New material trialled on Hampshire’s roads

A new ‘warm mix asphalt’ is being trialled by Hampshire County Council’s Operation Resilience team.

The new material, is going to be tested in five areas across Hampshire, and is almost identical to conventional road repair materials already being used on the county's roads, except it has considerable environmental benefits.

The new material will be piloted at Bere Road, Denmead, Cooks Lane, Awbridge, Wickham Road Wickham, Thompsons Lane, Owsebury and The Hundred, Romsey.

Warm mix asphalt contains more recycled material than conventional road repair material, making it more environmentally friendly. The manufacturing process also uses less energy in the heating and drying process – reducing its carbon footprint.

Being a warm mix, the material is also delivered and laid at a much lower temperature, reducing the risk to workers and members of the public who are passing by. Warm mix asphalt is laid at around 100 to 150 degrees Celsius which is typically 50 degrees below that of conventional hot mix asphalt.

Hampshire County Council’s executive member for environment and transport, councillor Rob Humby, said: "Hampshire County Council is committed to ensuring recycled materials are used wherever possible when maintaining Hampshire's roads – making it kinder to the environment. Thanks to our size, capacity and expertise serving the entire county, we are well-placed to be able to trial new, innovative materials and best-practice to benefit the whole of Hampshire.

"Hampshire maintains over 5,280 miles of roads in Hampshire and If the trial is successful, then we will be rolling out the use of this material across the county which could result in future cost savings for Hampshire taxpayers."