A west Oxfordshire road is being resurfaced with a high performance material to further test the product’s ability to increase the life of a highway.

Oxfordshire County Council is carrying out the trial in North Street, Middle Barton, with its contractor Milestone Infrastructure and its partner Aggregate Industries to develop the use of Gipave, a Graphene Plus-enhanced asphalt.

North Street is the third Oxfordshire site to trial the material.

A 725-metre stretch of the road will be laid with Gipave, while an adjacent length of road will be resurfaced using conventional high-performance asphalt, so that the two surfaces can be compared accurately.

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It follows a successful pilot scheme in Curbridge in 2019 – the first use of the product in the UK – and a trial on Oxford’s Marsh Lane in March 2022.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highway management, said: “We know how important the quality of our roads is to our residents.

"That is why we’re delighted to be involved in this latest trial to see how we can make our residents’ money go further and make our road surfaces stay in good condition for longer.

“Innovation is at the heart of what our highway teams do, as we have shown with previous Gipave trials and our recent event in Steventon where Milestone tested seven different pothole repair methods on the same road.

"Increasing the lifespan of road surfaces will reduce the need for resurfacing work, ease the burden on highways budgets, and cut carbon emissions for the life cycle of a stretch of road.”

Oxford Mail: Councillor Andrew Gant Councillor Andrew Gant

Phil Raven, head of technical design for Milestone on the Oxfordshire Contract, said: “This is another significant step to test the benefits that this innovative material can bring.

“As we look for new ways to reduce carbon emissions within highways maintenance, developing materials that last longer is an important part of Milestone’s plan towards achieving net zero by 2040.”

Gipave, which has been developed by Iterchimica, also uses waste plastics which would not normally be recycled.

Meanwhile the asphalt containing Gipave can itself be entirely recycled, promoting the ‘circular economy’ which reduces waste and the need for new materials.

Recent in-service testing and analysis of the original 2019 trial site showed the new asphalt material is forecast to increase the lifespan of the asphalt pavement by approximately 165 per cent compared to conventional resurfacing methods, with a corresponding carbon saving of 40 per cent over 20 years.

The Middle Barton scheme is a £450,000 resurfacing project which also includes kerb and drainage repairs.

The scheme started on July 17 and is planned to last for four weeks.

The surfacing works are being carried out under full overnight road closures to reduce the disruption to road users and local businesses and residents.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1