Graphene-enhanced asphalt will be laid this month on a three-mile stretch of the A1 in Northumberland to see it the wonder material makes the surface last longer.
National Highways is claiming the application as 鈥榓 world first鈥�. It is and isn鈥檛. Gipave graphene-enhanced asphalt has been used several times over the past three years, including trials in Oxfordshire and Kent, as well as numerous sites in Italy, where it is made.
Gipave is a polymeric supermodifier containing graphene and a selected type of hard plastic. It takes the form of pellets, which are added to surfacing in hot mix asphalt plants then transported to sites.
National Highways is not using Gipave in Northumberland. It is adding 鈥榬aw鈥� graphene directly to a recycled asphalt mix on site in a single pass operation at the time of recycling to improve the end product of the recycled material.
The novel resurfacing will take place along three miles of the northbound carriageway between Newton on the Moor and West Cawledge, south of Alnwick, from Sunday 19th September to Monday 1st November 2021.
The trials are being conducted with鈥痶he鈥疓raphene Engineering Innovation Centre鈥�(GEIC)鈥痑t the University of Manchester鈥痑nd Pavement Testing Services (PTS).
National Highways asset needs manager Graeme Watt said: 鈥淟aboratory trials have been a success and the on-site trials in Northumberland will be a world first use of graphene in road production,鈥痺hich enforces our commitment to innovation and helps to push the industry towards more carbon-friendly maintenance with longer-lasting solutions which we all benefit from.
鈥淕raphene鈥檚 benefits are industry-changing. It鈥檚 stronger than steel and adding it to other materials can turn them into super materials. From what we鈥檝e seen so far,鈥痠t could make some of our assets last significantly longer.鈥�
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