The Institute of Asphalt Technology (IAT) has announced the winner of its competition to find the oldest in-use asphalt surface in the UK or Ireland.
The winning submission came from Lincolnshire County Council for a section of the original Lincoln Relief Road (Lincoln By-Pass) where the hot rolled asphalt (HRA) was laid during late 1984 and early 1985.
The precise road length stretched from the A15/A46 roundabout to the north of Lincoln to the A15/A158 junction to the east of Lincoln – but excluding the roundabouts and their immediate approaches.
This section opened to traffic in April 1985 and has since been trafficked continuously as part of the A15 Lincoln By-Pass. The abutting Trunk Road Lincoln Western By-Pass was opened a little later in December 1985, Highways understands.
Incredibly, Steve Betteridge, materials engineer at Lincolnshire County Council, said that in the intervening years 'maintenance has been virtually zero: it hasn’t been needed' and that 'occasional sweeps of the lay-bys and road marking replacement have been about it'.
'In whole-life terms the performance of this material, admirably supported by the underlying layers, has been exemplary. It‘s longevity is a credit to all concerned.'
He added: 'The surface is 14mm 30% stone content design mix Hot Rolled Asphalt to BS594 Part1 laid 40mm thick to meet Lincolnshire’s end product requirements
'This material was supplied from Santon Works, Scunthorpe. Now operated by Tarmac but at the time of supply the plant could have traded under the cloak of the Scunthorpe Slag or East Coast Slag Product names.
'Using the terminology of the day the HRA wearing course, made with blast furnace slag coarse aggregate, was laid by Tarmac (as was the underlying recipe 20mm dense base course used as both base course and road base, supplied from Middle Peak and Dene Quarry) and incorporated 20mm pre-coated chippings from Pioneer’s Gelligaer Quarry.'
Sean Cassidy, IAT Technical Committee chair, said: 'With an increasing focus on sustainability, durability is a sought after property. The aim of the IAT competition was to highlight that asphalt ticks the box, and Steve has provided an excellent example. An HRA surfacing approaching 40 years in service shows our industry has been sustainable long before sustainability became the focus.'
