Friday 29 March 2024
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Micro asphalt treatment should improve Nottinghamshire’s road surfaces

The use of micro asphalt is allowing Via East Midlands and Nottinghamshire County Council to make significant improvements to more roads in the county.

The Council is working through an estimated maintenance backlog in excess of £140m on Nottinghamshire’s roads.

However, the investment of an additional £24m of highways funding over the last three years and repairing the right roads, with the right treatment, at the right time, has seen more roads in the county benefitting from improved road surfaces.

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Many roads have been given a new surface through a widespread programme of micro asphalt works which have been completed at 83 sites across the county.

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Micro asphalt surface treatment is a preventative maintenance treatment, used to seal the existing road surface, improve the texture and helps water evaporate. This type of surface treatment can prolong the life of a road by up to 10 years. It is mostly used in residential areas with slower moving traffic.

Micro asphalt is used when the condition of a road surface requires attention but there are no major structural problems

Hill Crescent, Sutton-in-Ashfield is one of these roads, where a deteriorating road surface with a number of potholes and other defects was renewed using the technique in October 2020.

This was one of 18 roads to be resurfaced with micro asphalt in Ashfield and Mansfield as part of the 2020/21 programme.

Micro asphalt creates a new long-lasting road surface, adding a new layer of surface to the road, repairing potholes and other defects, whilst preventing more from forming. Works can look quite untidy when first completed, with loose chippings and tyre tracks visible to begin with,  as well as drains and manhole covers sitting below the road surface.

However, over the following days and weeks the surface cures, ironworks are raised, lines are repainted and the surface is periodically swept.

Councillor John Cottee, Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Communities and Place Committee said: “Micro asphalt is the ideal treatment on a lot of the county’s roads, particularly in urban areas, allowing us to prevent potholes and restore roads to a similar level to full resurfacing whilst benefiting from reduced waste, carbon emissions and vehicle movements, all at a lower cost.

“Along with surface dressing it has allowed us to treat over 90 roads in Nottinghamshire over the past year, significantly prolonging the life of each road and renewing the quality of the road surface. This is in addition to a further 64 roads and 23 pavements which have been fully resurfaced.

“At over three times the cost, using full resurfacing where micro asphalt is appropriate would only allow us to improve a fraction of the roads in Nottinghamshire, meaning others would deteriorate further and require more costly repairs in the future.

“We have a finite budget for repairing our highways and by using the right treatment at the right time, we’re able to prolong the life of roads and make a difference to residents and road users.

“We have a systematic programme of works to improve roads in the county and whilst we understand that the condition of some roads frustrates residents, resurfacing them all will take a number of years.

“We’re continuing to invest in Nottinghamshire’s highways and doing all we can, continually examining new ideas and technology to help us make repairs in even better, faster and more environmentally-friendly ways.”

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