Quieter road surface for city centre resurfacing

This busy street in Liverpool city centre required resurfacing. The importance of this bus route to the local public transport network and the city centre location, meant that the client put a high priority on minimising disruption to road users, businesses and residents. The new surface would need to be robust enough to take heavy channelized traffic as well as coping with the loading and surface abrasion caused by buses turning at junctions. A hot rolled asphalt (HRA) and pre coated chippings (PCC) was initially specified, but the client was interested to hear about alternative approaches that could deliver enhanced longterm durability, a low noise road surface and keep road closures and disruption to an absolute minimum. Tarmac and surfacing contractor Huyton Asphalt decided to work collaboratively to find an alternative solution. 

After discussions, ULTILAYER was proposed as an alternative to the HRA. It uses a polymer modified binder for superior deformation resistance. The dense negative texture would provide improved resistance to deformation and surface abrasion from buses and other heavy vehicles, including at junctions. It would also provide a quieter running surface than the positive textured hot rolled asphalt and chippings. This would mean lower road noise over the life of the pavement and a better environment for those living and working in the city centre or enjoying Liverpool’s shops, restaurants and entertainment venues. ULTILAYER would also be quieter to install, requiring fewer processes and less machinery than HRA and PCC. As work would be completed at night, this would be welcomed by local residents. 

Huyton Asphalt laid over 300 tonnes of ULTILAYER S 10 in four nights on Victoria Street. As expected, the new surface material was laid faster than taking a hot rolled asphalt and chippings approach and delivered noise reduction both during laying and in use. Based on previous experience of ULTILAYER performance on other sites, including Oxford Street and Regent Street in London, the heavily modified bitumen and dense aggregate interlock is expected to deliver improved long-term performance on this busy bus route. The use of Ultilayer delivered an excellent outcome for the client who, as well as avoiding disruption, can confidently expect reduced long term maintenance requirements, extended resurfacing intervals and fewer required interventions on this important route.