New roading technique saves on time and materials

25 July 2006

Council contractors currently upgrading Union and Beresford Streets in New Brighton are using a technique new to Christchurch called ‘foamed bitumen stabilisation’.

This new method dramatically reduces the construction time, in this case from eight weeks for the carriageway replacement component (road) of the work to one week, allowing traffic disruption to be kept to a minimum. It also means that very little waste is produced and there is no need to cart in new construction materials (the foundation of the road).

The new method involves crushing the top layer of the road, mixing it with bitumen, water and cement, relaying the mixture and sealing it with a conventional chipseal surface. Two trucks supply the bitumen and water to the stabilising machine and the cement is added to the mix directly from the machine.

The machine has been used successfully for two days in Union Street, and will be used again in Beresford Street on Thursday and Friday.

The Council is currently looking at other roads for which the technique can be used.

The contractor for the current project is Fulton Hogan Ltd.

Top of Page ~ Media Release index