A section of the A30 in Cornwall has been the trial site for the treatment, designed to reduce noise of moving vehicles by seven decibels
The noise cancelling tarmac treatment has been developed by Tarmac and Wirtgen and Atmo Technology, and has been tested for a year with National Highways, reportedly with success.
The treatment is single process, and also improves the lifespan of the road surface for up to 10-15 years before further treatment or intervention is needed.
The treatment involves new road surfaces
Replacing the traditional treatment technique of diamond fine milling, the treatment involves creating grooves in the existing concrete, and raised turrets have grinding applied for extra texture and skid resistance.
The resulting road has a smaller contact surface area between tyre and road, and the added grooves absorb sound as well. Each treatment is expected to have a life span of around five years.
The results for the road’s lifespan may be especially poignant, as the National Audit Office announced last July that England’s roads are getting worse.
Their report showed that the Department for Transport is uninformed about the state of the country’s roads, with their estimates of the value of the backlog of work falling short by £4-8bn.
Only 48% of England’s local roads are in ‘good’ condition, and 35% are ‘adequate’ and 17% are ‘poor’.
The noise cancelling Tarmac treatment may eventually treat all concrete roads
A sound monitoring device was used by Atmo Technology assessed the noise levels, and found that all the trialled surface profiles caused a reduction in generated noise.
Nick Angelou, regional contracting director at Tarmac, said: “This significant trial has helped to develop a solution for concrete roads which can reduce noise for neighbouring communities as well as extend the lifecycle of the asset to deliver financial and environmental savings by eliminating the need for earlier intervention.”
Nick Knorr, head of the National Concrete Roads Programme, said: “This trial was part of our Concrete Roads Programme which will ultimately replace all of our existing legacy concrete roads. Achieving this goal will take time and significant investment, so it is essential that we find cost effective ways of extending the life of those still in use until they can be replaced.”
