ASI hot-burn process drives road maintenance forward

Road maintenance in the UK needs to be driven into the 21st century, according to road repair and rejuvenation specialist ASI.
"The method of road repair in Britain has remained unchanged for decades. Britain's increasing road maintenance backlog - which rose 12% between 2002 and 2003 - and congestion problems caused by road repairs can be dramatically reduced by undertaking repairs at night," ASI managing director Neil Caldwell said.
ASI's Rhinopatch process, invented in 1997, allows repairs to be undertaken at night because it uses hot-burn technology, rather than conventional pneumatic drills that are too noisy for nighttime use.
Rhinopatch enables road materials to be recycled in situ rather than transporting them to a landfill site, and then replacing them with new aggregate sourced from a quarry. The repairs last more than 50% longer than conventional ones, eliminating the need for expensive and disruptive repeat repairs.
Another benefit is that it eliminates vibration white finger and hand arm vibration syndrome because pneumatic drills are not required.
"On top of all these advantages, Rhinopatch is also cheaper and quicker than conventional methods," Caldwell said. "Coventry City Council has reported a 23% improvement in output since using Rhinopatch."
Despite these advantages, take-up of the method has been slow across the UK.
"People have a general reluctance to change. People know they can't keep using pneumatic drills, and that they can't keep digging up roads and throwing it away so they are at some point going to have to use an alternative solution such as ours or similar. It is just a matter of raising awareness," Caldwell said.
ASI believes it can dramatically reduce London's congestion problems. "By recycling in situ, we could take more than 82,000 lorry journeys off London's streets.
"Add in the one million litres fuel saving for London alone and not only do we have a congestion-busting solution, but a compelling environmental one as well."
Rhinopatch is used by 30 UK authorities and ASI is in talks with the Highways Agency Utilities Council and the National Joint Utilities Group.
As CJ went to press, the company was about to be awarded Highways Agency approval.