it is questionable whether the new road surfaces will provide the required 40-year performance, particularly when traffic forecasts are increasing.
Britpave said the asphalt will most likely require resurfacing after 12 years with major maintenance required by year 20 and further resurfacing by year 30, but that a concrete road surface, ‘would not have required such major interventions’.
It added that although on the two schemes the concrete pavement was recycled as the foundation, 90,000 tonnes of quarried aggregate were required on the A14 scheme and imported bitumen used as the binder, ‘whereas UK produced cement is available in many low-carbon forms without any performance reduction’.
Britpave chairman Joe Quirke said: ‘The replacement of concrete road surface with asphalt has raised eyebrows. Particularly when you consider that over a 40-year life span concrete offers far better whole-life CO2 and cost solutions as it will not need resurfacing or major maintenance.
‘Furthermore, concrete is far more future-proofed. It is more resilient to the predicted impacts of climate change as it does not melt and rut during high summer temperatures and is more resistant to flood damage and the potential for potholes cause by winter freeze/thaw cycles.’
