Heidelberg Materials UK has announced a new contract with North Yorkshire Highways valued at roughly £5m with the possibility of additional spending ‘over the winter months'.
The company is expected to supply roughly 35,000 tonnes of asphalt to the county over the course of the 12-month agreement.
While it only announced the contract earlier this week, it began at the start of April this year and is set to run until 31 March 2027.
With the contract already underway, Heidelberg highlighted the resurfacing of Pateley Bridge's high street as its first project carried out with NYH.
James Playford, area director of aggregates, asphalt and recycling at Heidelberg Materials, said: ‘The project was technically challenging as cobbles lie under the asphalt in some areas and the High Street has a very steep gradient.
‘As a result of the reduced planning depth, the binder course included our Tufflex stress absorbing membrane interlayer (SAMI) solution, to optimise durability. And, to provide the high skid resistance specified, the Tufflex D surface course included aggregates with a PSV (polished stone value) of 68.'
Included in both the binder and the surface course was Heidelberg's CarbonLock biogenic asphalt – first trialled in 2023 – which contains biogenic material that can ‘absorb and store CO₂ from the atmosphere'. This CO2 is then ‘locked' into the asphalt permanently, even when the material is recycled.
Also included were locally sourced aggregate from the company's Coldstone quarry and asphalt produced and supplied by its Pateley Bridge asphalt plant.
Asphalt territory sales manager Ian Farley explained: ‘North Yorkshire Highways was keen for us to supply the asphalt from our Pateley Bridge plant due to its proximity to the project site.
‘As the plant is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), we sought approval from North Yorkshire Council to supply at night, outside of our usual permissive hours, rather than from our Leeds asphalt plant, 29 miles away.'
James Cox, head of commercial at North Yorkshire Highways, added: ‘Working closely with Heidelberg Materials UK throughout the development of the specification enabled us to explore a range of material options and identify a solution that met the technical requirements of the scheme. Their support and collaborative approach throughout the process helped ensure the project was delivered successfully.'
