Longer lasting roads: Fid-Bau Portal

Longer lasting roads

Short notice given only substantially as follows: Canada's McAsphalt Industries Limited, Toronto, in conjunction with King Paving, Burlington, has recently repaved a north section of Garth Street in Hamilton, Ontario, to demonstrate to Hamilton's public works department the key benefits of a new asphalt road technology. This innovative technology from MeadWestvaco Corporation called Evotherm warm-mix asphalt provides an outstanding package of benefits to the environment and the public. Using it, we can make roads that should last longer and use less energy doing it. In addition, since we can work and place the asphalt at 240 deg F, as opposed to 325 deg F for conventional asphalt, the operation emits fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odours. The ability to work the asphalt at lower temperature, made possible by use of Evotherm warm-mix technology and enhanced by BASF's Butonal NX 1138 styrene-butadiene latex, is the reason that the warm mix asphalt road can last years longer. BASF research shows that by using latex modified Evotherm, the asphalt plant mixing and application temperatures are lowered and result in less oxidative aging and heat hardening of the asphalt binder in the mix. This work also suggests that the use of Evotherm warm mix emulsion instead of hot asphalt cement could provide an additional two to five years of service life to a road.