News 2007

Route One has successfully completed a £15,000 structural concrete repair scheme for North Midland Construction on Calverley Canal Bridge, Leeds Outer Ring Road on behalf of Leeds City Council.

The contract repair contract involved an initial hammer test survey followed by the removal of concrete using hydro-demolition and hand techniques to the wing walls, soffits and abutments. Conditional surveys were also carried out on the steel reinforcements.

Route One Highways used the BBA approved material Monomix, manufactured by Flexcrete to repair concrete to depths of up to 100mm. As the material is capable of being installed at up to 80mm layers it proved to be the ideal product for the job.

The work was carried out in an environmentally sensitive location above Calverley Canal managed by British Waterways. Route One had to ensure that appropriate methods were adopted to ensure that the canal did not become contaminated by our activities. To comply with Environment Agency standards for working over water, dust debris was contained within an enclosed work area for safe off-site disposal and water used in the cleaning process was filtered before discharge.

Route One has successfully completed a £15,000 structural concrete repair scheme for The process is fully automated, safe to use and environmentally friendly. It doesn't use water, chemicals or solvents and doesn't emit pollutants or dust into the atmosphere.

The equipment has a working width of up to 550mm and is capable of operating speeds of up to 400/m2 hr dependent upon the type of work.

The 2-20DT Blastrac machine can be used for the following processes: -

• Surface re-texturing of concrete or asphalt surfaces
• Removing contaminants from concrete or asphalt surfaces
• Bridge deck shot blasting
• Anti-skid removal
• White lining removal
• Rubber removal
• Decorative asphalt shot blasting

Already the equipment has been put to excellent use on a variety of contracts from bridge deck shot blasting for Jackson Civil Engineering to surface re-texturing for Bardon Contracting.

It has been witnessed all too often that during carriageway re-surfacing the ironwork systems do not receive the attention they deserve. Ironwork is normally adjusted using poor quality materials and techniques and subsequently drainage systems fail prematurely and potentially become hazardous to the travelling public.

When CarillionWSP (Managing Agents for the Highways Agency Area 12) identified a serious problem with the gully drainage systems on the A616 and A628 trunk roads linking Sheffield and Manchester they contacted Route One to assess the problem and provide a permanent solution.

Following a site survey it became evident that the gully systems were in a stable condition and it was materials used around the ironwork surround that were failing. Route One proposed to replace the failed materials with BBA approved products. The surround and surface treatment was completed using a BBA/HAPAS high strength yet flexible hand applied product dressed with 70psv bauxite aggregate.

The material used is self levelling, self compacting and flexible and is able to withstand greater transverse movements than traditional asphalt mixes. The material also cures rapidly (typically 30mins) therefore was particularly suitable to ensure that road possession times were kept to a minimum.

A trial location was then selected on the busy A616 Stocksbridge Bypass. Repairs were carried out to six gullies during a 0930-1530 possession time.

Since installation the finished repairs have performed well under heavy traffic conditions and there are now plans to continue repairing the many other failed gully and ironwork systems on the Area12 network.